Standing for Freedom

This is Sam from the Mask and Journey Podcast, and our goal with the podcast is help you to try to find your way in this difficult world. Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. I have taken a trip, my friends, to Liberty Mountain.

I am on the campus of Liberty University. I'm sitting in the Standing for Freedom Center next to Ryan Heflbein, one of the directors here of this whole program. And Ryan, there is a big event coming up, Save the Dates. You have got a star-studded cast from Eric Metaxas to the North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, Dr. Carol Swaim, Sean Foyt, and all kinds of people. Tell everyone about this Standing for Freedom event like November 4th and 5th, right before the election.

Yeah, that's absolutely right, Stu. And by the way, thank you so much for coming. I'm excited. You're going to be there.

We're going to have Allie Bestucki, Seth Dillon, as you said, Sean Foyt, Liz Wheeler, Eric Metaxas, many more. It's the Standing for Freedom Summit. Biblical principles in a woke world.

That is our theme this year. We're going to be talking about all the things that sort of intersect the church and the public square. And really, this is for parents. Parents, you have college-age students. Parents, you have students who are thinking about college and where they're going to go next. Many of you are homeschooling.

I'm a homeschooling parent, and these are decisions that we have to make as a family. But the circumstances are dire. We were just talking before we even started this broadcast, and as we were praying, Stu, about this broadcast, the circumstances for religious liberty and freedom in this country, they're dire.

And this is the worst it's probably ever been, and yet this is the time of greatest opportunity. We have to rise up to the challenge and speak truth boldly in the public square. We have to be bold. We cannot cower in fear. We cannot capitulate to indoctrination. And they've got a stranglehold on education, but by the grace of God, there is liberty university.

Wow. And so every one of us is a steward and should take our stewardship seriously of the voting privilege that God has given us. Liberty University, the Standing for Freedom Center, you are taking your stewardship very seriously of the impact you have from the big boxes being mailed out to pastors to activate them, to register their people to vote, to putting a conference where you will have thousands of people come to Liberty Mountain. It's going to be in Thomas Road Baptist Church. I know that venue. I've been in that venue. My daughter was actually baptized there not too long ago by Jonathan Falwell.

A great event. I'm looking at this freedom voters, I promise to vote, little brochure, trifold, and this is heartbreaking, Ryan. I want you to respond to this statistic, 40% of adults who consider themselves people of faith are registered to vote. Only 50% of those 40% who are considered people of faith, only 50% actually cast a ballot.

What is going on? We can't complain. And if we're not even showing up to the polls.

That's exactly right. I think one of the things that is so alarming is while many Christians vote righteously, there are many other Christians who do not vote at all. One of the things I would want to challenge people with is this understanding that we are called to pursue righteousness. It's not our personal works of righteousness. It does not save us.

I'm going to be absolutely clear. But we were made in Christ Jesus, as Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 says, in order to do good works. We are Christ's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Part of our responsibility in the civic sphere, the place where God has planted us, is that we would actually participate, that we would be a part of this place called home, wherever God has planted us.

It doesn't matter if you live in the United States and Mexico and Canada. We are called to be good citizens and good stewards. And the first thing, the very first thing, the first step as a Christian citizen is to vote, is to participate and to let our voice be heard, to vote righteously. And let me add one more thing to this.

Stu, this is really important. You go all throughout Scripture. There are so many examples of where Christian or people of faith, men of God, women of God participated, Old Testament, Old Covenant, New Covenant, same thing.

The principle still applies, participated in the civic arena. One example, more recently, just from my own personal studies, comes out of Genesis chapter 19. I'm going to go to Sodom and Gomorrah.

You're like, whoa, we all know how that story ends, right? But a little known fact about the city of Sodom is that Lot actually had a responsibility to the city of Sodom as its elder. Now oftentimes, when you go back and you go to Genesis chapter 18, you go to Genesis chapter 19, you realize that Abraham had a lot to do with Lot's lot, if you will.

That he rescued them, he saved them from the five kings and so on and so forth. But there was a time in which Lot came to sit at the gate, which was a place of political prominence. And when the angels of the Lord, the two angels were sent to Sodom in order to judge it, there Lot was sitting at the city gates as a city elder. And interestingly enough, if you remember the prayer of Abraham, he prayed that God would spare the city if there were just ten righteous in the city. There were not enough even in Lot's own household in order to save that city.

Now what does all that mean? I think the principle that needs to apply today is it's not enough to pursue righteousness alone. We are responsible not only for our families, but also the communities that God has planted us. We need to be promoting that righteousness publicly. We have a vote. We have a responsibility. You live, you may not send your kids to a public school, but you're responsible as a citizen in part for what is going on and what's being taught in that school.

And as a taxpayer, you have a say in the matter. Wow. This is, that's the voice of Ryan Heflin. I mean, I'm listening and I'm really captivated by what you're saying. It's so true. I'm Stu Everson.

This is Truth Talk. We are talking about a big event. We've been advertising it all over the place. There are a lot of folks that are already calling in to reserve their slot. Give us the dates. Ryan, please, real quick, and you know, folks need to mark this down, bring a van load of folks and there's a way to register quickly.

Tell us how to do that. Yeah. Standingforfreedom.com on the front page, there's a banner at the very top, the Standing for Freedom Summit, November 4 and 5, click there, register. If you register early, it's going to be cheaper. You get a discount. If you register there at the door, your prices are going to go up, folks. Don't miss it.

Reserve your spot today. We'd love to see you there. Well, over 25 speakers.

It'll be just a great area with taxes. We mentioned a bunch of speakers earlier. Go to the website, learn about the speakers, standingforfreedom.com. Look at the event. Be sure you sign up. And it's interesting in all this conversation, we've not told, we've not named one candidate to vote for it.

Like we're not telling people. No. The interesting thing about that is when you're driven by a biblical worldview, when your values are that of God's values, where you say, you know what, I value life. I value marriage.

I value the two genders that God calls genders. Then you don't have to be told who to vote for, but you can't, because you don't divorce Jesus in the kingdom of God from how you operate and live in the kingdom of this earth. Is that right? That's exactly right. I would say this, that our principles, if your principles are in fact aligned with scripture, you're going to know how to vote righteously.

And by the way, narrow is that gate, by the way. And I would just say, no political party co-ops the Bible. In fact, I would love to see the Bible fully integrated in co-opting politics at the end of the day. So, no, we're not telling people, we're not endorsing any one candidate or political party, but it's very clear where we stand on the life issue. Very clear where we stand on educational freedom. Very clear where we stand on the gender issue. So folks, you understand what a righteous vote will mean at the end of the day.

There's so many resources. We're so grateful for ministries and kingdom-minded folks like standing for Freedom Center here on the campus of Liberty University. You're educating and forming pastors, leaders, a whole bunch, a whole host of folks that are going to be coming down on this place, you know, on the November 4th and 5th of this year.

And ironically, just a few days before the big midterm election in North America. But speak one more time how important it is for people to vote. To go out and vote, they've been given, you tithe. Why do you tithe? Well, sadly, less than 10% of Christians give 10%.

But that's a sidebar. You're commanded, by God's word, to give generously. We can argue about the tithe.

What was it? 10%? Well, you know, most folks that argue about it, they're not given anything, you know?

They're just like, yeah, I don't know. So we're told to be cheerful givers. First Corinthians 9. But Ryan Hevelbine, take us out by why we are told to be good stewards, and God has given us a vote in his culture, and how believers should take that responsibility very seriously.

Yeah, I think there are two principles. One, Christ said, render under Caesar what is Caesar's, render the Lord what is Lord's. That doesn't just apply to taxes, but also citizenry. Romans chapter 13, God ordains governments.

Guess what? The government, you live in a country where the government is made up by the people for the people. You are citizen kings, and citizens, citizen kings and kings steward that responsibility. We do not abdicate our authority. You do have an authority. You do have a voice. You are responsible, ultimately, in this representative republic, for who represents you in government.

You do absolutely have a responsibility before God to vote. And what should inform that is the word of God, not the socialist-driven agenda of the mainstream media, all the way up to the election day, Ryan, you're going to have a lot of people that are going to sound like the reincarnation of Billy Graham. They're going to sound like they found religion. They're going to put—it's ironic that Halloween is right near the election. There's going to be a whole lot of people that want your vote. They're going to put a mask on.

They'll make them look like a family value person, a pro-life person. But you need to have a little discernment. We don't need to check our brains as the cash register as believers, right? Right.

I love you. It's been Halloween all year with Transgender Story Hour and all this nonsense. It's weird. Woke is weird.

Okay? At the end of the day, though, yes, you have a responsibility to get registered and to get out and vote. And I would say to encourage others.

Encourage them. Hey, brother, are you not registered? Hey, guess what? You need to go register and vote. And I'll just say, if you live in Virginia, you have a provisional ballot. If you're not registered, guess what? You can register the day of, and you can go vote.

Okay. Yes. Can we mention that website right there? The Freedom Voters? FreedomVoters.org, FreedomVoters.org, Stu, that is a website dedicated to informing Christians in particular, people of faith, on how to vote righteously. That is by the Standing for Freedom Center. It's part of I Promise to Vote initiative. Wonderful. And a lot of pastors are going there to get their folks registered to vote in their church.

Again, not saying go vote this way over this guy, but register to vote so you can fulfill and you can honor your God-given stewardship. One more time, the website and the dates of the event and how to register real quick. Yeah. StandingForFreedom.com. You go to that website. There is a banner at the very top of the page, Stu, called Standing for Freedom Summit. You click on that.

It's very simple what to do from there. There's a link right then and there that you can register. You will have to have a credit card or debit card available to reserve that ticket, but do so today because they're heavily discounted. And it's filling up quick. And because the last time I was up here for an event not too long ago, it was standing room only.

That's exactly right. It was a huge event. It's going to be a great time. I hope to see everybody there. Maybe I should say it was standing for freedom room only. Yes, it was. It was a standing for freedom room for sure. This is The Truth Network.