This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing.
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. Everybody's got an opinion on where America is headed, but here's something interesting: did you know those same people probably ain't gonna turn up to the midterm elections to vote? What do you think about that?
We want to hear your thoughts. Eight six six three four truth. That's eight six six three four eight seven eight eight four. And this is a live show, so we want you to go ahead and call in right now. What do you think about the fact that a majority of Americans, maybe not a majority, but a good portion of Americans, are not willing to vote in the midterm elections?
That's eight six six three four truth. Welcome. To Truth Talk. My name is John Galantis, and I'm here with today's Truth Talk host, Dr. Abbadan Shah.
Dr. Shah, welcome to the studio. It's good to be here. And man, what a subject! I know what a topic.
This is this is one that I think a lot of people. Why why why y'all y'all are Christians, man? Why we talk in politics, Dr. Shah? Right before we get into what today is, why do we talk politics as Christians?
Because the Bible tells us very clearly that righteousness exalts a nation.
Okay, so. If we're voting values that are contrary to what God has called us to be as a nation, we're going to self-destruct. Yeah, and so it is not optional; we have to vote. This is not about are you Republican or Democrat. This is about voting biblical values.
You cannot separate those two. You cannot say, "Well, you know, church and politics don't mix." No, you have to pick a side. That's right, and you better pick God's side. That's right, Amen. You know, if you're a regular Clearview today listener and you're tuning into the show and you're wondering what is Truth Talk, this is our Thursday segment.
So every Thursday going forward, we're going to be live on air, and when I say Live. I don't just mean live streaming, although we will be live on the internet. We are live on the radio, so that number that we're calling, that we're telling you to call, is live right now eight six six three four truth. We're talking today about these midterm elections, and Doctor Shaw, maybe you've seen this for a long time as a pastor in the community that we're in, but also in the nation at large. Everybody, everybody's got an opinion.
Everybody wants to talk about what's going wrong in America, but come voting day. They sitting at home. Yeah, many of them don't even show up. Why do you think that is? Is Yeah, I've been in America for almost coming up thirty-five years.
I came in nineteen ninety-one. This is twenty twenty-six. That's thirty-five years. Yeah, and I have seen a decline in public in Christian involvement in government. And I know there are various reasons for that.
Sometimes it's because we have been disillusioned by so-called Christian politicians who went out and then they did horrible things. I get it. It's very disappointing. It's very dis. Discouraging, and it's sad.
It's it's it's a shame. I get it. Then there are times where you know the issues are muddled, and and we're not sure. You know that person is not a bad person, but why are they also standing for this and that?
So those are some of the reasons why Christians. Hesitate to talk about politics because they feel like if I say something today, tomorrow you're going to throw that in my face and say you voted for them. This is what that person did, or this is what they also stand for. But then there are people on the other side who will definitely talk politics in church. I mean, they will put it on the billboard.
Oh yeah. They will. They sell the bulletin. Oh, it's it's that. But the moment you do, immediately it is you are a hypocrite.
How dare you do this? And then sometimes it is Christians who will, you know, fight against us. You know, and and and say that that cannot be done. That's right.
Well, we got Buck Smith from Dayton, Ohio. The man, that Buck Smith, that was very quickly, my friend, Buck Smith. You are on the air, Truth Talk. Listen, there's a lot of people out there complaining about the nation, but they not voting. What do you think about that?
Yeah, well, I'll tell you, brothers. I would like to know. Maybe we can talk about this on the show today. Why is it? I would like that question answered.
But I did want to throw this out to. Dr. Ashad and and you too. I heard on the news that President Trump is saying, "Hey, if you come out and vote Republican in the midterms, we can get you five thousand dollars." And then I think just yesterday, maybe the day before, I heard him say that he was offering free money for young people to start a business with. And so that's got me a little concerned.
Number one, it looks a little bit like ballot buying to some of us critical thinkers out here who, not really for free money. We've seen what happened to our economy when we got all the free COVID money. I know we got like three different installments of free government money, and boy, that has really harmed us.
So I would like your thoughts on that, gentlemen. And I can take the answers off the air. Why won't Christians go out to vote? And the second is, what do we think about the president offering money to voters if we, if if the Republicans take the midterms? And I can take the answer off the air.
Thanks, guys. It's nice meeting you. Thanks. Thank you so much. Thank you for calling.
We really appreciate that.
Well, here's what I would say: every politician offers something. That's right.
Vote me in in the next election, and I will do this, that, and the other for you. I'm not sure. I haven't heard that bit about yeah. That's new to me too. Yeah.
So, but anyways, I would say let's stick to the plan, which is. Vote for that person who will support biblical values. That's right.
Vote for that person who will stand for godliness for righteousness. Am I going to say that that person will be godly and righteous? No. I don't need a pastor in the White House. I need somebody who will stand for those values.
Throughout the history of the world, you have you've seen kings, you have seen people in power who did amazing things. Do I? Endorse their personal values? Of course not. That's right.
You know, we all love the King James version, or maybe not. But King James was no modicum of Christian morality. Yeah, I mean, far from that. Read his biography, and you'll be you'll be shocked. But he supported the translation.
That's right.
He supported what we have today as the King James. And again, I'm not a King James only. Right. I put that out there. Right.
Right. But again, a lot of Christians support that.
So here's what I say. Read their their platform. Don't go by offers. And and if somebody's gonna vote for that person just because of five thousand dollars, you're gonna have a whole lot more to lose. That's right.
So let's not go by any offers of that kind. Go by the platform. What is this person against? What are they for? And does it line up with the word of God?
That's right.
You know the the this is a you know you can talk about capitalism, you can talk about incentive, all that stuff. But I think Dr. Shaw has the right of it. Is that at the end of the day, the president, just like any elected official, is a representative. And if they are representing your values, then the things that they're doing in office, yeah, you might not like them, you might not approve of them.
But what what's the alternative? It's either you vote for the opposite party, who's going to destroy your values, or you just don't vote. And then this episode's about you.
So you know what I mean. I. I think Doctor Shah has the exact right of it. Is that at the end of the day, what are those values? Yeah, go by the the platform values is what I I would say.
Yeah, incentives. You know, we I was downtown just the other day, and we have you know local elections going on as well. And a gentleman walked up to me, and he talked about so and so. You know, they're offering like these meal tickets for this and that. I was like.
Well, I don't know what to say to you, man. I mean, that's that's silly, but. What are they standing for? That's right.
What is their platform? Oh well, they they believe in this, that, and the other. I was like, well, I'll vote for them whether they give me the meal ticket or not. Yeah, yeah, meal ticket would be great. Yeah, meal ticket's good.
I'll take it. Yeah, but at the end of the day, man, I'm going for what that person stands for. Same with any company. Same with any corporation. If the product is good, you're going to back it.
And if it's something that delivers on what they say they're going to deliver on, you're going to go. I may not agree with the marketing. You know, I may not, or I may not even care one tick about the marketing. But I think at the end of the day, just like Dr. Shet said, we want to vote biblical values.
Some of the things to me that matter. Let's just begin with that.
Some of the things that this nation was founded upon: Judeo-Christian values, biblical values. I want to see a party, a candidate who supports those values. Let's talk about. Gender, all the the chaos that is happening in our world, I I believe we need to to maintain God's creation order. Male and female is how He created us in His image.
I want to support a candidate who will stand for those values.
Okay, that matters to me. I I and I can go on and on. I mean, those are some of the things that matter to me. That's right.
Far more. Like the life of the unborn, that matters to me. Yeah, people think, you know, man, that's why do we always bring up abortion? Because again, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That's right, and so that matters to me.
So those are some of the things that I will look for. And we're going to keep talking about that a little bit more right after we come back from the break. Keep those calls coming. Eight six six three four truth. That's eight six six three four eight seven eight eight four.
We'll be right back. Truth Talk Live. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back, Truth Talk Live. We've got Gary from Texas who's been waiting in line.
Gary, there are people right now in America who are going to complain, right? They're going to complain about the state of our nation, but they are not going to go vote in the midterms. What do you think about that? Well, I've been at this now for about 21 years, trying to get across to pastors that, look, guys, you've got to get your people registered to vote, and you got to get them out to vote, and that seems like we're sometimes just fitting into the wind. But I still see that there has been progress made, and.
We just have to stay at it. The thing that keeps me going at it and trying to encourage people to do this is praying for all those who are in authority, like we're told to do, and in First Timothy chapter two. But instead of praying at all those in authority, praying for all those in authority keeps me in the game, and that's what we need to do for people who just don't seem to have the urgency to vote. We need to be praying for our people. Just it's a message from God to get out and do this, you know.
I understand the Bible doesn't say anything about voting, but praying for all those in authority was what the early Christians were told to do. This was what they were told to do. And for those of us who have the opportunity to vote, why would we not be praying about this and going out and doing it? And still, they're just people that some don't do that, and we just can't be focusing on them. We just have to focus on the message, keep it going out.
That's right, Doctor Shaw. Speaking from a pastoral perspective, how do you challenge people to go out and and vote and make a difference in elections? Vote biblical values. As a pastor, what can you do? Do you find that hard to do from the pulpit?
Oh, yes, sometimes. But before I do, I just want to acknowledge this is the. Brother Gary Miller, so thank you for for calling in. We really appreciate.
So Gary from Texas, I was like, yes, that might be Gary Miller.
Well, we appreciate all that you do, and and as you said, for twenty one years, just staying at it, encouraging pastors to vote, but prayer. I know it's on on your heart, brother, and and it's on our heart as well. That's right.
Yes, because there is this idea that people get nervous about talking about politics in church. And in 1954, the IRS put a regulation that prevents pastors from supporting or opposing any candidate by name. Having said that, churches are allowed to deal with the issues that are part of the election campaign. There is no law against that. You can definitely get up there and preach biblical morality.
You can preach against what's happening with the sexual destruction in our country. You can you can speak for the life of the unborn. All those issues should be talked about. There is no law against that. In fact.
You know, it's a red herring. Yeah.
You know, back in the day, Jerry Falwell would talk about the red herring. He said that's a red herring. Means you are you you're afraid because somebody just put something up there saying, "Oh, that's a separation of church and state," and everybody backs off. You're going to lose your your tax exempt status. Oh, I can't have that.
Yeah, I can't talk about politics. Yeah.
No. Yes, you can, and you better. The passage that Brother Miller mentioned is First Timothy chapter two, verse one. It says, "Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men." And then in verse two, for kings and all who are in authority. The word "kings" could refer to the Roman emperor.
Or to some small time, local ruler, for us it implies national leaders, state leaders, and local leaders. We should be praying for them. The word authority means anybody of any consequence to us, who is going to impact not only our pocketbooks, but also how we worship. That's right.
So. Praying for them, and and then it goes on to say in verse two that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and reverence. Quiet and peaceable refers to social, political, and financial stability, and then godliness refers to. And this is where voting matters. Talking about election matters.
Encouraging people to go vote. Biblical values matters because godliness refers to belief in God. And the impact it makes in everyday life, brother Miller. You want to add anything to that? No, I I think that this is the promise that we have yet to take God up on.
That this is what we get when we pray His way, when we handle things His way, then we get the promise delivered by Him and. It the promise hasn't gone begging; it just hasn't been asked for and applied for in the way that Scripture tells us to do it. This is not spitting in the wind. This is something that I think is crucial as we anticipate the next great awakening, and and I call it the next great awakening. I don't try to count how many we've had.
Some people say we've had three, and some say four. The next great awakening is is is the key to this. Because this is what happened in 1739. That awakening raised up a whole new generation of leaders, and that's what I think is going on right now in our country. And it's going to be messy, and it's going to be wild, but it has to be done.
And status quo is not going to be able to accomplish the will of God. Yes, yes, and verse three, if I may say, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, which is exactly that's right what you're saying. That's right.
We need that. Amen. Thank you so much for calling. I want to hop over to Brandon real quick. We've got three minutes before we go to break.
But Brandon from North Carolina has called in. Hey, Brandon, man, there's so many people out there who are complaining about the state of our nation, but ain't going to do nothing about it. What do you think about that? Hey guys, how are y'all doing today? Doing good, doing well, doing well.
Good to hear from you. Yeah, I think one reason you know people complain but don't vote is you know they become frustrated or cynical. They feel like maybe their vote you know doesn't matter. They don't fully trust the process, or you know something. They simply don't.
They believe someone else will take care of it for them. That's a good point. I will say, but from a biblical perspective, I think we're called to be responsible with whatever influence and opportunities you know God gives us. To quote Luke twelve forty eight, it says, "To whom much is given, much will be required." We've been given the opportunity to have to have a voice in our government, and I think there's a responsibility that comes with that. When it's all said and done, our ultimately our hope shouldn't be in a politician or in a political party, but our hope is in Jesus Christ.
Right? Amen, amen. You know, amen. Romans thirteen reminds us that government has a role and that we have responsibilities as citizens, but our ultimate allegiance would would be to God. That's right.
So that's right. You may not be able to control the outcome, but you can control whether you participate. And I think you know we're called to be faithful with what God has put in our hands. If we're given a voice, you know we shouldn't waste it. In my opinion, that's right.
That's right, Brandon. You said it, man. Doctor Shell, what do you think about that? We got a couple minutes before we go to break, but what do you think about that? One hundred, one hundred percent.
I mean, Jesus is my king, and and He is my Lord, and that our ultimate allegiance is to Him, and to to make this world a better place.
Now we know in the end it's going to go down. That's right.
Hill, and Jesus is going to come and make all things right. But until then, we should be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, to make this place better. And that's what that's what we need. That's right.
I think there's a lot of people just like Brandon said who feel like, well, I'm not going to personally make a difference. I'm not going to affect the outcome just by one vote. And I think just like he said, and just like you said, we're forgetting that we have a responsibility. That's right.
Moral responsibility as a citizen of this nation. Maybe when we come back from the break, you can talk a little bit about that. As someone who wasn't born here, who kind of adopted this responsibility rather than being tied down to or being born into it, I should say. But We have forgotten that we have an obligation to this nation. I think even just using that language, like obligation, responsibility, duty, those things are important for us to understand as citizens and as believers.
You know what does it mean to make your voice heard? Why does your vote matter? I think it's important for us to understand that, especially from a biblical perspective. That's right.
That's right.
We have another caller, Jimmy. Hey, Jimmy, how's it going? You are on Truth Talk. There's a lot of people right now who are complaining about the state of our nation. And they're not going to do anything about it.
What do you think about that? Well, to put it on a fair playing field, I think a lot of people think, you know, well, God will provide. You know, He's going to take care of this. You know, I don't need to get involved in politics. You know, that's right, Jimmy.
Jimmy, hold on to that question. We've got to go to a commercial break real quick. But when we pick up, we're going to answer that question.
So don't go anywhere. We'll be back with Truth Talk Live. Truth Talk Live. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. These term elections are less than one month away, and you might.
Might think to yourself, "Well, I'm a Christian, so I don't get involved in politics at all." We're going to be talking about that today, right here on Truth Talk. Meaning, you as a Christian, you have an obligation to go there and biblical values. That's right.
Welcome to Truth Talk Live. This is our Thursday segment. Every single Thursday, we're live on the radio, right, taking your calls, and we're here today with today's Truth Talk host, Dr. Abadansha. Dr.
Shaw. Before the break, we were talking about midterm elections and our responsibility as believers, and we picked up on a call from our. Friend Jimmy in North Carolina, Jimmy, can you restate that question for us, or that statement about what we should do as believers, what our obligation is when it comes to elections? Yeah, I think that sometimes Christians don't want to get involved because they don't want to offend anybody, especially in a church setting, and beyond, you know, separation of politics and and religion, and they don't understand that that. We are supposed to be in politics.
In Ephesians three ten, the manifold the wisdom of God is made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. You know that is that is absolutely you know a a a Block that the church can stand on, and every preacher can stand on, and say that. And in Ephesians six twelve, it also says, "Our struggle is against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." You know, and and that is is true in politics. If you think that evil is not in politics. You got you got another thing coming.
I mean, I have been in politics for seven years as a chairman in a small county in North Carolina, and the I'm going to give you some numbers real quick because I looked them up.
So the voters that actually are registered to vote are about twenty seven thousand eight hundred and forty three. The and out of the last election that we had, which was a primary, only six thousand one hundred and nineteen voted. That's one fifth of the people. That's wow one point nine eight okay percent.
Now that was in March of this month. I mean March of this year. All right.
So if you take and say the largest group of voters in this county are unaffiliated now, and the then it's Republican and then it's Democrats.
Okay, and if you take and say Republicans were fifty percent of them, which they're not. But if you said that, you would only be looking at twelve percent of Republicans voting, period, and and which you know amounts to a minuscule amount of people. You know, you're looking at about. About about sixty seventy people voting that are those numbers are I mean disheartening to hear on the on the front end, Doctor Shaw. We can talk a lot about people's lack of confidence or maybe being jaded as to election results not going the way that you hoped.
What's missing to get us to the polls? Because I think in America there have been time and again, as Brother Miller was talking about earlier. Time and again, God had His hand upon upon this nation. We went through some incredibly difficult times, dark times, and yet we came back up.
So, people in America have this idea that somehow, in the end, things will work out. And now there is another sentiment, which is, in the end, they're all horrible.
Okay, so we're dealing with these these two very harmful ideas or worldviews, where in the end it all works out, God will work it out, or in the end all of this is garbage and they're all corrupt and and you know, I'm the only one out there, you know, telling the truth and and exposing the darkness. Both of those views may, on the surface, seem like.
Okay, they they have, but they're not. They're very destructive. And what's happening now is more the second kind, which is, oh, this all corrupt, and and I want to find the truth behind it. And there's a lot of lies going on, and there's a lot of what what is the conspiracies going on? Yeah, and and they often preface that with, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and then they go on and give their give their conspiracy.
Anytime someone says that they are a conspiracy, you can trust that a theory is coming. But all of those things add up to what Jimmy is talking about. At the end of the day, when the election, you know, results come out, and you you know, numbers are your friends. You cannot argue with numbers. You can argue with worldviews.
You can argue with faith, ideas, beliefs. I get it, but numbers are numbers. If you claim that you believe in biblical values are the foundation of this nation, and then Such a small percentage, one fifth, shows up to vote, means you have bought into one of those, those, those laws, lies. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're 100 right, Jimmy.
I appreciate you calling Truth Talk so much. I want to hop over to John, who's calling from Rocky Mount. John, there's a big problem in America today. We got a lot of people talking about they don't like the state of our nation, but they ain't gonna do nothing about it. What do you think about that?
Well, I certainly understand that I've run for office before twice, and I understand the voter apathy. But let me back up and give a little backstory, if I might. Absolutely in nineteen in nineteen fifty seven, LBJ, as a member of the Congress, congressional congressman, had written into the IRS code this idea of no politics in churches. And and people have misunderstood that for for years. In fact, Jefferson had this idea of when he wrote the the letters he wrote.
He talked about this wall of separation. And the same time he's talking about this wall of separation, are you aware that he was allowing a church to be started in the Capitol buildings? Yep.
Okay, that's right. There's a false, there's a false narrative out there about that. Let me say again about apathy. I don't want to be too harsh here, but having run for office a couple times, I realize how how it works. In my opinion, voter suppression is a tactic that the left has been using for years and years.
Yet they blame the right for that. And they—they voter suppression is found all over the media. When you see these polls that come out, oh, this guy's down by six points, or this person's down by ten points, or whatever, that's part of voter suppression because those polls are highly inaccurate. They'll—they'll poll fifty people that are going to speak for the entire nation, and and they and they and they go to the magazine subscriptions or whatever to find the fifty people that are going to agree with their poll.
So it's it's a rigged it's a rigged thing. I'm I'm I was laughing to myself about something like a conspiracy guy. Start to start to lead off with the hey, I'm not I don't believe in conspiracies. Just so you guys don't laugh at me. But you know it it is in fact a truth.
Now let me offer one caveat to this about voter as I see what how how we ought to be voting. If I don't vote, and a leftist wins. And that leftist is supporting abortion on demand. I am guilty of complicity with that person's political views. Absolutely, absolutely.
And it's as if I went in there and punched the ballot for that person because I didn't vote. That's right.
And I think we we really have to put a handle on that and help people understand that they the complicity sometimes comes across as indifference. It's really not indifference. It's complicity. That's right.
And when I say it that way, it's passive complicity. It's not intentional, obviously, but it's it's based on a person being whatever, burned out on the system, like you said, thinking everybody's crooked, all this other stuff that goes along with that. But that's all bad. That's just terrible narrative. There are some wonderful people that love that love Jesus that serve in our Senate and the U.S.
Senate and the Freedom Caucus guys. Most of those guys go to Bible study every week, or in some of them, every day. Tim Scott in Florida is very, very involved in Bible study in in Congress and as a senator. And these guys are working out there hard as they can possibly work for you and for me. And I happen to know that.
Our local candidate here for the North Carolina House is a solid Christian believer. His values line up pretty much with your values, my values, and conservative values. And we just got to get out there and vote for these people. And I want to just punch it again: if you're not going to vote, you're voting. By not voting, that's right.
That's right.
I think if more people understood those times being complicit with views that you don't agree with, I think that may change their mind. Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate Mr. John saying that, or should I say, Doctor John? I appreciate that because I think I know he's a good friend of mine.
Yeah, and and that's that's very important. If I may add something to that. Not only are you complicit, but you are also setting up your children, your grandchildren, for a lot of problems in the days ahead. For those of the people who are—and by the way, they are the loudest—they are keyboard warriors. They get behind their keyboards and they blast things off and they leave things out there in the open, challenging biblical values or challenging the the platform of a candidate, or they have the secret on this candidate and and somehow you know.
Somehow, somehow, the the the deep secrets some come to their emails. You know, how did you get that? Like I just, like I just, I logged in. Where did you just describe to? All of a sudden, there it was.
And now I have amazing that you get all of it. I just kind of have to get it out there. Yeah, I have this insider information on. I'm like, what are you talking about? What are you talking about?
And the thing is, what they will do is they will just dump it right back on you. Do you know this? And do you know that? Brother, honestly, I don't have time to chase down every false view or or some secret information that you have received from some junk website. I don't have time to follow you know to to follow that lead and then come back and say, oh, guess what?
That's not true. You need to do your own research, and if you are getting some kind of a sick pleasure by getting into these things. You are a very destructive person, because one day God's going to ask you, "What did you do with my time?" There, that's right. Yeah, that's right. Right?
Did you share the gospel of Jesus Christ? Number one. Did you lead your family in the way of God? Number two. And number three, did you make the world around you a better place so that the gospel can keep growing?
And that third question is very instrumental in these midterm elections. Absolutely, and my voting. And I think that's exactly what Dr. John is saying there. That You know, if you aren't voting, you're not making the world a better place.
You, your inaction and my inaction, has never made the world a better place. It has only ever caused problems. Yeah, because because because through my inaction, someone else is going to act on their behalf.
Somebody's values are going to win out. Absolutely. Do you have anything else to add, Brother John?
Well, I agree completely with what you're saying, but I think it's also important to to punch it again. A non-vote is a vote. That's right, and the left is going to be out voting. They're going. They're going.
The voter turnout from the left in this particular election is going to be large, and if we lose the Senate, if we lose Congress, we'll have two years of a of a of a president who's going to be in court. They're going to impeach him. That's right.
And that's right. Can you imagine? I was told by an insider into the into the hold that one second. We're we're going to cut to break, and we'll be right back. Truth Talk Live.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back. We talk live. We're talking about midterm elections and the responsibility of believers to be involved. Doctor Shaw, before we hit the break, we had a great conversation going about you know a non-vote is a vote.
Inaction is no. There's no such thing. That's right.
Our good friend John is on the line. Would you want to finish your thought? Because we were on right on that great great conversation, and then the be cut. But would you mind completing your thoughts, sir?
Well, I'm not sure that I can prove this. And you were talking about speculation, mining with speculation. I think mine is not quite that bad. I think I've got a handle on this. But I had an insider tell me that Hakeem Jeffries is too conservative for the left now, and that they're expecting that AOC will be the Speaker of the House if the House goes to to the Democrats.
Wow! And wow! Yeah, yeah, that's pretty scary.
Now, I don't know if that's true or not, but. It very well could be, and I think voter suppression is is out there, and we just need to realize we have to get out and vote, if it's inconvenient or not. Get out and vote. Don't wait to the vote to the day of the election to vote because things happen those days can get people derailed. Just go vote as soon as as soon as early voting comes up, go vote.
And absolutely, a dear friend of mine would say, and that's all I have to say about that.
Well, John, thank you so much for calling into Truth Talk. I think we have another caller who is about to come on to the air. But before we cut to him, I think that's Mike from Dayton, Ohio. Before we cut to Mike, Doctor Shaw, do you have anything that you want to say just to people listening who are like, you know, I just genuinely don't think it's that big of a deal. Like I'm, I'm a Christian, but man, I think you guys are making too much of a fuss about this.
What would you say to that person? No, you know, go talk to people in Nazi Germany, and they'll tell you it is a big deal. Right. Talk. To people in the Middle East, go back to the to the times when when they had an opportunity to stand for the Christian faith and and they didn't.
Yeah, and what a tragedy! Talk to the Christians in India, and they will tell you, no, when when the vote goes the wrong way. Bibles cannot be printed anymore. No new churches can be planted. Christians are persecuted, and nothing gets done about it.
So don't think for a moment whether it's a big election, small election, midterm election. It does matter. That's right, and and it will matter because every time there's an election, the values will move in a direction. And I think the way it's standing right now, moving towards the left, but. I believe in hope.
The Holy Spirit is a spirit of hope. That's right.
I believe there is hope. If God's people come together and they vote, their conscience and their conscience is motivated by the Bible, we will see a change. That's right.
We've seen it before. We can see it again. That's right.
You know, we got Mike from Dayton, Ohio. Mike calling in. Mike, there's so many people out there not voting in the midterm elections. How do you think about that? Um.
I can understand why, because when you start researching, you know the two candidates that are out there. Usually, you got you're usually voting for the worst of two evils. You know what I mean, and and it's really disheartening when you say,ing Hey, there's really not a good candidate here," and and but you you have to pick one, you know. And our my question for you is: Are we going to be judged for that? That's a great, great point.
You know, I wish I could take credit for this statement, but I heard it from a good friend of mine who probably heard from somebody else. It's until the day they put Jesus on the ballot. All right, you you and I are going to have to pick the better of two evils. I mean, it'll always be that way because human beings are human beings, and so until we have that perfect Son of God on the on the ballot, we will have to do that. And and I understand that.
I understand those kinds of things happen, and sometimes it it it can be very difficult. But most of the time, you can see what values is certain candidate has. I mean, I can talk about it on a local level. I can tell you, this person, this person. I'm friends with both of them, but they know I'm not going to vote for you because I know where you stand.
Where you stand with regards to gender. Where where you stand with regards to the life of the unborn. Where you stand with regards to recreational drugs and all this kind of stuff. They know where where I stand, and I'm not going to vote for them. Does that mean that the other person is a martyrdom of spirituality and great character?
I'm not looking for that. I'm looking to see when you get into that seat, will you keep your promises? Yeah.
And when when that vote comes up, will you vote for that? That's right.
I think that's why you know, as our pastor, it's been helpful to hear you say things like "go out and vote biblical values," because there's there's a candidate that's going to line up pretty closely with what the the values of the Bible are.
So as believers, it's important that we go in with that mindset rather than one side or the other. Yes, right, Mike. What were you going to say? Go ahead. Yeah, yeah.
I even had candidates that both of them believe in abortion. You know, I mean, so yeah, it's kind of hard. Yeah, you know, that's that. Those are hard ones, right there. Yeah, right.
I totally understand that. One of them believe in Christianity. You know, so right. You know, they're not Christians at all. And that's where I believe in in those kinds of settings.
I I'm praying as as Brother Miller said early on that. Christians would, you know, throw their hat in the ring, right? You know, step up and do it. You may not win the first time around. It may be difficult for anybody to know you.
I've known good friends who ran and said, "You know, I'm not going to win." I said, "I know that, but I'm so glad that you're running." So at least somebody else may come around the next time and may have a better chance than you do. Because I totally understand what Mike is saying. Because there are times you go. Oh my goodness! Yeah, I feel like I'm the good option.
Yeah, I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. But Mike, I'm willing to bet there are people in your life and in your community in Dayton who are those Christian pastors who maybe feel like right now I can't get a leg in the door, but slowly but surely they will they will rerun and they will that that day is probably going to come or inspire somebody else or inspire somebody else who's going to do it. Yeah, I believe pastors are especially good for doing that. You know, but again, it has to be God's call on your life. Yeah, you know, this is not.
Not to be taken lightly, but it can be done. That's right.
People in the church, young people. Hey, consider politics. Why not? And they are. You know, we're seeing we're seeing a big surge of young people in America today who are.
I mean, they are shifting to the right, but there is a there's an infusion of Christianity and politics that is coming out of Gen Z. Yeah, and I think it's it's wonderful. We're seeing that in our own community. We're seeing that in our nation. And so I think that that does have.
I mean, I totally get what you're saying, Mike. But I also see at least an arc. Community where we're coming from, I'm seeing a big sweep in the right direction. There is some course correction happening with that kind of old verbiage around separation of church and state. We talked a little bit about that on an earlier segment, but people are, you know, Gen Z, especially who's who's coming of age to vote, they're seeing, you know, what is the truth behind that?
What was originally intended, and and are seeing that, you know, maybe Christianity does have a voice in the political sector. Maybe Christians do need to step up and run for these offices and get our country back where it needs to be. Right, Mike. We appreciate your call. Thank you so much for calling.
We're praying for you. We're praying for all of the callers who talked today. I know this is on our hearts, Doctor Shah. As we're closing the show, there are people out there who maybe they feel like, you know what, I still I'm not convinced. I'm not going to do this.
But then there's people who are like, you know what. I'm going to register. I'm going to vote. I want this thing to happen, and I want to start getting informed. What's the best way for us to start doing that?
Number one, pray. We have to pray. Without prayer, nothing is possible. Pray and ask God to intervene in our midterm elections, starting from the local level, state level, national level. Pray for God's revival.
Secondly. Don't ever, ever underestimate the power of persuasion. You know, we get intimidated by somebody who can rattle off a few numbers and names and something that happened back in the eighties or nineties or something like that, and we go, "Oh, I don't know all that." Or they can rattle off some number. Did you know? Did you know this?
And did you know that? And they they rattle off some some conspiracy theory, and you're like, "Uh, no, I didn't know that." Don't let that intimidate you. Yeah.
As our good friend Brother John said earlier, that's another form of voter suppression. Do not buy into that. Do not buy into that. You stand up and say, "Well, I don't know all that." That's pretty simple. You can do that.
Yeah, try it. Try it. Yeah, I don't know all that. I don't know none. Try one more time.
I don't know none about that. There you go. It's that simple. I never heard. I tell you what, I do know.
I never heard that before. Yeah, that's all you got to do is say, "I don't know about all that," and then stick to biblical values. That's all you got to do. That's right.
Come back to it and tell the other person, "Hey, look, I don't know about all that, but I know this much. I want to stand." And vote for that candidate who will stand for biblical values. Yeah, and vote early. Don't wait for election day. Vote early.
Get out there. That's right.
Lots of places have early voting as an option. Doctor Shaw, as we as we're wrapping up, I believe that there's somebody who's listening to this broadcast, or maybe you know these episodes are going to be available on online a couple different places, who's going to go back and listen to this, and it's a believer who is considering running for office. Maybe for the first time, this sort of like ignited that spark in them. They hadn't really considered, or maybe they were, you know, kind of entertaining the idea. But this is what kind of clued them into that.
What advice and what encouragement would you give them?
Well, just just know this: that we are called as Christians to influence government.
Okay, we're not, you know, Christians. You know we are to do as much as we can to influence government. We're not the government, we know that, but we are to influence government. Abraham Kuyper, very famous theologian, he said it this way: He said there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign Lord of all, does not cry. Mine.
It belongs to him. This world belongs to Jesus Christ. That's right.
When you, as a Christian, you're stepping up to stand for biblical values, you are saying, "But Jesus, that belongs to my Lord. That belongs to my Savior." So, know that the Lord is behind you. That's right.
Don't be afraid. Do not let fear. Or doubt intimidate you. That's right, because fear is the weapon of the enemy. Fear, chaos, confusion.
We're seeing that all around in our nation right now. Just know that's the enemy's weapon, and Christ is not giving you a spirit of fear, but of perfect love. And we want to thank you guys for listening to the show today. We hope that this has encouraged you to go out and vote biblical values. That's right.
You can hear more teaching from Doctor Shaw every day on the Truth Network, as well as anywhere podcasting content can be found on the Clearview Today Show. We talk about issues like this, related to current events. As well as theology leadership and how you can bring the gospel to bear in every area. That's right.
We want to thank all of our sponsors, particularly Mighty Muscadine, Le Blue Ultra Pure Water, Watch Safe, all of these organizations who have partnered with us in getting the gospel into the airwaves and keeping it there as long as possible. Thank you for talking with us on Truth Talk today. We're going to see you tomorrow on Clearview Today Show. We love you. Thanks for tuning in.
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