It’s Inauguration Day – Is All Hope Lost?: It’s January 20, Inauguration Day. Has God forsaken America? How can we have joy at a time like this? Is this the beginning of a new era in the United States? Tune in to hear why we still have hope for the future!

Air Date: 01/20/2021

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith and the Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. It’s WallBuilders Live. We’re talking about today’s hottest topics on policy, faith, the culture, all of it from a biblical, very important, biblical perspective, historical perspective, and a constitutional perspective. We’re here with David Barton. He’s America’s premier historian and our founder here at WallBuilders. Tim Barton is a national speaker and pastor, and president of WallBuilders, and my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas legislator.

You can find out more about all three of us at our website, wallbuilderslive.com. It’s a great website to check out. You can get archives of the program over the last few weeks, and you can make a contribution there. That’s a great place to invest in freedom. When you donate to WallBuilders Live, you help amplify our voice, and we need a voice of truth in the culture right now more than ever.

David, Tim, it is Inauguration Day, a good day for us to be thinking biblically, thinking constitutionally, and of course, thinking, historically. Not the inauguration day, we were all wanting, and I bet a lot of our listeners today are struggling with man, how do I have joy in the midst of trials like we’re told in James, when I’m watching this inauguration and thinking, oh, boy, what’s coming from the federal government?

Tim:

Well, one of the things I think as you brought up, James, I’m very glad you did, you know, the perspective of James is that you consider pure joy, because you know that God is developing, God is working, God is doing something. And so it’s not joy in the moment of tough sorrow, frustration, loss, hurt, pain. It’s joy, knowing that God has not abandoned you, that God still has a plan and purpose, that God is going to develop you in the midst of this.

Not the Outcome We Had Hoped For

And so certainly, as we are looking at our nation, recognizing that man, we really had hoped and thought there would be a different outcome. Certainly, as we look at some of these states, and you saw what certainly appeared to be a lot of fraudulent behavior. And, you thought this is going to get exposed.

And, it’s all going to get turned around, and now it seems like on some level, there were some wishful thinking, even though certainly, a lot of these states need to go back and reevaluate how they do elections. There certainly are things that need to be corrected and fixed. That kind of big picture across the board.

But in the midst of this, the reason we can take joy is knowing that God has not abandoned and forsaken us. And one of the things to me that is affirmation of that, as you are seeing a lot of people who are feeling a call from God and awakening saying I got to get involved, I have to do something, I need to make a difference. And we’re seeing this from, frankly, some people who were just elected to Congress, some people who are actually in Washington, DC right now, people who are a part of the political process.

But we’re seeing this from pastors and from business leaders, from different Christians in the community. And when God is stirring and waking people up, you can know that God has not done, in fact, God is on the move about to do something great.

David:

Well, and use the verse that Tim had, count it all joy when you fall in diverse temptations, when things are not going well. And if you remember, Jesus and the apostles or disciples at that point in time, they were absolutely convinced that Jesus had come to give them a political victory. 

Not What the Disciples Thought

They saw him as the Messiah, and to them, that meant that he’s going to deliver us from Roman rule: we’re going to have a change of political system here. It’s no longer going to be what it’s been. And that’s not what it all worked out. I mean, wasn’t even close to that.

And so as Jesus told them is, hey, let not your heart be troubled. This is not going where you thought it was going to go. That’s alright. And quite frankly, we’re in the position where that hopefully we can take that frustration, disappointment, or whatever, and channel that into some very positive, very constructive things that we can do. I mean, disciples didn’t get what they want to be, you know what, they dug in and did something else to change that entire world.

I mean, we would not be Christians, they had they not done. If they had thrown their hands up and said, this didn’t turn out the way I wanted, I’m leaving, we wouldn’t have Christianity. They dug in and had real purpose for what they did.

Tim:

And let’s clarify. The initial moment where we could say that disciples didn’t get what they wanted. It was when Jesus was being crucified. And yet perspective, you can look back and go, but that was one of the best things that ever could have happened. Right? This was such a significant pivotal moment in God’s sovereign plan. 

But even go forward where, so Jesus was resurrected, and he walked among them and miracles were still done, then more than 500 people saw him. And all this that happens, and then you have the birth of the early church, and the Holy Spirit comes, and all this stuff happens.

And the disciples in their life in some pretty fierce ways, and so you’re going wait a second, right? You thought you had this bad moment, Jesus died, but then he’s resurrected and he’s defeated death, hell, and the grave. 

Persecution

And now we have this glorious moment again, only for you to endure great persecution for pretty much all the disciples to die a martyr’s death, and I’m saying pretty much all because John, they tried to make him die a martyr’s death on many occasions, he just had this weird thing that he wouldn’t die.

David:

Yeah. How many people actually survived being boiled in oil? Probably a handful.

Tim:

I’m going to say that numbers really low, if any. And I’m sure I don’t want to test that experiment, right, like no, I don’t want to know any of that. But the reality is in the midst of persecution, one of the things that is consistently historically, biblically even true, is that in the midst of persecution, not only does God bring this cleansing about the church, right, the kind of like the gold that is tested and the purity rises.

It’s something to be said that when you look at persecution, there is a growth of Christianity, because the sincerity of the belief of what it is that you can’t be a casual Christian. That know that being a Christian, if you read Scripture, being a Christian, there was always a cost. It always was going to cost you something. 

And we have lived so long in America and the political protections of Christianity, which, by the way, I’m grateful for, and I want to restore that in America, where that Christianity, the morals, the values of Christianity are so respected, are so embraced that it is a cultural appreciation for that behavior. I want America to recover that and get back to that place. But the reality is historically, and biblically, that’s just not the way it always is.

A Spiritual Perspective

And so this is something that certainly as we look at what’s happening in the nation, we could say that on a spiritual perspective, we think there’s probably some purging going on, there’s a refining fire, where God is doing something inside the church, maybe there’s some winnowing, there’s some separating the sheep and the goats, there’s dividing of the wheat and the chaff. 

But in the midst of this, it certainly is a time that even though things are not going exactly as we wanted, we can rest in the fact that God is still in control, that He is sovereign, that He has a plan, and that His plan will ultimately be the best thing for His Kingdom and the part we’re going to play in what happens in that kingdom going forward.

Rick:

You know, guys, as we’re going to break I’m just thinking, you know, tough times, I mean, they, they often are needed for us to acknowledge exactly what you just said, Tim, to realize how blessed we’ve been to have those religious freedoms. And David, I remember you saying just a few weeks ago, you know, we don’t know what God’s doing here, we don’t know how he’s moving these pieces together. 

And I remember you saying that actually, four and a half years ago, when I was having such a hard time with Trump being the Republican nominee and thinking, man, the country’s ruin, you know, oh, this guy’s going to be awful. And what a blessing he turned out to be and how God used him.

So I’m not suggesting that’s going to happen with Biden. I’m just saying, you are right, four and a half years ago, when you said, Rick, we don’t know what God’s doing. We don’t know how you might use this guy, or what it might do to our country to wake us up. In the same way right now, we don’t know for sure what God’s doing, all the things you all just said, absolutely true. And he can move in mighty ways, even in the tough times.

When we come back from break, let’s talk about some of the things that aren’t tough out, the great victories that happened on November 3rd. Let’s not get so caught up in this presidential race, that we forget that actually the tide and the shift was in the right direction during this election. Stay with us, folks, you’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

A Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. American patriot Paul Revere Rhodes wrote to alert Americans of the impending arrival of the British, but he also sought patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock to warn them that the British were seeking their execution. Adams and Hancock were staying with the Reverend Jonas Clark in Lexington.

When they asked pastor Clark if his church was ready for the approaching British, he replied, “I’ve trained them for this very hour, they will fight and if need be, die under the shadow of the house of God.” Later that morning, 70 men from his church, a several 100 British in the first battle of the war for independence. 

As pastor Clark affirmed, “The militia that morning were the same who filled the pews of the church meetinghouse on the Sunday morning before.” The American church was regularly at the forefront of the fight for liberty.

For more information on this pasture, and other colonial patriots, go to wallbuilders.com.

Rick:

We’re back here on WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. It’s Inauguration Day here in America, the peaceful transfer of power, one of the beautiful things about America, even when it’s being transferred to someone you may not have supported and a party that you may not be excited about. But we said as we were going to break, let’s not forget the good stuff too, November 3rd was a great victory across the country, with congressional races we weren’t supposed to win, literally dozens of them.

Other Victories

Senate races we weren’t supposed to win, state legislative races literally more than 100 of those that flipped. So a lot of good stuff happened. The tide of the country is in the right direction. Federal Government is going to be really weird here for the next couple of years. But just don’t give up hope and don’t lose sight of the good stuff that’s been happening as well.

Tim:

Yeah. And guys in the midst of recognizing that there was a lot of really positive things in the midst of recognizing there’s also some things that we are not excited about. One of the things I’m reminded of is when Jeremiah in the Bible, he was a prophet in the Bible, he was part of when Israel fell, Israel was conquered, their nation was largely destroyed. He was taken into captivity.

And I’m not suggesting, right that that’s the same scenario here with Biden. But the attitude that God told him in Jeremiah 29, he said that you need to seek the peace of the land, and to which you are going as a captive as an exile, as a slave, you need to seek good for that land. He says, actually prayed to the Lord for it, for when it goes well with the land, it will go well with you.

And I’m reminded that even though certainly, Biden is not the guy that probably many of us wanted to be there, that probably not many of us listening voted for, yet because he is there, we also recognize one of the things that Paul told Timothy, is that you need to pray, first of all for kings, for these government officials and leaders. And so we need to remember as Christians that whether or not this is the leader we want it or not, we’ve been called as Christians to pray for our leaders.

Praying for Biden

And so we need to be praying for Joe Biden, that God would have his hand on Joe Biden. If Joe Biden is not where he needs to be with God, which there’s some arguments to be made that he probably is not based on some positions that he holds, because you can judge a tree by the fruit and the fruit of supporting some of these abortion on demand, some of these things that are, you know, transgender bathrooms, whatever else, they’re some things don’t seem to line up with biblical Christianity.

So maybe we can say he doesn’t look like he’s probably in a biblical position, then we need to pray that God opens his eyes, that God works on his heart, that he has this encounter with God, this revelation. He needs to be part of our prayer. The same thing with Kamala Harris or Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, any of these people in Congress, we need to be praying for them.

And it’s not something that we should take flippantly, because we’ve been challenged by God. This is what we’ve learned in Scripture that we need to pray for that. And also, what God told Jeremiah, you need to be praying for the good of your nation, because when it goes well with your nation, then it will go well for you. And we want America to continue to enjoy blessings and prosperity and stability.

But that means that we have to have things go the right direction. So we need to be praying that God uses those leaders to take it the right direction, and that God would help them have this revelation, this change of heart, whatever is needed. But I would just encourage us, make sure that we are praying for those leaders in the midst of what’s going on.

Character in Tough Times

David:

And I would add to that, that oftentimes when you get discouraged, you don’t want to pray anymore, you just kind of sit around and mope and whatnot. But remember that verse that Tim mentioned, pray, first of all, for leaders and those in authority. The leaders that were there at the time that Paul told Timothy that were not the good leaders.

They were not the ones that Paul would have chosen. They were opponents to many of the things that God’s people stood for. They were opponents to many God’s people. And Paul still said, first of all, pray for kings and those in authority.

And so this really is a time that you can put application to that verse. It’s easy to pray for leaders when you like the leaders and everything is the way you want it to be. But that’s not the situation in which Paul told Timothy to pray for leaders and those in authority. So this is a really good time to put biblical application to it.

It’s really when character shows is in the tougher times. And this is the time to show spiritual character. This is a time to step up and do the right thing, even if you don’t feel like it, if you feel quasi depressed, shake it off, do the right thing. Understand that God still has stuff in his control. This did not catch him by surprise.

And you know, who knows, maybe we’re going to see something different two years. I remember the verse where one of the prophet says God is going to shake you out of your complacency. So you know, maybe this is not what we want for the next two years, but maybe it wakes the nation up. Who knows? That’s all speculation.

And then again, maybe Biden turns out to be so much better than what his party, maybe his party is planning on him doing a lot of things for them and maybe he doesn’t. You know, we don’t know how that’s going to work out. So don’t predict what God’s going to do, because we can’t see the end from the beginning, He can. But in the meantime, we pray diligently and first of all, for our leaders and those in authority.

Constitution Alive!

Rick:

Well, I have to say, I’m so glad he’s in charge and not me. Because had I had my way four and a half years ago, Donald Trump wouldn’t have been president. And we would have missed out on all the blessings and positive progress that took place. Let’s take a quick break, guys, we’ll be right back. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the United States Constitution but just felt like, man, the classes are boring or it’s just that old language from 200 years ago or I don’t know where to start? People want to know but it gets frustrating because they don’t know where to look for truth about the Constitution either.

Well, we’ve got a special program for you available now called Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. And it’s actually a teaching done on the Constitution at Independence Hall in the very room where the Constitution was framed. We take you both to Philadelphia, the cradle of liberty and Independence Hall and to the WallBuilders library, where David Barton brings the history to life to teach the original intent of our Founding Fathers.

We call it The Quickstart Guide to the Constitution, because in just a few hours through these videos, you will learn the citizens guide to America’s Constitution, you’ll learn what you need to do to help save our constitutional republic. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, and it’s going to inspire you to do your part to preserve freedom for future generations. It’s called Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. You can find out more information on our website now and wallbuilders.com.

Inauguration Day

Rick:

We’re back on WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. It’s Inauguration Day. And as they have the virtual inauguration in Washington, DC, I did notice, guys last night, President Trump gave a farewell address, very optimistic, very positive. Very much like what we’re talking about today, I’m just going to read one quote from what he said.

He said “We are and must always be a land of hope, of light, and of glory to the world. This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success”, Tim, just like you said, “pray for its success and keeping America safe and prosperous.”

He said, “We restored the idea that in America no one is forgotten, because everyone matters, and everyone has a voice.” So some optimistic words there, even from President Trump as the administration changes hands.

Guys, we’re talking about we don’t know for sure what God’s doing, but we do know that He commands us to be active and to continue with our hand to the plow and to do our duty, regardless. We’ve been saying this for months, right? No matter how this whole things turns out, our duty is not really going to change in 2021. We’re still expected to be good citizens, still expected to apply biblical wisdom to the issues of life.

A Great Opportunity

David:

And this is a great opportunity for us in so many ways. I mean, for us here at WallBuilders, quite frankly, the election did not change anything we do. We’re still going to be working to get people engaged and train people, to teach people, to help them be knowledgeable. Tim and I over the last couple days have been on so many calls with leaders and elected officials. There’s so much going on that needs a lot of attention and a lot of work.

Tim:

Well, and let me let me specify, it didn’t change the philosophy of what we do. There are some things that might be different, because, for example, we normally do pastors briefings at the Capitol building throughout the year, and it looks like the Nancy Pelosi might keep… Now, obviously, we’re speculating because we don’t know yet. But Joe Biden’s talked about having national lock downs, and Nancy Pelosi has largely been in favor of masks and lockdowns unless she needs a haircut, but that’s different, right, because that’s for her.

But there are some things that certainly could be different for us going forward. But our philosophy is not changed and our fundamental values of what we are fighting for. What we know that God has called us to do, none of that calling has changed. Certainly, in the midst of this pandemic, we’ve done a lot more Zooms than we’ve ever cared to do, probably in our whole life.

And probably going forward, we’re going to do a lot more Zoom meetings. We’re going to do a lot of Zoom conferences and a lot of conversations. And that’s okay. Actually, there’s some positives, even in that because Rick, we got to be with you.

Biblical Citizenship Course

Actually, it was earlier this week on your Biblical Citizenship course that’s being offered online, and man, you had thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of people sign up for that. So we’re able on some of these levels to reach people in greater levels than we have before. So there certainly is good in the midst of it.

But dad, to your point, our philosophy and our calling has not changed. It’s just that we’ve had to navigate some of the differences going on. But bottom line, no, it doesn’t matter who’s in office, we know what God’s called us to do, and we’re doing that regardless, and sometimes in spite of who the political leaders might be.

David:

And so what we’ve seen is we’ve seen, for example, state legislators that have created new committees for the state and their Tenth Amendment committees. And the reason that’s significant is Tenth Amendment says, look, the federal government can only do the enumerated items in the Constitution, it’s 17 things. Past that, federal government’s not supposed to get involved in running the states, they can do their 17 things.

And so states now say that there’s going to be an attempt to do a lot more federal intrusion and we’re not going to do that. We’re going to draw the line with the Constitution says, and so what we’re seeing is people willing to stand more and defend the Constitution, being willing to actually kind of try to enforce the Constitution. Those are good things.

And at the same time, even before the election happened, in the educational arena, the Left was really aggressively moving forward. And now we’ve talked to a lot of legislators and a lot of even professors and others who said, okay, we got to keep education from going further Left.

More Will to Work

So there’s more of a will to work right now. And it’s interesting that it’s caused because of this thing didn’t turn out the way we thought it would. So we’re going to have to stand and resist a little harder. We’re going to have to hold our ground with a little more firmness.

And this is a great opportunity to stand up for those values. And by the way, here’s something else to think about. We fully expect out of DC that if a Biden administration does what over the last two weeks they say they’re going to do, there’s going to be a lot more adverse things coming down, anti-constitutional, anti-moral, anti-religious, anti-all sorts of stuff and there’s going to be a lot of advocating for bad positions. And the national media is going to be on board with this. I mean, they’re going to be pushing this stuff, and they’re going to push that narrative.

This is a great opportunity for you to be a vaccination for someone else. And I say that in the sense. When this bad stuff comes down, go find someone say, hey, did you know what you just heard there on radio? That’s really not true. And here’s why. This is a great opportunity for us to teach and mentor and help people understand, help them have some discernment, and help them be able to judge things that come down whether they’re right or wrong.

Be a Vaccination

I mean, this is one of the greatest opportunities we’ve had in a while to be able to actually mentor people and help them grow, and we shouldn’t let that pass by. This is, again, a great time for you to be a vaccination and inoculation against someone going further Left by helping teach them and get them in the right direction, showing them the right principles out of the Bible and out of the Constitution.

Rick:

One more break, guys. And as we go to break exactly, you know, Tim, you’re right, so many thousands of people have signed up for these classes, the opportunity for people to spread truth. it really is a great opportunity to be that voice of reason and truth in people’s lives and as David’s saying, vaccinate them and help make them immune to the lies out there and the deception.

And so we’ve each got to let our voices be heard. God’s blessed us with a system where we can do that, and yeah, free speech feels really weird right now out there in the marketplace, and even with some of the government reactions, but man, what even more important time to stand up and speak truth. So you be that voice in your community. Stay with us, folks, we’ll be right back on WallBuilders Live.

The American Story

Hey, guys, we want to let you know about a new resource we have at WallBuilders called The American Story. For so many years, people have asked us to do a history book to help tell more of the story that’s just not known or not told today. And we would say very providentially, in the midst of all of the new attacks coming out against America, whether it be from things like the 1619 project that say America is evil and everything in America was built off slavery.

Which is certainly not true or things like even the Black Lives Matter movement, the organization itself, not out of statement, Black Lives Matter, but the organization that says we’re against everything that America was built on, and this is part of the Marxist ideology. There’s so many things attacking America.

Well, is America worth defending? What is the true story of America? We actually have written and told that story. Starting with Christopher Columbus, going roughly through Abraham Lincoln, we tell the story of America, not as the story of a perfect nation or a perfect people, but the story of how God used these imperfect people and did great things through this nation. It’s a story you want to check out wallbuilder.com, The American Story.

Rick:

We’re back here on WallBuilders Live. Final segment of the day. Inauguration Day today. We’ve been talking about things we can still do, obviously, in the culture. And I kind of taken from what you guys are saying today, and what I’ve been feeling and thinking is, there’s probably more we can do now than in the past. Because frankly, the fields are fertile, people are paying attention to the things we’ve been doing for decades, some people paying attention to this for the first time. What an opportunity.

Don’t Let Your Frustration Drive You in the Wrong Direction

David:

Well, for definite sure, you cannot let your frustration drive you in the wrong direction. And you can’t let it make you bitter. We’re told in the Bible, the root of bitterness defiles many others. And if you get that root of bitterness in you, and you’re really bitter at the way things turned out and that the cheating that happened to the fraud, you can’t do that. You have to shake that off. You have to be willing to forgive and move on and build positive things.

And so you don’t want to infect other people with bitterness, because that’s what bitterness does and affects others. And when you get bitter and angry, you can’t win people, you can’t persuade them, you can’t move them in the right direction. So you take this as a learning opportunity, say this is a great opportunity for us to reach out to people who weren’t thinking correctly on this, who weren’t thinking biblically, constitutionally. This is a great opportunity to create relationships and start doing things. And this is a great opportunity to start creating small groups.

Now, Rick, you got a really big group going of, you know, 10,000 or more. But this is an opportunity to get some of your friends together and pray with them and talk about things with them and look at Bible verses or constitutional phrases to talk about new stories. We’re seeing an explosion across America right now of a movement called Home Churches where the churches are popping up in homes and they’re talking about very practical things. Well, that’s something we can do on a constitutional and biblical level as well, is get the small groups going. Because that is what will make America healthy again.

And we talked about in previous programs, start looking for people to run for school board and run and do things in the local level. Look for people for city council and look for things that you can get your teachers in your schools and help them understand better. There’s just so many opportunities.

Don’t get frustrated by looking at what happened nationally and get yourself uninvolved locally. You got to stay involved. You got to engage. And there’s going to be more low hanging fruit now to deal with than we’ve had in a good while. Take that as something joyful, as something good, as an opportunity and have the right attitude and go out at it the right way.

It’s Inauguration Day – Is All Hope Lost?

Rick:

Yeah, and you know, you’re right, David. Those small groups, that’s where you really find hope anyway. Because that’s where you get the fellowship, that’s where you really get that iron sharpening with each other. It’s really the biblical model. And it’s a beautiful thing to see it happening.

People are getting together in their living rooms or community centers or wherever they can, and just simply talking about the issues of the day and saying, what can we do with regard to Biblical instruction on this, what’s the Bible say about this, and how do we apply that in our local community.

So it’s a great, great way to go into 2021 finding folks that you can have that fellowship with and sharing those ideas, and of course, will equip you with all the tools if you want to host this biblical citizenship class. Also, on a second what you said about running for school board.

In fact, I just got a text from one of our good friends out in California who’s on the school board there and just in the last 48 hours, guys, he was texting me going, man, they’re pushing the 1619 project stuff. Help me out, give me some stuff. I sent him the link to your book “The American Story” and some of the videos you made with the One-Room Schoolhouse.

And I mean, he got on and he just texted me and said, hey, I used everything you sent me, and we defeated it. They pulled that stuff off the website. We’re going to have a much deeper discussion. I mean, guys, we that’s California. I mean, come on, we can win these battles. We just got to be faithful.

And Tim, you’ve been saying it all year long. We hadn’t been called to be the good and successful, but the good and faithful servant. Let’s do that, folks. Let’s all be faithful where we’ve been planted. Do your part. Go to wallbuilderslive.com today to learn more. We appreciate you listening to WallBuilders Live.