Pastors Learn About Politics and History Through This D.C Tour

Pastors Learn About Politics and History Through This D.C Tour: In today’s episode, we talk with specialÂ guest Pastor Jeff Klingenberg on his experience at our Pastor’s Briefing tour in D.C. WeÂ need more pastors in America to understand the relevance of the gospel to government, to politics, and to education. Learn the importance and how you can participate in helping pastors across the nation learn more about our spiritual heritage and political background in regards to how that applies to our faith today!Â

Air Date:Â 03/13/2018

Guest: Pastor Jeff Klingenberg

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

WallBuilders | American historical events, founding fathers, historical documents, books, videos, CDs, tapes, David Barton’s speaking schedule.
Pastors Briefing
Coupons: Use promo code WBL17 to receive 10% off your entire order on ALL WallBuilders Store Products!!
Helpful links:

Listen:

Download: Click Here

Transcription note: Â 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. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we talk about the day”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 Tim Barton, the president of WallBuilders. My name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas state legislator.

You can find out more about all three of us at WallBuildersLive.com – that’s our radio website with a list of the stations and some archives of the past few weeks of programs. And then WallBuilders.com – our main website with a wealth of information available to you and your family. And actually, I should add that your church, your community, and there’s some great programs at the website there you can get for your Sunday school classes, for your homeschool co-op, for your local private school. There’s just tons of information there available to help you become a better citizen and help preserve freedom for the next generation.

Later in the program we got a pastor from Fort Worth that”s going to be with us to share his experience going to one of our pastor’s briefings in Washington D.C. David, Tim, you’ve been doing these pastors briefings for years and what would you guess – thousands of pastors have had a chance to go to Washington D.C., meet lots of Christian congressmen, and even walk in the halls of the Capitol and go in some of those rooms that most people never get to visit. This has had a big impact on the country.

David:

Yeah. There are literally thousands of pastors, Rick. We”ve have been doing this for a number of years. There is no question that the most frequently heard adjective we hear back from pastors is “transformational”. That it absolutely revolutionizes the way they see what’s in the news. It changes the way they see the culture, what their role in the culture should be, and what they think the role of the church should be in the culture. So, it has a huge impact.

Interestingly, even though we bring pastors to D.C. to learn about what’s happening there, it also has a huge impact on the congressman in D.C.. Because they are so surrounded with hostile folks all the time that when you bring faith leaders to D.C. and so many of the guys in Congress are faith guys themself – they’re there because they feel God called them there and they feel like they’re kind of like Elijah after the confrontation with Jezebel that, “My gosh, God, I’m the only one left. Nobody else believes what I believe.” And then they see all these pastors show up and it’s a real encouragement for the members as well.

Elijah Wasn”t the Majority When That Happened

Tim:

I would point out – so, when Elijah feels like I’m the only one left he was not the majority when that happened. I would point out that the Bible believing congressmen are not the majority, right. So, you certainly can see how they could feel overwhelmed. But there are a lot of them there.

In fact, we could probably name more than a hundred that their faith motivates, influences, what they do. Well, the problem is you have 435 in the House and 100 in the Senate. So, if we could name 100-150, that’s still a significant minority. And then probably more than that that we”re just not connected with, don’t know much about their faith story background, but there are a lot of really good guys.

And as you mentioned, it so encourages them that when they come speak to a room of pastors and so then they’ll talk about legislation or what’s on their heart, on things going on, oftentimes pastors– And then they”ll do Q&A and so pastors ask questions and a very common question is, “How can we pray for you? What can we do to help you?”

And that certainly is something that’s a huge blessing when a roomful of pastors then prays for them and lifts up specific prayer needs for them and so it really does not just minister to pastors, it’s a great encouragement these congressmen that are fighting for these traditional values and, really, Christian principles.

Rick:

I know I’ve seen many times these pastors just be amazed that it wasn’t just one or two – it was just congressman, after congressman, after congressman, it really encourages them. Like you said, not a majority of Congress at all, but I think most people back home and many of our listeners even are probably– they probably think, “There’s nobody in Congress that thinks like a pastor, or thinks biblically, and the good news is there’s there’s quite a few.

There Are Actually Quite a Few

David:

There are quite a few and one of the things we do to start the briefing with pastors is we say, “Okay, we want you to name all the congressmen you’ve seen on TV in the last two years, the last session of Congress.” So, I”ll get four, five, or six, and usually, even with those, they can’t tell you much about their faith. Even if they’ve seen Paul Ryan in the news, they don’t know about the faith life of Paul Ryan. Or if they see Ted Cruz they don’t know where he is as a Christian. That’s not what the news brings out.

But– and there’s a lot of others they will say that aren’t faith guys at all, but they just don’t see any of the faith stuff.

So when over the course of these two days that we have them we bring 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, congressmen and senators before them – and these are God guys, they are motivated by their love of God and the scriptures, and and their love for America, it’s like revolutionary for these pastors. They’ve never seen that. Like Tim said, and, Rick, like you said, the word we hear is, “There’s nobody up there that–“ Yeah there is – you just don’t see them on the news a lot.

Rick:

Alright, guys, we are going to take a quick break in a second. I want to throw in a couple of dates because a lot people might be wondering why we are talking so much about this experience for pastors. It’s so that they can get their pastors there. A lot of pastors are also listening to the program and this is an experience you don’t want to miss.

When It”s Happening

Rick:

There are two dates this year. Here’s the dates: April 17th and 18th. And then in the fall it”s September 4th and 5th. So, April 17th and 18th, and September 4th and 5th. Go to WallBuilders.com/pastorsbriefing. Or just go to WallBuilders.com and right at the top there you can click on initiatives and it will give you an option for pastors briefings. Check that out – I’m telling you it”s just a phenomenal, phenomenal, experience.

In fact, we’re going to get a firsthand account of what it’s like for a pastor to be on that. Pastor Jeff Klingenberg will be with us when we come back from the break. He’s the pastor of HighRidge Church there in Fort Worth, Texas and he’ll share his experience. He and his wife just went on the tour and had an opportunity to experience this. Stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Patriot Academy

Patriot Academy

Have you noticed the vacuum of leadership in America? We’re looking around for leaders of principle to step up and too often no one is there. God is raising up a generation of young leaders with a passion for impacting the world around them. They’re crying out for the mentorship and leadership training they need. Patriot Academy was created to meet that need. Patriot Academy graduates now serve in state capitals around America, in the halls of Congress, in business, in the film industry, in the pulpit, in every area of the culture. They’re leading effectively and impacting the world around them.

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.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Jeff Klingenberg back with us from HighRidge Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Pastor, good to have you on, bro.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Good to be with you, brother.

Rick:

Appreciate you coming back. I understand you got to go on one of the pastors briefings in Washington D.C. How was that?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes we did. It was phenomenal. It was awesome.

First Time in D.C.?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Had you– now, had you done D.C. before? Was this your first time to do a tour or first time to do a pastors briefing tour?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

First time for both.

Rick:

Oh, cool.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Now, my wife had been to D.C. a couple of times, but I’ve never been able to. It was awesome.

Rick:

Very cool. very cool. So, when you got there– now you guys got to see a lot of cool stuff in the Capitol. But you also got to hear from a lot of members of Congress and other folks. A lot to pick from here, but what was the highlight for you?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Man, so many highlights. The tour of the Capitol was awesome and the rotunda of the Capitol was awesome. All the stuff that David and Tim shared with us was just mesmerizing how strong the faith was with our founding fathers. And then worshipping in the rotunda of the Capitol that was– just singing– that was a powerful moment.

The Pastors Briefing in the hotel ballroom that was just off the charts – big name senators and representatives coming in and asking the pastors to pray for this and pray for that. There were many times, Rick, I’m sitting there going, “I am so honored to be here, God, thank You, thank You, thank You.” And there were times when I was weeping as well.

Rick:

Wow.

“We Need to Have Their Back”

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

We have men and women leading our country that really love God and they need us pastors. We need to have their back.

Rick:

That’s one of the things that I think I hear from pastors that go on the briefing that’s always the most surprising. And part of it is just we’re a little bit cynical and jaded and we think nobody in the political realm– there’s no one in the political realm that shares are Christian values and our faith values. And then you get there and it’s just like, okay, one comes and you get a cool talk and you hear that and you’re going, “Okay, cool, there is one.” Then another guy comes–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yep, yep.

Rick:

–them a congresswoman, and then another, and then another one.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yeah.

Rick:

And by the end of the day you’re just going, “Wow–“

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yep.

Rick:

“–God has really blessed us with some good leaders.”

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

It really is true. They showed us, Rick, on the tour, they showed us a little prayer closet – that’s what I would call it. It’s about one tenth the size of my office. And they showed us how the senators and congressmen pack into that and basically stand body to body like in an elevator and have worship, and read scripture, and pray for one another.

Rick:

Wow.

“That Moment Stirred Me to Pray For Our Leaders”

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

I was just blown away. I did not know that that existed. And that moment stirred me to pray for our leaders.

Rick:

That’s awesome.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

I would highly recommend it, Rick. I don’t know how you guys can get the word out even even more, but I would highly recommend it. And for pastors to talk to their church leadership to set aside money somehow to put it in the missions budget somehow some way so that pastors and wives can go and catch a vision for, like I said, having the back and praying for our governmental leaders that love God.

Rick:

You read my mind on the next question which basically – what did you come home with? It was really cool to see, and you”ve got all these– how does it change you or how you approach things?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Well, I came back and I met with– we came back and met with our elders and told them, “I want all of you to go at some point, I want us to figure out how to go and take our wives.” I met with our executive pastor and he and his wife came on the trip with us. And I said, “Look, we’ve got to figure out how we can get all of our pastors and their wives up there. How we can get some of our strategic business leaders, some of our entrepreneurs, some of our guys that are in a lot of ways similar to those who are leading our nation – they’re out there blazing a trail–

Rick:

That’s right.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

–in their business life. How can we tie the two together?” And so we’re planning on going again, and taking church leaders with us, and inviting other pastors to go with us.

Rick:

That”s awesome.

Spiritual and Governmental Leaders – Not That Far Apart

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Because we really need to get people connected. We need to get the spiritual leaders and the governmental leaders connected and they’re not that far apart.

Rick:

Yeah, yeah. And you said– now, did you say Dawn got to go with you?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

She did.

Rick:

So as a married couple leading a church there had to be some cool moments there where you both captured that vision that you’re describing right now.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

There was. There were many times when we were sitting in the Pastor’s Briefing and the congressmen would come in and share, or I think the leader of Focus on the Family, different ones. The agenda was just off the charts. When I was looking at it I thought, “Man, this is a who’s who of leaders in the United States.”

And there were many times we were poking each other with our pen. Because we were jotting down notes poking each other, “We”ve got to get this into a message, we”ve got to get this into an announcement, we”ve got to get this into a video and get it out to our church.” And then right after that Tim and David asked would Dawn and I do a video. And so that was just confirmation–

Rick:

Perfect.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

–that we were to do what we could to get more people to go back.

Rick:

That’s awesome. Okay, so take me back to– you were mentioning the rotunda, and the prayer room, and some other cool places you get to go, and that evening behind the scenes. It’s not that we’ve got the entire capitol to ourselves, but it still it feels like that at times because you”re getting to go into these cool rooms–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yeah.

Walking in the Footsteps of the Founders

Rick:

–where there’s not many people around. Tell us a little bit about that – what was that like to walk in the footsteps of the founders and it’s good to see some of those cool things?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

It’s phenomenal, Rick. The room where the State of the Union address is given has skipped my mind right now. What’s that room called?

Rick:

Well, where the current one is done in the House chamber?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes.

Rick:

So, you all got to go into– and see, sometimes, and I’m not sure where you got to go because sometimes we get to go in certain rooms and sometimes they”re booked. So, you got to go into the actual house chamber that people see on TV when the State of the Union is done?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

We did.

Rick:

Oh, cool.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

So, you’re asking for impressions and remembrances. So, a congressman from Illinois, Chicago area, Christian man, just an awesome guy. I can’t remember his name now, but very impressive spirit. Just, you could tell he loved God and he loved his country. It wasn’t reserved and so he put in a reservation. I’m using my terminology–

Rick:

Sure, sure.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

I’m sure there’s another way to put it. And actually got us maybe 15 minutes to just go in there and sit where our senators sit during State of the Union address. Which I think is what most Americans are going to connect that room to–

Rick:

Yeah.

Remembering the One True Law Giver

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

–because of where we see it. And they begin to teach and point out about the leaders of the world regarding law. So, they go around and there’s a ceramic impression, a ceramic bust, of each one all the way around the ceiling of the room. Then they get to Moses because Moses was the law giver, or received the law from God. And he neither looks to the right or to the left as all the others do they’re looking at each other.

Moses instead looks straight, down straight down to the pulpit in that room. And the founding fathers designed it so that law givers would know that the one true law giver gave His laws to Moses and He doesn’t need to look to the right or to the left to get any man’s approval or input. He just needs to look down and the governmental leaders need to look up at Him and recognize that this is where our country is founded. This is the way we developed and came about.

And that moment struck me because I stared back up over my shoulder at the face of Moses and thought, “That is phenomenal.” Things like that you don’t know. Nobody will tell you, the media won”t tell you. But–

Rick:

Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

–sitting there in the room and recognizing just how much our founding fathers loved God and just how much they wanted to focus our government and the laws of our government based upon the word, based upon the truths of God’s laws.

Rick:

Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

It was awesome.

Did That Strike You?

Rick:

That”s powerful. Now, as a pastor– and here you were and you had a whole group of pastors and their spouses going through. How surprised were you at how many statues? Â Out of only a hundred and whatever the handful is of statues there, how many of them were ministers of the gospel? How many times you saw in the paintings the word God? Â Did that strike you at all as you were going through there?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Oh yes – so many. I forget how many signers there were on the Declaration of Independence. No, not the Declaration of Independence–

Rick:

You probably did. I’m guessing you guys– normally we take you all under the signing of the Declaration there in the rotunda.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yeah.

So, I bet David or Tim probably told you about 29 held what we call today seminary degrees out of 56–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes, yes, yes.

Rick:

More than half.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes. The pastors and some of them even wrote– they even have translations of the Scripture named after them.

Rick:

Yes.

You Can See the Hand of God

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

And then even just get– even a situation that happened with Dwight Eisenhower with his leg–

Rick:

Yes, yes.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

–injuring his leg.

Rick:

Man, you took good notes through this tour. Dave”s going to be proud, man.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes, that’s just– that is awesome. You can see the hand of God in saving his life and raising them up.

Rick:

Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Because if he has a wooden prosthetic, he doesn’t get to get in the military.

Rick:

Right.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

He doesn’t get to raise up, but God brought healing because He had a plan for him and it was one of those “such a time as this” moments.

Rick:

What about the other folks on the tour? Did you get the same sense that they were having the same impact?

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Oh, yeah. The wow factor – this is happening over, and over, and over again.

Rick:

Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

When you’re in the rotunda and they’re going around to the different– are they bronze or ceramic, the busts?

Rick:

Yeah.

Pocahontas

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

And then the paintings on the wall that Tim and David are teaching you about. And there is just wow moments over, and over, and over again. So, Pocahontas–

Rick:

Oh yeah, the painting with the baptism and all.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes, the baptism. You’ll never hear about that, Rick. Nobody will ever talk about how this famous Indian girl, after reading and studying the scriptures, wanted to be baptized and wanted to convert to faith in Jesus Christ.

Rick:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Because her recognition was, “this is the one true God and I want to serve Him.”

Rick:

And I don’t remember that in the Disney movie. Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

No.

Rick:

Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

No, the messages we’re getting right now are corrupted.

Rick:

Yeah, no doubt. That’s what’s so powerful. You”re walking from room to room–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yep.

Chiseled in Stone

Rick:

–and it’s just over, and over, and over, again. It’s right there, it’s chiseled in stone, it’s in the statues, it’s in the paintings. I tell you, Jeff, I wish every pastor in the country could could go on one of these. There’s just nothing like standing in the very spot where these things happen. And then, of course, when David and Tim pull out the books–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yep.

Rick:

— and the original documents–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes.

Rick:

–it’s a blessing. And you started, I do want to go back also to what you started with was just the encouragement of seeing these godly leaders that are members of Congress, and are in these agencies, that God has raised up–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yep.

Rick:

–some wonderful people. Because we do get cynical and we do get a little jaded–

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes.

Rick:

And we need to know God’s got some great people out there. And it sounded like from you, one of the take home messages was we need to be praying for those guys, we need to be teaming up with them, we need to be on the same page.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes.

Rick:

I’m just thrilled you got to go and you came home with that kind of inspiration.

Another Wow Moment

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes. I’ll tell you another little wow moment for Dawn and I. So, we’re in the airport and our flight and Tim’s flight are about the same. There are lots of flights from D.C. to DFW. So, we’re there waiting and, Rick, I bet probably a half a dozen times there were congressmen and senators walking through the airport to go catch their flight. Some of them had aides with some of them had some sort of security with them etc..

And they look over and they see Tim and they stop what they’re doing, they walk over, and they thank him for what he and his dad are doing.

Rick:

Wow.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

And so they walk away and Tim says, “That”s so-and-so and so-and-so and they’re doing a really good job trying to restore godly values in their district–“

Rick:

Yeah.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

“–and we just do everything we can to encourage them and pray for them.” And I said, “Tim, every time you meet somebody like that, tell them there’s a pastor in Fort Worth, Texas that”s now praying for them–“

Rick:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

“–that was ignorant before this weekend, but God removed the ignorance and brought insight.” And, man, I wish if I were independently wealthy I would sponsor pastors and wives to go to the Pastors Briefing. It’s that powerful.

You Take It Home and Multiply It

Rick:

It is. And, Jeff, you mentioned that and I would encourage listeners to do that encourage their pastors to go. Part of the reason is it’s not just that it was a great, powerful, inspiring, time for you and Dawn. But now as pastures, as leaders in a community, now you take that back home and you multiply it. So, every member in your congregation is going to hear about some of those things. Your team that leads your church is going to hear about it and get that.

So, it’s– part of the reason we don’t do those briefings for everybody just because we physically can’t.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes.

Tim:

Part of the reason it’s so important for us to do it for pastors is because you guys are going to multiply that message. You’re the leaders of the community.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

For weekends following – I’m going to say two maybe three. We have we have four services at HighRidge and in each one of those services I had a point to make that was somehow connected to the Pastor’s Briefing. And each time you could tell that the audience had no clue that this was the truth. Even revealing Moses and his representation with the other law givers – doesn’t look to the right or the left, he looks straight down at the leaders of our government – just insights like that. And they were all, “We had no idea.”

Rick:

Yeah, yeah.

“We Had No Idea”

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

I had people coming up– I try to greet people after each service, “We had no idea. We”re not told these things. They don’t teach this in school.” I’m like, “Yes, but it’s the truth.”

Rick:

Yeah, amen. Well, thank you for going. Thanks for bringing that truth home. Thanks for sharing with our listeners. I know we have a lot of pastors around the country that listen to the program. And all of our listeners around the country, tell your pastors about it. We”ll have links at WallBuildersLive.com.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Yes.

Rick:

Jeff, thank you for just being a part of that leadership. And especially for coming home and encouraging your congregation to pray for those congressmen because it’s so, so, important. I appreciate you, man. Thanks for coming on and sharing it with us.

Pastor Jeff Klingenberg:

Rick, thanks for what you’re doing, brother. Keep up the good work.

Rick:

You too, man. God bless. We’ll be right back. Stay with us, folks. Quick break – we’ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

Pastors Only Briefing Trip

Tim:

Hi, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders and I want to encourage all the pastors out there with a unique opportunity that we’re presenting it WallBuilders. We’re doing a special tour just for pastors that you can come and learn more about the spiritual heritage of our nation. Not just seeing the sights but understanding the significance of what they are and what they represent.

We get to go to the Capitol at night. Â And we get to see the spiritual heritage of our Founding Fathers, of who we are as a nation, where we came from. We bring in congressman that will tell you about current legislation, about our religious liberties Â and freedom, and what’s going on in Washington, D.C.

If you’re a pastor or if you want to recommend your pastor for this trip, you can go to our website at www.WallBuilders.com. And there’s a link that’s for scheduling. Â If you click on that link there’s a section for pastor”s briefing. There’s more information about the dates, when it’s going, and how it’s going to happen. If you want to know more about our nation, our religious liberties, our freedom, our spiritual heritage, this is a trip you want to be a part of.

Pastors Only Briefing Trip

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. Thanks to Pastor Jeff for joining us as well. Back with David and Tim. Guys, you could just hear it. He was– I think, David, you used the word “transformational” earlier in the program. You could hear it in his voice. And I love the fact that he was talking about how many sermons since he’s been back he’s been able to interject something he learned at the Pastor’s Briefing.

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, my wife and I have been part of the church there for a while at HighRidge and it’s true. He came back and it was absolutely transformational. That”s the right word for it. But one of the things that’s significant about him too.

And he mentioned they have four church services, this is a a very large church. Thousands of members, they”re a growing church, very successful, they’re very relevant, they do a great job of reaching out to the next generation, reaching out to young people, they have a great kids ministry, very family oriented and so this is really a very relevant thriving church. But it’s also super encouraging that you have a relevant thriving church that is wanting to speak to some very practical real issues, and Christian involvement, and really being biblically minded in some of these spheres and what’s going on. But he is someone who, as he mentioned, not only as it impacted him, but now he’s going to send all of his staff.

Come Back and Bring Someone New

Tim:

And this is something that we actually encourage pastors to come back on the trip, come for another briefing. But the catch is that if they’re going to come they have to bring somebody, another pastor who has not been. So, we would love for them to come and do this too, or do a briefing. And every briefing is different because every briefing we”ll have different congressmen, we”ll have different senators that come. Sometimes will have a few that are the same, but they’ll generally give a very different topic.

David:

There”s different issues. In September, the issues Congress is facing is very different than what they’ll face in April.

Tim:

And so it seems like a totally different briefing, but it still has an impact, “transformational” is still the right word for it. Even if you’ve been before, it reinvigorates and encourages.

But Pastor Klingenberg is going to come back. He’s going to bring different staff members and they have a large staff at this very large church. So, he is going to make a lot of trips to D.C. But as you could hear in his voice, he’s so excited about it. Certainly this is something that we need more pastors in America to understand the relevance of the gospel to government, to politics, and to education.

Saying that, I would assume for probably most of our listeners, they are on board with us. Yes, we want more Christians involved in education, involved in politics, in government, every sphere of culture and life. But so often pastors don’t have the courage, boldness, maybe even knowledge or understanding, to speak to a lot of very practical biblical issues happening in culture. But what happens is when they come and they are around these congressmen who, actually, some of them were former pastors, some of them were on staff for a Sunday school teachers.

A Number of Pastors Elected to Congress

David:

In the most recent elections, the last two or three congressional elections, we’ve had a number of pastors elected to Congress. I would say in the last two to three elections we’re getting a much stronger commitment of really dedicated Christian folks elected to Congress. They’re really focused on mission.

Tim:

So, one of the things the Pastors Briefing does is help the pastor see that connection to where–

David:

And, by the way, let me add it’s not just pastors, it’s also ministry leaders. We have folks that maybe run a college ministry on campus, or maybe are chaplains, or whatever. So, while we say “pastors” that means ministry leaders as well. Even if you’re not a pastor, you might be an associate pastor, youth director, or whatever.

Tim:

Well, and you get to see how people are taking the Bible and making a difference in these various spheres – politics, government, etc.. Public policy is coming down. And so something that definitely if you’re a ministry leader, if you’re a pastor, if you know a ministry leader or pastor, you want to encourage him to come.

We don’t charge for this. They just have to be able to get a plane ticket, to drive up there, to get a hotel. No cost from us, but there is a cost for pastors to get there. So, if you want help sponsor a pastor absolutely you can do that. If you want to give to WallBuilders so we can help cover those expenses. By all means go to the website and click on that donate button and you can give money for this. But this is something we want to get more pastors educated, informed, and equipped.