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Why Christians Must Speak Up: A Tribute to Charlie Kirk · Relish: a Christian podcast

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  Relish pleasing or zestful flavor a quantity just sufficient to flavor to be
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  pleased or gratified by enjoy we are hoping that what we bring to your table
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  today might add some spice to your life hello i'm don patterson and often you
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  see me on the relish platform,
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  I decided that this message today I would do independently.
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  I'm not sure how my brothers feel about Charlie Kirk, but I felt like given
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  what's happened in the last several weeks since his passing,
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  there needs to be maybe another voice and might as well be mine.
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  And what I appreciated so much about Charlie and drew me into listening to him
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  more often is his knowledge base.
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  He knew an awful lot, not only about what was going on in current events,
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  and he was really up to date on current events, much more than I can ever be.
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  And he had listening streams in high places, so he knew what was going on.
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  But he also had that biblical knowledge base so that he could be in a question-and-answer
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  situation and answer well with book, chapter, and verse.
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  That's a challenge to me because in the Relish platform, that's one of the things I've wanted to do.
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  Is when we have educated discussions on anything as Christians,
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  we should be able to say, okay, I hear what you're saying,
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  but what do you do about this verse in this chapter?
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  And isn't that also true? Those kinds of discussions should be had without a
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  lot of rhetoric in Christian community.
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  And it should be done with a sense of respect. and clear thinking,
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  because we actually sharpen each other as Christians when we disagree and are
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  willing to at least engage in conversations around those points of disagreement.
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  We're being drawn as Christians into a conversation we are ill-prepared to have.
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  I just like the way Charlie did it and the fact that he was willing to do it
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  because so many, including myself, have skirted having the conversation.
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  I've got a group of young men that meet with me for Bible study,
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  and they're all in the Gen Z generation, and they've been nudging,
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  you know, how's come your generation, Don, has been so quiet on these issues for so terribly long?
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  And in the large part, those that tend to be more biblical, maybe you could
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  call them more conservative, have been very, very silent on social issues.
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  Charlie wasn't. And that's one of the many things that I appreciate about him.
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  He was a good Christian. Even though he hadn't made a commitment to a church
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  yet, he was in the process of doing so.
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  But he spoke so much better than I have so many times from a Christian base.
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  That then has brought in the nationalism piece.
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  And there would be those that would say that it's wrong for us to be Christian
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  and talking about the affairs of our nation.
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  I'm not sure how you get there, because that doesn't sound the same as what
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  Paul would talk about in Romans 14.
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  You know, we're supposed to sport, be a part of.
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  It also is very dangerous if we don't.
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  And I think I've seen in the last two years what happens when Christians are
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  not willing to speak about their faith in the midst of the government we're a part of.
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  I think the kids are right when they're saying, you know, our generation was too quiet.
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  And we need a generation that stands on biblical principles in a government
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  built on Judeo-Christian values.
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  Now, I grew up most of my religious life as an Anabaptist.
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  And in our Anabaptist circles, we have the tendency not to speak into the government,
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  but demand of government.
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  Not to speak into governmental issues, but to speak up very loudly on social issues.
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  And that line has begun to get so skewed between what the church is responsible
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  to do towards social issues and what the government is responsible to do towards social issues.
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  We've become complacent to the point that we expect government to be doing what
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  the church through Scripture has been called to do.
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  That means that pastors like myself might have to take it upon ourselves to
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  actually go out in the community and do Matthew 25.
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  So that at the end of the day, when we have done it to the least of these,
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  our brethren, we've done it to Christ.
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  That means we'll have to activate our congregations to actually be doing the
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  things that the government is doing right now and maybe should keep their hands out of.
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  I appreciate what Charlie has done in his ministry, the way he was able to speak it clearly.
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  I appreciate his guts to go into a Q&A session, and I have some understanding
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  what that's like, when there might be people with a great deal of animosity,
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  coming to the microphones.
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  That takes a lot of guts, and I appreciate Charlie's example.
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  What we need to be thinking about is that the current generation that is in
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  development of leadership,
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  that Gen Z generation, they need good examples of how to speak respectfully in the common forum.
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  We, boomers, can be that example.
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  So I guess that's why I decided to go ahead and video this,
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  and share the fact that, yes, we need to be speaking, and we need more Charlies,
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  and we need more informed individuals to speak to the issues of our nation and
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  to speak to the issues of our church.
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  I watched Charlie Kirk. I hope that's not a surprise to people,
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  and maybe it'll cost us some viewers.
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  I was inspired by Charlie Kirk. his tenacity his knowledge base and his willingness
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  to go to the forum at the microphone,
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  I applaud Charlie Kurt and that he set for his family an example of what it's
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  to live like be more like Christ as you live every day and I thank you for Erica's example of forgiveness,
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  and we pray that in the days to come as the heat gets hotter,
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  she can stand firm in that example.
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  America, I relish the opportunity to share my views on Charlie Kurt and I thank you for listening.
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  Thank you for joining us for this podcast. Feel free to become part of this
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  ministry by sharing it with others.
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  Our goal is to help each other grow deeper in our understanding of who God is
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  and is calling to us in our daily lives.
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  Thank you again for joining us and may God bless your day.