The Eric Metaxas Show - Rev. Bill Cook

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

Rev. Bill Cook is at the helm of the revival of the Black Robe Regiment which was prominent during American Revolutionary times and helped usher in a new nation founded on righteousness and freedom.

Folks, welcome to the program. I've got a really special guest right now. His name is Bill Cook. We met in D.C. at the Jericho March. Remember when I was holding up the shofar? Do you remember that? The Jericho March a few months ago. And Bill and I met, I've heard of the Black Robe Regiment. I've talked about the Black Robe Regiment. But Bill plays a special role in the Black Robe Regiment. And we wanted him to talk about it. Bill Cook, welcome the program. Thank you. It's good to be with you. Now, you're in Virginia, and you're the CEO of the Black Royal Regiment of Virginia. Is that right? Right. Now, are there Black Roe regimens around the country? What is the... There are. There's interest that's risen in other states. We have folks in Florida, in Tennessee, in Georgia, and I believe in California, Michigan, and other states. There's others like David Barton and Paul and Dan Fisher. They're both Black, and... road regiment men and they are training pastors as well around the country.

Okay. So this is pastors. That's why it's called the black robe regiment. He's pastors. Tell us the origin of this idea. I first heard about the black robe regiment through Glenn Beck, probably about 10 years ago. Tell us this is having to do with the Revolutionary War, but most people don't know anything about this. So tell my audience, who was the Black Robe Regiment? Well, the Black Row of Regiment were mostly there were congregational ministers of New England. And they had been preaching by the time the founding charters were actually written, they had been preaching the political ideology in the founding charters for centuries, or not centuries, for decades before that.

So that the ideas in the founding charters were ubiquitous by the time that the war started. And the British referred to the American clergy as the Black Redmond. It was a reference to the black robes they wore when they preached. So that's where that's where the term came from. It's really a deris. It's really a slur on the colonial clergy, but we've sort of adopted it as a badge of honor. Right. Well, this is a kind of history that most people don't know, and it couldn't be more important. In my book, if you can keep it, I talk about George Whitfield. And it seems so clear. And of course, this has not been taught in schools, but it's so clear that the ideas of the gospel, eventually as they work their way in different parts of culture, they lead to freedom.

There's just no way around it. And that's what happened in the 18th century in America is that the ideas of the gospel, the egalitarian ideas that were all equal in God's sight. There's an egalitarianism there. It's not a wild egalitarianism, but it's an egalitarianism. that gives the common man and woman a different view of themselves, a different view of authority, that the authority is also under God. And that leads to the ideas that give us the liberty of the American Revolution. And as I said, that stuff is basically not being taught, which is why I talk

about it in my book, if you can keep it. But I stick principally to George Whitfield. So talk to us about how the black robe regiment came into being. And other words, how is it that congregational ministers, men of God, begin to think politically? How did that, how did that happen? I think it goes all the way back to the Mayflower. I think they understood that, I think they understood the connection between liberty and godliness. And so they, they preached political principles for years. I mean, when the revolution started, there were many clergy that actually went into the war. They led the men of their flocks into battle. Some of them enlisted as soldiers. One of the most famous examples, of course, Peter Mullenberg, who was in Woodstock, Virginia,

who became a general and a congressman. The war really started in Lexington on the lawn of a church, Pastor Jonas Clark. And there were many other pastors who stood up and took a stand, became patriots in the war. I'm trying to think of the name of the pastor in New Jersey, who, when New Jersey heard word of... Witherspoon. Pardon me? Witherspoon. No, it wasn't Witherspoon.

It was... I'll think of it a minute. But anyway, he called his congregation together as Baptist Church Congregation in Hopewell, New Jersey, four days after Lexington and said, brethren, the British are murdering our brethren in New England, who goes with me to Boston. And with that, he led every man in his church to Boston to fight the British. That was the kind of pastor. They were really statesmen. In addition to being pastors, they understood the principles of civil liberty. And they, they prized them so much so that they were willing to go into war to defend them. It's interesting, since we're living at

the tough times in America, you know, when do things rise to the level of war? How does that work? In other words, it's hard for me to imagine what it would be like to live in colonial America. But as grievous as it might be, it's difficult to think that they felt compelled over time, of course, to do something about it and do something means break away from the mother country through the violence of warfare. I mean, that's an extraordinary step to take. But I do know that the Black Robe Regiment was central in that thinking. They were the men who really helped make that connection from, you know, we are being oppressed to we will no longer be oppressed. Right.

Well, if you think about liberty, you know, liberty, this is what I believe about true liberty. I think without the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it would have been impossible for a sense. civilization to have to truly be free before before there was quote unquote the new birth i think liberty true liberty would have been impossible and what do i mean by that when jesus rose from the dead he came to his disciples he had them he told them to meet him on a on a mountain near near a near jerusalem and he said to them all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth well from my perspective what he said was he was speaking as the last Adam. That's the term the New Testament uses about Jesus says he's the last Adam. And I believe what Jesus did when he, when he rose from the dead, is he took everything that Adam had lost in the fall that he had seated to the serpent and he took it back. And he said, now I am the only legitimate government in heaven or on earth. All authority's been given to him. And so true authority flows from the Lordship of Jesus.

Jesus Christ. True leadership flows from the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And governments of liberty come from him. And so he is, there are all kinds of other governments. But in God's economy, they're not really legitimate unless they're based in him. And so, you know, as Christians, I believe we are called to govern, not just preach the gospel. The gospel is a call to liberty. And so it's sort of a radical idea in today's in today's separation of church and state culture. But I believe the church really has abandoned its office within the civil society to govern and to support and to defend liberty. Well, look, let's be honest. We have to say this over and over again. The separation of church and state is to keep the government, the state, away from the role of the church,

not to usurp the role of the church. And we see the state, the government going a long way toward usurping the role of the church in this day and age, not allowing people of faith to live out their faith without bowing to Caesar to some extent. And it's a really, it's one of those things that until it's challenged, religious liberty is a non-issue. It hasn't been much of an issue in this country until rather recently when we have the rise of what seems to be a secular kind of religion.

And they say, well, it's not a religion because it's a secular. Well, of course it's a religion. Anytime you're talking about ultimates, you're talking about things that bear on, you know, the ultimate questions that we have. And if you're pushing a certain version of that, you are pushing a kind of faith and it's going to bump up against the faith of other people where you live. And it's obviously incumbent on those of us in the church to understand that our government says no. Our government says there is a separation. the state has no right to impinge on the role of the church to cross that boundary unless it's a dramatic constitutional issue. We're going to be right back.

Folks, we're talking about the Black Robe Regiment, my guest, today, Reverend Bill Cook, don't go away. Let there be no doubt, big tech and the far left have joined forces to purge America of conservative views. But even if you keep your accounts, you don't have to give big. tech websites access to your data. That's why I choose to protect my online activity by using ExpressVPN. Ever wondered how free to access social media companies make all their money? Well, by tracking your searches, video history and everything you click on and then selling your valuable data. When you use ExpressVPN, you anonymize much of your online presence by hiding your IP address. That makes your activity more difficult to trace and sell to advertisers. What's more,

ExpressVPN encrypts 100% of your data to protect you from eavesdroppers on your network. And the ExpressVPN app couldn't be easier to use. You just tap one button on your phone or computer and you're protected. Take back your online privacy with the VPN I trust at ExpressVPN.com slash Metaxis. By visiting my link, you'll get an extra three months of ExpressVPN service for free on a one-year package. again, that's expressdpn.com slash metaxus, E-X-P-R-E-S-V-P-N dot com slash metaxus, express.com slash metaxus, to protect your data today.

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An offer to buy or sell any security is only made by our private placement memorandum. Read it first. See us at nria.net. Folks, we're talking about the black robe regimen. Have you heard of it? Well, the Reverend Bill Cook is here to help us understand what it's all about. Now, Bill, how did you get involved in the black robe regimen? I mean, where were you a pastor? And at what point did this become an for you. Well, I was pastoring in different churches probably prior to 2012. And actually, it was even before that. I had, I'd pastor in churches at region university. I was the director of student life and assistant campus minister for seven years. I loved being, you know,

working at the academy. And it was in Virginia. You mean in, in Virginia, yes. And I pastor to, well, I pastor in the Baptist church while I was there. And I came back to Northern Virginia. Then then I pastored in an Anglican church and then in another non-denominational church. And around, I guess it was after 2001, 9-11, I became very alarmed about the condition of the country. I started to study the Islamic threat and became quite knowledgeable in it, began to work with several national leaders in that regard, thinking we've got to stop this threat from encroaching on our society. And I realized, after a while, eventually I went into. to, I went to work at DHS. I taught myself how to write software. And then I, um, secured positions within the government. And then I was eventually came to DHS. And the DHS stands for Department of

Homeland Security, right. Homeland Security. When I looked at the directory on the website of DHS and found that there were five senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood on what's, what was called the Homeland Security Advisory Council, I realized that we were getting nowhere. in terms of dealing with that threat. And so that's when I heard Glenn Beck talking about the Black Rope Regiment, and I got very excited because it's sort of, it's like a switch went on in me. I understood that pastors and churches really were instrumental in the founding of America, and that they played a key leadership role.

And I saw that as the main missing ingredient in the loss of liberty, in the decline of liberty in America. and so I found it. I decided to do something about it. I founded the Black Rope Regiment. It was at Patrick Henry College on September 19, 2012. Jerry Boykin was our keynote speaker and several other individuals. Mike Ferris was there.

General Boykin. Yes. General Boykin was your keynote speaker. Wow. So this is a Patrick Henry College. Okay. Keep going. This is great.

Yeah. It was wonderful. And at the end of the evening, it was such a compelling message that he gave. when the invitation was given for pastors to join the Black Rope Regiment, every pastor in the room came forward immediately. Some even ran to get down front because they saw, you know, everybody was alarmed about the direction that the Obama administration was taking the country. They were concerned.

And 9-11 had happened. And so pastors really wanted to get involved. Well, I want to be clear here because, you know, people often misunderstand. understand. When you talk about the Muslim Brotherhood or you talk about Islamic influence, we are not demonizing Muslims, right? Now, there's the point is we're talking about an ideology. And at some point, it's almost gets back to this issue of separation of church and state. There are times when certain ideologies, Islamofascists, radical Muslims, tend to have a philosophy that is antithetical to the kind of government that we have.

In other words, if you believe in Sharia law, you could say the same thing about certain Catholics. People were worried about Catholic influence in earlier times in America. Why? Not because they're trying to demonize Catholic people, I hope, but because they said, well, isn't their authority, isn't their ultimate authority the Pope? In other words, would they be able to function in a culture like this?

Do they have the same values that we do? And I think it's right to ask, not of Muslims in general, but of radical Muslims, people with the Muslim Brotherhood and those kinds of folks, the kinds of folks who believe that Sharia law is the way to go. Isn't it correct? And I think this is what you're saying, that we need to understand there are certain philosophies, there are certain faiths that are in fact antithetical to the American way of life. So if you say we're going to have our own private compound and we're going to abuse women and we're going to cut off your hand if you steal.

In America, we say no, you can't do that. It doesn't matter if it's your religion. Religious liberty only goes so far. And that's really what we're talking about is understanding how we want to be a country where the government does not get involved. But then when it should get involved, as when somebody's, says we're going to have our own compound, we're going to have Sharia law, no cops need to come here, we're going to take everything ourselves. That's when we in America say no, according to our

Constitution, you cannot do that. And this is, the reason I'm going on about this is this is such a fundamental misunderstanding. People think, well, that means you're anti-Muslim. Absolutely not. This has nothing to do with people. It has to do with those people who will take an ideology so far. And that, of course, is what we saw at 9-11. And the Obama administration seemed really clearly to not get it. In other words, they seemed not to understand that there is a real threat here and that we have to underscore what we believe in. And I think it's because they themselves in that administration, they did not believe in the things we're talking about or they didn't understand these things. Right. I mean, you know, there's been talk of a red, green nexus. We know we're dealing with

communist influence right now. And also, with, you know, it's been a little bit in the background in recent months. We've been focused more on the rise of a Marxist worldview within our government, but there has been a cooperation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the leftist movement in the United States. And they're both pursuing the same goal, which is to destroy the United States. And so I don't, I'm not focused on that right now because I realized that, I sort of come to the conclusion that we're never going to defeat that until we really know who we are as a people. We understand our worldview from the scriptures, and we understand the Constitution and our God-given natural rights.

And so that's really where the big job is. And we've sort of lost, in the current administration, we sort of lost the initiative to be able to do that. You know, now we do it, now we have to do it, maybe at great cost, but we have to do it. And so that's what we're fighting for. That's what we're pushing. And, you know, it's just got to happen. I mean, if we focus on the threat, if we just try to stop the threat, we're never going to defeat the threat. What is, is there a website if people are interested in the Black Rope Regiment?

Yes. They can go to blackrobed regiment.us. They can all, and it's, it's in construction somewhat now. It's in maintenance, but it's still available. And you can also go to David Barton's national black robe regiment. And I believe Dan Fisher has a site called Patriot Pastors, and I could send those to you. Patriot Pastors is one, blackrobe regiment.us. And then you said, David Barton has a website, National Black Roebates.

regiment because there's a lot of information we're not going to be able to get to in the short time we have together. I want people to have access so that they understand the larger picture of what we're talking about, National Black Robe Regiment. Now, is that a website? Yes, it is. It's on wall builders, but it's on the wall builders. It's under the wall builders umbrella. Okay, wall builders. Folks can go to wall builders as well. It was through David Barton on Glenn Beck that I heard about the black row. Yes, I credit everything I know to, to, to David. Yeah. Really everything. Yeah. And he's been viciously attacked by some people who really don't understand this stuff.

And it's fascinating to me that he's battling uphill, so to speak, because there's so many people who fundamentally misunderstand these things. And that's why we are in the situation that we're in today. Is there a book or something on this subject? I can't remember if there's a book on the Black Road Regiment. There are several books. I can, I can, I'm actually writing a book right now on the Black Road Regiment. It's called The Time to Fight. And, but there are several books that have been written.

There are, there are volumes of sermons that have been written. Today, before I came on this, on this show, I was doing some research and I found a volume, a set of books called the biograph of, sketches on the congregational ministers of New England. And as it turns out, that six volumes set is over 4,000 pages. So it wasn't just a handful of pastors that were involved in the battle to secure liberty. And some of them are amazing stories, just amazing stories. That's extraordinary. What is the title of this multi-volume set? Let me find it here real quick. I was just putting it in a

Howard, it's called. Not that I'm going to read it soon if it's 4,000 pages, but I'm just curious. That's amazing. It's called biographical sketches of the Congregational Pastors of New England by Emerson Davis, who lived from 1798 to 1866, 4,078 pages. That is unbelievable. Holy cow. Okay, we're going to be right back, folks.

I'm talking to our friend, the Reverend Bill Cook, about the Black Robe Regiment. We'll be right back. Let there be no doubt, big tech and the far left have joined forces to purge America of conservative views. But even if you keep your accounts, you don't have to give big tech websites access to your data. That's why I choose to protect my online activity by using ExpressVPN. Ever wondered how free to access social media companies make all their money? Well, by tracking your searches, video history and everything you click on and then selling your valuable data. When you use ExpressVPN, you anonymize much of your online presence by hiding your IP address.

That makes your activity more difficult to trace and sell to advertisers. What's more, ExpressVPN encrypts 100% of your data to protect you from eavesdroppers on your network. And the ExpressVPN app couldn't be easier to use. You just tap one button on your phone or computer and you're protected. Take back your online privacy with the VPN I trust at ExpressVPN. dot com slash metaxis. By visiting my link, you'll get an extra three months of ExpressVPN service for free on a one year package.

Again, that's ExpressVPN.com slash metaxus, EXP-R-E-S-V-P-N. com slash Metaxus, Express.com slash Metaxus to protect your data today. Hey, folks, I've got to tell you a secret about relief factor that the father, son, owners Pete and Seth Talbot, have never made a big deal about, but I think it is a big deal. I really do. They sell the three-week quick start pack for just 1995 to anyone struggling from pain like neck, shoulder, back, hip, or knee pain, 1995, about a dollar a day. But what they haven't broadcasted much is that every time they sell a three-week quick start, they lose money. In fact, they don't even break even until about four to five months after if you keep ordering it. Friends, that's huge. People don't keep ordering relief factor month after month if it doesn't work. So yes, Pete and Seth are literally on a mission to help as many people as possible. deal with their pain. They really do put their money where their mouths are. So if you're in pain from exercise or even just getting older or to the three-week quick start for 1995, let's see if we can get you at a pain too. Go to relieffactor.com, relief factor.com or call 800, 500,

8384, 800, 500, 8384 relief factor.com. I use it. It works. Investors, seeking steady cash flow, ready to diversify. NRA has grown to be one of the nation's leading specialists and offers 10% annualized monthly payouts with bonuses targeted at 18 to 21%. That's right. You could receive steady 10% return monthly payments with bonuses. As their slogan says, they specialize in realty investing done right. You can even use your 401k or IRA to invest. NRA's 15-year track record and 1.2 billion in new construction development backs you. Learn how you can invest in this hard asset, real estate cash flow fund today. and receive 10% annualized monthly payouts with bonuses.

This is something savvy investors should research and consider. Call now 800, 700, 500, 5483. That's 800, 700, 5483, or visit nria.net. An offer to buy or sell any security is only made by our private placement memorandum. Read it first. See us at nria.net. Regiment. My guess is Reverend Bill Cook out of Virginia.

Reverend Cook, I got to ask you, you know, you said that you had some sermon that was preached at the centennial, so I guess what, 1876. 1876 on July 9. Concerning the Black Robe Regiment or concerning the role that pastors played in our revolution. And when you say we've got to fight, you're not saying, you know, we've got to take up arms, but you are saying that this is an ideological battle. And the idea that faith is somehow separated from politics or separated from governance is nonsense.

Not only is that a bad idea, it's antithetical to the ideas that gave us America. Amen. That's not been taught very much. Again, it's one of the reasons I wrote my book, if you can keep it. I'm fascinated by how ignorant I was of this.

And then once you learn this stuff, you want to pass it on to people because it's just, it makes a lot of things begin to fall into place once you understand these things. So tell us about the sermon. Well, in this sermon, he sort of goes through

he numerates the wonderful, you know, the wonderful founding fathers. So they were wonderful. James Otis was wonderful. And let me see who else. But, you know, a bunch of the people that were significant in the founding, some of the founding fathers. And he says, he reaches, he comes to a place in his sermon where he says, the principles of our civil liberty and of our national independence at the time, which 40 millions of people in these days are celebrating. that's when America had 40 million people, did not find their first utterance in the Great Declaration. They did not spring to life in the debates of the provincial Congress. They did not originate in the elaborate papers of Adams and Jefferson.

They did not leap forth to their first light in the impassioned eloquence of James Otis for the vehement appeal of Patrick Henry. They had their birth in the election sermons in the fast and Thanksgiving discourses of the congregational ministers of New England. Then he says, when and where did the American Revolution begin? People have been taught to say at Lexington in 1775, but let me see. He goes on to say that he illustrates the whole, what he had just said with the life of Jonathan Mayhew. And a sermon that Mayhew preached in 1750, 25 years before the revolution, that sermon was widely distributed throughout the colonies.

and it came to be known as the morning gun of the revolution, where Mayhew preached that when a magistrate, you know, exceeds his authority and begins to oppress the people, that they have a right to resist and to stand up against that. And so, in fact, and he goes on, he uses, Mayhew used very, it's a very famous sermon, and he used strong language. He said that not to resist. would be damnable. So he used some very strong words. And there were other pastors who preached similar sermons. I'm trying to collect the whole volume of them. But, you know, another sketch that's

interesting is the life of Jonas Clark. What a tremendous man of God he was. I don't know who that is at all. Who is Jonas Clerk? Jonas Clark was pastor of the Christ Church of Lexington. And he was, he was like a lot of clergy at the time, brilliant in matters of civil government. And he had written all the significant government papers for the regions of Lexington and Concord. He was very involved. He actually helped train the minute men.

75 men of the minute men were members of Clark's church. And when Paul Revere came into Lexington on the 18th, the night before at midnight, he stopped at the home with Jonas Clark because he had, he knew that, Revere knew that two of the founding fathers were staying with Clark that night. And Sam Adams and John Hancock.

And when they heard, when they, Revere's report was that the British are coming by land on foot to Lexington. They're on their way. And he said they have orders not to return without the headless bodies of your two house guests, Sam Adams and John Hancock. Now hold on a second. I've never heard that. I mean, we know they came by sea for part of the journey. and then, of course, on land inland into Massachusetts to Lexington.

You're telling me that Revere, Paul Revere had the information that the British were coming to execute John Hancock and Samuel Adams. I have not heard that. Well, they were really coming with orders to seize the weapon stores and powder of the people of Lexington. and the thing about, you know, capturing Hancock and Adams and taking their lives was an, oh, by the way. And so when they got the news, one of the two turned to Clark, the pastor, and said, sir, will your people fight? The pastor didn't say, well, he didn't say, we are pacifists. We don't do that. He said, I have prepared them for this very hour.

and indeed he had he actually had participated in in training the militia with Parker and when the when the militia began to assemble on Lexington Green on the town common at mid

at one o'clock Clark went out at 2 a.m. to greet them and I assumed that he prayed with him and tried to encourage them stand your ground and the next day he watched the entire battle unfold from his parsonage door. So when he paid a heavy price

because when the battle ended, there were seven men from his church who had been killed and ten were wounded. So it's when you bring it home like that, I mean I talked a lot on this program about Paul Revere's ride and I also write about that poem in my book if you can keep it. It's so moving

when you really focus down or zoom in I should say, on these individual human beings. It's not just something distant from history. Yes, yes, indeed. All right. We'll be right back talking about the Black Robe Regiment. Don't go away.

Let there be no doubt, big tech and the far left have joined forces to purge America of conservative views. But even if you keep your accounts, you don't have to give big tech websites access to your data. That's why I choose to protect my online activity by using Express VP. Ever wondered how free to access social media companies make all their money? Well, by tracking your searches, video history, and everything you click on, and then selling your valuable data. When you use ExpressVPN, you anonymize much of your online presence by hiding your IP address.

That makes your activity more difficult to trace and sell to advertisers. What's more, ExpressVPN encrypts 100% of your data to protect you from eavesdroppers on your network. and the ExpressVPN app couldn't be easier to use. You just tap one button on your phone or computer and you're protected. Take back your online privacy with the VPN I trust at ExpressVPN.com slash Metaxus. By visiting my link, you'll get an extra three months of ExpressVPN service for free on a one-year package. Again, that's ExpressVPN.com slash Metaxus, E-X-P-R-E-S-V-P-N-S-V-P-N.com slash Metaxus. dot com slash metaxis to protect your data today.

Hey folks, I've got to tell you a secret about relief factor that the father, son owners Pete and Seth Talbot, have never made a big deal about, but I think it is a big deal. I really do. They sell the three-week quick start pack for just 1995 to anyone struggling from pain like neck, shoulder, back, hip, or knee pain, 1995, about a dollar a day. But what they haven't broadcasted much is that every time they sell a three-week quick start, they lose money.

In fact, they don't even break even until about four to five months after if you keep ordering it. Friends, that's huge. People don't keep ordering Relief Factor month after month if it doesn't work. So, yes, Pete and Seth are literally on a mission to help as many people as possible deal with their pain. They really do put their money where their mouths are. So if you're in pain from exercise or even just getting older, or to the three-week quick start for 1995. Let's see if we can get you at a pain too.

Go to Relieffactor.com. Relieffactor.com. Or call 800, 500, 500, 800, 8,000, 800,000. 8384 relieffactor.com. I use it. It works. Investors, seeking steady cash flow, ready to diversify. NRIA has grown to be one of the nation's leading specialists and offers 10% annualized monthly payouts with bonuses targeted at 18 to 21%. That's right. You could receive steady 10% return monthly payments with bonuses. As their slogan says, they specialize in realty investing done right. You can even use your fore. 401k or IRA to invest. NRIA's 15-year track record and 1.2 billion in new construction development backs you. Learn how you can invest in this hard asset, real estate cash flow fund today and receive 10% annualized monthly payouts with bonuses. This is something savvy investors should research

and consider. Call now 800, 700, 500-5483. That's 800-700-5483 or visit nria.net. An offer to buy or sell any security is only made by our private Placement Memorandum. Read it first. See us at nria.net. See, your Katasasas show. I don't know about you, but I like history and I like learning about history. I have the Reverend Bill Cook as my guest. We're talking about the black robe regiment. Fascinating stuff. Bill, you're telling us that this is where it heats up. At Lexington, we have this, this pastor. You mentioned Jonas Clark in Lexington, and congregationalist, a minister, he has trained the men in his church to fight.

Now, we have to help people understand the context. What was it? For those of us who don't remember our history, and I don't pretend to, what was it that drove them to this point, that they're willing to store up weapons? I mean, if I stored up weapons, the government would come for me. why would these men at that point in history feel that they have no recourse but to do this? This doesn't follow the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is a year and a few months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So what was it that led them to these absolutely drastic measures at this time?

Well, the weapons they stored were really for self-defense. They weren't there. They weren't doing that because they wanted to go on offense. And so they were ordered. Don't fire unless fired upon. And there's some controversy as to who fired the first shot. But it's, I believe in that from what I understand it, was the British to fire the first shot. It may have been an accident who knows.

But once shooting starts, you know, people don't really worry who fired the first shot. You know, and it was really self-defense. And what it was remind us, do you remember what happened at the Boston Massacre in 1770? Because I'm sketchy on that. Yeah, I'm sketchy on it too. That's not one of the events that I've spent a lot of time on. Well, it's just one of those things where you try to get your head, you know, when you start looking back, you think what was it that led them to be this combative or willing to be combative?

I mean, even the idea that the British are told. that they're to go to Lexington to take away the weapons, why would they have done that? In other words, I'm never clear on some of these pieces. And I don't know if you can elucidate that, but it's a fascinating. I'd say, I'd say it's, I think they anticipated British reprisals for the things they had done, the Boston Tea Party and whatnot. And I think that they just felt it was important to defend their rights. you know, liberty was considered a very precious thing.

It was something that was worth fighting for, something worth dying for. It was considered the gift of God. And the people of the colonies understood that it was something that they needed to defend and to fight for. And so it was held in high esteem. So, you know, today the government tells us to, you know, wear a mask and we salute. they tell us not to meet in our churches and we salute. They tell us that the church is separate from the state and we stop preaching political sermons. And we have lost an understanding of how precious liberty is and how much it's worth.

I think that's what we're seeing today. Well, the separation of church and state, as we were saying earlier, the misconception there that somehow people of faith can be apolitical. I mean, I talk about this endlessly. It is a fundamentally wrong idea. There is nothing apolitical about faith in the God of the Bible. Faith in the God of the Bible compels us many times to be involved in politics, even if we don't want to be.

I mean, there is slavery going on. I am compelled by what the Word of God says to do what I can, including going to war in the Civil War, because this is wrong. I'm compelled to speak against it, as the abolitionists did. They were being very political because they felt God is compelling them to speak up for the voiceless, for these African slaves who ought not to be enslaved. And so it's always this battle.

Obviously, the story of Bonhofer is a classic example speaking against the Nazis. And so when people today say, I just want to preach the gospel, I think, well, what do you think those folks were doing? really would have preferred only to preach the gospel, but their gospel extended into the political sphere through no choice of theirs. It was because it came to them and not to respond is unacceptable. Well, you know, there are, if you think about the Johnson Amendment, you mentioned the Johnson Amendment, and you look at the outrages, the real violations against the laws of nature that have occurred in our government, the idea of you can kill the unborn, you can kill your unborn baby, you know, abortion. I mean, things like that. I mean, you know, when God made man,

he set man as the, is the preeminent authority over all the earth. And one man, one woman, procreating with alacrity, God said, you have authority over everything. And so what is the devil done through various means over the centuries? He's tried to shed innocent blood. He has attempted to destroy man in whatever way he can. And, of course, the other areas in the area of human sexuality. He's tried to pervert that. And he knows that if he can get a society to embrace abortion, to embrace geriatricide, to embrace sodomy as normal,

then he has the society because he strikes it the foundation of the civil society, which is the nature of man, which is the image of God, the Amago Day. And so I believe today what we're what we're dealing with is not only just a lack of appreciation for true liberty, but it's these these things that we just consider moral outrages are really attacks on the foundation of the civil society. And my wife and I do something called Josiah Project, where we pray for the closure of abortion clinics, not just 40 days a year, which is what 40 days is kicking off, 40 days for life is kicking off on February 13. But we are praying for an end to abortion because we have five children.

We have 10 grandchildren. And we really care about their futures. So that's why we're doing what we do. That's why I'm doing what I do is because I'm passionately in love with my children and my grandchildren. And so I can't imagine leaving them a world. It's any less, any less. any less free than the one I grew up in.

Well, I'm just so glad we finally got this time to talk up with the Black Robe Regiment with the Reverend Bill Cook. Bill, just grateful for your coming on and explaining these things and helping us understand them. I'm glad to know that folks can check out National Black Robe Regiment through wall builders, blackrobed regiment.us, a number of places. but it's just a vitally important subject that people begin to educate themselves and try to really understand what this country is about, what it means to have faith and how liberty is connected to it.

We're out of time, but just a joy to have you. Thank you, Reverend Bill Cook. Thank you, Eric. God bless you. Folks, welcome back. Albin, is today Tuesday? Today is Tuesday. It feels like Tuesday. So I'm glad that it is Tuesday.

because don't you hate it when it feels like Saturday and it turns out it's not. No. It just messes with your head. Every day is Saturday for me when I'm doing the show with you. I feel like, woohoo. Exactly. Exactly. It's like Friday night.

Okay, so we are, I want to make sure that we let people know how to get your hat. Okay. Here's the hat right here, folks. There it is. Okay. Well, yes, you can go to shopmettaxas.com. You can go to our radio web page, Metaxistock.com, and right at the bottom, there's a banner. You click on that. You can get hats, t-shirts, and Eric's books and even Hamster Holmes books,

and you can get all of those. And you can support the show. Let's be honest. The bottom line is the prices are unbelievably cheap. We're not in this to make a buck. When you see the prices, you'll say, why are they so low? Why are the prices so low? Well, I don't really know. I don't set the prices. This is Salem. The brass at Salem basically decided, you know, to screw the Earth in Texas show. Why do they need money? And so, I don't know. I have no idea.

But the bottom line is that the hats, the t-shirts, the mugs. Did we forget to mention the mugs? The mugs, yep. These are some of the most handsome mugs in mugdom. Yes. Think about that. In all of mugdom, these are some of the most handsome mugs. They're so handsome, you'll be afraid to drink out of them because you'll say,

it's just too nice to drink out of it. I don't want to put my, my dirty lips on that beautiful mug. And yet you will. You'll get used to it. Eventually, it won't seem like some kind of ethereal, platonic ideal of a mug. It'll be your mug. Yeah, your mug with Eric's name on it.

Your mug with Eric's name on it. It will look like it's the platonic ideal of mugness. And not smugness, mugness. And anyway, I just want to, wanted to say that the prices are ridiculous. It's like crazy Eddie. Our prices are insane. Yeah. And I think the shopmetaxus.com, shopmetaxe.com or go to metaxistocot.com. But if you want to bypass that whole metaxist talk website, you can go directly to shopmetaxis.com. And what else we have there? We've got, there's books, signed books. There's all kinds of stuff.

Yeah, there's also hamster homes, a complete set of hamster homes. And of course, there's your books, the Donald Books, Donald the Caveman. So there are all kinds of really good stuff there. And the reason why the prices are so low, because Eric wants to make sure that his name is worn by everybody in the world. Yes, that's it. Okay, so I got another thing, Albin, to say, before I forget, when I spoke at Chino Hills, okay, they have a huge online presence.

There's people because it's COVID. Tons of people are watching online. My book was in the top 100 on Amazon. It went to number 65 on Amazon just because I was preaching in this church. That's better like than doing TV. It was fish out of water. A search for the meaning of life. And I, yeah, it was kind of amazing that just from preaching at Chino Hills,

but I guess they have a huge online viewership and you can go on my social media. I posted the sermon on there. I also should say, I've been telling people this. If you don't want to shop at Amazon, most of my books are available. at my store.com, which is related to mypillow.com. You can go to mypillow.com. After you've done your sheet and towel shopping and pillow shopping, you can move over to my store.com and use the same code, Eric, no extra charge. You can use the same code without being charged twice. Eric. And when you use the code Eric at my store.com, you can get most of my books

at very good prices and all kinds of other kooky items. You won't believe the items at my store.com. You want to visit my store.com just to see the other items that aren't my books. You won't believe it. And I mean that. You've got to use the code Eric to get the big Eric in Texas show discount. Okay, when we come back

actually we're not coming back. This is the end of the hour. Goodbye.