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Get ready. It's one of America's most important, influential, and respected voices on cultural and political issues. An apologist, Christian political advocate, and author, here is the founder and chairman of the Citizens for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes. Welcome, welcome to Christian Perspective. We're so happy that you're with us today. Today, I've got a special guest. Michaela Smith is going to be here talking to us about Turning Point faith. Perhaps you've heard of Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA, and they have a new division that is specifically designed to educate and train and mobilize Christians into the arena of public policy and politics. And we're excited to have her with us today. But before we begin, I want to thank our hosts, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary and the College of Mid-America. They are the hosts of the Christian Perspective studios.

If you're looking for a college to attend this fall, I want to recommend that you check out the College of Mid-America. It's a great Christian institution. There won't be any critical race theory being taught there. There won't be any of this indoctrination of trying to determine out if you're transgender or born of the wrong body.

Nope. You're just going to get a great education, and you're going to get that great education at a Christian school where you will learn to have a biblical perspective and then be able to take that biblical perspective and biblical worldview into your life after you leave college. Maybe you've already got a college degree and you want to study further. A lot of people never think about going to seminary, but really a seminary is just an institution that has a master's or doctorate degree offerings, and it's a great way for you to learn more about your faith. Understand what you believe as a Christian and why you believe it. You can go to mabts.edu to learn about Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. And of course, we want to thank our prize sponsors of this show, the Citizens for America Foundation.

I want to encourage you to go to citizensforamericafoundation.com, that's citizensforamericafoundation.com, and sign up to get our newsletter. Learn about the events we've got coming up. Just coming up here in June, we have a great tour to D.C. where you can go to D.C. and look at the different places that have a Christian. Some of the places have Bible verses on them. Oh, there are hundreds. Do you realize there are hundreds of places in D.C. that have Bible verses on them?

People that claim that our founding fathers were not Christians do not know what they're talking about. And I want to personally take you in June, and then we have another trip in September, on a trip to D.C. to learn about the Christian heritage of our nation. Or, I want to tell you about one more trip before we get to our guest today.

And this is a special one. On December 26, we are going to Israel. And I want you to join me in Israel for nine days as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus. You can learn about all these trips and all the educational things that we do at the Citizens for America Foundation by visiting citizensforamericafoundation.com.

All right, well, I've delayed long enough. You are going to love our guest today. I met Michaela at the Culture Engagement Summit.

Remember, the Citizens for America Foundation hosted that national event in Memphis, Tennessee on April 30th. And Michaela is with a great, new, fairly new organization called Turning Point Faith. Michaela, welcome to The Christian Perspective. Thanks so much for having me. So rather than me read a bio about you, I'd rather you just share us a little bit about your life.

I know that you're, I think, on the west coast of Florida, but kind of tell us where you grew up and who you are and how you got into this political world. Yeah, that has definitely taken me on an adventure. I never planned on doing what I'm doing today, but I'm sure a lot of people can reflect back and see that God maybe called them into something that they never expected. And so I'm just blessed to be a part of it, blessed to be a vessel for Him today. But I am an only child.

I grew up in Texas, born and raised, proud of it. I grew up with two great parents that knew the Lord and taught me what it was like to work hard and to stand for truth, to stand for integrity, and to actually live your life according to biblical principles, and that it really makes all the difference in your life. And so I'm so thankful that my parents got to lay that foundation with me and that I get to help to live on part of all of the work that they put in. My dad is no longer with us.

He's with the Lord. He passed from cancer when I was 13 years old. So that was really pivotal in my life and really helped to shape who I am today. But I'm blessed and thankful that I had a loving dad for 13 years that instilled a lot of leadership and integrity and character in my life. So super blessed for that. Wow, and your fathers are so important, Michaela. I know that you know that as you travel around the country and the ministry you're in now. And I'm just thankful for the time that you had with your dad and the impression he had on your life.

Well, hey, I'm going to kind of put you on the spot here. One of the things I like that even when it's not hard, even when it's not the topic we're talking about, I always like to ask my guests to share how they came to know Jesus. There might be somebody listening who's not a Christian, or maybe a lot of people think, well, I can't tell other people about Jesus because I don't have this great testimony. Look, we all have a great story of how Jesus saved our lives and transformed us so we can spend an eternity with him in heaven one day. If you don't mind, can you kind of tell us how you came to know the Lord?

I was raised in the church, but we all know that doesn't mean anything that doesn't mean you're saved. And so I was exposed to the Bible and the Word and just loving people. When I was really young, I went to a Chuck Swindoll family camp years ago when I was eight years old with my parents. And that was just an amazing family camp for all of us. And I got to hear the gospel and it penetrated my heart. And I wanted what everybody else at that camp had. And so I, you know, accepted the gift that is freely offered to us and accepted Christ then. But at eight years old, it's really hard to learn what that means and how to live it out. And so I had that foundation.

But like I said, when I was 13, you know, my dad passed from pancreatic cancer, unfortunately. And, you know, God just had another plan. And that definitely confused me.

We never planned on our little three amigo family being separated. And that definitely threw a wrench in just all of our plans. I was homeschooled at the time, so thankful for that type of education. It was a Christian curriculum. My mom obviously had to figure out how to create income at this point.

And so she had to go back to work. I was being encouraged to go into public school by my youth group friends. And that really changed my trajectory because I went from homeschool to I went from private Christian school to homeschool and then into public school.

So that was a big culture shock. And like I said, I just kind of felt really lost. Nothing really made sense because my dad wasn't there. I didn't have that father figure in the home. And, you know, I'm a teenager.

So boys are, you know, trying to waste my time and chase after me. And that definitely I just struggled with a lot of identity issues and unworthiness and accepted just a lot of really negative worldly attention because I was trying to fill this void that my father had left. And I was just filling it with everything that the world could offer all through high school and college. And finally just had a come to Jesus moment where the Lord brought me back to himself and lured me back to him and his heart that he's the only one who's satisfied. So I would say my testimony is kind of not a traditional one. You know, I knew who Christ was. I knew what he did for us and I accepted that gift. But I tell people when I was 22 years old in 2018, I actually wanted to live for the Lord. I wanted to serve him and walk with him knowing that he is the only way to strengthen the life. And so that really was a really powerful time in my life. I had lived pretty worldly, deserted some of my foundation of faith roots. I wasn't going to church and, you know, was, you know, chasing.

There's a song that I used to listen to and it's by 10th Avenue North and it's called Beloved. But in that song, it says you're chasing lovers that won't satisfy. And of course that could be other things.

You know, it doesn't need to be people. But for me it was just a lot of things. And yeah, so it really is just by God's grace and mercy that he called me back and never gave up on me throughout all those years that I was really walking far from him.

And that was just a huge, a huge life-changing moment. I called out to the Lord and called out to him to show me how I'm going to live for him. Because I said, I know that you're true and I know that you are God, but I don't know how to live for you right now. So you have to show me. And he's so loving and good and gracious.

And so he did. He's been showing me since 2018. Thank you for sharing. I know that's kind of a personal question, but you know, I think some people think, you know, this like Satan, and he probably did this with you. He loves to lie to us and tell us, you know, you can't serve God because of the bad things you did. And you, you know, you shared how you became a Christian as a child, but you kind of grew away from the Lord when you were in college and maybe did some things you shouldn't have done. I know certainly that was the case in my life. And for years I listened to the lies of Satan saying, well, you can't preach or you can't tell other people about Jesus because look at what you did in your life.

And that's just a lie. So if you're listening today and you're in that situation, I mean, Michaela's a great testimony of this. No matter what we do in our life, God loves us and he will accept us back. Now that doesn't mean he wants us to continue whatever we're doing. It's a sinful lifestyle. We have to repent of that sin.

And it's like driving down the road and doing a U-turn. We've got to change the direction and go in the direction where God has called us. And we have to serve him and praise him and love him with, you know, all of our heart, soul, mind, and body. But God will always forgive us and take us back. And don't believe that just because you did something you shouldn't have done in college or high school, if you're listening today, don't believe that God can't use you because he can't. And Satan just wants you to thank that so you won't be affected for God. And Michaela, I'm glad you came back at age of 22, I think you said.

I mean, I was in my 30s before I really got the wake-up call, but I'm thankful that God will accept us and that he can use us no matter what the circumstance in our life. Y'all, we're talking to Michaela Schmidt, she's with Turning Point Faith, and I thank her for sharing her testimony. We'll take a commercial break and when we come back, we're going to learn about the great organization that she's working with now. You're not going to want to miss this, so stick around. This show is brought to you by Generous Joe's, the coffee company with the Christian perspective. This is the answer that Christians and conservatives have been looking for. A coffee company that gives back to causes you care about.

Order your coffee today at ShopGenerousJoes.org and even subscribe to a subscription coffee plan and never forget the coffee you love or the causes you care about. Walk in the footsteps of Jesus and see the Bible come to life. This December, join nationally syndicated radio host and founder of the Citizens for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes, on a life-changing trip to Israel. It's one of the world's oldest and most fascinating travel destinations, luring the faithful from all over the world for thousands of years. Visit Jerusalem's religious quarters and explore Christianity's most treasured religious sites, like the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Via Dolorosa. Walk with Chris through the winding alleyways of Nazareth's old city and visit ancient Bethlehem, the place of our Savior's birth. Float in the Dead Sea, visit the Sea of Galilee and the Jewish fortress of Masada. See firsthand where the events of the Bible took place. Touring Israel with Dr. Chris Hughes is a travel odyssey like no other.

Visit CitizensForAmericaFoundation.com and get ready for an unforgettable trip and memories that will last a lifetime. Do you desire to build family relationships that stand the test of time? Does creating a godly family seem like a daunting challenge?

You're not alone. I'm Connie Yaupers, author of Parenting Beyond the Rules and host of Equipped to Be. As a mother of five, I understand your struggles. For 35 years, I have been helping families just like yours build lasting relationships. I'd like to invite you to tune in to Equipped to Be and visit ConnieYaupers.com where I share useful tips and proven strategies to help you navigate the seasons of motherhood, faith, and life with confidence and joy. History was made on today's date.

Stay tuned for an American Minute with Bill Federer. Abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison died this day, May 24th, 1879. He published the anti-slavery paper in Boston called The Liberator and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. Suffering hundreds of death threats for his politically incorrect stand for the value of all human life, he wrote, I desire to thank God that he enables me to disregard the fear of man which bringeth the snare and to speak his truth. And while lifeblood warms my throbbing veins to oppose the brutalizing sway, till Africa's chains are burst and freedom rules the rescued land. Welcome back to Christian Perspective, I'm Chris Hughes. My guest today is Michaela Smith. Michaela lives in Florida and she works for a fairly new organization called Turning Point Faith. You may have heard of Charlie Kirk and we're going to talk about him in a few minutes and you might have heard of Turning Point USA or TPUSA. And Michaela, what I want to do if we can, before we get into Turning Point Faith, we probably have some listeners who maybe have never heard of Turning Point. Can you share what Turning Point is and then in a few minutes we'll talk about the division that you work for, but if somebody's never heard of them, who is Turning Point? Yeah, so Turning Point USA is a grassroots activism organization. So it's a non-profit, non-partisan group of just some freedom-loving patriots that love freedom, love free markets, love limited government, and we bring conservative values and American principles back on college campuses all around the country.

And we've been doing that for about 10 years. So Charlie Kirk is a founder who has been a big inspiration in my life and he didn't go to college, but he realized that there is not enough conservative voices or a conservative presence of this true, rich, classical education and that colleges were turning into indoctrination camps and they were causing kids like me to go to college and to be taught all of these things that are anti-God, anti-tradition, anti-religion, and just really anti-educational since the definition in Latin for education is the pursuit of what is good and true for the betterment of yourself and your community and others around you. And ultimate education and pursuit really leads us to God. And so we've lost that presence on college campus. So Charlie Kirk created Turning Point USA to help play offense with a sense of urgency to win America's culture water and that was the mission and motto.

And we now recently have created a new initiative within this past year. Well, let's talk a little bit about Turning Point. So if you're maybe a college student across the country that you're listening to the show or you're a parent and you're wondering what can your student do to get involved, but Michaela is exactly right. So I've got two kids going through the educational system right now and I want to tell you it's rough out there. Michaela, you've been out of school, I guess, for a few years now, but you know how it is. It is a major, as you said, Charlie was right. They're trying to indoctrinate our kids.

I was just in some meetings this morning where we were talking about the importance of the trade skills, like how to work on a car or how to fix an air conditioning unit. And that was really frowned upon, but I know that's something Charlie Kirk pushes hard. As you mentioned, Charlie didn't go to college, but he's been extremely successful and we spent a fortune. I mean, my kids, it's over $70,000 a year to go to school. And in some cases, I mean, what are you going to do? So I'm not, you know, I'm going to get letters for this, Michaela, but, you know, I mean, if you've got a degree in women's studies and you pay a quarter million to half a million dollars for that degree, what are you going to do with it?

Again, we'll never recoup that amount of money for your education. And, and you're just being brainwashed in many cases. So, so turning point for those that are listening, they have high school, what they call chapters too. So it's even though they refer to them as chapters, they're really like clubs on college campuses. And it's a place where conservative students can gather. I mean, if you want, I hate calling it safe space, but you know where you can gather with like-minded other conservatives.

And it's not, you know, I know sometimes, and I know Michaela, you've seen that some people are critical because, you know, they're not doing Bible studies necessarily at Turning Point, but Turning Point is a secular organization as a whole. Cause that's their purpose. Their purpose is to fight socialism on campuses and to support freedom of speech and so many other things. And Charlie has, under his leadership, Charlie's done a great job of spreading the message. They have, I think over 2,000 clubs or chapters across the country right now. We have over 5,000 now because we started high school chapters as well. And we're so blessed and thankful because in those 10, in that 10 years time, we're actually going to have our anniversary this August. And we've just exponentially grown because kids are looking for something to believe in.

They're looking for something to find purpose in. And that's exactly what I did. Charlie and Turning Point USA just gave me a sense of purpose and something to work towards. I, you know, when you graduate college and you have debt, I graduated with debt and I graduated with honors. I had networks, I had an international business, a liberal arts degree, and I was, you know, actively pursuing a career internationally. And I'd gotten recommendation letters and had done my part and done the best I could to set myself up.

But I graduated and, you know, COVID had just hit right around that time. But still, I graduated and Charlie recognizes that kids will graduate college, work hard and get whatever degree that they'll be resentful. You know, they'll go to college with money they don't have or a degree that doesn't matter for a job that doesn't exist. And they graduate and then they're frustrated. And then because of just the culture that we're in, you know, so many identity politics groups will try to pick those resentful angry people up and say, well, support this and stand for this, this is what you should focus your time and attention, your life on, and it creates activists. So that's what these college campuses have been doing for years.

And it nearly did it with me. Well, you know, it's parents and grandparents and those that don't have kids in college just don't understand the pressure that college students have today. And particularly if you are a conservative or even more so, Michaela, if you're a Christian, it's one thing that they hate more. And it's amazing, they hate us.

You know, they'll put up with a lot of stuff. But if you're a Bible-believing Christian, you are hated in many cases on college campuses. So my daughter was, I'm gonna get in trouble sharing this probably, but she was a chapter president of Turning Point at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

And took a lot of heat because she was, you know, a conservative and took a stand. You know, I tell you what, they have, and I know you know this, for those who are listening, there are days on college campus where they have what's called tabling, where clubs go out and represent. And that's something Charlie and his team have mastered, is they're great at having these tables that encourage conversation and draw people in.

But boy, the liberals on campuses hate it. But, and I haven't shared this story with Charlie, I have to tell him when I see him again, but my daughter has recently gone through the medical school interview process. Mikayla, I don't know if you are familiar with that process, but you know, you have to take home, Kat, you got to have good grades and all that stuff. But then you go through a series of interviews, at least two interviews and sometimes more, depending on the school.

And I won't say the name of the school here on air, but a major, major medical school in the country. My daughter was in her second interview process, so she had moved along. And so Charlie, get a kick out of this, if you're telling him.

Yeah. So all the things to talk about, I mean, you know, you could talk about grades, or what kind of doctor you want to be when you grow up, or all this other stuff. The only thing that the interviewer wanted to talk about is why she was the leader of a Turning Point chapter on her campus. So Turning Point is getting attention, I mean, when a major medical school, and that just shows the liberal mindset in our country today.

Now, her being the president of a Turning Point chapter at her school has absolutely nothing to do with the kind of physician that she's going to be one day. But that school was hung up with it, because they're scared to death of the positive message that Charlie and his team and your team are presenting on college campuses today. So I just want to thank you for the work you're doing, and I'm glad we aggravate the liberals.

They need to be aggravated. Yeah, that's a badge of honor, as we would say. And it's unfortunate that people are in those positions where they have to choose. And a ton of people, Charlie will always have a Q&A at all the events that he has, and students will come, they get priority to get in line, he tries to get through as many questions as possible, but students will come and ask, what do I do? I'm wanting to be a lawyer.

I'm wanting to go and be a doctor. We've had a lot of medical students that have asked questions, and they've told us about just being discriminated, if it's medically or spiritually or just ideologically. And Charlie will just, you know, he'll be very direct, and he'll say, you have to choose. You have to choose, are you going to be someone that stands for truth?

And what's common sense, and you're going to say relativism is not a thing. There is an ultimate truth, and conservative principles, just common classical educational philosophy. Are you going to abide by that, or will you feel pressured to, you know, change your ways or maybe surrender or self-censor yourself to what you truly believe in order to try to succeed in whichever class or degree or position that you're applying for? And it's tough. I'm so thankful that I work for Charlie, and that throughout so much that happened over the past couple years that we are discriminated against, but we're not, at least from our own peers. And I can at least feel rest assured that we are trying to carry this torch and be on the front lines to defend truth and just our freedom. Okay, I'm so glad that you mentioned truth.

And I know that's a big part. Charlie and I have spoken in a lot of the same places across the country and some of the same college campuses, and truth is an issue, because we live in a society today that doesn't believe in truth. We don't believe in truth anymore. It's whatever you want to believe or whatever somebody else wants to believe. But we can't be like that.

There has to be a grounding point of truth. And that's what leads us up to what we're going to talk about after a commercial break, is the truth and Charlie to realize the need that we need to tell the world about the truth. Y'all stick around. We're with Taylor Smith from Turning Point Faith. We'll be right back with more. We'll be right back with more. Join Chris Hughes in Washington, DC this June.

We'll be right back with more. Visit our website today at conservativebaptistnetwork.com to learn how you and your church can join and support this exciting movement. Welcome back to Christian Perspective. This is Chris Hughes, my guest today. It's Taylor Smith. She's with Turning Point Faith, which is the faith division of Turning Point USA, or TPUSA, a great organization founded by Charlie Kirk. And before the commercial break, Michaela, we were talking about how Charlie travels around the country, speaks to groups, and talks about the truth, and what people may not realize. I mean, they see Charlie on Fox News and in speeches across the country, but Charlie is a strong, strong Christian, a firm believer in Jesus Christ. And so is his wife.

His wife, by the way, went to Liberty University, which is a great, great Christian institution. But Charlie loves the Lord. And he's really, I've enjoyed watching Michaela. His, I know you're, I think, fairly new with his organization, but over the last few years, I've enjoyed watching Charlie as he, I mean, I don't want to imply that he wasn't close to the Lord before, but his faith has really become front and center of who Charlie Kirk is. Yes. And particularly in the last year.

I mean, it's amazing. He is not shunned away. You know, sometimes when we get famous or become stars, you know, we don't necessarily want to talk about our faith. And Charlie has done the opposite. He has embraced his faith and been very bold in saying that he loves Jesus Christ.

And a big part of that is his relationship with a good friend of mine. It is Pastor Rob McCoy. Rob was ran for the state house in California. I don't know if you've met Pastor Rob, but he ran for the state house and he lost. And he became a mayor of his town in California, right at a time when God really needed him there.

Because there was a terrible mass shooting in his community. And he is the pastor of a Calvary Chapel Church in California. And by the way, that is Charlie Kirk's home church is in Pastor Rob McCoy's church. And Pastor Rob took a strong stance when the governor of California, Governor Newsom was trying to shut down churches. Pastor Rob said, we're not going to shut down. And they threatened to imprison him, Michaela, and to sue him personally and to shut down their church.

And I mean, we're not doing a show about him today, but that all played a role. What happened with Rob grew through what was happening. And Charlie at the time was really talking about freedom across the country. And Charlie first visited Rob's church and spoke at it.

But then they became friends and Charlie became a member of Pastor Rob's church there in California. And together, they began to develop this plan of how can we take the organization that you have, Charlie, Turning Point, which is again, as I mentioned earlier, is not on face value a Christian organization, even though they support a lot of Christian values. How can we take the infrastructure you've got and start maybe a different wing or outreach called Turning Point Faith? And that's who you work for, Michaela.

Tell us about what is Turning Point Faith and how was it created? Yeah, well, you, I'm so thankful that you are connected with Rob McCoy and that you're so familiar with just our story and really the development of the department. I mean, you summarized a lot of it, and I'm so glad because it really, this is a move of God and it gives me hope, knowing what our department stands for, why it was created, and what our mission is. Our mission is well beyond this country. It's truly a spiritual battle.

This isn't just a political battle. And those that understand that and have answered the call and truly want to be a soldier for the Lord and a soldier for truth, they have joined this faith department. And so, Rob McCoy has been a tremendous, made a tremendous impact on Charlie's life and my life. And I'm just so blessed to have said that I've met him and that we have his personal number. And he's so humble and has such a servant part for the Lord and for this nation.

I'm just so blessed beyond belief to have gotten connected with him just through our work. And yeah, I mean, you said it well, Rob McCoy was having discussions with Charlie. They were, Rob was discipling Charlie and really shepherding him as a good pastor should. And God was working on all of their hearts all at once to just really just plant the idea in their heads to create the faith department. We can't talk about freedom and liberty on college campuses and not bring that into the church. That's where true freedom comes. Liberty is doing what's righteous and what's right in the eyes of the Lord. And liberty and freedom, as I've talked about several times in the Bible, Galatians 5, 2 Corinthians 3, 17, so God is a God of freedom. And I'm so thankful that we get to represent him and part of his attributes to be a steward of what he's given us here in this country. And so our faith department is here to encourage and equip and activate the faith community to specifically engage them with putting our, let's put our faith into action and restore our American principles while being obedient to our Lord, our true queen.

How do y'all do that? So there's many ways that people can get involved. Our website can tell a lot, but if anybody, since I know this is a national show, if anyone's interested, they could go to the website and there's a get involved button. That information, name, number, email, the basics will get you in touch with your faith representative. But what we can do and how we can offer support to these churches or maybe just ministry groups in the community, we can start a faith civic engagement group to give free faith-based material to go out, feel equipped, have material that stands for marriage, it stands for protecting the sanctity of life, it defends our religious freedom, talks about our First Amendment rights, and that churches should never shut down again, and that churches have the liberty and protection in this country to stay open and to preach the truth and to welcome those that are wanting to discover and find that true freedom in the doors of a church. We really emphasize standing for values like our First Amendment right, and we have material, rally signs, phone boards, buttons, stickers that all say, faith and liberty don't tread on you, or worship God, not government, right? We love that, worship God, not government.

I try to wear that pin everywhere I go. A lot of people have started to worship the government, and the government has tried to make itself its own religion, and God's not going to have that. So people have faith that we know our Creator, we know Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and we want to worship Him first, Him and Him alone. And having that, and then we have pro-life material as well. So Turning Point as a whole, actually, as an organization, has come out and we've taken a stand to defend our first principle, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for the unborn.

I'm so glad that you said that, Michaela, because I'm just going to be transparent here. I know a lot of people think that Turning Point is not, not the Turning Point faith division, but think that Turning Point itself is not a pro-life organization, and I'm glad that you pointed that out to make it clear that life of the unborn is an important issue for Turning Point. You mentioned the website, Michaela, what is the website?

Where can they find this stuff? Yeah, it's tpusa.com slash faith. Okay, so that's TPUSA, which stands for Turning Point USA, tpusa.com forward slash faith, F-A-I-T-H, and you can sign up to get on their member list where they will send you newsletters, great, great emails and other information they send out, but you can also find out how to get the buttons and the signs and the other things that Michaela talked about, and it's important to do that because what they're going to do is connect you with other people in your community, your local community that have like-minded beliefs, so y'all can have, build a friendship base to continue the work that you're doing right there in your own community. Michaela, I also would like for you to share, because we talked in the beginning of the show, we were talking about Turning Point USA, how they're on college campuses. I want to be clear with our listeners, this is not just a college student thing you're talking about now, right, Turning Point faith is for anybody and not specifically on college campuses, is that right? It's for anyone, so we specifically work with people that are plugged into a church or just a Christian looking for a church or other ministry leaders that are faith-based, pro-life organizations, other kind of church engagement groups that are going out to defend biblical values and biblical truths, I can work directly with them and we could start a faith group, a Turning Point USA faith group with their name included, and we could start a social media, I would give them a faith activism kit, and we're actually offering an amazing course as well. We've partnered with Patriot Academy, which is under Rick Green, if people don't know Rick Green has worked directly with David Barton with Wall Builders Live, and they're amazing Christian patriots that have developed a course called Biblical Citizenship in Modern America, and that's an amazing thing I can expand upon, but it's an eight-week course that we could offer to bring into a church as a small group, or even if the pastor is so on board and empowered, if he wanted to start preaching an eight-week series on it, he sure as well can. I'm so glad you mentioned that, Michaela, because Rick Green is a great guy, he spoke, I'm sure you saw Rick at the Culture Engagement Summit there that we had in Memphis, Tennessee, he partners with the Citizens for America Foundation as well, and Rick has done a tremendous job, for those listeners who don't know, David Barton is probably the foremost American historian alive today, he has a huge collection, you can visit their place in Texas, and I mean it's like a museum, he has more documents from the Revolutionary War and Founding Fathers era than anyone else in a private collection in the world, he's got a lot of great documents and knows the history and the context of those documents, and Rick has been working with David for many years, but now Rick has started his own organization called the Patriot Academy, and like you said, they do a wonderful job of teaching Christian and Biblical citizenship, the responsibility of Christians to be involved in our culture and our community, and they tie in things from history, where people today claim that our Founding Fathers weren't Christians, and that's simply not true.

We're going to have to take a commercial break and come back, I want to talk to you a little bit more about Rick Green's work at the Patriot Academy and the wonderful work that Michaela Schmidt's doing at Turning Point Fade, stick around. Big design on social media. In a world crowded with viewpoints and voices.

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This is Chris Hughes. Before the break, we were talking about Rick Green's Patriot Academy, and I encourage you, Michaela has made an offer if you go to her website, TPfaith.com, and you can learn more about how you can join online. You don't have to go to Texas.

They have done a great job of putting together this series. I've been to a few of these sessions, and it's an incredible series that Rick Green's put together to help you understand the Constitution, the founding fathers, and the responsibilities that we have to get involved as Christians. Michaela, talking about that and the work you're doing with churches and how y'all are trying to engage Christian citizens, I'm sure you run into this. I know when I travel all over the country, all the time I have people say, What about separation of church and state? The Constitution says we can't do that. And Michaela, that's just showing ignorance, because if you bother to read the Constitution, which I have and I bet you have too, it only takes about 30 minutes to read it.

Nowhere in there, people. Pastor, are you listening? Nowhere in the Constitution is there such a thing as separation of church and state. So Michaela, I bet you hear that too when you're working in the faith community.

What do you say to people who say we're supposed to be separate and not involved? So I would just point them to the Biblical Citizenship Course. I'm so thankful that Rick and David Barton and so many of the tremendous patriots that have worked on that course have had the vision and the foreknowledge just to know that this is something that was going to need to be addressed for generations to come. But they have their own section. It's in their appendix of the Biblical Citizenship Course, and they have a whole section that talks about it.

But just briefly, I could touch on it. The separation of church and state is a term that people think are in our founding documents, and they are not. They were in letters of a discussion between Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptist Convention back in the day in 1807 or 1802, I believe.

During that period of time, they were trying to figure out, how are we going to develop this country that we just bought and paid our lives for? Is this going to be a monarchy again? Is this going to be a theocracy?

How is this going to be designed? And so there was just kind of discussions on how we were going to adhere to the First Amendment and to not limit the free exercise thereof or establish a religion. And so during these letters of discussion, Thomas Jefferson was saying there's the term separation of church and state.

He actually is saying the opposite of what most people will use that term for today. He said there should not be a separation of church and state. The church should actually not be infringed upon, and that the government should not be infiltrating and trying to establish a universal religion, which they had seen established in Europe. And it was actually to exercise our religious freedoms and our God-given rights, knowing that we serve and we give an account to our Creator, and that we have these inalienable rights that shouldn't be taken away by our government. Glad that you pointed that out, because so many people think that it's, even pastors, Michaela, it shocks me, the number of preachers that come in across the country who think that there needs to be a separation of church and state. And as you said, it was a letter from the Danbury Baptist Thomas Jefferson that were just asking a question, and they didn't want the state involved in the church.

It was not the other way around. And we have a mandate from God. God created this entire world, and there's not a square inch of it that is not created by God.

And when he created man, and I mean mankind, when he created mankind, he created us to have dominion over this earth and everything in it. And we have forfeited as a church our involvement in the arena of government and politics and public policy, and we've got to take a stand. So if a pastor is listening to this today, Michaela, and they're saying, well, okay, I now understand, I didn't understand that before, and our church wants to partner with Turning Point Faith, how can churches, you know, I know they can go to the website, but how can they get in touch with you, and what specifically are y'all doing with churches to help churches as they educate and train other people? We work directly with these pastors. We know that every pastor is in a different heart posture with the Lord. I actually was just at a Christian-engaged conference that was actually defending just families and how to support pastors within families and telling pastors some of the things that kids and families are being exposed to, you know, pornography and just all of the attacks in our institutions on what God has made holy.

I was there yesterday, and it was really a powerful time, but pastors got up and spoke and said, hey, you know, just show us some grace and understand that it's a lot harder than it seems. And so we understand that at Turning Point USA faith. We understand that some pastors need encouragement. Maybe they want to get involved, but they don't know how, so we give them material to help do that. We can start and work with them to create a faith group around that, lay a level of foundation of education with the Biblical Citizenship Course. That could be a small group to empower one another to pray together, gather together, and figure out what God has placed on every individual's heart especially the church's heart so they can go and pursue whichever thing that God has given them and laid on their heart. And we try to have universal, pretty general conservative American faith-based material so they can go out and feel equipped to tackle those issues.

There's a lot of the possibilities. Events, we have Pastors Summit coming up as well. So we're continuing to build out the department and grow, but right now we want to at least just educate and activate the faith community.

And that's the key. And if you're listening, pastors and maybe Christians and members of churches, notice she didn't say, we're trying to get you to vote for a specific candidate or endorse a candidate. That's not what this is about, just like the work that we do at Citizens for America. We just want to educate, and that's the same thing Michaela's doing through Turning Point faith. We want to educate Christians on their responsibility to be involved in the community. You know, I encourage you every day on this show to go impact the culture for Jesus. And there's no greater way to impact the culture for Jesus than to lead the culture to Jesus. We've got to tell other people about Jesus Christ and his saving grace.

And that is a priority not only of our organization, but I know of Michaela and Turning Point faith too. But what they want to do is give you the tools so you can get educated. And their belief, as is my belief, if we can tell you what the Bible says on issues in society, like transgender, homosexuality, traditional family values, abortion, and those things, because most professing Christians, as you know Michaela, don't know what the Bible says. Whether it's for ignorance or apathy, or don't get them God's word enough, or don't have a preacher who preaches on those issues.

Whatever the reason is, most Christians don't know what the Bible says on those issues. And that's what y'all are doing. You're giving them the tools. And folks listening, all you got to do is go to tpusa.com slash faith.

That's tpusa.com slash faith. Put in your name, email address, and phone number. And you'll have access to a world of information that will educate you and equip you, so you then can engage in the culture. And we've got a couple more minutes, Michaela. So how do people, other than going to the website, you mentioned events coming up. I know, boy, nobody does events, but there's a turning. Are some of those large-scale events like you've done for college students coming for the faith community, and if so, when and where? That's such a great question, because that's part of our vision for the department. So we have not had a faith event yet, but what we do have to offer within the year is a pastor's summit. So any pastors that are, you know, they're rooted in their conservative values, and they want to learn more, they want to know how they can take a stand, and maybe how they can start preaching and addressing these cultural issues with a biblical response at the pulpit. And we would love to help to support them and give them some material, give them some sermon discussions. Rob McCoy will be taking a big part in creating some sermon suggestions, just for some topical points that pastors could address if they feel led to. And we're having a pastor's summit in San Diego, August 10th through the 12th, and that is open to any senior pastor at any church. We've actually waived the fee.

The ticket is covered. The hotel is covered. It's going to be at the Cordova Resort, which is a beautiful resort in San Diego. Jack Hibbs, Rob McCoy, and many other pastors will be there to just really encourage, edify, and just educate pastors on how we can preach the word more boldly during these days.

Tremendous. So again, pastors, if you're listening right now, that's going to be August 10th through the 12th in San Diego, California. So if a pastor's listening and he wants to find out how he can get his free hotel and free registration, how does he do that? There is a link, and I'm confirming it. It's tpusa.com slash pastors, and that will pull up the application for the pastor's summit August 10th through the 12th in San Diego.

And they will be able to just go ahead and apply. And typically the faith representative would be able to send out the link, but I wanted to just go ahead and make sure the link—yep, it's just tpusa.com slash pastors, plural. Thank you so much. So again, if you're a Christian and you want to get engaged, go to tpusa.com slash faith. That's tpusa.com slash faith. Sign up, and they will connect you with people in your community, tell you about the biblical citizenship course they're doing with Rick Green, so many other wonderful things they're doing. And pastors, if you want to go to the summit, and I encourage you to go, go to tpusa.com slash pastors with an S. Michaela, we are praying for you. We are thankful for your testimony and how God is using you in a mighty way to turn this culture around. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Well, folks, I hope you'll listen here each and every day in your local radio station. This show will be released as a podcast later today, and you can share it with your friends on social media.

Send a copy of your pastor so he can learn what he can do as a pastor to engage the local church. Thank you for being a listener. God bless you, and let's go impact the culture for Jesus. Thank you for listening. The Christian Perspective with Chris Hughes. Learn more about impacting the culture for Jesus. Visit citizensforamericafoundation.com . This is the Truth Network.