Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 801 | Jase Calls Out Biden’s Devastating Threat to Foster Care & Phil Roasts His Brother-in-Law

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Jase is very upset about a potential new rule that would severely hinder a cause that's near to his heart. Phil has a pretty good idea what led to his brother-in-law's recent honeymoon health scare. Al visits a concentration camp in Europe, a grim reminder that evil truly does exist in the modern world. Phil is amused by Jase’s list of “kings,” and the guys discuss the kingship aspect of Jesus and why America seems to struggle with the concept. In this episode: Luke 18, verses 31-34; John 18, verses 35-37 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Oh. Oh, you're ready to go. It's on fire. It's been a long week. I don't know if you'll know dad's getting a pacemaker put in, so he's officially getting old. Oh, really? I hadn't heard that. I didn't know that marriage would have that big impact on him. Good night. It'll stop your heart. You know, when you turn 70 and you get married again, I guess everything gets put to the test. Can they get that going again?

Can the doctors line and light him out? Yeah, what happens with the page? Explain that. By the way, we're rolling, so. Well, to Phil's point, let me tell you the name of our, we have a family thread that we added in my dad's brother and his wife into a new thread to, talk about his heart condition. And for those of y'all who don't know, my dad got married last Sunday and then went on his honeymoon and went in the hospital about two days ago.

So the name of the group text, he's getting a pacemaker put in. So the name of the group text is Gordon's honeymoon heart disease group. So we've already. I don't know what. You know, I mean, I guess they put a pacemaker and he's got some kind of, I don't know the whole story. A redmia or whatever they call it. Yeah, I think it's a heart flutteration, palpitation, something like that. I'm putting the pieces of this together and realizing that don't put the heart to the test.

So he said, I called him and said you got that Toby Keith disease, you know, I'm not as good as I once was, but I was as good once as I ever. I said, you got too ambitious. So, of course, you know, this is what we do. But I think he's going to be okay. The doctor thinks he's going to actually get a lot more energy once they do this procedure today. So, Jay's, we're calling, now we have a new amp. And so I'm calling her the other A&M because her name is Ann. And so she's a, but she is a very sweet lady.

And I saw the pictures of Zach from the wedding. And you did the wedding, right? Yeah, me and Grant, we offici, the wedding and in the middle of the like the ceremony which was in my house I mean it was very low key so her kids were there obviously my dad's kids were there all the grandkids and uh we're doing the officiating the wedding I gave a little five minute you know a dissertation on on the covenant of marriage and then Grant kind of got into more than nitty gritty of the vows and um dad I he was sick at the wedding and we didn't I mean he sat and

Now in the middle of the ceremony is like, I'm about to pass out. The whole thing was super awkward, you know, but just because he's like passing out, we're like, are you sure? It's a, come to find out he had a heart, heart issue. And he was experiencing it then, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's good. So he's good to go, though. He'll be buttoned up today at two o'clock and he'll get his pacemaker and he'll be off to the races.

So we'll, I'll report back once that's done. You know, but I was just thinking the symmetry of that, Zach, is pretty cool because you and Grant did the bulk of your mom's funeral. And, of course, I was honored to be able to speak at Jan's funeral, too. But it's a neat thing to be able to see that life as it goes forward, as a family, you know, we take things as they come. And we then have these spiritual connections that happen as a result of that. And so, you know, it's not always an easy thing late in life because you've got two families that already have children and everything. And you're trying to blend those in together. But that was a neat thing.

I didn't realize that y'all both did that. But that's kind of cool because it took me back to the great job y'all did speaking at your mom's funeral too, which is. I didn't think about that, but that's a good point. Yeah, it was special. It was a good. It was a good time. So her, her boys have a really good barbecue restaurant here up in North Carolina. So they did all the cooking.

And we had a big, big, rib eye roast. you had. I mean, we had all the fixings. It was good. It was a good time. Well, that's awesome. Well, and maybe I can check that out when I come up for Leda's wedding. Check out the guy's restaurant. So, uh, welcome back, Zach. We're glad to have you back. We had one podcast, um, for you able to join us. And we got into meals. And of course, I was in Europe. And so I've been talking a little bit about that and some of our rare time off because we're telling the audience that we don't, because we do so many podcasts, we don't really get a chance to take much of a break. And so we were able to work ahead a little bit around Jay's production schedule. And so we had some much needed time off, which was fantastic.

So I'm glad to know that you guys were full of activity in North Carolina as we were. Yeah, we don't stop. So, Jace, I saw you on, uh, you and me on Sadie's podcast, which was a great job. You guys really did a good job. That was, that was, what did you think about Jace getting verclimped. Um, did you. Did you you see that part where you got choked up? Yeah, it was really good. I mean, you know, watching, seeing Jason's face next to Sadie's face is a little bit like shocking, you know what I mean? So I had to get over the shock of just the contrast there, Jay's. But it was really powerful. If you hadn't checked that out, anybody listening, you guys need to go download Sadie's

podcast and listen to us very good. I was, we actually talked about that on the previous podcast, and some part of me was hoping that they might have edited that. part out when I just lost it, but I guess they didn't. Mm-mm. No, well. That raw vulnerability. Hey, Zach.

Jesus wept. He did. Yes, he did. The standards. It's being like Jesus. Yeah, I couldn't have. I actually told the story of why, you know, what that led me, what led me to be that way, but, you know, it is what it is.

I'm proud of my daughter and I'm really proud of Sadie. I mean, I just, I just, um, I think those two girls love the Lord, and I love how they're using their various platforms to make Jesus look good. Amen. So, Zach, I told our audience that Lisa and I went on a cruise, and Alex and Vinny went with us as well, which was a great blessing for us. We did a little river cruise up the Danube River. And we started out in Hungary, went to Austria, went to Germany, and that's where the cruise ended there. and then we went on to Prague, the Czech Republic, for another couple of days.

And I talked a little bit about some of the stuff that we recognized when we were doing Dad's movie a few years ago, because we were in Paris, France, and we were in Poland. We went to Auschwitz and, you know, had some amazing experiences. And I talked a little bit about kind of what we noticed, Zach, about these kind of what I would call empty vessels, beautiful cathedrals and abys and all these things, but kind of void of people and warmth. You know, it just felt like you were going through a museum. And it was beautiful and amazing and old and older than anything we have in our country. But it just didn't spark that warmth.

And so I talked a little bit about that. But something else I didn't mention on the last podcast that I wanted to mention was that until you go to Europe, especially the countries we went to this last time, you don't realize that how impacted European countries still are because of the Second World War and then also communism. And its effect, especially we got into Czech and Hungary. And, you know, it was really just kind of a tradeoff from one dictator to another for so many of these people. And I went to what is now my third concentration camp. This one was in the Czech Republic. terrorism is what it's called. And it was kind of a transport spot where the Germans would send them there for a bit and then they would send them on to the death camps. So it wasn't necessarily a death camp, but so many people died there because the conditions were so horrible. And what's amazing is this thing is still standing and looks pretty much like it did back in the 40s. I mean, it hasn't changed at all. So you really get a look at it and they explained it and show you what happened. But just to just to share with the numbers, 155,

thousand people went through this camp. And mind you that this town, this little town called Terrism, where this facility is, that was built back in the even a couple hundred years before it was used here, this town was built to hold at a maximum 8,000 people. I mean, that's how big the town is. And yet the 155,000 people go through this place in three or four years. Out of that 155,000, a hundred and eight, thousand died either in that camp or one of the camps.

Dad, when we went to Auschwitz, that was, of course, was one of the places they were sending them, as well as a bunch of the other ones. And it just, the idea of that is still, it resonates so strongly in European culture. And it just, you know, it didn't get lost on me in the idea. Because, you know, we were impacted. I mean, we're recording today on December 7, which is a huge day in American history, because that's when, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, which pulled us into the Second World War. But, you know, it wasn't fought on our soil. So even though we had, we were impacted by it, our grandparents and dad, in your case,

you were born right at the tail end of this. You know, they were all impacted and families were impacted. But when it's on your soil and they're taking your cities and they're imprisoning and killing your people, it's a different way of looking at it. And so it really was, it didn't get lost on me that even though it's been now, you know, over 80 years, it still has a huge impact on the way we think, on politics, on all of it. And, of course, even in the spiritual context of what we're talking about, because evil has been around since the very beginning. And that's what I kept thinking about. Every time I go to one of these places and I saw what human beings were doing to other human beings, evil is the only way I can describe it.

that you could pull off what, and it's still happening. I mean, we just experienced it again in Israel recently. So the evil one is alive and well, boys. And even though we have different experiences, I think what we're talking about is so relevant, you know, to future as we go forward. Because I'm assuming unless the Lord comes back, there will be a World War III at some point, just because of evil ideology. So you better be grounded. And you better make sure you got your faith and your family where you want to be because trust me when men get in control and Zach what was the point of the movie a torch bear whoever has the stick whoever's got the control that's who sets the you know the basically everybody's rights to live or die yeah the idea is you

want to you know our system is you want to lean into a system where the whoever the whoever gets to determine the the value of human life we I hope it's not us because then it does become, you know, might as right and power. That's right. And, you know, all this structure. But you mentioned communism. I mean, you know, communism has resulted in, you know, over 100 million people being murdered under different regimes.

And I just reminded of the late R.C. Sproul's, one of his books, the title of this, ideas have consequences. And I think that it's important for us to recognize that ideas do have consequences. It's why we discuss on this podcast, a lot of ideas, primarily we're pointing, back to the idea that God came in flesh and died for our sins and was resurrected so that we could have a hope of being with him for eternity. But ideas do have consequences. And I think when you go to Europe, you see a lot of the remnants of a lot of pain from the past.

And it is a sobering reminder of what human beings are capable of for sure. And that's what I felt. You know, I've been to Dachau, I've been to Auschwitz, and I've been to the stairs. And every time there's a palpable feel that evil was at work here and what it did to people. When you're looking at walls that have bullet holes in them that went through people that were killed, just because, you know, you didn't agree with the way things were being run or because you were of a certain nationality or race is very sobering. So it did make me appreciate, as it always does, you know, what we have here in our country. but man, who was it, dad that said, if you can keep it.

Was it Benjamin Franklin? You know, it's a great idea if you can keep it, which is powerful. Well, it's fascinating that you brought this up because we haven't coordinated what we're going to talk about. But we are in Luke 19, and what I believe is one of the most misunderstood parables or misused parables in modern day churches. I didn't really think that before I studied it. I guess this is one of those parables we just skip over and say, not sure what this is talking about. So what's funny is it led me down a rabbit hole

because I believe the point of it is Jesus calling out people not recognizing him as king. I mean, you just think about everything we've done through the study of Luke and all the miracles he did and trying to get people to recognize him as the son of God and ultimately him being the king of kings. And so, you know, I just wrote down a few points about the problem with monarchies and having a king. I mean, here we are in America. You know, we're under a republic.

But we will have to concede that, you know, our president sometimes acts like a king. I mean, that's just the truth. And when I thought about it, because I love being in a republic, if you ask me, well, how do you want your nation to be set up? And when you think back to the American Revolution, and, you know, I'm into treasure hunting and we find all these relics and we've been to, you know, sites where the war of 1812 happened in the late 1700s. and basically we wanted to get out from under British rule. They were running the place. And when you start diving into the history, I mean, you start thinking, hey, America, you know,

there's no other king but God. I mean, that was our mantra. But when I thought about the problems with monarchies, when you think about it, they're all flawed. So whoever's the king, he's a human being, so he's flawed. Yep. They all die. So even if you have a good one, at some point he's going to die.

Then it's all unpredictable because whatever line that he passes on, you have no idea what the next one's going to be like. So I think these are all things that we can agree on. But I do think a part of that, especially in modern day America, they don't want to view Jesus as king because of all the things I just said. but a monarchy would be great if you had a flawless king. Yeah. If you had a king that was indestructible. That's why. And if you had a king that was predictable,

and then you know exactly what he represents. That's why it says over and over and over and over. We're in Luke. Jesus took the 12 aside. Oh, yeah. He told him we're going up to Jerusalem. them and everything that is written by the prophets that you can all read about the son of man Jesus, all of them will be fulfilled.

He will be handed over to the Gentiles. He was, the Roman Empire. They'll mock him, they did. They'll insult him, they did. They spit on him, they did. Fogged him, they did. And kill him, and they did. On the third day, he'll rise again.

problem is the disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them. And they did not know what Jesus was talking about. Yeah. That's still here. Exactly. Well, and I think they had this idea. How many just don't get it when you say Jesus. They say, oh, you mean, you're into all that. They start bad mouth. you and cursing you to this very day. It's amazing. So, and they thought that, you know, if Jesus could get them out from under Roman rule. Yep.

And the way normal kingdoms work. Because how do normal kingdoms work on earth? They bully and they kill people. Get rid of the king. They take over, yeah, get rid of the opposition. So what's interesting about that, I wrote this down, not that I thought I was going to go over. but actually Larry was preaching Sunday because he was preaching out of Luke 17 and he started talking about the same thing we're talking about how you know where is the kingdom or what is the kingdom and it's like where the king reigns and he brought up Luke 17 20 and 21 when it said once having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come Jesus replied the kingdom of the kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation,

nor will people say here it is or there it is, because in their minds, they would know Jesus and his kingdom would come once he destroys the oppressors. And you'll say, well, there's home base, there's the palace, there's the messiahs, this is the power central. And he says,

the kingdom of God is within you or in your midst or at your grasp, whatever, however you want to translate the Greek there, which I think within your grasp is probably the closest, just from me looking up that Greek word, but it's within people. It's not going to come how you think it is, which is why where we're at today, Jesus tells this parable about people not recognizing the king from heaven himself being here and his principle, because all his principles are the exact opposite of what you would think real power is. He's talking about blessed are those who are humble and poor in spirit and are peacemakers and who mourn and who

were insulted and persecuted. Well, nothing of his principles lines up with what they think of as kingdoms. And so I ran across this interesting bit of history that in 1919. So this is the year after World War I, there was a, the king of Belgium was going to come to America and do it like a tour. But you got to remember at that time, we just had a war war. And all of the dictators and parties involved, who had oppressed so many people, had caused people in America to say, just like we did when the British were in charge of America, they were like, we want to have nothing to do with, with kings. or monarchies. And so there was a letter from the Milwaukee mayor who, based on what I researched, wasn't really a believer. He was a socialist. And he wrote a letter urging that the king of Belgium be told thanks, but no thanks. We don't want to hear anything you have to say.

But I wanted to read an excerpt of his letter because it was fascinating. And it says, well, I mean no disrespect to the Belgian people, whom I love, and I don't want to be discourteous, because these days are trying for men's souls. We must either take our place with kings, their golden places and satellites, or we must line up with the rights of the common man. I should go to my grave, an everlasting shame, were I to boost one iota, the stock of any king. and then he mentions this guy by name. Remind your associates, and he puts this in all caps, I stand for the man who works to hell with the kings.

Quite the rousing. That guy's a good orator. Well, I bring that up just to say, I do think there's a part of our culture, and here we are in America, and we're promoting a king. And his name is Jesus. But I think, based on our history and everything we've gone through,

it's just not something that people want to think. I mean, when you hear this guy, who's an obvious socialist, but he's, what is his big argument there? There's only one. He's like, what about all these people? What about the common man? What about the poor? What about the people struggling?

And the difference is, is what I say is what I think, we got to get back to, which is what we have now is that our government and people in power, they're fine with religion as long as you're out of sight and you keep it private. But don't try to solve the world's problems. You know, let us deal with the poor and the oppressed and all the racism that's going on. But then when you read what Jesus presented, well, those are the very ideals that he focused on in his life. He was taking the untouchable. He was taking those that were stricken with diseases.

I mean, when you think pandemic, you think, well, that don't apply to Christianity. Well, it did with Jesus. Yep. And so I think you've got to realize that, yeah, I think for a country, having a republic is great. But that's the undercard. The overcard is the king of kings visited the earth, and he is the only one that is capable of solving all these issues. and giving you answers on what we think the government is supposed to be doing.

You are correct. Because to your point, the reason why you should prefer a republic on this side of heaven is because we take into account the fallibility of man, as you mentioned earlier. Like, you're not going to find a perfect king. And that's the whole, that's kind of the whole premise behind, you know, classical conservatism, which is not what it's become now, unfortunately. And that's why I think that going in this 2024 election season, I mean, the church has to, we've got to keep our head about us. I mean, you know, Francis Schaefer said it best at a sermon.

I think he gave down in Florida one year. He said conservative humanism is still humanism. And don't forget that because what we're talking about is it transcends the left-right political spectrum. It transcends that because it's anchored in a king who is in fact. who is indestructible, as you mentioned, Jace. What a great point. Who is perfect, who has the ability and the power to accomplish his will. And he has good intentions in his heart for his people and his creation.

And I think that is the essence. And so, but what happens is, and you're seeing this unfolding in Luke 19, by the way, I know we're not there yet, but I mean, he's about to completely disrupt the entire system of thought that God's going to come down and live in a temple built by man. I mean, he's, he's about to, Jesus himself is going, I mean, he's going into the temple and he's about to wreak havoc and then he's going to say some incredible things on, you know, after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So, I mean, I think that this whole concept is building up to this idea that there is a king who's not, who's not corrupted, you know, but while we're here, yeah, I'm not put my allegiance under, under a man. I mean, to a degree I will, right? I mean, but I'm not like putting my hope in a man. I'm not going to put my hope in a president.

I'm not going to put my hope in Congress. I'm not going to put my hope in a pastor. I'm not going to put my hope. And even my own dad, I mean, or anybody because they're, number one, they're fallible. And number two, they're finite creatures that aren't going to be able to sustain me. And I think that's what Jesus, that's who he is. And you know, I think you're right, Zach. And what's interesting is, I don't know Jason's going to go there either.

But what's interesting about the Jewish here, history from, say, 600 AD, which was the Babylonian captivity, up until the point that John the Baptist arrived on the scene, God and his wisdom really shows that they needed a king who they could trust, who would be Jesus, because really from the time they went back and supposedly reestablished the kingdom, it was never established correctly. They were under rule of one group after the other. When you study that period, we call them the silent period of the 400 years between Malachi and when you pick up in John the Baptist in the gospel narratives, you see that these people would trade anything. You'd have one guy like the Maccabeean

revolt, which happened against these Greek kings around 200 BC. You'd have one guy that was standing for God, said, we got to do the right thing, and everybody rallied behind him. Well, the minute he dies, his son takes over to Jason's point, and then he makes a deal with these same kings as long as he can be the chief priest. Well, then it all gets soiled again because it's all just corrupt. So when Jesus shows up on the scene under the reign of Herod at the beginning and then his sons after that, you see that this corruption and this idea of rulership has been wrong now for 600 years. And the people were looking for the king. They just didn't recognize and realize exactly what he would do. So the immediate context of history under the Jewish Empire

shows you to the point we're making. Everything was set up for Jesus to do what he did. But even what's interesting about the Jewish nation as a whole, like they historically didn't have a king. I mean, they, I mean, other than God, but until there was a moment in 1st Samuel 8 where they demand a king, but then there's warnings, starting the king that Samuel gives them. And it's, but what's happened, though,

is they demanded a king because they wanted that security. They wanted that national identity. They wanted to hold on to that. But now what's happened is we're in this weird, weird Western culture where, where we're still demanding a king. But the difference now is that is we,

me individually, I'm going to be the king. I'm going to be the king in my life. I'm king. And you can be your king and then you can be your own king. The problem is, is that when those kingdoms of millions of people, just in America alone, are colliding, you know, for sovereignty.

And there's this, and that's why you see how fractured we are. And so we're never getting away for a desire for a king. And I think what Jesus offers us is that non-arbitory anchor, which we could build upon, you know, in the, there was a guy named Samuel Rutherford, who was a Scottish Presbyterian minister. And he wrote a book, some say that he got this concept from John Locke, who wrote Treatise of Two Governments and was very influential in kind of American politics and the founding of our country, as well as others, the French Revolution.

I think Russo studied under Locke. But the book he wrote, Samuel Rutherford wrote, it was Lex. I think it's called Lex Rex, which is Latin for the law is king. and that was such a provocative statement when he wrote that to Jason's point about the monarchy, because up into that point in world history, it was the opposite was true, is that the king is law. And whatever the king says, that's the law. And no matter, so if he says that whatever he dictates, that is, that's it. That's what we're doing.

That's what we're going with. And Rutherford's book, he was making the case that, no, there's actually a law above even the king. to which all men are beholden. And it's the Bible, if we look in the Bible, it's called the moral law written on our heart, Romans chapter two. It's natural law. Like there's a law that governs that is God's law and that we submit to that.

So it was an interesting turn in the tides of how we viewed power dynamics and power structures. Then you get in this whole concept that while you send separation church and state and you're trying to implement your religious beliefs. No, that's not what we're talking about here. We're simply talking about where does the ultimate law of right and wrong, good and evil, like morality, where does that come from? Does that come from our own interpretation? Does that come from our own opinions, which are, by the way, a dime a dozen?

Or is it something that's set, is the value of human life set in something that doesn't move? And the Christian perspective is that the value of human life, morals, right, right, and wrong moral duties and virtues and all that, that is anchored in something that doesn't move. It's not arbitrary. It's not dependent on the will of man. It's not dependent on our perceptions of it or our interpretations of it. It is what it is and that all human beings have intrinsic value. Why?

Genesis 126, because they're made an image of God. So that's kind of the core of kind of our system. Before you go, Jays, I think the irony is to everything you just said, Zach, because I visited two capital cities in two European countries, both had beautiful, opulent palaces that have been around a long time, but that house no one in power, only the past, because the system has changed. So it's really interesting that we're talking about this in terms of the kingdoms. Let's take another break.

Yeah, I'd like to respond. Because I agree with that. There's a few things, though, I want to point out here. and because I think when it comes to us following Jesus, I do not believe in separation of church and state. I think that because of the Holy Spirit and because we're in Christ, we're Christ ambassadors, we are here for the state, representing the God above.

And I want to make my point on this. That's why Christianity was outlawed. You've seen it during your lifespan. It's not allowed in any of the school system. What happened? what you are now seeing. Exactly. Chaos.

So I want to say this. I think Zach's right about deep down. We all want a king. And you see that. I think it's really in the church. It's a misunderstanding of what I read in Luke 17, 20, and 21. And the reason I was so purposeful about that is that a lot of pastors read that and say, well, the kingdom is within you.

And they're like, well, you have to find that within you somewhere. And I think that's a dangerous thing when you say, I'm the king. And look, we do that in our culture. I quoted the guy, the Milwaukee mayor, but then look at what we do in our culture. I just made a list. Michael Jackson, King of Pop, Clark Gable, King of Hollywood, George Strait, King of Country, Richard Petty, King of the Road, Elvis Presley, who unfortunately died on my birthday, King of Rock and Roll, LeBron James, what they call him, King James.

Arnold Palmer, what is he called? The king. Felix Hernandez, a baseball player you've never heard of. You know what they called him? King Felix. Pele, the king of football. I mean, why are we doing this? That's just a few things that I'm interested in.

The list is long. We're just enamored because we have this idea that we can be, you know, own kings in our own world and we don't need any kind of supernatural explanation on how we got here. So I want to take you to a conversation that Jesus himself said that I do think is misunderstood in the religious world. When he was before Pilate, he was asked in John 18 in verse 33, are you the king of the Jews? You got to realize he's arrested. He's made these claims. he's done these things and now the powers that be he is having to submit to him which makes it look like he has no power whatsoever we have his own little thing with with to make a take on church and state he has now become a threat to the state and they they've arrested him

and he's like well are you king why is he asking him that are you a threat to us because we're in control here And so Jesus says, is that your own idea? Or did others talk to you about me? Which is very clever because he's like, so what? They told you, I'm a threat to you? Am I Jew? Peter replied, which is the same concept. You know, I'm not even involved with your people.

It was your people and your chief priest who handed you over to me. What is it you've done? Now, watch what he says. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. And if you read the Greek, you could just as easily say it's not from this world. That's right. It wasn't built here. It came from somewhere else, right?

Because it's not the type of kingdom that he thinks we're discussing here. So he says, my kingdom is not of or from this world. If it were, my servants would fight. If my kingdom was like your kingdom, we would get out the sun. and I would bully and be war. Yeah, whatever would happen, what happened, fight to prevent my arrests by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place. So it's not from here.

But when you see this next interchange, you get something really powerful. Because he said, so you're a king then, said Pilate. Jesus answered, you're right in saying I'm a king. In fact, I love this. For this reason, I was born. And for this, I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of the truth listens to me. So I want to make a little catchphrase here because it's very powerful.

He's saying, my kingdom is not from this world. It's for this world. And so when you fast forward to who we are, housing the Holy Spirit of God in Christ, ambassadors and you read something like Philippians 320 that says our citizenship is in heaven. Well, we're not from here. We were created because we believe that God made us. But we're for this world. So to say we're just going to sit by and not address all of life's problems and challenges

when we have the greatest news and the greatest person, the greatest king, a king like no other king in that he is flawless, he is righteous, he is holy, he is holy, He is beautiful and gentle, but he's also just. We have the king of kings. We're not going to sit idly by and say, oh, we're just going to do our own little private thing and stay out of the ways of the world. We're not from here, but we're for here, which is why we're here and why he came. That's why when you read John 316, no one highlights the fact that it says, for God so love the world.

Well, that's why he came. We just want to, what we want to do in religion is just separate ourselves from it and say, boy, I hope when Jesus comes back, he can take me away from this place. And we miss the purpose. That's a great line that a caveat you said there. I want to repeat it in case you may have missed it, that we're not from here, but we're for here. And I think that, because you're right, what happens in kind of theological circles, you start to debate it, and what does it mean to be involved in the, matters of the world. And, you know, we don't typically, I don't hold the view that, like, oh, the world's going to hell in a handbasket. Nothing matters here. I think it does matter.

Like, we're here. We're here. We're here. We're to impact the world around us to build it. Jesus came preaching the message of the kingdom. You know, even this, this parable that we're about to get into. I mean, it's what you know what it's about? It's about the kingdom. I mean, that's what he's talking about. He's talking about going into a man going into to establish a kingdom. And what they were waiting for the kingdom to appear. what you just read is later on in that week and when that happened. But entering into Jerusalem, you know, Jesus, the people around him were anticipating that the kingdom was going to appear immediately. And I don't think they, so they had a vision for the kingdom coming.

What they did not understand is what the kingdom would be like. And they were thinking political boundaries. they were thinking, you know, borders, walls, castles, temples. I mean, they're thinking structures. And Jesus is like, it's way bigger, like way bigger than you can ever imagine. A guy that Zach and I both know personally, our new speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, who is a believer, loves the Lord, I mean, you know, a really good guy. He's working in a flawed system as a kingdom worker.

And you know that's the case because the first thing he did when he was elected Speaker of the House in this flawed system of American, you know, everything we have. There's a lot of good things. The founders had some great ideas. But we realize we're still of this earth, right? I mean, the United States of America, it's not the kingdom of God. But when you have a kingdom-minded person, first thing he did when he walks into the chamber is he got down on his knees and some of the other house members joined him and he prayed. and he got a lot of grief about it. And I thought he's showing America right off the bat where his true allegiance is.

And no matter what happens under a flawed system and you make deals and you make bad calls, and I'm sure he'll do things that even we disagree with, he shows he's a kingdom-minded guy first. And so that's how we have to always function in whatever system we're in. And that's why there's so many different ones as kingdom-minded people. And Jason is right on the money because we are not from. here, but we are for here, which makes a big difference. Go ahead, Jay. Well, we may never read Luke 19, I guess, but I do feel like we have to set this up. And, you know, I had a couple

illustrations that I want to say that depicts the problem, because really, if it doesn't get practical, what does all this mean? Are we not supposed to roll our sleeves up and be ambassadors of Christ on this earth, even when it's when it's tough? And I'll give you two illustrations of this. So if you go read or watch like a far right political news telecast, which we tend to line up right, but when you just listen to what the majority of it is, it's not so much of what we do about the problems. It's just enraging the audacity of the other side and what their principles are doing. But you're left sitting there. they're saying, well, what are we going to do about it? Well, then if you go watch the far left

agenda, well, they're doing the same thing. They're enraging their side over what the far right is doing. And you find yourself saying, well, nobody's exactly saying what we're going to do about it. And what I'm submitting is, that's our job. We have the, the reason they're not giving you the answers on how you're going to correct it is because they don't know. They're just mad because they're like, whatever this is. And so it's like a ping pong match saying, I'm mad. What are you going to do about it? Well, I don't know.

I don't know what to do it. I got to tell you this because, I mean, this is something that in 2014, some of you all know I ran for Congress. And man, that's crazy how much I've changed. Not necessarily my politics have changed, but definitely I have seen exactly what Jason is talking about. I've seen up close and personal, you know, how we operate in trying to bring this is how we win politically right now.

It's I'm going to make my base more angry at my opponent than my opponent is making their base angry at my guy. And that's how political discourse works in 2023. And you're right. I mean, it's, it is insane how much we are shifted and shaped by the content that we're consuming. I'm going to try to, in fact, I'm going to do this. They're in our show notes.

I'm going to put up a link. There's a, it's an old link, but it's, this was film like 30 years, 40 years ago. But it's one of a guy I like a lot named Francis Schaefer. And what he did was he took, they set up this like fake riot. And they had these actors that came in and they played this out and they just did what they were supposed to do. And then they hired two film crews and two separate film crews. They said, can we want you to film and tell the news about what you see here? but we want you to tell it from the perspective of that the police are the enemy.

And then the other side, they said, we want you to film this same exact footage, everything's the same. We want you to report on this as if that the rioters are the villains. And then they created two news stories out of the same event, the same exact. I mean, all they have was different camera angles and someone else telling the story. And it's funny when you watch it, you're like, when you watch these two newscast, you're like, like both of them are. convincing. But what's lacking in both of them is truth. And I think that that's one of the things that when we hyper-focus on a political earthly kingdom as opposed to God's kingdom, the one thing that always kind of gets left behind is the idea of truth. And in God's kingdom, it's built on a

transcendent truth that surpasses all of this. And that's why I don't think we should get too caught. I'm not saying we don't get involved. Yeah. Look, I've repented for this. I mean, like, you get too caught up in putting your allegiance in a human-made, human-constructed system, then you're setting yourself up for major disappointment. I want to give my other illustration for you, run out of time, because what you just said, I'm going to give you a practical explanation.

If I seem angry, I am a little angry about this. So when you don't see me on this podcast, most of my... my life is about kingdom business, which is trying to keep marriages together in the Lord, sharing Jesus with other people. One of the things I'm heavily involved in is foster care because I have a boy who, Missy and I are now functioning kind of like his godparents because Missy in one of her ministries was sharing Jesus to women who had been sexually abused or been sex trafficked and had tough childhoods. And so I've told that story many times. So now she has a son. She was in prison.

She signed him over to us. We raised him for the first 10 and a half months of his life. And now, you know, and his mom is doing really well at this stage of her life. She's out of prison. She's giving her life to Jesus. We're helping her become a mom. And so that's close to my heart. But I would call that kingdom business because we go around trying to protect the sanctity of life and sharing Jesus. And what happens if you put yourself out there, these are social issues, well, what happens when a woman says, will you take my baby? Well, I'm not going to go out there and preach the sanctity of life.

And when a woman makes a great decision and then says, I'm unable to take care of this boy, I'm not going to step up and do that. To me, that's kingdom business. You said, why are you bringing this up? I'm bringing it up because just a few days ago, our president submitted a bill saying from now on in the foster care world, and there's over 400,000 kids who are in that foster care program, he made a point to say, and the bill hasn't been passed or rejected yet, but he proposed a bill that the caretakers of these foster kids have to acknowledge a kid's

sexual identity, and whatever they come up with, and it's the exact opposite of things that this Bible says about a person being a male or female. So, well, what's going to happen if that passes? The number one group of people who take care of foster kids in our country are believers in Jesus. They're Christian people. But now you're proposing a bill that none of them are going to go along with. We are not going to acknowledge this worldly idea of what a male and a female,

letting kids decide whether they want to be a boy or girl and having served. We're not going to do that. And so what's going to happen? You're now removing all of the people who are doing this for the Lord because we have the truth as far as where a baby comes from and how precious a baby is. You're now going to eliminate them. So what's going to happen? you're now going to have 400,000 kids with no one to take care of them.

And so it just fries my bacon. So you said, what are you going to do about it? There's a phrase we don't hear enough, fries my bacon. That's what I'm doing right now. I'm saying, no, we have to stand up and say, no, we're not, we don't want this bill. But as a person of Jesus doing kingdom business, when you're going that far down where you're not, recognizing all these people giving up their time, their money, and their energy for this one kid, this one individual. What do you think I'm doing for this kid? I'm providing a secure environment

of love and care that he was not going to receive anyone anywhere else. He was in a position where he couldn't receive it. So you step in the gap and you try to do things that the kingdom of God is known for you help people who are oppressed who are victims of you know just tragedy in our life that's what we're doing here so which by the way jays that was a direct command from the lord himself when he said if you want to experience the kingdom you accept these little children just like you're accepting me if that if that's not a marching order to do exactly what you're talking about then i don't know what is that is king yeah read matthew 18 it would be better for you to have a millstone tied around your neck and thrown in the sea to cause one of the,

rather than cause one of these kids to stumble. So, you know, I just, I'm not going to put up with it. I mean, that is a terrible idea, and it's very unthankful to the people of God who are helping these kids. I couldn't agree more. We're out of time. Man, that went fast. We still haven't quite gotten to Luke 1911. We're going to get there, unless the Lord comes back before of the next podcast. But we'll talk a little bit more about this in our overtime segment if you want to follow us over and set up where hopefully we'll get to next time. That's blazesth.com slash unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get

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