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Should Christians Vote · Live to Shoot - Defending our 2nd Amendment Rights

0:16
jeff: Well, welcome to the SHIP podcast.
0:18
jeff: My name is Jeff Dole and I've been a licensed farm dealer for the last 17 years in this fire.
0:23
jeff: In this podcast, we talk about all things related to the second movement, as well as anything else going on in the world.
0:28
jeff: Or a super story or anything else I might find interesting.
0:31
jeff: So welcome, welcome, welcome.
0:33
jeff: In this episode, we're going to do something a little different.
0:36
jeff: Um, I'm going to share a message from my pastor, uh, that he spoke last, uh, weekend in our, our service.
0:44
jeff: And I think it's very appropriate and timely and powerful.
0:48
jeff: Uh, as gun owners, uh, we have a tendency not to vote and that's what this podcast has been about about half the time.
0:56
jeff: gun owners out there don't vote and me trying to encourage you all to get out and vote and share the message because if we can get the gun owners to vote, uh, we'd have a definite, uh, advantage in this upcoming election.
1:08
jeff: Yeah, another large voting bloc that is staying away from the, the ballot box are Christians and pastors, uh, have done a disservice to their flocks.
1:21
jeff: to their members by not talking politics out of the pulpit.
1:26
jeff: Uh, they, you know, they take this separation of church and state and I'm just not going to risk losing my tax free status by getting too political.
1:38
jeff: And, um, that is just wrong.
1:41
jeff: They are doing a disservice because if you look in the Bible, Jesus does nothing but talk about politics.
1:48
jeff: He goes up against the politicians of the day.
1:51
jeff: And it's important that I believe that as Christians, we vote, and we get involved in politics, and we don't just stay away.
1:59
jeff: But, uh, that is what's happening.
2:01
jeff: A lot of Christians are staying away from the ballot box because, uh, they're trying to send a message, or, you know, I just don't like this guy, he seems mean, um, whatever it might be.
2:12
jeff: And my purpose of this is to, to Encourage y'all if you are one of those folks that It just doesn't feel like you need to vote and that you don't have anybody that you think is the right candidate because of your christian values Uh, listen to pastor josh Listen to his message and please share this podcast share this message Out to other christians because if we can get the gun owners and we can get the christians to vote Vote their values and what's important to them.
2:45
jeff: We will definitely win this election so Take care, listen to Pastor Josh, share his message, and vote.
2:56
jeff: Some of you, your polls are open already.
2:58
jeff: Get out and vote.
2:59
jeff: Don't vote till, wait till election day.
3:02
jeff: Vote now, who knows?
3:04
jeff: There may be another hurricane, maybe a snowstorm, maybe an EMP.
3:08
jeff: I don't know, but let's get our votes in the ballot box.
3:11
jeff: And use the election day as the day that we count our winning votes.
3:16
jeff: So take care, have a great day, and I will talk to you next week.
3:22
pastor Josh: Uh, buckle up! What's, uh, gonna happen today, it's been said! That, um, if you don't want to ruin a dinner party, don't talk about two things, religion or politics.
3:33
pastor Josh: I am here to ruin your party.
3:36
pastor Josh: That's what I am here to do.
3:37
pastor Josh: Today, um, what we're gonna do in the next few minutes is, uh, this will be, um, a very, I take one week to do this.
3:42
pastor Josh: If you're brand new with us, you're gonna be like, what did I just walk into?
3:46
pastor Josh: I'm taking one week right now just to, uh, have a very direct sermon.
3:49
pastor Josh: The title of the sermon is How to Vote Like Jesus.
3:52
pastor Josh: And before you freak out, just kind of hang out with me.
3:54
pastor Josh: Um, let me talk real quick about why I'm doing this.
3:57
pastor Josh: And the reason I even need to do this is because somewhere along the way, I don't have time to get into this.
4:01
pastor Josh: It's interesting about this really developed about 45 years ago, somewhere along the way, this idea developed that was brand new in all of church history, that the church and pastors should avoid politics and stay away from commenting on politics or political leaders.
4:17
pastor Josh: I just need you to know that concept is completely and utterly unbiblical.
4:21
pastor Josh: Completely and utterly unbiblical.
4:23
pastor Josh: For instance, let me talk Bible and logic.
4:26
pastor Josh: You cannot read the Bible about Moses, Daniel, Esther, Nathan, Nehemiah, John the Baptist and think that the church and pastors should avoid addressing government and governmental leaders.
4:38
pastor Josh: You just can't do it.
4:39
pastor Josh: It's all throughout the Bible.
4:40
pastor Josh: Number two, let's just use a little bit of logic together.
4:44
pastor Josh: I just want to point this out.
4:45
pastor Josh: Hey guys, as we often say at Lake Point, if the church won't disciple people, the world will.
4:52
pastor Josh: So what's going to happen, check this out, is if godly leaders and godly pastors and godly voices all go silent, what's Or refuse to be clear on issues related to politics and government, then the only voices that are left are the godless ones.
5:12
pastor Josh: So we have to understand this, that if we don't do this, they will, they're, they're, they're simply, listen, there comes, there are points when it's the job and responsibility of pastors and spiritual leaders to be like John the Baptist who rebuked a political leader of his day, King Herod, and just said, Hey man, You are doing godless things.
5:32
pastor Josh: You must repent because the people under your leadership can never be blessed while the leaders of this nation lead the nation into open defiance of the living, living God.
5:41
pastor Josh: So you've got to repent or we got to essentially, we, we, we, we got to get you out.
5:46
pastor Josh: Okay.
5:46
pastor Josh: So I need you to understand this.
5:48
pastor Josh: If you're brand new, if you've been around a while, then you've heard me say this before, but here's what I need you to understand.
5:53
pastor Josh: Okay.
5:53
pastor Josh: Some of you will hear the first few part of the sermon and be like, Oh man, Josh.
5:57
pastor Josh: So It feels like you or the church are getting more political.
6:02
pastor Josh: That is not what's happening.
6:04
pastor Josh: What's happening right now is not, the church is not getting more political.
6:07
pastor Josh: Politics are getting more theological and politics are getting more spiritual.
6:11
pastor Josh: When the government moved past things like building roads, issuing driver's licenses and teaching math.
6:16
pastor Josh: To things like redefining marriage, erasing gender, reframing abortion as reproductive rights, and then using the government school system into indoctrinate everybody's kids into believing those things.
6:27
pastor Josh: Hey guys, the church didn't move.
6:29
pastor Josh: Politics did.
6:31
pastor Josh: That's what happened.
6:32
pastor Josh: Politics moved, okay?
6:34
pastor Josh: So when that happens, it's the job of Bible believing churches to grab a Bible in their hand, Holy Spirit of their heart, wisdom in their head, courage in their bones, and essentially like, Hey man, I got dust your bumper.
6:44
pastor Josh: Get back in your lane.
6:46
pastor Josh: Get back in your lane.
6:47
pastor Josh: Okay, so let me just go ahead and take the air out of the ball real quick on something I am NOT going to be endorsing a candidate in the next few minutes.
6:54
pastor Josh: I'm not gonna do that I do that for two reasons number one whenever pastors I Personally think it's not wise because whatever pastors do that people view that as that person condoning whatever anything that candidate has ever done Is doing or will do in the future and any, I'll just be very honest.
7:12
pastor Josh: I'm going to be very honest with you throughout this message.
7:14
pastor Josh: Any thinking Christian with our eyes open would be looking at both of these candidates and going, well, we can't do that.
7:19
pastor Josh: Can't condone every single thing that person's ever done, uh, is doing or will do.
7:23
pastor Josh: The other reason I'm not endorsing a candidate is I just need you to know this.
7:26
pastor Josh: I am not here to seek the approval of man.
7:30
pastor Josh: I am not here to seek the approval of a party.
7:34
pastor Josh: And I'm not here to seek the approval of a politician.
7:37
pastor Josh: I am here on behalf of the living God, to speak from his word and just go, man, this is what we are.
7:43
pastor Josh: Okay?
7:43
pastor Josh: So while listen, your conviction should pull your vote right or left.
7:48
pastor Josh: We'll talk about more, more about that later.
7:50
pastor Josh: Your conviction should pull your vote, right or left.
7:52
pastor Josh: But my ultimate goal is not.
7:54
pastor Josh: My highest goal is not your heart should not get, I don't want your heart.
7:58
pastor Josh: Let me just make sure I get this right.
7:59
pastor Josh: Your convictions ought to pull your vote either right or left.
8:03
pastor Josh: But ultimately the most important thing is that your heart goes up into the kingdom of God so that the Holy Spirit can come down on your life and bless your life.
8:11
pastor Josh: That's what matters.
8:12
pastor Josh: So in the next few minutes, you're going to hear criticisms of both candidates and you will not like it.
8:18
pastor Josh: You will not like it.
8:20
pastor Josh: And I do just one last thing I need to get out.
8:22
pastor Josh: You won't like it.
8:23
pastor Josh: And if you're here at any of our campuses with the goal of being an agitator, I just need you to know that, uh, and you want your 60 seconds of fame.
8:31
pastor Josh: This is not your moment.
8:33
pastor Josh: And you may be going, no, wait a second.
8:34
pastor Josh: I thought the phrase was, was 15 minutes of frame fame.
8:37
pastor Josh: It usually is, but our security teams are so good.
8:40
pastor Josh: You're only getting 60 seconds.
8:41
pastor Josh: That's what's going to happen.
8:42
pastor Josh: All right.
8:42
pastor Josh: So here we go.
8:43
pastor Josh: All right, let's get right in now.
8:45
pastor Josh: Let me give some, uh, some credit here.
8:46
pastor Josh: I am indebted to a lot of study this week.
8:48
pastor Josh: I am indebted to the following pastors and theologians, Rob Ketterling, Ryan Visconti, Gary Hamrick, Mark Driscoll, Josh McPherson, Wayne Grudem for their thoughts in what follows.
8:57
pastor Josh: So here we go.
8:57
pastor Josh: Let's begin with this question.
8:59
pastor Josh: How, uh, the question, would Jesus vote?
9:04
pastor Josh: Would Jesus vote?
9:05
pastor Josh: Now, interesting.
9:05
pastor Josh: I think a lot of people are like, well, there's no way we can know.
9:09
pastor Josh: Actually, I think we can know the answer to this question with a Bible in our hands, spirit in our hearts, wisdom in our heads.
9:15
pastor Josh: And here's what I mean.
9:17
pastor Josh: Let me, let me, I need to teach you about this because most Christians are really uninformed theologically on this concept.
9:23
pastor Josh: All right, now let me show you a Venn diagram really quick.
9:25
pastor Josh: I love Venn diagrams, okay.
9:27
pastor Josh: So in the Bible, God has established three institutions that he establishes in the Bible.
9:31
pastor Josh: God establishes the family in the book of Genesis, Genesis two, God establishes the church.
9:36
pastor Josh: The church is officially established in the book of Acts.
9:38
pastor Josh: And then the Bible also teaches that the government was God's idea.
9:42
pastor Josh: That God established the state, the institution of the state.
9:45
pastor Josh: I want you to see this.
9:46
pastor Josh: This is from Romans chapter 13.
9:48
pastor Josh: It says, let everyone be subject to the governing authorities because those authorities, the authorities that exist have been established.
9:55
pastor Josh: So I need you to see this, that God established all three of these institutions, the family, the church and the state, all of them established by God.
10:03
pastor Josh: Now, right now I need to do about 60 seconds of a high school civics class.
10:07
pastor Josh: And if your eyes roll back into your head, you're like, why are you doing this?
10:09
pastor Josh: Well, here's why, because my job is to take the text of the Bible and overlay it on the context of the world that you live in.
10:16
pastor Josh: So in order for me to do that, I need you to understand the context of the nation that you are in right now.
10:22
pastor Josh: You right now, you do not, contrary to very popular belief, you do not live in a democracy.
10:27
pastor Josh: That's not what this is.
10:28
pastor Josh: You live in a constitutional republic.
10:31
pastor Josh: That's what America is.
10:32
pastor Josh: This is a constitutional republic.
10:35
pastor Josh: In a constitutional republic, and the questions that I'm going to ask, they're not trick questions.
10:39
pastor Josh: I think they have obvious answers.
10:40
pastor Josh: In a constitutional republic, the elected leaders are representatives of the People.
10:48
pastor Josh: That's right.
10:49
pastor Josh: Great job.
10:49
pastor Josh: You did a great job.
10:50
pastor Josh: Okay.
10:51
pastor Josh: So the people.
10:52
pastor Josh: So let me ask this question and it's not a trick question.
10:55
pastor Josh: If in our form of government, the elected leaders are representatives of the people, who are the leaders of that nation?
11:06
pastor Josh: The people, the people on the org chart of the United States of America at the top are the voting members of the nation.
11:16
pastor Josh: Now let me, again, we're doing some logic.
11:18
pastor Josh: Let's go a layer deeper.
11:19
pastor Josh: What you're going to see in the Bible is that whatever God creates, Satan tries to capture.
11:23
pastor Josh: I'm going to say that twice.
11:24
pastor Josh: Whatever God creates.
11:25
pastor Josh: Satan tries to capture.
11:26
pastor Josh: So let me go back to this.
11:27
pastor Josh: For instance, God established the family in Genesis 2, first family established in Genesis 2.
11:32
pastor Josh: In Genesis 3, because Adam was a weak and passive husband, he stood idly by and Satan stepped forward and led Adam's wife instead of Adam leading Adam's wife.
11:43
pastor Josh: Big idea.
11:44
pastor Josh: Husbands, if you won't lead your family, Satan will.
11:47
pastor Josh: Now, let's do the next one.
11:48
pastor Josh: The church, God establishes the church in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2.
11:52
pastor Josh: Very interesting, I'm right now studying for a series next year in the book of Revelation.
11:56
pastor Josh: So, in Revelation 2 and 3, there was churches with passive, weak pastors.
12:03
pastor Josh: Who, instead of calling their church to repent of sin, they led their church to tolerate sin.
12:09
pastor Josh: As a result, what the Bible says is those churches, Satan's step forward, began to lead those churches and Jesus calls them in Genesis 2 and 3, quote, a synagogue of Satan.
12:18
pastor Josh: Big idea.
12:19
pastor Josh: If godly pastors won't lead their churches, Satan will be happy to.
12:25
pastor Josh: Now, let's apply this to this third institution, the institution of the state.
12:29
pastor Josh: Let me make something, uh, what I hope is obvious to us.
12:32
pastor Josh: If godly people If godly people won't lead their nation through voting, if godly people won't lead their nation, godless people will.
12:44
pastor Josh: God, the only people that are left become godless people.
12:47
pastor Josh: This is what the book of Proverbs means when it says this, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, But when the wicked rule, people groan.
12:59
pastor Josh: So I'm going to say something that has a bit of an edge to it, but I need you to understand this biblically.
13:04
pastor Josh: When Christians do not vote, what they're doing is they're abdicating their leadership position in the constitutional republic that God has placed you in.
13:15
pastor Josh: And it's a form of passive rebellion against God.
13:19
pastor Josh: In the exact same way that it would be wrong for a husband to refuse to refuse to lead his family, and it would be wrong for a pastor to refuse to lead his church, it would be wrong for you to refuse to lead, take part in the leadership of the nation that God has put you in.
13:35
pastor Josh: Does this make sense?
13:37
pastor Josh: Yeah, this makes sense.
13:37
pastor Josh: So, if we go back to ask the original question, would Jesus vote?
13:42
pastor Josh: Yes! Yes, he would because he wouldn't abdicate the responsibility that God has given him.
13:47
pastor Josh: Now, let's talk real quick about a few things.
13:49
pastor Josh: This is gonna be fun for me.
13:50
pastor Josh: We'll see if it's gonna be fun for you.
13:52
pastor Josh: Let's talk about a few things that voting is not.
13:55
pastor Josh: Because there's a lot of concepts right now that well meaning but naive Christians, they're just, they don't understand what a vote is and is not, okay?
14:03
pastor Josh: So let me talk about a few things a vote is not.
14:05
pastor Josh: Number one, a vote is not a valentine.
14:09
pastor Josh: Do you remember when you were in middle school and you were trying to decide, you know, who to give your Valentine to?
14:16
pastor Josh: And you would look around the class.
14:18
pastor Josh: And if you were a girl, your eyes would fall on somebody and you'd be like, oh, he's so cool and cute and funny.
14:28
pastor Josh: If you're in middle school today, you'd be like, his aura is like crazy.
14:34
pastor Josh: Okay, that's it, okay, that's it.
14:35
pastor Josh: Now, and you would see them and you know, this would.
14:39
pastor Josh: warm fuzzies, and then because of that feeling about them, you would give them your Valentine.
14:45
pastor Josh: Now, I know this may shock some of you.
14:47
pastor Josh: That's how a lot of people vote.
14:48
pastor Josh: Um, in fact, some of you, I wasn't alive for this.
14:51
pastor Josh: I mean, you guys were alive for this.
14:52
pastor Josh: I wasn't alive for this.
14:53
pastor Josh: Um, in the 1960 presidential election, it was the first time ever in our nation's history that there was a televised debate between two candidates.
15:02
pastor Josh: It was John F.
15:02
pastor Josh: Kennedy, Richard Nixon's 1960.
15:04
pastor Josh: I wasn't around for this.
15:05
pastor Josh: Okay.
15:06
pastor Josh: So what you had is this is what happened before the first televised debate.
15:10
pastor Josh: Nixon was crushing Kennedy in the polls.
15:13
pastor Josh: But then they did this televised debate and Richard Nixon was much older, uh, was apparently not very attractive.
15:20
pastor Josh: I wasn't around for that.
15:22
pastor Josh: Uh, he, because it was the first time ever it had ever been done, he chose not to do the makeup artist from the TV station.
15:30
pastor Josh: So you had him on one side.
15:31
pastor Josh: John F.
15:31
pastor Josh: Kennedy, much younger, apparently attractive, did the whole, uh, makeup thing.
15:38
pastor Josh: And so what happened was, As soon as people watched the debate and they saw an unattractive person, an attractive person, the vote, the polls radically shifted towards John F.
15:51
pastor Josh: Kennedy because a lot of people just went, He's so dreamy.
15:56
pastor Josh: And they decided to give him their vote.
15:58
pastor Josh: Now, I hope this is very obvious, but this is not how mature Christians should vote.
16:05
pastor Josh: In fact, God says this when choosing a governmental leader in the book of first Samuel, the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance.
16:15
pastor Josh: Or his height for I have rejected him.
16:18
pastor Josh: The Lord does not look at the things people look at.
16:20
pastor Josh: People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
16:25
pastor Josh: Let me say a few uncomfortable things.
16:27
pastor Josh: Mature Christians do not vote on superficial things.
16:31
pastor Josh: They don't vote on vibes.
16:33
pastor Josh: They don't vote on looks.
16:35
pastor Josh: We shouldn't vote on, he's got the same skin color as me or she'd be the first woman president or I've always wanted an orange leader.
16:44
pastor Josh: We don't vote based on whether they give us, that had a delayed reaction around the room.
16:50
pastor Josh: We don't vote based on whether they give us the warm fuzzies.
16:54
pastor Josh: Why?
16:54
pastor Josh: Because a vote is not a Valentine.
16:58
pastor Josh: So some people, what Christians are doing right now is they'll look at these two candidates and they'll look at them and go, Oh, I don't like their personality.
17:04
pastor Josh: Hey guys, can I say something?
17:06
pastor Josh: Personalities come and go.
17:08
pastor Josh: Policies last a long time.
17:10
pastor Josh: Personalities come and go, policies last a long time.
17:14
pastor Josh: So let me just say this.
17:15
pastor Josh: Don't vote for who you like most.
17:17
pastor Josh: Vote for who will lead best because a vote is not a Valentine.
17:23
pastor Josh: Okay.
17:23
pastor Josh: Number two, um, a ballot box is not a mailbox for you to send a message.
17:30
pastor Josh: Okay.
17:31
pastor Josh: So there was a husband that, um, uh, his birthday came around and he desperately wanted a sports car and he was frustrated because his wife wasn't figuring out.
17:39
pastor Josh: That that's what she should give him.
17:40
pastor Josh: So he decided that he was going to send a message.
17:43
pastor Josh: So when his wife asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said, huh, this is my chance.
17:49
pastor Josh: I'm going to send a message.
17:49
pastor Josh: She said, huh, I want something that's going to go from zero to 200 like that.
17:56
pastor Josh: And she went, say no more on his birthday.
18:01
pastor Josh: He woke up and she gave him a bathroom scale.
18:04
pastor Josh: Okay.
18:04
pastor Josh: Now this is, you see what I got here.
18:07
pastor Josh: Here's what I want to point out, just kind of understand what I'm saying, is he thought that he was sending a message, but no one was receiving it.
18:19
pastor Josh: Do you get that?
18:20
pastor Josh: Okay, here's what's happening to frustrated Christians right now who are a little naive, is they're looking at what's in front of us, and they're going, well, neither candidate perfectly meets my standards, so I'm going to send a message by not voting.
18:33
pastor Josh: Or I'm going to send a message by just for voting for a third party.
18:37
pastor Josh: Or I'm going to write you in, Pastor Josh, please don't, I've been on the news enough this year, let's do something else.
18:41
pastor Josh: So let me just, this is what they're doing, and can I just say this to you, is hey guys, there's no point in sending a message if nobody is reading it.
18:50
pastor Josh: There's no point in doing that.
18:52
pastor Josh: Let me just, let's be very honest.
18:54
pastor Josh: The only thing that people read on election day is who won.
18:58
pastor Josh: That's the only thing people read.
18:59
pastor Josh: So the goal, the, the, the, the goal isn't to make a point.
19:05
pastor Josh: The goal is to make a difference.
19:07
pastor Josh: Don't waste your chance to make a difference trying to make a point that nobody gets.
19:13
pastor Josh: Don't do that.
19:14
pastor Josh: Okay.
19:15
pastor Josh: Now, number three, um, a selection is not a sacrament.
19:19
pastor Josh: This is one of the biggest misunderstandings Christians have right now.
19:22
pastor Josh: A selection is not a sacrament.
19:24
pastor Josh: So that's a big churchy word.
19:25
pastor Josh: Here's what a sacrament is.
19:26
pastor Josh: A sacrament, it's a religious ritual like communion or baptism or marriage that it's really important not to let Any impurity into and like I said, uh, what, what Christians are doing right now, um, is they're looking at our current candidates.
19:42
pastor Josh: And if you have any eyes open, and I'm just going to say this, I need to be honest with you.
19:45
pastor Josh: Any Christian that's got a Bible open and their eyes open and their brain working ought to be looking at both of the candidates we're looking at and going, man, I see some flaws in both things I got in front of me.
19:57
pastor Josh: And what Christians are doing is they're going, well, I just can't vote because there's no candidate I can fully support.
20:06
pastor Josh: And what they're doing is they're thinking that their selection is a sacrament.
20:10
pastor Josh: That somebody's got to be totally pure for them to be able to vote for them.
20:14
pastor Josh: Can I just point this out?
20:15
pastor Josh: I'll only vote for somebody if I can fully support everything about them.
20:19
pastor Josh: Guys, you don't do that with any other choice in your life.
20:23
pastor Josh: Uh, the reason you come to this church, you might come to this church and be like, Oh, I like the preaching, but the music's a little loud.
20:28
pastor Josh: Or more, you know, probably more likely, I like the music, but the preacher's a little annoying.
20:31
pastor Josh: I never know what he's going to say.
20:33
pastor Josh: All right, man, movies, music, all these things.
20:35
pastor Josh: Nothing is a hundred percent.
20:36
pastor Josh: Are you married?
20:38
pastor Josh: Like, let me just point this out.
20:39
pastor Josh: Are you married?
20:40
pastor Josh: You did not choose your spouse because 100 percent in every single thing about them, they met your desires perfectly in every area.
20:50
pastor Josh: Here's what, you loved them and you went, best available.
20:55
pastor Josh: That's what happened.
20:55
pastor Josh: You loved them, you went, best available.
20:58
pastor Josh: Now here's what I know, in the lobby, there's gonna be some dude that's like, Yeah, pastor, you're wrong.
21:04
pastor Josh: She's perfect in every way.
21:06
pastor Josh: Okay.
21:07
pastor Josh: Well, bro, you're not.
21:08
pastor Josh: She got a beer belly and food on your beard and all the things.
21:12
pastor Josh: Okay.
21:12
pastor Josh: So, so let me just, let me just, Hey guys, let me say in a straightforward way.
21:16
pastor Josh: Jesus is not on the ballot guys.
21:18
pastor Josh: Get over it.
21:20
pastor Josh: Jesus is not on the ballot.
21:22
pastor Josh: Get over it.
21:23
pastor Josh: Okay.
21:24
pastor Josh: So, and now, and this is, let me, let me go a layer deeper with this.
21:27
pastor Josh: This is this next part of the sermon.
21:30
pastor Josh: It, it, I need to teach you about this.
21:32
pastor Josh: It might be the most important part of the sermon.
21:34
pastor Josh: So here's how you need to think about leaders.
21:37
pastor Josh: In the Bible, there's three types of leaders.
21:39
pastor Josh: This is a taxonomy in the Old Testament, three types of leaders.
21:43
pastor Josh: On the one hand, you have leaders.
21:44
pastor Josh: I'm going to call them Josiah leaders.
21:45
pastor Josh: Josiah leaders, they're righteous people who promote and celebrate righteous things.
21:52
pastor Josh: Josiah is a great example of this.
21:54
pastor Josh: Young kid becomes king, really young, He walks into like a church closet, rediscovers the law of God that Israel had forgotten about for years.
22:03
pastor Josh: He's like, he reads it.
22:04
pastor Josh: The Holy Spirit fills him.
22:06
pastor Josh: He's like, this is amazing.
22:07
pastor Josh: He literally walks out, grabs it, gathers all of Israel and just reads line by line through the Bible in front of the whole nation.
22:15
pastor Josh: He personally repents, leads the entire nation.
22:21
pastor Josh: There's an outpouring of God's spirit.
22:22
pastor Josh: There's revival in the nation, all these things.
22:25
pastor Josh: Josiah was an amazing, every mom in Israel could say to her son, I hope you grow up to be like King Josiah someday.
22:36
pastor Josh: Now listen, we all as Christians, we want a Josiah leader.
22:42
pastor Josh: We beg God to raise up Josiahs, but Josiah is not always on the ballot.
22:52
pastor Josh: So there's a second kind of leader in the Old Testament.
22:55
pastor Josh: Um, leaders like Ahab and Jezebel.
22:56
pastor Josh: I'm choosing them because the Old Testament says they were the most wicked leaders Israel ever had.
23:01
pastor Josh: These are leaders who are unrighteous people who promote and celebrate wicked things.
23:07
pastor Josh: This is what Ahab and Jezebel did.
23:09
pastor Josh: They led Israel into idolatry and Baal worship.
23:13
pastor Josh: They persecuted the Bible teachers and closed the churches.
23:18
pastor Josh: Just gonna let that sit for a second.
23:20
pastor Josh: They murdered innocent people.
23:22
pastor Josh: They stole from citizens.
23:24
pastor Josh: Ahab was a passive, weak man, and Jezebel was a promiscuous, manipulative woman, and her husband was controlled by her emotions instead of leading his family because of his passivity and his weakness.
23:38
pastor Josh: Now, these were evil people, okay?
23:41
pastor Josh: Now, let me ask this question.
23:43
pastor Josh: What happens to a nation when Ahab and Jezebel leaders lead?
23:48
pastor Josh: Well, here's what happens.
23:50
pastor Josh: The cities of that nation begin to be filled with lawlessness and theft.
23:54
pastor Josh: There's chaos in the cities, entire months in that nation's calendar that begin to celebrate perversion.
24:01
pastor Josh: That same perversion begins to get taught to the children of that nation in sex ed classes.
24:06
pastor Josh: Nine month old babies are murdered in the womb.
24:09
pastor Josh: Parents have their children taken away from them if they refuse to affirm their child's gender identity.
24:15
pastor Josh: Bible believing Christians are stigmatized and marginalized.
24:20
pastor Josh: Terrible things happen when Ahab and Jezebel leaders lead.
24:25
pastor Josh: Now, a lot of Christians, what they do is because there's just a little naive, they think these are the only two types of leaders there are, but in the Old Testament, there's a third type of leader.
24:33
pastor Josh: Third type of leader is I'm going to call it a Jehu leader.
24:36
pastor Josh: These leaders are people who are flawed, flawed people that are used to do some good things.
24:42
pastor Josh: Jehu, King Jehu was an example of one of these types of leaders.
24:46
pastor Josh: In second Kings nine and 10, he was used by God to do some.
24:49
pastor Josh: Awesome things for the country.
24:51
pastor Josh: He executed judgment.
24:53
pastor Josh: On Ahab and Jezebel, the godless leaders.
24:56
pastor Josh: He did it with swiftness and ferocity.
24:59
pastor Josh: Um, some Bible scholars would say this was a guy that was anointed, but not saved.
25:03
pastor Josh: I actually find this really, really awesome.
25:05
pastor Josh: He, uh, he destroyed all the altars of Baal and turned them into toilets.
25:10
pastor Josh: I think that's awesome.
25:10
pastor Josh: This is really cool thing you did.
25:12
pastor Josh: Um, but he was a deeply, deeply flawed man.
25:16
pastor Josh: Um, he tolerated some forms of idol worship in his nation.
25:20
pastor Josh: He let golden calves be worshiped.
25:23
pastor Josh: In Israel, he let this happen.
25:26
pastor Josh: So these three types of leaders exist.
25:29
pastor Josh: Josiah's Ahab's and Jezebel's and Jehu's.
25:32
pastor Josh: Now, let me say two things on this.
25:33
pastor Josh: Number one, don't treat a Jehu like a Josiah.
25:38
pastor Josh: Do not ignore imperfections.
25:41
pastor Josh: Don't do that.
25:42
pastor Josh: But number two, we all want a King Josiah.
25:47
pastor Josh: But sometimes God uses a flawed leader for good purposes.
25:52
pastor Josh: And when you don't have the option of voting for a Josiah and your choice is between Ahab and Jezebel and Jehu, that choice is very obvious because a flawed leader used to do some good things is better than suffering under wicked leaders.
26:07
pastor Josh: It's better, okay?
26:09
pastor Josh: So we need to, Now, here's here's the question.
26:13
pastor Josh: Okay, here's next question.
26:15
pastor Josh: So if that's what voting is not, what is voting?
26:18
pastor Josh: And I want you to see this voting is it's your power to pick the best available path forward.
26:25
pastor Josh: That's what a vote is.
26:26
pastor Josh: Voting is your power to pick the best available path forward.
26:30
pastor Josh: Let me put this to you in biblical terms because, again, a lot of well meaning but naive Christians, they struggle to put these things in biblical terms.
26:36
pastor Josh: So Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, here's what he said, He said, You're the, I want you to say the yellow words out loud.
26:42
pastor Josh: You're the, of the, He didn't say you're the salt of the church.
26:47
pastor Josh: Hey, just keep your religion to yourself.
26:48
pastor Josh: Just keep it right here.
26:49
pastor Josh: Don't try to influence the nation or don't try to do that.
26:52
pastor Josh: Don't, don't, you know, Hey, uh, by the way, I wish I don't have time to do this in a sermon.
26:56
pastor Josh: It's in the podcast.
26:57
pastor Josh: Separation of church and state does not mean a separation of righteousness and state.
27:02
pastor Josh: And it does not mean a separation of politics and religion.
27:04
pastor Josh: That's impossible.
27:05
pastor Josh: It means a separation of governments.
27:07
pastor Josh: So, when Jesus says this, you're the salt of the earth, He's saying, hey man, don't take your light and hide it under a bushel is what He says.
27:14
pastor Josh: Don't just keep it in the house of God.
27:15
pastor Josh: We need that righteousness to influence the world and nations.
27:18
pastor Josh: And check this out.
27:18
pastor Josh: Here's what a vote is.
27:19
pastor Josh: He said, you're the salt.
27:21
pastor Josh: Salt was a preservative.
27:24
pastor Josh: Its purpose is to slow decay.
27:28
pastor Josh: So check this out.
27:29
pastor Josh: When a Christian is, uh, is choosing who to vote for, they're not asking who perfectly embodies all my values.
27:36
pastor Josh: That's not what you're asking.
27:38
pastor Josh: What you're asking is, Whose set of policies is most likely to slow societal decay?
27:48
pastor Josh: That's the question you're asking.
27:49
pastor Josh: Alright, now, this is the spot in the message where um, I've got a, this is a brace yourself moment.
27:55
pastor Josh: Because I need to get specific.
27:57
pastor Josh: I need to get specific about some things.
27:59
pastor Josh: So let me do that.
27:59
pastor Josh: I'm going to speak to you in a straightforward way on five policies that I think Thinking Christians should be thinking about right now in this election.
28:09
pastor Josh: Policies.
28:09
pastor Josh: Okay, five of them there are border security, religious liberty, biological sex, family, and life.
28:14
pastor Josh: I'm gonna do them very briefly.
28:15
pastor Josh: Number one, border security.
28:16
pastor Josh: Now, really quick, I just need to say this.
28:18
pastor Josh: If you're gonna clap at one spot in the, the, these parts of the message, you better clap at both, at all the right spots.
28:31
pastor Josh: Oh, I wasn't, I wasn't saying that, but that's great.
28:33
pastor Josh: Okay, so let me just say this, as Christians.
28:38
pastor Josh: We are called to love immigrants.
28:44
pastor Josh: That's a biblical command.
28:46
pastor Josh: That's a biblical command and the leaders of a nation are called to uphold the law.
28:53
pastor Josh: They are.
28:54
pastor Josh: They're called to do this.
28:55
pastor Josh: Okay.
28:55
pastor Josh: Let me just say this.
28:56
pastor Josh: Like a lot of Christians, they really struggle with this.
28:58
pastor Josh: Guys, God is not opposed to borders.
29:00
pastor Josh: I'm going to read this to you from Acts 17, 26.
29:02
pastor Josh: From one man, he made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth.
29:06
pastor Josh: And he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
29:13
pastor Josh: This same God led his people in the Old Testament and blessed them in building a wall to protect their border.
29:20
pastor Josh: So God is not opposed to borders, but then also, obviously, we are commanded and blessed to love individual immigrants.
29:28
pastor Josh: I could read dozens of verses on this.
29:29
pastor Josh: I'm gonna give you Zechariah 7 10.
29:31
pastor Josh: Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner.
29:34
pastor Josh: That's a big Bible word for an immigrant, or the poor.
29:37
pastor Josh: So I just need to say this.
29:38
pastor Josh: If you are an immigrant that's here, and by the way, we have thousands of immigrants that are, that are part of Lake Point.
29:46
pastor Josh: I need you to know this.
29:47
pastor Josh: We love you.
29:49
pastor Josh: This church loves you.
29:51
pastor Josh: We love you.
29:52
pastor Josh: Okay.
29:52
pastor Josh: This is why we partner with dozens of local partners, food pantry.
29:56
pastor Josh: They're helping people, immigrants all throughout the city.
29:59
pastor Josh: This is why we have Lake point in Espanol.
30:02
pastor Josh: Come on somebody that is full of people from nations all over the world, all these things.
30:07
pastor Josh: And listen, we should welcome legal immigrants.
30:11
pastor Josh: Listen, these are people who have worked hard for decades.
30:16
pastor Josh: It has cost them money.
30:17
pastor Josh: They love this country.
30:19
pastor Josh: They contribute to society.
30:21
pastor Josh: We love that.
30:22
pastor Josh: And you need to understand this.
30:24
pastor Josh: Not all illegal immigrants are evil people.
30:27
pastor Josh: They're just not.
30:28
pastor Josh: Okay, they're just not But I do need to speak honestly about this issue.
30:35
pastor Josh: There are currently between 10 and 20 million Illegal immigrants in our nation.
30:43
pastor Josh: The data I'm about to give you is not some like crazy info wars, you know fake news data This is this is data released from the Department of Homeland Security last week Okay, of the illegal immigrants in the United States right now, 425, 000 of them are known to have criminal records.
31:03
pastor Josh: 16, 000 of them entered our nation as convicted rapists.
31:11
pastor Josh: 13, 000 of them entered our nation as convicted murderers.
31:16
pastor Josh: I just have to ask this question, where was the Borders are?
31:20
pastor Josh: Where, where was the borders are?
31:21
pastor Josh: So you need to ask yourself the question you do, you need to ask yourself the question, which candidate will best protect our national security?
31:31
pastor Josh: You should ask that question.
31:32
pastor Josh: Number two, these, these go a little quicker.
31:34
pastor Josh: Number two, the issue of religious liberty.
31:36
pastor Josh: The early church in the New Testament adopted a phrase, here's the phrase in Greek, Iesus Kurios.
31:42
pastor Josh: That means Jesus is Lord.
31:44
pastor Josh: It was counter what all the Romans were saying.
31:47
pastor Josh: They were saying, no, no, no, Caesar's Lord, Caesar's Lord, the early church went, you know, Jesus is Lord.
31:53
pastor Josh: What they were saying is Caesar is a king, but Jesus is the king of kings.
31:58
pastor Josh: So whenever a government commands us to do something that God forbids or, or, uh, or forbids us to do something God commands, our job as Christians is to humbly.
32:10
pastor Josh: And respectfully have a backbone and tell them to go pound sand.
32:14
pastor Josh: That's our job.
32:15
pastor Josh: That's like through all throughout church history.
32:18
pastor Josh: That's what civil disobedience.
32:19
pastor Josh: There's tons of examples of this in the book of Acts, tons of examples.
32:22
pastor Josh: So now what you need to understand is that Christians, Protestant, Christian, Protestant ideals, they founded our nation.
32:29
pastor Josh: So what the Christians who founded our nation did is they founded it on the concept of religious liberty to keep people from being forced to violate their genuinely religious consciences.
32:39
pastor Josh: What this means is that doctors who object to performing abortions should not be forced to.
32:45
pastor Josh: It means that Christian bakers, graphic designers, and photographers who object to providing their services in celebration of marriages that their convictions cannot celebrate should not be prosecuted for the purpose of trying to have their businesses closed like Jack Phillips in Colorado.
33:00
pastor Josh: It means that Christian teachers, like Byron Cross, should not be fired for objecting on the basis of his convictions to using a minor's pronouns in an elementary school.
33:13
pastor Josh: So you need to ask, so you should be asking yourself, ask yourself the question, which candidate is more likely to protect religious liberty because Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not?
33:27
pastor Josh: Okay, number three.
33:30
pastor Josh: Number three, the issue of biological sex, okay?
33:33
pastor Josh: Genesis 127 says this, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
33:40
pastor Josh: Now on this spot, I want to speak with grace and truth.
33:44
pastor Josh: Grace and truth.
33:47
pastor Josh: If you are a person that currently identifies as transgender, or you have somebody in your family, maybe a son, daughter, a cousin, whatever it is, a family member that currently identifies as transgender, I need you to know this.
33:57
pastor Josh: God loves you.
33:59
pastor Josh: And the Lord Jesus Christ died for you.
34:02
pastor Josh: You are deeply, deeply loved by God.
34:05
pastor Josh: Like y'all are so like, I have these conversations in the lobby because what's happening now is people who did the transition thing, they get through four years in and they realize, oh man, this was like a dead end of misery.
34:16
pastor Josh: And so they start doing the D transition thing and then I'll pray with them in the lobby.
34:19
pastor Josh: And it's like, Hey man, you don't know what I've done.
34:21
pastor Josh: You don't know how I feel.
34:22
pastor Josh: Okay.
34:22
pastor Josh: Listen, here's what I know.
34:23
pastor Josh: Feelings come and go, but the love of the father lasts forever.
34:26
pastor Josh: I know that.
34:27
pastor Josh: Okay.
34:28
pastor Josh: So you just need to know this, man.
34:29
pastor Josh: If that's you.
34:31
pastor Josh: You are created in the image of God.
34:33
pastor Josh: You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
34:35
pastor Josh: You should know that full well.
34:36
pastor Josh: You are valuable and you should be treated as valuable.
34:39
pastor Josh: And if you underwent some procedures and you got scars in your body, you need to know this.
34:42
pastor Josh: Your scars don't define you, His do.
34:44
pastor Josh: Those are the scars that define you, okay?
34:46
pastor Josh: So, Grace, but listen, I also need to speak with truth.
34:53
pastor Josh: We don't get to decide if we're a different gender.
34:57
pastor Josh: And to support that idea is to call God a liar, to rebel against the created order, to erode the family, and to contribute to mental illness instead of helping people with the only truth that can set them free.
35:10
pastor Josh: So, currently, you need to know this, 14 states in our nation have what are called Transgender Healthcare Shield Laws.
35:15
pastor Josh: Among them, the state of Minnesota.
35:17
pastor Josh: Governor Tim Walz signed legislation making Minnesota a trans refuge state.
35:22
pastor Josh: I want to read you what that means.
35:24
pastor Josh: It means if a m Listen.
35:26
pastor Josh: It Carefully.
35:27
pastor Josh: If a minor child has been unable to obtain gender affirming care because one or both parents object, the Minnesota law allows courts to have, quote, temporary emergency jurisdiction over the child.
35:40
pastor Josh: Translation, they can take your kid from you.
35:45
pastor Josh: They can take and have done so.
35:49
pastor Josh: Now guys, what you need to understand is evil never stops itself, it must be stopped.
35:53
pastor Josh: So if that ideology is not stopped, understand this, wait.
35:57
pastor Josh: If that ideology is not stopped, it will not be 14 states.
36:00
pastor Josh: Someday it will be 50.
36:03
pastor Josh: So ask yourself the question, which candidate will oppose the erasure of gender through transgender ideology?
36:10
pastor Josh: You need to ask that question.
36:11
pastor Josh: Number four, the issue of the family.
36:14
pastor Josh: Okay, I wish I had time to do this.
36:15
pastor Josh: It's more on the podcast.
36:16
pastor Josh: I wish I had time to do this.
36:17
pastor Josh: God established, what God did is he built the world in four layers.
36:20
pastor Josh: The layer of the individual, the family, the church, and the state.
36:24
pastor Josh: What God did is he established it so that the health of everyone is dependent upon the health of the one that is previous.
36:30
pastor Josh: So a family can only be as healthy as the individuals that make up the marriage.
36:35
pastor Josh: A church can only be as healthy as the health of the families that make up the church.
36:40
pastor Josh: A nation will only be as healthy as the health and boldness of the churches that make up the nation.
36:46
pastor Josh: What this means, what this means is that whenever a nation, uh, whenever a nation, uh, Attacks or erodes the family through things like abortion, the incentivization of divorce, the redefinition of marriage and the erasure of gender, it is sawing off the very branch it is sitting on and someday it will fall.
37:07
pastor Josh: So what we're doing right now in our nation is all these things that we're breaking down the family, we're breaking down families, and then we're asking the government to step in and do what the family's supposed to do.
37:18
pastor Josh: So the government now is going, hey man.
37:20
pastor Josh: We'll be your family.
37:21
pastor Josh: We'll protect you.
37:22
pastor Josh: We'll provide for you.
37:24
pastor Josh: We'll educate you.
37:25
pastor Josh: We'll indoctrinate you.
37:27
pastor Josh: In some case, the state is literally saying, we're the parents now.
37:31
pastor Josh: And everybody's going, oh, well, we're looking, they're looking at all the problems in our nation and going, oh, we need to fix the system, fix the system, fix the system.
37:37
pastor Josh: How about we fix the family?
37:39
pastor Josh: How about we fix the family?
37:40
pastor Josh: And then all of a sudden, stuff starts to trickle up.
37:43
pastor Josh: We don't need more government.
37:45
pastor Josh: We need better families.
37:47
pastor Josh: So ask yourself the question, which candidate is more likely to stop or slow the corrosion of the definitions of and the functions of the family?
37:59
pastor Josh: Finally, the most sensitive one of all, let me finish with the issue of life.
38:04
pastor Josh: In John 10, 10, Jesus said the thief, the enemy, comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
38:09
pastor Josh: I have come that you might have life.
38:11
pastor Josh: The Bible calls God the author of life.
38:14
pastor Josh: And the book of Proverbs says the Lord hates hands that shed innocent blood.
38:19
pastor Josh: Now really quick, if you are one of the one in four adult women in our nation who has had an abortion or terminated a pregnancy, I need you to know this.
38:31
pastor Josh: The Lord Jesus Christ loves you, and we do too.
38:36
pastor Josh: I need you to get this, man.
38:38
pastor Josh: What you need to understand is, if that's you, the death that most defines your life is not the death of your unborn child, it is the sin cleansing death of the Son of God for everything you've ever done.
38:50
pastor Josh: That's the death that defines you, okay?
38:53
pastor Josh: Now we do, let me speak truthfully.
38:56
pastor Josh: We need to ask the question, which candidate will best protect life?
39:01
pastor Josh: Now, this is where I'm going to say some things that many of you will not like, and honestly, I don't care.
39:06
pastor Josh: Okay, my job is to tell you the truth.
39:08
pastor Josh: I'm called to be a prophet, not a politician, okay?
39:11
pastor Josh: I need to speak truthfully with you.
39:13
pastor Josh: We do not currently have a consistently pro life candidate in this race.
39:19
pastor Josh: We don't.
39:20
pastor Josh: We just don't.
39:21
pastor Josh: Okay.
39:21
pastor Josh: Strangely, while Donald Trump is responsible for the greatest victory for the protection of the unborn in two generations in the overturning of Roe v.
39:28
pastor Josh: Wade, he has now moved left, more towards the center of American popular opinion.
39:33
pastor Josh: Increase, including after the vice presidential debate, I was like all over it.
39:37
pastor Josh: He immediately after that debate tweeted in all caps that he would veto a national abortion ban if it came across his desk because he wants the states to be able to decide.
39:48
pastor Josh: He wants this to be a state's rights issue, although he did say that he opposed the termination, uh, uh, the, uh, the termination of pregnancies in late term abortions, the 7th through the 9th month.
39:59
pastor Josh: Very frankly, I got to be honest with you, that, that means percentage wise, that means very little.
40:05
pastor Josh: The CDC says that 95 percent of all abortions happen in the first 15 weeks.
40:10
pastor Josh: At least, I just gotta be honest with you.
40:11
pastor Josh: Here's, here's honesty.
40:12
pastor Josh: The Republican Party today on the issue of abortion has become what the Democrat Party was 30 years ago when Bill Clinton said he wanted it to be safe, legal, and rare.
40:23
pastor Josh: So this is where we are right now.
40:25
pastor Josh: Now, I also have to be honest.
40:28
pastor Josh: The other side is far worse.
40:32
pastor Josh: Far worse.
40:33
pastor Josh: The other party has moved from a desire for abortion to be safe, legal, and rare, to something that should be celebrated, paraded, and promoted as a moral good.
40:46
pastor Josh: There are currently 12 states that allow for abortion up to nine months.
40:49
pastor Josh: Think about this.
40:50
pastor Josh: That is a thinking, feeling human.
40:54
pastor Josh: It has fully developed pain receptors.
40:57
pastor Josh: It is emotionally, Just hearing a precious child in that moment.
41:03
pastor Josh: It is emotionally connected to the mother inside of whom it is growing.
41:09
pastor Josh: When they terminate one of those pregnancies, they dismember it limb from limb in late term abortions.
41:16
pastor Josh: This is what they're doing.
41:18
pastor Josh: Very frankly, this is Kamala Harris position.
41:21
pastor Josh: She refuses to articulate even one potential restriction, even one, at any point, uh, during a pregnancy.
41:30
pastor Josh: She has now said that her desire is to eliminate, I know this is a little government y, you know, She's now said that she, uh, desires to eliminate the Senate filibuster that has been in place for 180 years for the purpose of making it illegal for any state to be able to enact any restriction on abortion whatsoever.
41:53
pastor Josh: If you don't think they're serious about it, the Democratic Party pulled up mobile abortion clinics like taco trucks.
42:00
pastor Josh: Outside of the Democratic National Convention, mockingly celebrating murdering infants with banners and hashtags like shout your abortion.
42:09
pastor Josh: As I watched that on TV, there was one Bible verse that tattooed itself on my soul.
42:13
pastor Josh: Proverbs 8, 36 says, all who hate me love death.
42:19
pastor Josh: So ask yourself the question, which candidate will best love death?
42:25
pastor Josh: Limit the taking of unborn lives.
42:27
pastor Josh: Okay.
42:28
pastor Josh: Now this sermon just ends.
42:30
pastor Josh: So I'm just gonna end it.
42:31
pastor Josh: Here we go.
42:31
pastor Josh: Okay.
42:32
pastor Josh: Let me say two things One there are some again well meaning but naive Christians that they hear all that and they're like, yeah Josh But even if this politician gets elected, they won't save America or they say yeah Yeah, Josh, but the politics can't save anybody My response to that is, from what?
42:52
pastor Josh: From what?
42:53
pastor Josh: You're right.
42:54
pastor Josh: Politics can't save anybody from hell.
42:56
pastor Josh: In fact, let me just say this.
42:57
pastor Josh: This is so important.
42:58
pastor Josh: Politics can't save anybody from hell.
43:00
pastor Josh: There will be people in hell who are very passionate about their Judeo Christian values.
43:05
pastor Josh: Politics can't save anybody from hell, but the book of James says that our everyday decisions either pull heaven up, up, uh, pull heaven down into our lives or pull hell up into our lives.
43:14
pastor Josh: So politics can't save anybody from hell, but they can save us from pulling hell up into our cities, states, and nations.
43:21
pastor Josh: So just ask, ask yourself this question, ask yourself this question, like, okay, what is hell?
43:28
pastor Josh: In fact, if you're, if you're a guest, if you're a guest, you're like, what did I walk into?
43:31
pastor Josh: Bro, this is insane.
43:32
pastor Josh: You're like, y'all talk about one more, I'm one less.
43:35
pastor Josh: You know, whatever it is, okay, let me, what is hell?
43:38
pastor Josh: You need to understand this, because without saving faith in Jesus, you will spend eternity there.
43:45
pastor Josh: What is hell?
43:46
pastor Josh: Hell is a place of darkness, of lawlessness, of bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred.
43:52
pastor Josh: It's a place of chaos, all these things.
43:55
pastor Josh: Think about this.
43:56
pastor Josh: When you look at urban centers in our nation, cities ruled by godless leaders, and you see lawlessness, Rioters burning buildings, looters shoplifting in broad daylight, and police aren't even allowed to do anything about it.
44:13
pastor Josh: Drugs sold in open air markets in front of children, people and businesses fleeing because of rampant lawlessness.
44:21
pastor Josh: What happened?
44:23
pastor Josh: Decisions were made that pulled hell up into the city.
44:27
pastor Josh: And let me say this, leaders who lead cities like that should not be given more authority to lead an entire nation.
44:35
pastor Josh: They should not, okay?
44:37
pastor Josh: So, let me just, I, I, I, I need this, I need this to sink into your heart.
44:43
pastor Josh: I'm gonna, I'm gonna say something, I'm gonna, what I'm getting ready to say, I'm gonna say it twice.
44:46
pastor Josh: Because I don't think people have internalized this yet.
44:49
pastor Josh: 30 million.
44:51
pastor Josh: 30 million Bible believing Christians abdicated their spiritual responsibility and did not vote in the last presidential election.
44:59
pastor Josh: 30 million.
45:01
pastor Josh: That same election was decided by a strategically placed 42, 000 votes.
45:08
pastor Josh: I just want that to sink in.
45:10
pastor Josh: 30 million Bible believing Christians did not vote in the last presidential election.
45:15
pastor Josh: That election was decided by a strategically placed 42, 000 votes.
45:21
pastor Josh: That So listen, I just want, I just want to say this, if there are 24, 000 in person attenders at Lake Point this weekend, I want 24, 000 people walking in as disciples and doing their, like, man, let's go, let's do our God given job.
45:35
pastor Josh: Okay, let's do that.
45:36
pastor Josh: All right.
45:37
pastor Josh: Now, that's number one.
45:38
pastor Josh: Number two, this is the most important part of the sermon.
45:40
pastor Josh: You come back any other week.
45:41
pastor Josh: This is what you're going to hear constantly.
45:43
pastor Josh: Number two, you are primarily, you're going to want to turn my volume down.
45:47
pastor Josh: I'm high and I'm about to get higher.
45:50
pastor Josh: You are primarily a citizen of heaven and you are only secondarily a resident of a nation.
45:57
pastor Josh: That is the most important thing.
45:59
pastor Josh: And very frankly, some of you, honestly, your capital are Republicans and lowercase C Christians or your capital D Democrats and your lowercase C Christians.
46:09
pastor Josh: You must be born again.
46:10
pastor Josh: Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
46:14
pastor Josh: That is the only thing that ultimately matters in eternity.
46:17
pastor Josh: That is what will matter.
46:18
pastor Josh: Listen, your Judeo, your Judeo Christian values can keep you out of jail.
46:22
pastor Josh: It will take the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell, and He wants that for you.
46:26
pastor Josh: What you do with your vote.
46:28
pastor Josh: It can change.
46:29
pastor Josh: It can absolutely can impact your life.
46:31
pastor Josh: It can impact your children's lives.
46:33
pastor Josh: It will impact your children's children's.
46:35
pastor Josh: It might do that for 50 years.
46:36
pastor Josh: What you do with Jesus will impact your eternity for 50 million.
46:41
pastor Josh: That's what matters.
46:42
pastor Josh: So listen, your convictions ought to pull your vote right or left, but I don't want to pull your heart left or right.
46:48
pastor Josh: I want to pull it up into the kingdom of God so the Holy Spirit can come down on your life and bless your life.
46:53
pastor Josh: That's what needs to happen.
46:54
pastor Josh: That is our greatest hope in life and death.
46:58
pastor Josh: Listen to me, man.
46:59
pastor Josh: There are absolutely, and you need to get this, there are things that politics can fix, but listen to me, politics cannot fix what politics did not break.
47:07
pastor Josh: And you cannot solve a spiritual problem with a political solution.
47:12
pastor Josh: The world's greatest problem, it's the problem underneath all the problem.
47:16
pastor Josh: The world's greatest problem is a sin problem.
47:19
pastor Josh: And sin problems require savior solutions, and we've got one of those.
47:23
pastor Josh: Okay, so listen.
47:25
pastor Josh: I close this sermon.
47:27
pastor Josh: I close this sermon with one final sentence.
47:30
pastor Josh: All that said, may God pour out reformation and revival on our nation for the good of people and the glory of his son.
47:36
pastor Josh: Amen.
47:36
pastor Josh: Amen.
47:36
pastor Josh: Amen.
47:37
pastor Josh: Amen.
47:49
pastor Josh: Amen.