The Importance Of Courage – Barnstorming Georgia With Barry Loudermilk: What does the Bible say about cowards? How did our Founders view freedom? What do you do when you’ve done all you can to stand for truth? Today we bring you another special session from our Barnstorming Georgia event. Tune in for an episode you don’t want to miss!

Guest: Congressman Barry Loudermilk

Air Date: 12/24/2020

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 Christmas Eve, so Merry Christmas a little bit early. Thanks so much for joining us today on WallBuilders Live, hope that you enjoy today’s program on this very special day. I hope you’re getting some family time, as well. 

We at WallBuilders Live are certainly getting some family time today, and that’s why we’re actually going to take you out back to Georgia for our barnstorming event. We still got some great presentation material from those events that we’re going to be sharing with you during the holidays.

Now tomorrow, Christmas Day, you got to listen to WallBuilders Live. It’s going to be a very special Christmas program where we’re bringing you some of the best Christmas messages in American history. It’s going to be a cool program to listen to. Today, also a cool program, but it’s not so much at Christmas program as it is a biblical citizenship program. 

So we’re actually going to pick up right where we left off yesterday with the Georgia barnstorming event. Hope that you’re enjoying that? And we’ll finally finish that off early next week on Monday and Tuesday. But don’t forget, tomorrow, Christmas Day, be sure even if you don’t listen until later in the weekend, be sure and listen to that Christmas program. It’s going to be really special. For today, let’s check back into that Georgia barnstorming event.

Again, my name is Rick Green, former Texas legislator, America’s Constitution coach, normally here with David Barton, America’s premier historian, and our founder of WallBuilders, and also Tim Barton, national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders. 

But all three of us today for today’s program anyway are going to sound like we’re in Georgia. But it’s actually a couple of weeks ago, we’re just catching you up on some of that presentation from the Georgia barnstorming event. Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday in Georgia.

Where Can You Find Truth?

David:

We have to work harder than we’ve ever worked to find truth, because there’s so many things trying to stop us from knowing what truth is. So you have to find the truth. The third and final thing you have to do is you have to defend the truth. 

This requires courage. Courage is very significant. Going back to God’s word, God’s word tells us a lot of stuff. But right now, what we’re seeing is 77% of Americans self-censor, because they don’t want to say the truth because they know they’ll get attacked. This is Christians in a traditional value Americans.

This is conservatives. You know, if I say something about marriage, if I say something about the election, if I say something about whatever, I’m going to get attacked, and I just don’t want that drama. I don’t need the drama. So we’re self-censoring, which means young people will hear only one side because we’re not saying anything. We’re not speaking about what’s going on. We’re not holding the standard up and saying there’s something else.

And so going to the Bible, the Bible tells us not only how to get to heaven, it tells us how to get to hell. Now we know how to get to heaven through Jesus Christ. How do you get to hell? Well, the Bible tells us a lot about who’s going to be in hell. As you look at Scriptures, the great verses is Revelation 21:8, it says that these people are going to be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Which people? Well, that’s what it tells us in the first part of verse. It says, well, it’s going to be the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars. Oh, those are bad people, they’re going to be in hell. There’s a blank up there. What’s missing in that blank? The word, cowards.

The number one thing on the list is people who don’t have any backbone. People who don’t stand up and push back. Cowards, you go, right. Well, I knew that liars and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murders are bad.

Yeah, sore people with no backbone. See, God wants us to stand for truth. And that’s part of what we have to do. We have to have the courage to stand and defend the truth. So the three verbs that go with truth today will be loving the truth, finding the truth, and then defending the truth. And that’s what we have to do if we’re going to see the culture turn.

The Importance of Biblical Citizenship

Rick:

Awesome. So good. So good. These guys are scratching the surface by the way. There’s so much more here, especially this response to the 1619 project, the importance of truth. We’re starting to Biblical citizenship courses that you can teach in your home or here at your church, wherever you can.

And in those courses, Tim’s going to be going a lot deeper into this response to the 1619 project. We want you to learn these things yourself and share it with other people.

And even that sharing part like David saying, instead of self-censoring, having the courage to share and Congressman, it’s often we will always look for courage in our leaders that we send to Washington, DC, but we got to have that courage, as well. So speak to us about how important it is to stand and to have that courage.

Barry:

It’s incredibly important. And first of all, I love my freedom. We all love our freedom. But more importantly you love your freedom. You see that’s the difference, because everybody wants to have their own freedom. But our founders had this idea that freedom belongs to all of us, because it’s been given to us by God and the role of the government is to defend that freedom.

But freedom has been under attack from the very, very beginning, not only of this nation but the beginning of the world. We’ve always heard the term freedom is not free. We think of, yeah, it wasn’t free. We think of the battles, the wars that we’ve been through fighting for freedom. But freedom is a battle that we have to fight every day of the week and every week of the year continually. It’s always an attack on our freedom.

The Treasure of Freedom

There’s an illustration here with us tonight, that freedom is not free. So two gentlemen in uniform standing back there, because if freedom was free, we wouldn’t need those brave law enforcement officers here tonight. How about a hand for our law enforcement who’s on the front line! Because there are people who don’t appreciate your freedom, and are willing to take away your rights for their advantage is why we need brave law enforcement officers. They’re on the front line every day of defending freedom.

Now, every year in July, we celebrate an important historical moment in our nation: Independence Day. Now, I want you to understand that there’s a significant difference between independence and freedom. Okay? Second Continental Congress, they passed this important measure that declared that we were independent from England.

And I want you understand this, we gained our independence because they declared it. They said we are now free and independent nation. It was done. That was it. They declared it. But we earned our freedom because they fought for it. See, there’s a big difference there. You can declare something and it is done. But if you actually want to reap the benefits, you have to fight for it. And they did, for eight long years, they fought for it.

Rick:

Hey, friends, quick break right here on WallBuilders Live. What you’re listening to is a live presentation in Georgia, the Georgia barnstorming events that we did all across the state to get biblical citizens to engage in the culture and be salt and light. Going to take a quick break from that, we’ll be right back. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

A Moment from American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. As the American war for independence began, the president of Yale was the Reverend Naphtali Daggett. When New Haven, the home of Yale came under attack, about 100 citizens rushed out to meet the British. The Reverend Daggett gouged by them on horseback, his clerical robes flowing behind him in the wind, and he took up a solitary position on top of hill.

The 2500 British soon for the townsfolk to fly, but the Reverend Daggett continued to stand alone, firing down on the advancing troops. A British officer confronted him. “What are you doing there, you old fool? If I let you go, will you ever fire again on the troops of His Majesty?” “Nothing more likely” was the preachers reply. America’s early pastors have personally confronted danger and courageously lead their communities.

For more information on Pastor Daggett and other colonial patriots, go to wallbuilders.com.

Rick:

We’re back there on WallBuilders Live. You’re listening to the Georgia barnstorming event that we did, actually, we did many of those across Georgia. But we’re sharing with you one of those live presentations here on WallBuilders Live today on Christmas Eve, and next week, we’ll finish it off. Again, as I said at the beginning of the program, don’t miss tomorrow’s Christmas program for some really cool Christmas messages. For now, let’s go pick up the rest of that Georgia barnstorming event.

Barry:

I want you to understand this, fighting for freedom standing for truth takes a lot of courage because it is not easy. When you think about the darkest period in American history, at that time was Valley Forge. You see, we lost more battles in the American Revolution than we won.

The Greater the Prize, the Harder the Conflict

But these men were so dedicated to this concept of freedom. They were persistent, and they kept coming back and kept coming. In fact, one of the British General said, these are the most frustrating people I’ve ever met in my life. We meet them on the battlefield, they beat them, they come back and fight again, we beat them, they come back and fight again. They keep coming back. Do we have that fortitude today?

Thomas Paine describe that situation because it was clear, Washington was under a lot of pressure at that point, because the British held all the major economic centers in the nation. The British were in Philadelphia in the warmth. They were in Charleston. They were in New York.

Washington has his troops in the middle of a forest in the freezing cold. One wrote, it’s easy to find where the American patriots are; all you have to do is follow the bloody footsteps, no, because they didn’t have shoes. See, it was a very, very dark period. And there had to be a lot of pressure to just give up and let’s negotiate.

In fact, Thomas Paine said, heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods. And it would be strange indeed of so a celestial article as freedom should not be highly rated. Basically, what he’s saying, the greater the prize, the harder the conflict. The greater the prize, the harder the conflict. I’ve learned that through my life.

My dad used to tell me, so son, if there’s something in life that you don’t like, you’ve got two choices. You can do something to change the situation, or just accept the status quo and go on with your life. But complaining never fixes anything.

Now, he was a medic in World War II from D day through the Battle of the Bulge on into Germany. He knew what conflict was. He knew how important freedom was. I don’t know if you guys remember, but last year, which seems like decades ago, I don’t know if you’ve noticed we’ve had a little conflict going on in 2020: things a little unusual. Nothing as bad as what these folks in the past have faced, by the way.

We’ve been doing several events with these guys. They’re from Texas. They’re proud to be from Texas. I lived in Texas for a while, right? And so they know where I’m going with this. They know where I’m going with this. I went out to Dallas a couple weeks ago to speak at…

Tyrannical Governors

Rick:

You turn off this mic, please.

Barry:

You’re in Georgia now, you’re in free America. I go to Texas to speak at their conference. They make you wear masks in Texas.

Tim:

We don’t. We don’t.

Rick:

Can we just make a note that if Greg Abbott runs for president, do not support him here in Georgia if he ever does that, after the terrible job he’s done with making Barry wear a mask when he came to…

Barry:

So we’ve had a little bit of fun with that, because for years I’ve put up with the Texas thing, right? Texas is big. Okay. Last year, some in the House of Representatives didn’t like how our president was standing for truth and exposing truth, so they decided to impeach him on made up charges.

So I’m there and I’ve been given, because not everyone was given a chance to speak. And I knew there, I was going to vote against impeachment. I talked against impeachment. I was actually on one of the committees that was charged with hearing impeachment. Well, we never had a single hearing. Interesting, huh.

So I was given two minutes to speak. And I prayed that night, I’m like, Lord, this probably the most important two minutes I’ve ever had in my life. I need to say something, to expose how corrupt this whole system of impeachment has been and how it has violated every precept of our Constitution. Many others were saying the same thing, something David had brought up earlier. You know, the Bible gives us insight to every part of our lives.

The American Story

Why would it be any different when you’re talking about a judicial system, or an impeachment that you don’t go to the Bible to look for truth? I woke up at three o’clock in the morning and I knew exactly what I had to say. What I wasn’t prepared for was the backlash I was going to get. I actually have some staff here they had to answer the phones after that. And so they wish at the time, I would never do another speech like this.

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.

Barry:

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition not only to these articles of impeachment, but in strong opposition to the process that has brought us to this point. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are all about process. Our founders knew that a government without constraints could accuse anyone of any crime at any time, even without compelling evidence. That’s why the Fifth and the Fourteenth Amendments established a bedrock principle of innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

An Important Speech

But on November the 14th, Speaker Pelosi informed the press that the president should prove his innocence when she stated, Mr. President, if you have anything that shows your innocence, then he should make that known. The Constitution also guarantees that the accused can call witnesses to testify on their behalf. But the Republicans and the President were continually denied that right throughout this process.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right of the defendant to face their accuser. But not only have the Democrats prohibited Republicans and the President from questioning the so called whistleblower, his identity has been kept secret. Before you take this historic vote today, one week before Christmas, I want you to keep this in mind.

When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president in this process. I yield back.

While we’re [inaudible 17:00] are the ones calling in after that speech happened. I can tell you, that wasn’t the response that we got from across the nation, everything from the most file language that you could ever imagine to death threats. And I’m wondering, what is it about that all I did was tell the truth. I even had conservative talk show hosts arguing the point that you shouldn’t use the Bible in politics. Well, if you’re not going to use story, don’t use it.

I believe you use it for every aspect of your life, especially when it comes to right and wrong. But then it dawned on me. It wasn’t what I said, it was a particular word I said in there, Jesus. That’s what triggered this. Even some liberal pastors were writing articles about me comparing Trump to Jesus. I didn’t compare Trump to Jesus, I compared the Democrats to Pontius Pilate. There’s a whole big difference there. Here’s why.

Because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. You see, I converged the spiritual with the political and you are not supposed to do that here, because that’s pretty convicting, and you could offend some people doing that.

Having Done All to Stand, Stand.

Well, you know, after I thought about it, I thought about what the rest of that Scripture says. You know, when you’re under attack, you put on the whole armor of God, and you stand. And after you do everything to stand, you take a break, you take a knee, and you give up. What does it say? After doing everything, to stand. Stand! You continue to stand even in the darkest hours. That’s where the courage comes in, is to be able to stand for the truth and fight for the truth. My dad, a medic, landed on the beaches of Normandy during D-day.

I was honored to be part of the official us delegation to travel to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-day, as a veteran and since my dad was there. As I’m sitting there, at the American Cemetery, President Trump comes on the stage and he goes to this elderly gentleman up on the stage and he, you know, typical Trump, this a tough guy right here, he’s a tough guy. This is a real hero. It turned out that this guy was about 17 or 18 years old, when he stormed the beaches of Normandy. The death rate of his unit was 96%. The death rate of COVID is 0.001% and we have young people that won’t go to the store.

Constitution Alive!

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.

Barry:

COVID’s dangerous, we have to be respectful of it, but we don’t have to be fearful. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to be fearful except for a respectful fear of the power of God. Correct? What can you do? You’ve got to be able to stand.

Valley Forge

That’s what this whole thing is about is equipping you. And I want you to understand. We could go through story after story after story of Washington at Valley Forge.

We could go through General McAuliffe refusing to surrender during the Battle of the Bulge. Most of these are officers, people that you heard about or you read about in history, but there’s one that you probably haven’t heard about. It’s Private Martin. Now, nobody actually has a picture of Private Martin. This is someone who is in the 82nd airborne during the Battle of the Bulge.

You see, when the Germans broke through the Siegfried Line in December of 1944, we thought the war was pretty much over. After landing in Normandy on D-day, the Allies push through Europe, ended up pushing the Germans back across the line, but it was winter.

In France, it was rainy, in the Ardennes Forest in Holland, it was snowing, and we couldn’t really operate there. So what we did is we brought our battle hardened troops back and we put some of the fresh troops up on the line and Hitler took advantage of it. He secretly brought in tanks and artillery, using the weather to mask it.

And on December the 18th, he broke through the Siegfried Line and started moving very rapidly through the Ardennes, decimating our troops. We started retreating, the GIS called it the great bug out. The 101st airborne was mobilized and was sent to Bastogne, the 82nd airborne was sent to St. Vith, because that was we’ve got enough intelligence to know those were the two targets of the entire German force. Their orders were to hold those towns at all costs.

There was basically a tank, there was a tank destroyer that was retreating, trying to get to St. Vith, to get behind our lines where the strength was. As he was driving down these gravel roads in the middle of the snow, several GIS just started jumping on the tanks because we’re going to mass retreat.

Private Martin and Will Rogers

We have this overwhelming force coming at us. So this tank commander is driving down the road with all these GIS hanging off the tank and he gets up and he sees this guy that looks like this: battle-weary, unshaven, dirty, you could tell he’s seen a lot of combat, and he’s just casually digging a foxhole along the side of the road just out there by himself. So he stopped the tank, Sergeant opens the hatch and he says, “Private, is this the way to the rear?”

Private casual looks at him and he says, “Sir, are you looking for somewhere safe?” He said, “Yes, we are.” He said “Well, then pull that tank behind me. I’m 82nd airborne. This is as far as the Germans are going to get.” This was actually a recruiting poster for the 82nd airborne during Vietnam.

The Importance Of Courage – Barnstorming Georgia With Barry Loudermilk

You see, this is one of the unsung heroes. But I want you to think about it. Here’s this lone private who was given orders to stop the Germans. Surrender wasn’t in his vocabulary because he was fighting for something greater than himself: your freedom. He wasn’t going to have any if he gave his life for your freedom.

But he was so dedicated to that cause, he was willing to take on the entire German army with nothing but his in one cabin. The tank commander happened to be the son of comedian Will Rogers. Some of you know I’m talking about, his name was Bill Rogers. Private had no idea who that celebrity was driving the tank.

But when Bill Rogers heard what he told the Sergeant, what Private Martin told the Sergeant, he hollered his man, get off this tank, here’s where we’re going to make our stand. A troop carrier truck came down the road and they heard the story of Private Martin and they said, this is where we’re going to make our stand.

You see, courage is contagious. That point became the stronghold of which the Germans never advanced beyond because of the courage of one man. You all, it’s going to take courage, you’re going to be under attack. But you all individuals can be Private Martins, you can make a difference not just now but in the future.

Rick:

Alright, friends, were at a time for Christmas Eve today. Again, be sure and listen tomorrow for a special Christmas program, we will get the remainder of the Georgia barnstorming event and all those great speakers that we had with us. We’ll finish that off next Monday and Tuesday, so be sure to tune in then as well.

In the meantime, have a very Merry Christmas. Be sure and listen tomorrow for a special Christmas program right here on WallBuilders Live.