This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk the truth news! I can't hide it. A daily program powered by the Truth Network.
This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. Who would have ever thought in the land of the free, the home of the brave, that socialism, communism.
would pick up a ground swell of momentum to the point where candidates are winning elections in big numbers who are avowed open Communist Socialist, who would have thought that Islam Would take root in America in tire communities like Dearborn, Michigan. Committing themselves to Islamic policies, to Sharia law, politicians pledging Sharia law. And then there's all this gender confusion. a former NBA player kicked out of a WNBA game for simply wearing a T-shirt. That says Woman, definition, adult female.
Today on Truth Talk Live, I'm honored to have a longtime friend ministry partner, man of God, board member of NRB, pastoring a historic church, A pastor who has not yet bowed his knee to Baal, Pastor Rob Poscienza. You may remember. D. James Kennedy trues to transform.
Well, the program's still going, and it's being led now by one of Dr. Kennedy's disciples. Rob Pasienza. Pastor Rob, an honor to have you on this program. Stu, always great to be on with you.
Man, and I tell you, you jumped right into a hornet's nest of issues. And I want listeners, if you want to call in. Maybe you're struggling. Maybe you think Christians and pastors Should not speak to such cultural issues, such hot potatoes. Such hornet's nest that we just stepped on as we opened the program.
So, we want to hear from you. We have a pastor to help guide us through what does the Bible say? And, Pastor Rob, first of all, you may be getting some heat from different corners. And if you haven't seen his videos, they've been great lately, Pastor, you have been spot on. On engaging these issues, what is the role of the church, Pastor Rob Pascienza?
In Addressing this milieu of cultural hot potatoes that some say that belongs in politics, those issues. Don't belong in the pulpit. What do you say to those critics out there that say that? The challenge is those that believe in a secular age and don't believe that God has any place in the public square, that's exactly what they want the church to believe. Leave the politics to us.
And that's precisely the problem. Over the last 40, 50 years, particularly in North America, we've bought the lie of secularism, that the public square should be void of God and of religion, and we've given it over to the secularist, and we're paying the fatal price for it. But here's the challenge: whenever you see the Apostle Paul, whether he was going into Athens or going into Corinth, very pagan places, what was he always doing? He certainly wasn't retreating from the culture, but what he was doing, he wasn't playing into their hand. He was always elevating the conversation.
And he was saying, well, I noticed that you worship this pagan God, and you worship this idol, and you believe in this stronghold, and you believe in this philosophy. Philosophy.
So he was willing to engage with them, but then he was always willing to raise and elevate the conversation and say, Let me tell you about the kingdom of God. Let me tell you about Jesus Christ. And so I think we need to change the conversation and say, let's talk about socialism. Let's talk about transgenderism. And we're not going to just play the political game, who can shout the loudest, who can have the best arguments.
We're going to elevate the conversation and say, this is really a battle of world views. And that's really the key for the church right now. And pastors need to wake up, and Christians need to wake up and say, these are not political debates. This is a battle of worldviews. This is a battle of ideologies.
Whether it's militant Islam, whether it's socialism and Marxism, where it's radical gender ideology, we need to remember this isn't just about mere legislation. This is not just about mere political viewpoints. This is ideology and pagan ideologies that need to be confronted with both the truth and the hope of. The gospel. Pastor, you've done some remarkable messages and really these reels.
You're so effective on social media with your whole ministry. We love carrying the program, Truths of Transform.
So many radio stations that listen to us right here with this program carry your program. And if you're out there and you carry Truth Talk Live, you don't carry Truths at Transform, you need to reach out to his team or reach out to us and we'll connect you with his team. Try to get his program out because he's really, you're, you're really, you know, the church. You have these extremes, Pastor, and help us navigate this. Yeah, Pastor, you have these extremes of people that say, well, the church people use the pulpit as an exclusive political go-vote.
elephant govo donkey, right? Like you have all these extremes. I mean, this says this is all this is like a grounded landline, right? Yeah. But then you also, Pastor, have you have these other extremes where You're you have people that are They're saying don't say anything.
You're gonna run away as fast as you can.
Well, you talk about just the balance of that, and we talk about how you're not campaigning for a political party when you're preaching on Sunday. You're preaching through God's Word. But you can't help avoid These hot topics that come up. Will you speak to that? Yeah, absolutely.
We need to remember often we focus on the negative side of getting into these discussions and getting into these debates. But we need to remember that we not only proclaim the message we proclaim as Christians because it's true, but we also proclaim it because it's good and beautiful. We actually believe that this leads to human flourishing for all people. You know, I always explain the analogy to my children. You know, you get a board game, you get a new puzzle, you get a new toy.
You know, you got to follow the instructions. If you don't follow the instructions, the toy's not going to work. The puzzle's not going to come together. Whatever you get for Christmas is not going to work properly. God has given us.
Clear instructions. He's given us a clear design. He's given us a design for humanity and purpose and gender and sexuality and marriage and government, even. And so when we follow God's design, we're proclaiming this is the true, good, and beautiful way that leads to human flourishing for all people. And when we go against God's design and we fail to speak the truth and love, we see chaos and floundering.
And that's what we're seeing in society right now.
So you're absolutely right. We engage not just because, not only because it's true, but because we believe that this is the better way to live, that we believe that the message of Jesus Christ coming to earth not only redeems sinners, not only redeems human souls, but it redeems the entire created order.
Well, and that's not to negate or to push aside the exposition of scripture where the pastor teaches through God's word every line, every verse, right, Pastor Rob, like you're You're not saying, okay, it's either the word. Or it's social issues politics. Yeah, our ministry here is a great case study. There is not a Sunday that goes by where I'm not opening up God's word and either camping out in one particular passage or a number of passages showing that our faith, our life, our worldview is grounded in God's infallible word. Yeah, absolutely.
We need to understand that's where the power is. The power is not in our winsome words and in our analogies and in our illustrations. The power is in the whole counsel of God. But then understanding that the whole counsel of God, if it truly is sufficient for all of life, needs to be applied to All of life, not only our private personal lives, but also our public life as well. It includes how we conduct ourselves as citizens in the community, how we live out our faith in the public square, how do we work, how do we live out our faith in the workplace, and how do we live out our faith when it comes to government and politics.
As I always say, the Christian religion is deeply personal, but it's never meant, never has been meant, and never should be a private faith. It should be a public faith. If we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, He logically needs to be Lord of all. That includes every sphere of culture. Therefore, we preach God's word from beginning to end.
That is the whole counsel of God. That's the power, expositional preaching. But then we apply it to our cultural moment. Wow. I'm so glad you said that, Pastor Rob.
Because there's such a hunger in the land for people to hear God's word taught from the pulpit. And those that are under that kind of teaching actually end up getting the social issues right because they're grounding the word more on transgenderism. The WNBA is going nuts. How about socialism? We're going to talk about that.
Is it really all that bad that the government gives you everything you want and it kind of takes over? And Sharia law with Pastor Rob Pascienza. Don't miss this next segment coming up right here on Truth Talk Live. Never before. Has it been imperative for the Christian to know what they believe, to know why they believe it, and to speak the truth?
in love. There's a way to graciously engage. with those who disagree with you and have conversations Pastor Rob Pacienz is our special guest. There tends to be this This cancel culture out there, Pastor Rob, where if someone gives a dissenting view, We saw this during COVID. In in mass numbers.
And we're seeing it now. A man just wears a t-shirt. To a WNBA game. This former pro basketball player. He wears a t-shirt that says a woman is an adult female.
That's all the church said. And they kick him out of the stadium. No one has a conversation. They just, it's like, what in the world? I mean, I've seen t-shirts with blasphemy on them, I've seen t-shirts with evil, inappropriate stuff, but Pastor Rob.
You're with us today. We're talking about all these things. I want to get into socialism. But It's there's never been that we're on this kind of p p precipice, this kind of cliff. Our great country is And How do we navigate it?
You know, like. When The frontrunner in the Senate race in North Carolina, this sweet grandfatherly guy. He was running for Senate He is all for Allowing men to play in women's sports. He's been open about it. He's vetoed every bill when he was governor.
That's against that. And yet he's going to get all these votes. All these Christians are going to flock to vote for him because he's going to say, well, I'm a good Christian, but he wants he's okay with men in women's locker rooms. He's okay with so there's a with men playing in women's sports. They just passed a bill.
I just read a Riley Gaines bill in Georgia or somewhere that says. That bans men from women's sports. Why should we be mad about that? Pastor Rob Pacienza shouldn't. All Americans, whatever your stripe or flavor, shouldn't we all be excited about not having men?
boxing and women's sport boxing and knocking women out and And in tackling and fouling women in basketball. Can you speak to that, sir? Absolutely. And this is how you know, and I'm not overstating it, but this is how you know this is a spiritual battle. Because we're beyond the absurdity of the cultural moment that we find ourselves in.
I mean, when we're sitting here having this conversation, I mean, you and I are going, we can't even wrap our minds around that this is the world that we now live in, but that's how you know it's a spiritual battle. Because Satan, the great deceiver, what does he do? He comes to rob, kill, and destroy. And he robs us of truth. He robs us of the truth of God's word.
He redefines good. He redefines evil. But we realize that there's nothing new under the sun, right? Isaiah said, Woe to you who call good evil and evil good. And that's the absurdity of the moment that we live in.
And we should be mad. We should be angry. But we need to realize because it's a spiritual battle, this isn't going to be solved through mere politics or legislation. To be solved by the people of God, speaking the truth in love, preaching from the pulpits, Christians getting engaged in their communities, defending creation order, defending women. I mean, that's the irony of it all.
Yeah, this is exploitative of women. This whole trans movement is exploiting women. It's not protecting them. I know. Absolutely.
For years in this nation, we fought for women's rights. We fought for women to be treated equal. And we believe that the church should be on the forefront of that movement because they are equally created in the image and likeness of God. And now all of a sudden, you have progressive women joining forces with the transgender movement. And I'm going, once again, this is beyond absurd.
You're going backwards. It's like you're going back in time. You're losing your God-given rights in this nation by giving it over to progressive ideologies and this demonic transgender movement that. That is just pervasive throughout our culture and really warping and corrupting the minds and the souls of the next generation.
Now, Pastor Rob, having said that, is it true that you are about to put your name in to be drafted in the WNBA draft coming up as a star point guard? Is this true, sir, that you're just feeling a little feminine and you're going to put your name in the hat to be drafted? What do you think? You know, I waited weeks and I wanted to do it right here on the Truth Network, so I am taking my talents to the WNBA. No, but hey, why not?
You know, why not? I mean, everything else is so absurd.
Well, that's what they say. If you feel it, maybe you've been a little bit pink lately. Yeah, if you're feeling it, just go, you know, go ahead. But that's what. A culture that says I'll do whatever's right in my own eyes, that's where it denigrates.
And honestly, Pastor Rob. It's ridiculous that you don't have any females trying to get in the NBA. Not one. You don't have any of that the other way. And so some some activists, some some more on the right conservative folks that believe that That There's two genders, which is exactly what the Bible says, which is exactly what.
What, six thousand years of of civilization has taught And the enemy has come in and deceived to say, however many there are, whatever you feel like, whatever you wake up feeling that day. You have parents that are affirming their little children who are. Children, and it's really child abuse, but Pastor Rob. Honestly, We know it's not going to happen. We know it's ridiculous.
But it's important to really draw a line in the sand at some point, isn't it, sir? Especially as believers. Believers shouldn't get this wrong. We can't get this wrong, and we need to understand that this is really a theological issue. And what I mean by that is that the radical gender ideology that is so pervasive in our culture right now, we need to understand that we are not only going against God's design, but we are robbing the world of both the glory of God and the gospel of God.
And what I mean by that is that God had a very clear plan from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. And he said, This is how my glory would be extended to the earth. And it would be through creating male in my image and likeness and creating female in my image and likeness. And keeping that creation order intact is the best way, God said, in which my glory would be advanced. But then you skip to the New Testament, and not only is the glory of God advanced through creation order, but also the gospel that he likens Christ to the husband and he likens the church.
Church to the bride. The church is never called the husband, and Christ is never called the bride. And so when you reverse those genders and you start calling men women and women men, you not only rob the world of the glory of God, but you rob the world of the glorious picture of the gospel, not to mention the breakdown of the nuclear family and the inability for children to be produced. Which goes against the cultural mandate, which is to be fruitful and multiply.
So, this is an affront not only to culture and society and traditional values, this is an affront to God and his created order and how he designed the world to function and flourish. That's the voice of Pastor Rob Hasienza. He is the host of Truths to Transform Radio, Truths to Transform Television. Coral Ridge Ministry is a wonderful ministry out of the pulpit of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a historic church that stands on God's Word. Pastor Rob, I promise to get to socialism, communism, why it matters, why it's not just another political category.
Well, I'm libertarian, I'm socialist, blah, blah, blah. Why it has some very deadly roots. And I want to get historical rather than hysterical in the next segment. First, there's no one who hates transgenders more. There's no one who hates homosexuals more, and there's no belief system that hates LGBTQ more than Islam.
Yes, I said it. By the way, The best friend of all those different groups are Christians. Evangelical Christianity says we want to share Jesus with you and God's love with you. And God has a better way. But we don't try to kill you.
But what is Islam's view? Of LGBTQ? What is Islam's view that's being perpetrated in America right now, Pastor Rob, that's dominating England and Europe now? What is Islam's view of LGBTQ? How long would someone last who is a transgender if they went over to Palestine right now?
Just give us this raw truth on this. Yeah, I mean, they would be the epitome of the infidel. And the Quran is very clear in saying that the infidel must be put to death by the sword. They actually say that there's no change, there's no cultural and societal change without the power of the sword. And that is a growing movement.
Islam is, but when you realize what they feel, how intolerant they are. It's crazy how that works out. What about socialism? We'll come back a little bit to the gender issue, but I want to ask Pastor Rob about this wave of socialism and communism. When we come back, it's like Ask the Pastor on Truth Talk Live with Pastor Rob Pasienza, Corwidge Ministries.
Hang on.
So now so now it's been bandied about that. You are Racist and Islamophobic if you don't buy and agree with and stamp everything that Islam teaches. Pastor Rob Pasienza, this is happening. In America. I mean, France is.
Whew, some say they're long gone. England is becoming more and more Muslim-dominated. They're trying to pacify. But Islam is not a religion as much as it's a political system. And people need to understand that.
We're going to jump to socialism and communism. I guess all those are kind of cousins. But Pastor Rob, will you speak to that? Because, you know, I guess the whole word Islam means surrender. And they're going to come in and assimilate, and they're in the Quran allows the The Quran specifically teaches that you are allowed to lie.
If it means you can advance Sharia, if you can advance Islam, it teaches that. And so Muslims are coming in. pretending like they're Pro-LGBTQ, which is condemned by every Muslim country out there, pretending like they're pro-transgender rights. Pretending like they're for all this nonsense and immorality. an abortion when in fact Once they get in power, things will change.
Pastor Rob, can you speak to that and get historical with us on what the agenda is of this maybe the most dangerous political system known as Islam? Yes, I mean, the agenda is simple. It is domination. Domination through force, domination through, as you said, the ends justifying the means. It is domination by infiltrating community Community networks, political networks, school boards, all for the purpose of taking over all of the key cultural institutions.
And if we think this is something that we're, you know, that we're speaking in hyperbole, just travel to Western Europe. This has been happening over the last 30 to 40 years. I was in Paris two summers ago. I mean, literally, our tour guy was saying, we can't go into this neighborhood. I said, why?
They said, you won't make it out alive. Because these neighborhoods were ruled by Sharia law. We're seeing it. It's all over Western Europe. It's in Canada.
Now we're seeing it, particularly with this latest election cycle. We're seeing it in cities, in key cities, in key battleground states all across America where Muslims are running for office. They're blatant as far as what their agenda is. And you can see the results. I mean, the Islamic community is blindly following.
Following these candidates because there's only really one goal at the end. It's not vote for the best candidate, it's to make sure that their religious and political ideologies become pervasive in the city, in the state, in the districts that they are running in. Yeah, and what could be a reality check is if we actually said, hey, let's do Sharia law in New York City. Because if Mundami the Mayor. Who's Muslim?
If he followed Islamic principles and did Sharia law, Then They're going to take a guy who's stealing from people on the subway and they're going to cut his arms off, right, Pastor Rob? They're going to take and execute homosexuals. That's what Sri Law does. I mean, do people understand What this looks like. You know, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it would be a wake-up call, wouldn't it?
They have no idea what they're talking about. For those that are either joining forces with militant Islam, whether it's the socialist or it's the LGBTQ community, have no earthly idea what the implications are long term for a society that welcomes and embraces militant Islam. I mean, the ramifications are staggering. We haven't even yet seen the deadly consequences of embracing this as a common, peaceful religion, which it's not. And I think, you know, this really goes back to 9-11, if you remember.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle, unfortunately, were quick to say, you know, Islam is a religion of peace, that Islam really poses no threat. And that was really the beginning of the end of us becoming, in my opinion, desensitized to the rise of militant radical Islam being welcomed in the mainstream here in America. And over the last 25 years, it's only gained a foothold and become what I believe is a legitimate stronghold in Western society. Mosques are going up all over the country. They've got a battle in Texas right now over that.
We had a battle in Charlotte over one. Islam is a religion of peace as long as you bow your knee and surrender to Islam. If you don't you will ultimately end up in a bad spot, potentially execution, and that's what is happening in the Islamic countries where they really do hold to the fundamental views of the Koran. Christianity is a religion of peace, Pastor Rob. That our founders, the reason they didn't start an Islamic country, the reason they didn't base our founding documents on the Quran, they based it on freedom, which means a Muslim can come worship here.
A Muslim can come to our country and practice their religion, but not obviously Sharia law and not take over and not redefine our Constitution. All the religions and all the even the lifestyles that are non-biblical can live and practice freely in America because that's the beauty of it. Because that's called freedom, that's called religious liberty. Pastor Rob, so it's really two worldviews at odds with each other at the end of the day, I guess, isn't it, sir? Absolutely.
That's why our founders grounded our nation, our founding principles, and our founding documents in a Judeo-Christian worldview, period, because they realized that this was the only way that there would be unprecedented freedom in this new republic that they were establishing. And as I've often said, not unprecedented freedom for Christians, not unprecedented freedoms for the Jewish religion, but unprecedented freedoms for all people. That you would be able to freely exercise your religion in the public square without any threat of government coercion or any government silence. And so that's the irony. And that's not just an American case study.
You've studied civilization throughout the history of the world. Wherever the Judeo-Christian worldview has been embraced, those societies flourish and they're flourishing for all people. But wherever another worldview was embraced, wherever the Judeo-Christian Christian worldview was suppressed, those empires, kingdoms, and societies always floundered and crumbled. And so I look at the West and I see this embrace of Marxism and radical gender ideology and now militant Islam being embraced in the West and Christianity slowly being pushed to the side. I go, what can we expect for the next generation here in America if this trajectory continues?
There's no way that there can be freedom and flourishing for all in a nation that suppresses the one thing that gives liberty and the virtue of freedom the opportunity to flourish. And it's a simple history lesson.
Now, Pastor Rob, you can remember the Cold War. You're old enough or young enough, but some of our kids, instead of getting hysterical, they need to get historical. Let's talk about this other side, socialism, communism, which is being. Hugely pushed, and college kids, even some Christian kids, are saying, well, it's just a political persuasion, and it seems right to take from the billionaires and give money to the poor. I mean, we need to help them out.
Talk about where that takes us. I mean, because they have never been to Romania, they have never been to Cuba. I don't see boatloads of people trying to jump on a vessel and go to Cuba right now to migrate to Cuba, Pastor Rob Pacienza. Maybe some of these young people should.
So, they could see where communism takes us. Can you give us a little history lesson and why it's really important to understand the foundation of what you believe and what our country was founded on and the danger, the pitfalls of that?
So, I think we need to understand that ultimately, communism and socialism, although they pose themselves as economic systems, they all find their root in Marxism. And Marxism, wherever it has gone, has not just been an economic system. It's been a cultural system. It's been a worldview and an ideology that has wreaked havoc and millions upon millions of deaths wherever it has gone. And so, for anybody that either wanting to separate this as a simple economic method that brings about more justice and more opportunity is certainly not a student of history and is disingenuous at best.
This is socialism, communism, Marxism. Anybody that tries to say that these are somehow different systems and different ideologies, no. They all find their roots in the fatal, deadly ideology of Marxism. Like I said, not just an economic system, but a cultural ideology that wreaks havoc wherever it goes. And we need to understand.
And we need to understand as Christians. That it's not compatible at all with a Christian worldview. There's no place for God. There's no place for religion. There's certainly no place for Christians exercising their religion in the public square.
The state becomes God, and the state provides everything. And really, it's a breaking of the commandment. It's a call to theft. It's a call to steal. It's a call to covet.
And not realize that our gifts all come from God and that we earn everything that comes from God through hard work and through being a good neighbor and being a good, faithful citizen, and putting our fair share in. It basically takes all of those virtues off the table and says, you can be lazy, you can be slothful, you can steal from your neighbor because at the end of the day, the state is simply going to redistribute all wealth and all economic services, and because they ultimately want the state to be seen as the support. Supreme God that supplies all of the needs for society. Yeah, and that's where, you know, and you can go to the extreme of: hey, hundreds of millions have been murdered by Mao, by Pol Pot in Cambodia, Fidel Castro. I mean, this is the evil in the name of communism.
But here's how they got there. They got there by a nice, smooth sounding grandfather figure, whatever, politician. Who got on the thing and got on the screen and said, We're going to give you money. Medicare for all, tax relief for all. That's how it starts.
They don't show you the lines, mile-long lines around blocks waiting for people just waiting to get bread to feed their family. They get to the front of the line and there's no more bread. They don't show you people getting thrown in jail because they simply disagree. They're like, wait, wait a second. That's not what you promised this as a politician.
Now you're telling me this is crazy. They don't show you when they get the villagers to come with their pitchforks and their big torches to go burn down the plant. And the next day they're like, okay, who's going to pay our medical benefits? Who's going to pay us our wage? How are we going to get our kids medicine?
How are we going to feed our families?
So, Pastor Rob, the pitch is right from the pit of hell, but it's brilliant. It's the devil disguising an anti-God belief, isn't it, sir, at the end of the day. Absolutely. It is a pitch, and it is a pitch from the Pitafell, as you said. And they're appealing.
They're appealing to young minds that want justice, affordable housing, and opportunity for all people, but finding it in a bankrupt system. Give us your website real quick, sir. Folks need to follow this guy everywhere. CRM.tv. CRM.tv, that stands for Coral Ridge Ministries.
