Leadership Training Program Interviews Part Two, Equipping Millennials: Today, we are interviewing Steve Jensen and Sarah Wecker on their experience at Wallbuilders and Mercury One’s  Summer Leadership Program. The program is two weeks of nonstop projects, research, lectures, and outings for people who want to know more about America”€™s incredible history, learn about the people directly involved with the founding of our nation, and identify the philosophies and ideologies that shaped our laws and original documents.

Air Date: 08/16/2017

Guests: Steve Jensen , Sarah Wecker, 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.  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, this is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture, all of it from a Biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premier historian and the founder of WallBuilders. Also, Tim Barton, national speaker, pastor, and president of WallBuilders. And my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas state rep, national speaker, and author.

Find out more about us and the program at our websites WallBuildersLive.com and WallBuilders.com which is our main website with a wealth of information there as well. We’ve got a couple of special guest coming up later in the program. If you missed yesterday’s program it’s actually available right now on our website at WallBuildersLive.com. 

There we had a couple of special guests from the WallBuilders Leadership Program, two weeks where these young people got to come in from around the nation and spend two weeks with David, and Tim, and all kinds of other great leaders.   Diving into the topics, diving into the materials themselves, actually getting hold these letters from the Founding Fathers and do research. They were really involved in the process.

Yesterday’s program was so encouraging. David, Tim, we”€™ve got two more of them coming today. It”€™s exciting to see what’s happening with this generation. For them to get that kind of time with you guys, boots on the ground, in the fight, actually being part of the research, and getting to go over to Beck’s studio and see how that works, what an exciting two weeks.

Asking Good Questions

David:

Beck”€™s studio, for those who don’t know, it actually was the largest television production set studio between Los Angeles and New York City. That’s where all the Walker Texas Ranger episodes were done, that’s where all the Barney episodes were done, that’s where Robocop was done, that’s where Born on the Fourth of July, all these movies were done there.

All these famous rock groups and non-rock groups tape their music there. So it is a studio. So, when you tour the studio you’re actually, it’s like going through Hollywood in many ways. There is so much over there on the set. So when we talk about Glenn Beck’s studio, it’s a historic kind of studio. There’s a lot of history there as well.

We were talking yesterday about what we do with these kids in this leadership training, they don’t know what they’re not being taught. But we know what they’re not being taught.

So I kind of look at it like- the way it used to be with shipping, you could take a line or some kind of cargo ship across the ocean but when it came time to go into port there was a pilot who would come out to meet you and to take over the ship and would drive into port because he knew all the local things. He knew were the shoals were, he knew where the water was shallow, he knew the stuff that that trans ocean pilot did know. That’s really what this is.

We’re able to say, “€œHey, we know what your professors are going to teach you. We know what you don’t know yet, we can equip you for this, we can get you through.”€ One of the great things that happens in last few days is as Tim goes through all this nonsense they are going to hear from their professors and gives them seven questions that they can ask that completely changes the tone of what goes on in class, the tone of what goes on with knowledge, and actually ends up changing professors at a times when they’re faced with some of these questions.

Tim:

Really, just example questions. There’s more than seven for sure that we try to equip the kids with. But the idea is that if you are pursuing truth then you should not just blindly accept what anybody says.

In fact, we tell the students the whole time they’re there, “€œLook, don’t accept what I say.”€Right, the questions we teach them these are not really good Christian conservative questions. No, in fact, they’re just good questions.

These are not designed to trip up a liberal, to trip up a specific group, no, these are just designed to pursue truth. If I say something wrong then you shouldn’t believe it.

“€œNow wait a second, how do you know? What’s your source?”€ So in the midst of this, there’s a lot of questions we have to ask in pursuit of truth. Ultimately, what we are helping them do is become like the Bereans that Paul talks about in the book of Acts. The Bereans were people who didn’t initially trust what Paul said. They had to look it up and confirm that what Paul was saying was true because they were going to be misled. Which later Paul praises them for.

The objective is that we want to help equip these young leaders to know what truth is, to know how to pursue truth, to recognize truth. Certainly, we can show with them a lot of truth that they’re not being taught when it comes to history, and government, and the Constitution, and politics, and education, and various things across the board.

As we mentioned, we had some on yesterday, Kayla and C.J.  Super fun to have them. Today, we have two other individuals.  Stephen and Sarah are with us today. We just loved spending two weeks with these guys this summer.

But they were from a group of 44 and all 44 the kids from this session were just so fun to be with. We did two sessions this summer at roughly 70 kids between the two sessions. But again, it was just so fun working with leaders from the next generation and helping equip them as they are empowered and emboldened to go make a difference.

David:

And if you’re not a Millennial and if you want optimism about the future. Listen to what these kids are going to say today. Not every Millennial believes like this and thinks like this but this is what the leadership training is all about is getting them back to the kind of Millennials that we had back in the Founding Era, quite frankly.

It is a big deal, for those that hear it and want to be part of it, you can go to WallBuilders.com/LeadershipTraining. They’ll have the information there on upcoming sessions. You can sign up and apply there to attend the sessions. We’ll give you the information. But what you’re about to hear, what you heard yesterday, and even what you’re going to hear today, this is really optimistic stuff for the future of the nation.

Rick:

We’ve got Steve and Sarah both joining us today. We’ll be back in a moment on WallBuilders Live.

Moment From American History

This is David Barton with another moment from America’s history. Although education has remained an emphasis in America for nearly 200 years. What has changed the most over that period of time is the philosophy of education. For example, while religion finds no place of refuge in our schools today, such was not the case at the time of our Founding Fathers.

In fact, when the Delaware Indian chiefs brought their youth to be trained in American schools on June the 12th, 1779, George Washington told them, “€œYou do well to wish to learn our arts and our way of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.”€

According to George Washington, what students learned above all in American education at the time of the Founding Fathers was the religion of Jesus Christ. For more information on God’s hand in American history contact WallBuilders at 1-800-8-REBUILD.

Discovering Heros From Our Past

Rick:

Welcome back! Thank”€™s for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Steve Jensen is with us. He just went through the leadership program, intern program at WallBuilders. He got to spend two weeks with David, and Tim Barton, and Beck. Got to go over to the studios at Beck”€™s studio at Mercury One. Also got spent a lot of time in the library there at WallBuilders. Literally going through the original documents. Steve, God bless you man. Thanks for coming on the program.

Steve:

Thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure to talk with you.

Rick:

This was a hands on opportunity, this wasn’t like a typical internship. Tell us a little about it.

Steve:

Not at all. It’s an incredible leadership program put on by Mercury One and WallBuilders. Kind of like a Make a Wish opportunity except luckily I don’t have to be in a Make a Wish type of scenario. But honestly, once in a lifetime opportunity. To actually handle artifacts in American history and to learn about our founding from original sources and primary source documents is just an incredible opportunity.

Rick:

So you guys were actually in the library not just doing a tour but y”€™all were getting to dive into the documents themselves and be part of sort of a research program.

Steve:

Yeah, definitely part of it. We did research every afternoon, we’d be able to dive into certain primary source materials, be it biographies from back in early 18 hundreds or specific letters and proclamations, things written by the Founders themselves. Holding letters from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and a like, it was really an incredible experience.

Rick:

How did that affect your view of the Founding Fathers?

Steve:

You know, I think it has broadened it. We don’t learn a lot about many more than the four or five that everyone likes to mention. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and the like. I got to do research on some really cool people like William Paca of the first Continental Congress. Stephen Hopkins from Rhode Island who signed the Declaration of Independence. He’s a Quaker guy with the hat and all that. Elbridge Gerry, James Monroe, and more. It’s really a cool opportunity to discover more of these heroes from our past.

Never Heard About This In School

Rick:

So did you learn something? Is there anything that stands out to you as a take away from the research time that you didn”€™t know going in.

Steve:

I would say there are probably a couple. First, Stephen Hopkins is a really unique individual. He designed the first anti-slavery law in the United States back, I believe it was 1784, in Rhode Island.

You hear of all the anti-slavery stuff happens in the 18 hundreds when you learn about it in school. It turns out we were dealing with these issues back in the late 17 hundreds and mid 17 hundreds as well. That was really cool.

One of the other unique ones was the story about James Monroe. Not only was this guy the fifth president of United States, he was U.S. senator, *,  governor of Virginia, secretary of state, and two term president, but this guy served under George Washington and was shot in the shoulder and held that bullet in his shoulder until the day he died. But he also got to study underneath Thomas Jefferson when Jefferson was the governor of Virginia. These are just amazing things that I never had heard about let alone learned in school.

Rick:

Yeah, very cool. So how about the studio trip? You guys got to go over to Mercury One Studios, what a chance to see behind the scenes of how television is made and how the new media is working.

Steve:

It’s fascinating. I had never really experienced anything like that. I got the opportunity to sit in on Doc Thompson’s show and he invited me to actually comment on one of their internal disputes, which is kind of funny.

Then also to see the production that goes into not only radio but television as well with the Glenn Beck program. Really unique stuff there. I’m not a huge media type personally, and so it was something that was quite fascinating and got to learn a lot.

A Program Like No Other

Rick:

Very cool. So what would you say to other young leaders out there that might be considering this opportunity to spend two weeks with the Bartons and Mercury One?

Steve:

First thing, do it if you can. This is an incredible chance to learn American history through the eyes of those that lived it at that time period. This isn”€™t reading textbooks, it”€™s not being lectured to by professors, this is primary source material that you’re learning from. And then you get to hold it. You get to hold the artifacts in your hands and read those actual documents.

That’s something that I think that can’t be taken for granted. I certainly don’t. And then you really get to learn a little bit about Biblical worldview and understand what thought process was like in early America compared to what it is now.

Rick:

Actually, I did want to ask you that. When you hear the typical perspective on the Founding Fathers from major media and typical academia, “€œThese guys we’re all atheists, agnostics, and deists.”€ How much did it impact your confidence and certainty to be able to rebut that in conversations or just in daily life?

Diving Deeper Into The Truth

Steve:

I was lucky that I’ve read a little bit of Jefferson before. He was kind of the one guy, him and Franklin, they would always bring up that they are deist. It was really fascinating. I had read some of Jefferson so I was like, “€œI don’t think this guy is a deist, he talks too religiously.”€ But to actually- He wrote 19,000 some letters in his life than 600 were on faith and religion. Not only that but reading The Jefferson Lies as well, David Barton book.

To understand some of these guys, in that, it’s not as simple as, “€œHe was or wasn’t religious.”€ Sometimes it is as simple as saying, “€œNo, he actually wasn’t.”€ In the case of Franklin. But for Jefferson, that’s certainly not the case.  He was. Things change over the course of people’s lives.

But then even with Franklin, he was totally a believer in divine providence and was the guy who asked for prayer in the Constitutional Convention. So it really was an eye opening experience on that religious side.

And for me personally, it really made me want to dive back into the scriptures. So I came back and I’ve read the book of John, the letter from James, and now I’m listening and reading my Bible scriptures with a lot more intentionality.

Rick:

That’s awesome. That’s a that’s a fantastic result from being there for two weeks. That’s the best thing we could possibly hope for. Actually, The Founders Bible, we encourage people to read that and they can kind of have Steve’s experience because it brings the library into a lot of those stories in the Founders Bible.

So as you read your Bible you’re getting that commentary and then learning a lot of those things that Steve and the others that went through the intern program got to learn as well. God bless you, we appreciate you taking time to come on the program and thanks for investing two weeks in your life to learn these things.

Steve:

It was a pleasure and probably the best two week and learning experience I’ve ever had.

Rick:

Awesome, thanks for coming on, man.

Steve:

Thank you very much.

Rick:

Stay with us folks, be right back on WallBuilders Live.

Patriot Academy

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Patriot Academy is now expanding across the nation and now is your chance to experience this life changing week that trains champions to change the world. Visit PatriotAcademy.com for dates and locations. Our core program is still for young leaders 16 to 25 years old, but we also now have a citizen track for adults. So visit the website today to learn more. Help us fill the void of leadership in America. Join us in training champions to change the world at PatriotAcademy.com.

World Changers

Rick:

Welcome back, thanks for staying with us on WallBuilders Live. Sarah Wecker is with us, she just got through our Leadership program where she get to come in and spend two weeks at the library and going over to Mercury One Studios.

What a great experience. Sarah, love the fact that we get this opportunity to talk to the people that experienced this so we can find out what it was like and share it with our listeners. Thanks for coming on.

Sarah:

Oh no problem, it”€™s my pleasure.

Rick:

So what made you want to go spend two weeks on the surface of the sun, the conditions of Dallas Texas in the middle of summer?

Sarah:

Honestly, I have listened to the Bartons for years and enjoyed seeing our country’s forgotten history and heritage through the artifacts that they have. So it actually was a random God thing. My mom found it on the internet, we applied, I didn’t think I was going to be able to go because my museum that I work at actually was having major grand opening. So God opened up the July session, I was able to come and it was totally a dream come true.

Rick:

That’s awesome. So you actually got not just go through a tour of the library, but you got to handle documents, to do research, and to be a part of the team.

Sarah:

Yes for sure. Not just that, there was 44 of us. Just to see those 44 like minded young millennials that came together, all of us were so excited. It was not just a group of your average interns, these are going to be world changers.

God”€™s Providence In The Lives Of The Signers

Rick:

I love it. That gives hope to me, gives hope to our listeners, just to even hear that 44 of y”€™all from all over the country. During those two weeks what was your view of the Founding Fathers? Perhaps, maybe not changed, but what were some distinctions that were made for you?

Sarah:

Honestly, just to see the golden thread of God’s providence in each of these individuals lives. You look at people like Benjamin Rush, people we’ve really never heard of before, people like Elias Boudinot, the list goes on and on, Gouverneur Morris, people that the average American really isn’t familiar with. To see how very impacted they were by reading the Scriptures and how they let that influence the way that they thought the country should be founded. I think that’s such an important message to spread to our peers, and to people in our workplaces, and our churches, and all around the world.

Rick:

Was it pretty cool to find- I assume you’ve learned about some Founders that maybe you weren”€™t familiar with even though you’d listen to David before and even though you’re kind of in the world of history, did you learn about some new people that you weren”€™t familiar with before?

Sarah:

Yes I did. Fisher Ames is one that pops into my brain. He was very instrumental-

Rick:

So our listeners know, you got no warning of what the questions were, so this is kind of like an after intern test, right? Go ahead, sorry.

Sarah:

I”€™ve got my 30 pages of notes from the internship up on my computer so I may be cheating a little bit.

Rick

So Fisher Ames, go ahead, interrupted you.

Sarah:

No, no, you’re fine. He was responsible for writing the language of the First Amendment to the constitution. The things that he was stating about the use of school books in schools- religious heritage and education is a really big passion of mine, so the quotes that he has, he believes the more textbooks that we institute into schools the less time we will spend on the Bible and that just was not what they had in mind and that’s not what their goal was. So that was so cool to learn.

Setting Our Differences Aside For Unity

Rick:

That’s cool. So what other things did you get to do during the two weeks, the library, get to do research, what about going over to the studios, how was that?

Sarah:

Yeah, the studio was pretty cool. We did get to be on the Glenn Beck Show. That was a little nerve wracking. So it was a really good experience, I can cross that off my bucket list.

One of the other things that I took away from our experience is just the fellowshipping with these 44 other interns. We’re from all different walks of life and all different denominational backgrounds.

To me it harkens back to what Tim and David were saying about in the early Founding era where all these different denominations were really at each other’s throats and they didn’t have the respect for each other and it was kind of a bad deal. But to realize that in a crisis of the country they came together and I said, “€œWe can pray together the first Continental Congress.”€

I think it was Samuel Adams that said, “€œI’m no bigot. I can hear a prayer from someone that’s not of my denomination.”€ So it was really cool to be able to have Bible studies at our hotel. We had a Bible study over the weekend just together and digging into God’s word and putting our differences aside saying, “€œHey, we are Americans, we are fighting for God and country, and we can team up and do great things.”€

Passing The Torch Of Freedom

Rick:

Man, that’s so cool. I know you came home with hope but sharing this gives hope to our listeners because they’re going, “€œAlright, this is great. We know that there’s a new generation being raised up that’s grounded in these things.”€

You”€™re obviously, you can tell by your voice, passionate about it. So you’re accepting that torch and hopefully God is going to use you in ways to impact the people around you as well.

Sarah:

Oh, that’s my prayer.

Rick:

I love it, thank you for your time. Thank you so much for going and spending that time with Bartons, and Beck, and everybody else.

Sarah:

No problem.

Rick:

Spread the word and encourage some others. In fact, before I let you go, what would you say to folks who might be listening? Some young people that might interested in coming to this next year?

Sarah:

Oh my gosh. Do everything you can to go. It was literally one of the best experiences of my entire life. We’re still in contact with a lot of the interns, we’re still friends, we still talk all the time. So lifelong friendships, a really good grounding, and Biblical principles. Also the knowledge that we need to memorize scripture like the Founding Fathers did, it just oozed out of them. That was another thing that I came home with. It was just fascinating. Do everything you can- it will build your patriotism, and build your friendships, and build your faith. Do it.

Rick:

Well thank you Sarah, God bless you. You”€™ve got me excited right now, I’m hopeful as I’ve gotten to speak to four of y”€™all who went through the program and it’s just an enthusiasm there. It’s that what Ronald Reagan called happy warriors out to take back a country in a world of freedom and I just sense that among so much. God bless you.

Sarah:

Absolutely God bless you too, thanks for the opportunity.

Rick:

We’ll be right back, stay with us folks, right back with David and Tim Barton.

Bring A Speaker To Your Area

Tim:

Hey, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders.  And as you’ve had the opportunity to listen to WallBuilders Live, you’ve probably heard a wealth of information about our nation, about our spiritual heritage, about the religious liberties, and about all the things that make America exceptional.

And you might be thinking, “€œAs incredible as this information is, I wish there was a way that I could get one of the WallBuilders guys to come to my area and share with my group.”€

Whether it be a church, whether it be a Christian school, or public school, or some political event, or activity, if you’re interested in having a WallBuilders speaker come to your area, you can get on our website at www.WallBuilders.com and there’s a tab for scheduling. If you”€™ll click on that tab, you’ll notice there’s a list of information from speakers bio’s, to events that are already going on. And there’s a section where you can request an event, to bring this information about who we are, where we came from, our religious liberties, and freedoms. Go to the WallBuilders website and Bring a speaker to your area.

Having Fun Learning About History

Rick:

Thanks for staying with us on WallBuilders Live. Thanks to Steve and Sarah both for joining us today and C.J. and Kayla yesterday. We’re back with David and Tim. Guys, all four of them, you could just tell that this had a major impact on their lives, they greatly enjoyed it, and they want to share it with others. You heard their encouragement to other young people, “€œGo do this if you get a chance.”€

David:

You heard these four in the last couple of days. Did it sound like they had fun learning about history?

Rick:

Believe it or not, yes.

David:

Go poll most high school history classes, most college classes, and ask if they’re having fun learning about history and see what your answer is. Guarantee it”€™s not what you’re going to hear with these kids. This is so different.

I was really struck with both of them. With Steve and with Sarah both, they said, “€œWe used to know the major Founding Fathers but now there’s Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, and William Patterson, and James Monroe.”€ And then Sarah said, “€œYeah, and Fisher Ames, Benjamin Rush, Elias Boudinot, and Gouverneur Morris.”€ Now they”€™re rolling out with Founding Fathers that are really big and significant but nobody’s talked about them in 50 years by and large.

Not only are they having fun learning history they’re learning all sorts of forgotten and neglected areas of history and they’re loving it, it really is fun. And as Steve said, “€œYou’re learning history through the eyes of those who lived it, through primary source material, and then you get to hold it.”€ And that’s where history is fun, and should be fun, and used to be fun, and can be fun again.

Developing A Hunger For The Truth

Rick:

David, that was the first thing that struck me the first time somebody gave me, yes a cassette tape, but one of your messages was that finally history was fun. You didn’t like it in high school or college, but you brought the stories to life. And for the students y”€™all brought them to life and then they got to actually bring them to life themselves by diving into those original documents.

Tim:

I love the fact that you’re asking Sarah a question, she says hang on, let me look at my 30 pages of notes that I”€™ve got right here. In the midst of all we were doing, the fact that somebody is taking notes is obviously significant. For young people too, of their own choice, of their own free will, to decide  to go and be a part of this, and then going to be engaged and take notes, and want to learn out of this what.

What was really fun is that they did seem to really develop a love for learning. Not that we really had to try to convince them really hard. But obviously the objective, what we want to do is present truth in a very palatable way, and promote the pursuit of truth, and make it again as palatable and as as easy as possible for them to get a hold of it. Then as you go deeper there’s obviously a lot of work involved and research and the things you do to try to discover what is truth, what this person thought, and what he said, and what he wrote, and all these events that happened.

What’s amazing is that they really developed not just a knowledge of how to determine truth and how to measure truth but a love and a hunger for truth. They kind of became thirsty for information and knowledge. It’s so fun even hearing them talk about this and where they’ve come from. But people that are now ready to go make a difference with information they’ve learned.

David:

Did you hear too that their studying history, they’re just saying, “€œHey, we’re reading the Bible now like we’ve never read it. We’re having bible studies.”€ Even the kids went back and had a spontaneous bible study themselves at the hotel where they were staying.

A Life Changing Program

There’s a real growth, all of these kids over the last two days have said the same thing, “€œThis is the best experience of my life.”€ This really is a life changing event if you want to be part of it you can go to WallBuilders.com/LeadershipTraining, there’s information there and upcoming sessions. If you know kids that want to be part of this, if you’re a millennial and want to be part of this, if you are 18 to 25, you’ve heard your peers talk about what happens, you can be part of this. Go to WallBuilders.com/LeadershipTraining.

Rick:

We”€™ll make sure you have a link today for those listening online, WallBuildersLive.com, there’ll be a link on today’s program. Thanks so much for listening today, you’ve been listening to WallBuildersLive.