Latest / Worldview Matters With David Fiorazo / Steve Smothermon: Does Jesus Care If Christians Vote Or Not?

Transcript

Steve Smothermon: Does Jesus Care If Christians Vote Or Not? · Worldview Matters With David Fiorazo

0:03
Welcome to Worldview Matters.
0:05
Discussing controversial issues.
0:07
Discerning current events.
0:10
Defending biblical Christianity.
0:13
No topic.
0:14
Off limits.
0:16
And now, here's your host, David Fiorazzo.
0:20
Brothers and sisters in Christ, thank you so much for your prayers and for tuning in to another episode of Worldview Matters.
0:26
We've got one of the speakers of next year's conference as our guest today.
0:31
And that would be Pastor Steve Smotherman, Legacy Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
0:38
The website, you can check it out, LegacyChurch.com.
0:41
Also, LegacyAcademyNM.com.
0:45
for newmexico.com and also please look up uh steve on facebook he's got a great page he posts a lot of powerful truth because he's a truth proclaimer and defender including one we're going to talk about called i'm a right-wing extremist and here's why uh don't know if that's current i told him i just popped up again in my news film i gotta i gotta ask him about that so brother steve good to see you again thanks for your time
1:09
David, thank you for having me.
1:11
I love being on your show.
1:12
You do such a great job.
1:14
Thank you, sir.
1:14
Well, I love you and your voice and what you've stood for all these years in deep dark blue New Mexico.
1:22
And you are not ashamed of the gospel and you're not afraid to speak truth to power and talk about some of the wicked rulers and leaders you have there.
1:32
that have been elected, that are running that state.
1:34
Maybe we can share a little bit more about how that's going.
1:36
But the title for today is Vote Like Your Life Depends on It.
1:42
Because we're at a very crucial place in America where more young people are leaning towards socialism, Democrat socialism, communism.
1:50
You might want to use these interchangeable.
1:52
We're going to get to that with Pastor Steve.
1:54
But first, I want to just thank him.
1:57
He is coming to Green Bay, Wisconsin next year.
2:00
He's one of the 14 speakers that are coming to the Worldview Matters Conference in Green Bay at the Tundra Lodge.
2:06
The website is worldviewmattersconference.com.
2:10
Remember, it sold out last time.
2:12
It sold out early.
2:14
So we found a new venue.
2:15
We doubled the occupancy.
2:17
And we've got Nathan Jones, Brianna Clausen, Alex Newman, Hadiyah Miramati Falco, Mark Henry, Andy Woods, Mark and Amber Archer,
2:25
Pete Garcia, Steve Smotherman, Matthew Mayer, Brandon Holthouse, J.B. Hickson, and Brian Thomas.
2:31
Look that up at worldviewmattersconference.com.
2:33
Get your tickets because, friends, make your plans around this.
2:37
Because last year, some people said, oh, I wish I would have known the dates.
2:41
April 30th and May 1st, 2027.
2:44
So no excuses.
2:46
Put your vacation before or after that.
2:48
Steve, thank you for being willing to fly from New Mexico to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
2:53
We're looking forward to having you here.
2:55
So we appreciate you for accepting our invitation.
2:59
Well, it's an honor that you asked, and I'm really looking forward to being with you, being in Green Bay.
3:05
I've never been there, so I get to go there, and so I'm excited to be with you.
3:10
Yeah, you can visit the temple while you're here.
3:12
It's right down the street from the hotel, from the Tundra Lodge, the Lambeau Field.
3:17
That's the temple.
3:18
Yeah, the temple.
3:23
I saw my hopeless Cowboys get defeated at Green Bay.
3:26
Oh, gosh.
3:27
That was bad.
3:28
But you know what?
3:30
Is Dak Prescott, is he a believer?
3:32
I think he's a brother in Christ, is he not?
3:35
I've been told he is.
3:36
Okay.
3:37
And he seemed like a good guy.
3:38
Yeah.
3:38
He doesn't get any controversy, no issues, which is great.
3:43
Yeah.
3:43
Well, Packers fans are always mad when I pull for the other team if they've got some outspoken Christians, because that's how I am a fan in the NFL.
3:53
Like C.J.
3:53
Stroud, Houston Texans, I would pull for him.
3:56
If I know there's a player on the other team, I know we're getting way off topic here.
3:59
I'm supposed to be talking about Christians and voting.
4:01
Yeah.
4:02
but I'll pull for these guys that will have an opportunity to use their platforms for Christ and be unashamed of the gospel.
4:08
You can't trust someone that says, yeah, God bless or whatever, because you don't know what God they're talking about.
4:12
But if they say Jesus, praise the Lord.
4:15
Anyway, I know I'm preaching to the choir on that one, Steve.
4:18
So we met in, I believe it was either 2020 or 2021.
4:23
You were speaking at Liberty Pastors Conference, and God bless Paul Blair and the work they do.
4:28
trying to raise awareness and get pastors engaged and to inform their people and equip the saints.
4:33
But you shared a story about when you just basically, I think you were either speaking at or you emceed or hosted a Trump rally in New Mexico before that election.
4:45
And yes, a ton of people left your church because of that.
4:48
I'm thinking, OK, wait a minute.
4:50
How would they not know what side of the political aisle you're on?
4:55
And why would they leave the church just because you were willing to do that, you know, at host a rally?
5:01
Tell us a little bit about that story again to refresh our memories.
5:05
Well, you know, Trump was coming, the Republican party called and said, would you emcee this thing?
5:11
I said, sure.
5:12
You know what, what if Trump wins, you know, cause back then they said there was no way he could win.
5:17
And so we went and, and I emceed a, a,
5:20
large part of it.
5:22
And I had a guy that did my social media because I don't do social media.
5:26
He said, I'll video it and we'll put it on your Facebook account.
5:29
I'm like, great.
5:30
I'll have a memory if he wins.
5:32
Look at I we were we were there.
5:34
And so I didn't realize the firestorm that would create.
5:38
I think it had hundreds of thousands of comments or views or whatever.
5:42
And it created a lot of controversy in our church.
5:45
I got up one Sunday.
5:46
I was mad.
5:46
So I ended my sermon quick and I sat in a chair and I said, listen, I don't need your permission to vote for who I vote for or stand for who I stand for.
5:56
So the week after Trump left, we lost about 4000 people.
6:01
Oh, my God.
6:01
Or after Trump won, we lost about 4000 people.
6:05
Wow.
6:05
Okay, so you've got to put that in context for people that aren't familiar with your church.
6:11
Do you have like seven or nine campuses?
6:14
You've got a very large church in Albuquerque.
6:17
So 4,000 sounds like that's more than a lot of people's congregations.
6:23
Well, yeah.
6:24
But for us, it was a lot.
6:25
I kept telling our guys, did we lose a lot of people?
6:28
The attendance seems low.
6:30
And I kept saying, I bet we lost about 1,400 people.
6:32
But when I went to that conference, I don't want to say anything that's not right.
6:36
So I had my guys go back and look.
6:38
And they said, we lost about 4,000 people.
6:42
That's adults, kids.
6:43
We lost them overnight because they wanted Hillary to win and murder babies and do all that stuff.
6:50
And I was stunned.
6:53
it did for me, David, it freed me because I don't have to think about anybody anymore.
6:58
When people come here, they know exactly who we are.
7:00
I don't know how they didn't know who we were before.
7:04
So and it freed me as a pastor.
7:07
We've grown beyond that now, made it all up and then a lot more.
7:12
And so we we God blessed it.
7:14
But I think he did that.
7:17
So that, you know, I would know in my heart and mind, I'll say whatever I need to say.
7:22
And if people don't like it, man, you know, they can go someplace where they can get their ears tickled because we're in a fight.
7:32
So what compelled you to put out that video?
7:34
I'm a right wing extremist and here's why.
7:38
You know, I sit up late and I start thinking about things that were called.
7:42
And so I started thinking about that.
7:43
And I thought, you know what?
7:45
I am a right wing extremist and I'm going to tell people why.
7:48
So at the beginning of this sermon, you could feel a little tension in the room.
7:53
By the end, I said, how many of you are right wing extremists?
7:56
And almost everybody raised their hand.
7:57
And it was all about, they call us right-wing extremists because we believe there's only two sexes.
8:03
There's no genders, there's male and female.
8:05
We believe that marriage is between one woman and one man.
8:09
We believe that murdering babies is wrong.
8:13
We believe that mutilating kids
8:16
to transition to some is absolutely horrific.
8:20
And I said, that's why we believe in smaller government.
8:23
We believe that the government needs to stay out of our life.
8:26
And so because I believe that, that's why they call me a right wing extremist.
8:32
So by the time I got done, almost everybody in the room was raising their hand like I'm one too, so.
8:37
Well, thank you.
8:38
I wish most pastors would do that.
8:40
More pastors would define the terms.
8:42
Because I think too many Christians, we get these accusations thrown at us, these words that they're redefining, right?
8:50
And we go, oh, no, no, no, I'm not a right-wing or Christian nationalist or whatever.
8:55
I'm tired of that.
8:55
But I want to get your input on this.
8:58
There's new Barnard research out regarding the iVoter Guide, and studies reveal why—
9:05
only 55% of Americans vote down ballot.
9:10
Now, here's what it said.
9:11
Barna finds that while 85% of likely voters turn out for the top of the ballot, only 55% vote all the way down.
9:20
And this is crazy.
9:20
So they abandon the school board, judicial, local races that shape their communities, right?
9:26
So the reason that the data shows it's not apathy, which for years I thought, man, what's wrong with Christians?
9:31
What's wrong with Americans—
9:33
to not go vote.
9:34
No, it's they can't find information they can trust.
9:39
And so this is Barnard Research.
9:41
I thought, wow, this is fascinating, Steve.
9:43
So even more important for pastors to inform their congregations and speak about these issues.
9:52
And so I'd love for you to speak to this because I know you're very passionate about this subject as well.
9:58
Well, first of all, I think that voter guides are very helpful.
10:02
I went to vote, my wife and I went to early voting the other day.
10:05
I took my voter guide with me.
10:07
And I'm pretty aware of what's going on, but I took it with me.
10:11
So I would know who to do.
10:12
You know, I asked every judge.
10:14
I never vote for any Democrat.
10:17
But, you know, and all the bond issues.
10:18
But so so I think voter guides are very important.
10:21
I think churches ought to make them available to their congregation, either at their guest services, information booth, whatever they have.
10:28
And tell people, because, you know, when we when we understand something, we're more.
10:33
We're.
10:34
probably going to do it.
10:36
We're going to act on what we know.
10:38
We're not going to act on what we don't know.
10:40
And people tend to be against things they don't know.
10:43
So the more informed we can help our Christian brothers and sisters, the better we are.
10:48
And then they know.
10:49
They don't have to wonder, do I get this guy, this guy, this guy?
10:51
What do they believe?
10:53
Where do they stand on the issues?
10:55
Where does the Bible stand on the issues?
10:57
So I think those are huge.
10:58
I think Christians, I told my church this on Wednesday last night.
11:02
I said, because we have a guy in our church that's running for the House of Representatives in the United States.
11:07
I think he's going to win.
11:08
And he'll be our only conservative...
11:12
person representing New Mexico anywhere.
11:15
And so he he and so I stood him up and I said, this seat was one lady we were supporting lost it by twelve hundred votes.
11:24
I said, there's a lot more than twelve hundred people in this room.
11:27
This room alone could change that election and get Greg to represent us in Washington, D.C.,
11:33
And so, you know, it's just letting them know, not being afraid.
11:36
Pastors have historically been afraid.
11:39
You know, it's not our issue.
11:41
You know, Christians say this too.
11:42
I think we should speak to Christians on this one.
11:44
They say, well, it's not my thing.
11:45
I'm not involved in politics.
11:47
Yeah, but politics is invading your life and basically ruining it.
11:52
And so I believe it's our Christian responsibility as good Christians that God gave us this nation.
12:00
and he dealt with our founding forefathers to give us the right to vote.
12:05
And for us not to do that, I think it's disobedience to God.
12:08
Why would he give us the right to vote?
12:10
And we say, we're not voting.
12:11
It's not my thing.
12:12
And so, and then, you know, we both know this, and you know this better than I do.
12:16
Churches aren't getting more political.
12:18
Politics have invaded the church and is trying to silence the church.
12:22
And so I think if we do those things, let Christians know at least they have an informed decision whether they're going to do or not do, just like anything else.
12:33
Steve, I like what you said about earlier in what you just shared about people, you know, voting for what they're against.
12:40
And oftentimes they don't even have that accurately.
12:44
They don't even understand accurately what they're against.
12:46
They just hear talking points.
12:48
That's why these stupid TV commercials with lies about the conservative or the Republican candidates.
12:54
They're more often than not.
12:55
They're not even true, but they know they can put that out there, these accusations, and people will believe that they won't go and get informed.
13:01
So we've got a problem that that leads me to my next question.
13:04
Cheryl Chumley of The Washington Times put out something recently that said everybody is a pollster and few are accurate.
13:13
She said voters should ignore the polls.
13:18
Would you speak to that for our audience, too?
13:21
Because we hear a lot of garbage about the Democrats are going to just completely annihilate the Republicans in the midterms.
13:29
And you know what?
13:30
Don't buy the hype.
13:31
Speak to that.
13:32
And maybe you call it misinformation with the polls.
13:35
polling.
13:36
Well, they, you know, here's the thing.
13:38
I always look at, when I look at polls, I said, how many did they, did they poll?
13:42
How many people then, but we never know the questions or how they lead questions.
13:46
Right.
13:47
And so the left, the left is huge at language framing and they're huge.
13:53
They attach emotion to words.
13:56
So if a pollster called me and said, do you believe that inclusion is good?
14:00
Well, sure.
14:01
I believe that.
14:01
Well, then now you're going to support this candidate.
14:06
Language framing like, well, you don't want to be a bigot.
14:08
You don't want to be a hater.
14:10
No, I don't want to be a hater.
14:11
And so because of that, the conservatives, in my opinion, the Republicans, don't do a good job at that.
14:18
But the liberals, they attach motions to words.
14:23
And so when we're polled,
14:25
People answer them like, yeah, I'm not a bigot.
14:28
I'm not a racist.
14:30
But if you believe somehow in our government or the Constitution, the Bible, then you are.
14:35
And so that's where I think the polls get way off.
14:38
I mean, Trump wasn't supposed to beat Hillary.
14:40
I guess Trump wasn't supposed to beat Kamala, but at the end they realized he was gonna beat her.
14:45
We see, I mean, Trump had lost according to the everybody, but at three o'clock in the morning that morning,
14:53
where I was at, because I never sleep on election night, I was cheering in my living room, standing up, doing whatever the happy dance is.
15:00
Like he actually won the race because everything said he couldn't.
15:05
And so I think we have to ignore that because what happens is it turns the vote down.
15:10
It turns it turns voter people voting.
15:14
It makes it less because they say, well, if he's going to lose, why do I care?
15:19
You know, so I post polls to me.
15:22
There's very few that are even close and the ones they are.
15:25
They don't really get published a whole lot.
15:27
So, OK, what about this, Pastor Steve Smotherman?
15:30
There's people in California, Illinois, New York, Minnesota, New Mexico, dark blue states that are under Democrat control.
15:40
There's Christians and conservatives and Republicans there that are saying my vote doesn't matter.
15:46
What would you say to them?
15:48
Well, I would say, listen, you're listening to the rhetoric of the left.
15:53
You're listening to all the crud about if I have to show who I am when I vote, somehow that suppresses voter turnout, which is an absolute lie.
16:02
Right.
16:03
And so what I say to that is, listen, God gave me the right to vote.
16:08
My vote matters.
16:09
If it doesn't matter to anything else, if you don't think it matters to him that I had a say and who's leading me.
16:16
Because a no vote is a vote for the wrong side.
16:20
And so that's the way I see it.
16:22
I speak to Christians all the time.
16:24
Your vote does matter.
16:25
It matters between you and your relationship with the Lord, which is the primary relationship of all your life.
16:31
And it matters in the voting thing.
16:33
And if we would ever vote, we would see our country change.
16:35
You know, they say 80%, I don't know what the number is today, believe in God.
16:39
I always ask, what God do you believe in?
16:41
Because if 80% of our population believe in the God of the Bible, we would have a whole different nation.
16:47
Yes.
16:47
And so, but people are afraid to ask, what God do you believe in?
16:50
Well, I believe in Allah.
16:51
Allah is not a God.
16:52
He's a fairytale God.
16:53
He's made up somehow.
16:55
He's like Tinkerbell.
16:56
And so, but we're afraid to speak to these issues.
17:00
And when we think we don't matter, that's what society wants to say.
17:05
You matter to God.
17:07
You matter to your family.
17:08
You matter to your city, your state.
17:11
Your vote does count.
17:14
And when you put it in there, they show it counts.
17:17
And so whether people cheat or whatever is not our thing.
17:20
We are going to obey God and have a say in who leads us.
17:24
Amen.
17:25
Absolutely.
17:26
Absolutely.
17:26
No matter what state you're in, friends, it does matter.
17:28
And I like how you frame that.
17:30
Really, it's a matter of conscience between you and God, friends, and then your responsibility to who you want to run, not only your nation, but your community, not just the federal level, but...
17:41
judicially and your school board and everything else.
17:44
So I want to quote Alex McFarland, another friend of our podcast here.
17:50
He's trying to encourage pastors to be bold this election cycle, and we hear some of these voices every election cycle, which is important, but I hope more people are starting to pay attention.
18:01
To preach like the future of the country depends on it because it does.
18:05
He says this, quote,
18:07
Churchgoers are clamoring for guidance and direction from their spiritual leaders.
18:12
But unfortunately, many pastors seem to fear taking a clear stand.
18:16
So to my brothers and sisters in Christ, if your pastor shies away from taking a stand for the biblical truths, it's time to find a new flock.
18:25
The future of our nation and the American church depends on our boldness.
18:28
End quote.
18:29
Steve, your response to that.
18:31
Well, God bless him.
18:33
I wish I had that quote.
18:35
But now I'm going to take it from him.
18:37
I'm going to give him credit once or twice.
18:38
And then I'm going to say, I always say.
18:40
But it's so true, right?
18:42
It is truth that, you know, we look for leadership everywhere else.
18:48
But somehow when it comes to the church, we don't really want leaders.
18:52
And so, you know, and we need to be pastors that lead, not leaders that pastor.
18:56
Right.
18:56
So but but if we don't speak up on the biblical issues, like people say, when I talk about abortion is murder, I said, let's just call it what it is.
19:05
Then they say, well, you're getting political.
19:07
No, this is a moral issue.
19:09
The world has made it, the government has made it political, the left.
19:13
But really it's a moral issue that we should all stand.
19:15
It should be a no-brainer.
19:17
Everybody should believe that murdering babies in the womb is wrong.
19:22
And then, but it gets labeled political, so pastors back off.
19:26
And here's why, because they don't want to lose people.
19:29
What they need to realize, they don't have them anyway.
19:31
It's like when we lost 4,000 people, it bothered me, sure did.
19:34
Our money went down.
19:35
Everything went down.
19:37
But what I realized is after a season that God really did a miracle there.
19:42
Because people think when they leave a church that they're just leaving because they want to.
19:47
They will never stop and assess, maybe God's removing you from that church.
19:53
And if pastors ever got that in mind, I believe the 4,000 that left, God intervened and moved them out.
20:01
They may have thought it was their idea.
20:03
I believe it was God's idea.
20:04
Because our church is stronger, better, greater than it's ever been before.
20:10
Why?
20:10
Because when people come in our house, they know exactly what they get.
20:14
And what people don't understand, they're against.
20:17
And if they don't understand what the church is supposed to be, then they'll be against it when the truth comes up.
20:21
And so people get mad at the truth.
20:24
What they should get mad at is the lie they have believed all these years.
20:29
And when they finally heard the truth, they realize it.
20:31
But they get mad at truth instead of the lie that they've been believing and people have been putting in their minds for years.
20:40
And we need to be truth lovers.
20:45
Lovers of the truth.
20:46
Absolutely.
20:47
Well, it says that, I think, in 1 Corinthians 13.
20:51
Lovers of the truth.
20:52
I wanted to ask you about something you shared in an email, or Maria sent me an email about—you used the word so-called Christians.
21:03
I call some professing Christians so-called Christians.
21:07
There's a lot, and I would guess that many of those who left your church may have been
21:12
so-called Christians.
21:13
Maybe they weren't truly converted, and I think there's a lot of churches around the nation that have too many people, possibly, in their seats that don't truly either study the Word of God or understand the biblical worldview and what the Bible teaches, so they think maybe they're believers, but they don't act like it, they don't vote like it, their lives don't reflect that, they are not salt and light as we are called to be.
21:40
Can you speak to that?
21:41
Because I know you're passionate about that, defining what makes us a Christian as opposed to these so-called Christians.
21:48
To me, when I say so-called Christians, you're a Christian in name only.
21:52
There's nothing in your life that reflects anything.
21:54
And people say, well, you don't know my heart.
21:56
There's no Bible scripture where God says, I'm supposed to know your heart.
22:00
He says you'll know them by their fruit.
22:02
How do we know if it's a believer?
22:04
Because it's a fruit.
22:05
I say this a lot.
22:06
When people in our city, because people know me or whatever, they'll come up and say, hey, I'm a Christian.
22:11
I don't ask them.
22:12
So I said, really?
22:13
Can I ask you three questions?
22:15
Sure.
22:16
I said, do you attend church regularly?
22:19
Is it a big deal to you?
22:20
You make sure you're there.
22:22
Do you serve somewhere in your church?
22:25
Do you tithe to your church?
22:27
Do you give money to your church?
22:28
And I have yet to have one of those people say yes to those questions.
22:34
And so how can you be a Christian and can't do some of the simplest fundamentals?
22:38
So what's happened is in our society, people talk about getting saved all the time.
22:43
They talk about it.
22:44
I was reading the word and this popped out to me that when the Bible says you believe in your heart and confess through the mouth, the Lord Jesus, then it goes on to say, then you'll be saved.
22:54
We want salvation without lordship.
22:57
And so, but it's the reverse.
22:59
You confess him as Lord.
23:01
Now you're in charge of my life.
23:02
I'm going to work to submit to you.
23:04
I know it'll be a journey for the rest of my life, but the flow of my life is going towards you.
23:10
And so people say, well, I want saved.
23:12
Yeah, you want fire insurance.
23:13
You don't want to go to hell.
23:15
But there is no salvation without lordship.
23:18
And I think the church has missed it here.
23:20
I've missed it for a lot of years that now I teach lordship and then salvation because the byproduct of making Jesus Lord is that he saves your life from eternal death and hell.
23:33
And now he has permission to come live inside you to help you become more like him.
23:39
And that's my whole thought on that.
23:41
So when I say so-called Christians, everybody today calls themselves Christians.
23:46
Mormons call themselves Christians.
23:48
Jehovah Witness calls themselves Christians.
23:50
Catholicism calls themselves Christians.
23:53
But yet they don't do Christian things.
23:55
They may have some goodness to them, but good people don't go to heaven.
23:59
Nice people don't go to heaven.
24:00
Generous people don't go to heaven.
24:02
Only people who make Jesus Lord of their life and receive salvation go to heaven.
24:08
And so that's when I say so-called Christians.
24:11
I use that term a lot because you can't tell me you're a Christian.
24:14
Listen, if I walked by an apple tree and told you it was a peach tree, you would say, no, you missed it, man.
24:20
That's an opportunity.
24:21
No, it's not.
24:22
Don't judge me.
24:23
Don't, you don't know my heart, but we're unwilling to call the fruit what it is.
24:29
And until we do, people are gonna miss heaven because they get comfortable, well, I'm saved.
24:35
I said a prayer.
24:36
Yeah, but did you become a disciple?
24:38
Did you really ask him to be Lord of your life?
24:40
Did you want a Lord?
24:42
And then I think, you know, it's not like we know everything, but man, we've got to come back to the Lordship of Jesus, not just seeking salvation.
24:51
When we seek salvation, we need to be taught you're seeking the Lord because he's the Lord of salvation.
24:58
But that's my thoughts.
24:59
Oh my goodness, there's so much there.
25:00
I wish we could unpack it, but we're running out of time, Steve.
25:03
But I want to emphasize making Jesus Lord.
25:06
That changes your life.
25:08
You are a new creation.
25:10
The old is gone, the new has come.
25:11
We are to be fruit inspectors, not judgmental.
25:14
Only God knows people's hearts, but we are to inspect fruit.
25:16
Jesus said, like you said, Steve, you will know them by their fruit.
25:21
I want to clarify, we are saved by...
25:23
by grace through faith, but if you are truly saved and have made Jesus Lord, you will produce good fruit.
25:32
Your life will show it, and that will be reflected in your life.
25:36
I want to emphasize that, that you will authentically do good works, but you're not saved by what you do.
25:41
So just to clarify the theological points, any closing thoughts on that?
25:46
The salvation comes through the grace of God.
25:48
But we have to understand what it is.
25:51
He just didn't save you so you could go live your life the way you wanted to.
25:54
And it doesn't mean that you're going to overnight be this, you know, all-encompassing Christian, what they call it.
26:00
It just means now you know who's leading you, and he can lead you in your life.
26:05
So I tell people this.
26:06
If your life is just going a little bit towards the Lord, then you're doing okay.
26:11
Because there's going to be some drastic things, but there's going to be a lot of things that you just worked through.
26:17
But it's all by the grace of God.
26:19
We are not saved by works, but we are saved to do works.
26:23
And that's the difference.
26:25
Without Jesus, none of this.
26:26
Without His grace and mercy, none of this.
26:28
And these last few years, I've learned more about His grace and mercy than I think all the decades before.
26:35
That God is so gracious and merciful, and He loves us when we mess up.
26:40
He loves you on your worst day.
26:41
He loves you on your best day.
26:43
He just cares about us.
26:45
And so if we could ever get that in our hearts, we would never walk away from Him.
26:49
Well, I messed up too bad.
26:50
No, you didn't.
26:51
God's grace is bigger than all your mess-ups.
26:54
And so it's the love of God that gives us truth, wisdom, but we're very gracious in how we talk about it.
27:01
Amen.
27:02
Amen, brother.
27:02
Thank you.
27:04
My goodness.
27:05
And then, you know, we didn't really talk as much about salt and light, but I think most of our audience and our viewers and listeners understand the concepts and our responsibility in a country like we live in in America to reflect Christ in our culture and live a godly life so that we can influence other people and, of course, preach the gospel, make disciples what we are called to do.
27:27
vote friends that's what we wanted to get Pastor Steve on to encourage you guys and hopefully your pastor talks as boldly as this brother of ours does you can look up Pastor Steve Smotherman on Facebook LegacyChurch.com thank you for your time again sir always great to connect with you we'll do this again soon Lord willing God bless you man thank you for having me thank you friends share this one the election's coming up God bless you and as always keep speaking the truth about things that matter