How We Can Restore America Through Faith, Family, And Sacrifice: In today’s broadcast, Tim Goeglein joins us to discuss how the government will not provide the solutions we desperately need. The solutions lie in our churches, our communities, and our homes. The light for our path is faith. As that light pierces the darkness, America will experience a reawakening, regeneration, and renewal.

Air Date: 08/06/2019

Guest: Tim Goeglein

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. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture, always doing that 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 and President of WallBuilders, and my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas state legislator, national speaker, and author.

Visit Us Online

You can find out more about us at our two websites: WallBuildersLive.com, our radio site. And then, go over to WallBuilders.com, our main site, where we have some great resources. You can take a constitution class or find all kinds of curriculum for your family to study, get into your Sunday school class, or even just for your own learning.

At the radio site, WallBuildersLive.com, you’ll get a list of all our stations. You’ll be able to get into the archives of the program over the last few weeks, where you”€™ll find interesting interviews, Good News Friday programs, and more. And, you can also make a donation there.

So, be sure to click on that donate button if you like what you hear today and you want more of this education and want to help equip and inspire folks all over the nation to get involved and be a part of the solution for preserving freedom. Donate to WallBuilders Live! It’s what makes this possible.

Okay, guys, later in the program Tim Goeglein will be with us to talk about his new book American Restoration, and that’s really our topic on the program almost every day. It is all about preparing people, equipping them, and inspiring; but then, giving them actual action steps for things they can do in their communities.

National Restoration Via Local Revivals

DAVID:

Yes, restoration is really different from what we often think about because we keep looking for a national restoration, something that will change the nation all at once. But, national restoration doesn’t happen all at once. If you look at what we called the “€œFirst Great Awakening”€ or the Second Great Awakening, those those great revivals that shifted the nation, there is no American War for Independence, American Independence, and Constitution if had it not been for the First Great Awakening; it is just really simple.

But, the First Great Awakening wasn’t necessarily a national revival. Rather, it was a whole bunch of local revivals that happened across the country, like revivals in Pennsylvania with Gilbert Tennent, in Massachusetts with Jonathan Edwards, and with Samuel Cooper and Jonathan Mayhew. Also, it included revivals in Virginia with Samuel Davies and so many others.

So, we look at it and see national leaders like George Whitfield and say, “€œWow, look at that national revival.”€ No, national revival happened because there were revivals going in communities all over America. And so, part of restoration–we keep thinking Congress will fix this or We’ll get another justice on the Supreme Court or We’re going to be able to get a new majority, a supermajority, in the House and Senate that can overcome any bad veto.

No, what you do is say, “€œAll right, we’ve got a school board that we need to focus on, then a mayor, and then a community, plus our own churches and our communities.”€ When communities start doing that in restoration, that’s when you get a national restoration.

The Culture of the Family in America

TIM:

And, one of the things that Tim Goeglein”€™s been so good at for so many years, is understanding what’s happening with the culture of the family in America. You know, he has worked with Focus on the Family for many years now as a vice president for them and lots of other significant jobs. Before that, he worked for President Bush and did a lot of things; but, he has done such a good job of having his finger on the pulse of the family of America.

And, every time we meet, he’s given us updates on what the breakdown of the family is, what’s happening here, and what’s happening there. So, he’s someone who, when we talk about bringing a restoration–as much as we spend time with history, the Constitution, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment–when it comes to culture, there’s not many people that have a more realistic, better understanding of where culture actually is than Tim Goeglein does.

So, if someone’s going to say, “€œGuys, here’s what we’re looking at, and here’s how we fix it,”€ he is one of the absolute best to give that advice.

RICK:

Tim Goeglein from Focus on the Family will be with us when we return. Stay with us;

you’re listening to WallBuilders Live!

Share a veteran’s story

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live.  Once in awhile, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served.  If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected]  Give us a brief summary of the story and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

RICK:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live! Thanks for staying with us today. Tim Goeglein is back with us.

Welcome Tim Goeglein

Man, I love you, brother, and appreciate all that you do. You’ve been all over, working at the White House, the Senate, all kinds of national organizations. Now, you”€™re at Focus on the Family; but, you”€™ve got a new book out, American Restoration.

First of all, thanks for coming on. And, thanks for doing the book.

TIM GOEGLEIN:

Rick, it is great to be with you. And, anything associated with WallBuilders, count me in.

RICK:

Well, we want folks reading your book because it helps us do what we do and restore the nation. You’ve had an insider view of, really, the challenges facing our country. And, I think you really bring that perspective to the book.

Is There Hope for the USA?

I got to ask you, do you truly believe there’s hope for our nation?

TIM GOEGLEIN:

Absolutely. In fact, it’s the single purpose that I wrote the book. In all of my travels, Rick, for Focus on the Family, in every single one of them, I can be in any of the 50 states, and after I make remarks, I hear the following from people. First, “€œI’ve never been more concerned about my country than I am now.”€

Secondly, “€œI’m really concerned for the country I’m leaving my children and my grandchildren.”€ And, the third thing they always say is, “€œAnd, I don’t know what to do.”€

RICK:

Yeah.

TIM GOEGLEIN:

So, the first thing I always say is, “€œFirst and foremost, there is hope that America’s best days are ahead of us, not behind us,”€ and, “€œThere are a lot of things that all of us can do to restore and to renew our country.”€ That is the heart of American Restoration; it’s the reason that we wrote the book.

This is 15 chapters. It’s a very quick read; and, it’s completely applicable to our lives: where we live, where we work, our communities. It spells out what all of us can do to restore our great country.

RICK:

American Restoration: How Faith Family and Personal Sacrifice Can Heal Our Nation. That last part, TIM, “€œpersonal sacrifice,”€ is not culturally popular; we want things to be easy, immediate gratification, and all of those things. Sacrifice was a value that was strong in the founding of our country; but, it doesn’t seem to be as strong if you just look out there in the country today.

How do you convince people that they”€™’ve got to get some skin in the game here and spend some of their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to save this thing?

Personal Sacrifice

TIM GOEGLEIN:

You know, I live about 10 minutes from Arlington National Cemetery. And, on many days of the week when I’m driving into the Focus on the Family Office in Washington, on many days of that week, I drive past or near to Arlington National Cemetery. If there is ever a symbol, not only of hope but of sacrifice, in the history of our incredible country, it is there.

And, it is a daily reminder to all of us that there is never going to be the conservative equivalent of a top down restoration of our country. It’s never gonna be directed from Washington D.C. It’s never going to be directed from the financial district of New York, from Hollywood, from Silicon Valley. The seeds of our restoration are in our churches, in our families, in our communities, in our neighborhoods.

And by the way, Rick, that applies whether you live in the most rural part of Texas or whether you live in the most urban areas of New York, Washington, Philadelphia, or wherever it is in the country. Personal sacrifice is a centerpiece of the way forward, not the way backward, the way forward. It begins in our love of God and in the spiritual quotient.

This is a religious republic; that’s where restoration begins: to reconnect our spiritual heritage with public life in America but directly to marriage, family, parenting, to what it is we do in our churches, and how we connect in the great tapestry in America. That’s what this book American Restoration is all about.

RICK:

So good, man. And, you nailed it. I mean, it is a way forward–because lots of times we use that language, and when we say “€œrestoration,”€ people will accuse us of wanting to go backwards.

We Want to Go Forward

But, you say it so well: we’re wanting to go forward, to take where the country is now and do better.

TIM GOEGLEIN:

Yes.

RICK:

And, it is those founding values and the idea of faith and family at the heart of who we are, that give us the tools to do that. Now, speak to the people out there that are saying, “€œOkay, you got me, Tim, I’m willing and want to do something. What are some of the things you’re going to teach me to do in this book?”€

“€œRestoring”€

TIM GOEGLEIN:

Well, I’ll tell you, the goal was 15 chapters, not a single chapter more, all of them readable and applicable to where we’re at. And, here’s what we did, Rick. Every single chapter begins with the word “€œrestoring.”€

Then, in all of these chapters, we give a “€œhow to”€ recommendation or series of recommendations about how to restore the country. “€œRestoring America’s Founding Principles”€ is the first chapter. “€œRestoring Our Religious Liberty,”€ Restoring a Culture of Life,”€”€™ “€œRestoring Virtue,”€ “€œRestoring Education.”€ You know, this is what we do.

A lot of people say, “€œI don’t know what to do about my local private school”€, or, “€œpublic school.”€ Well, American Restoration has a chapter on education. I hear a lot of people.

I’m sure WallBuilders hears a lot of people say, “€œWhat about the way we actually communicate in the public square? Why are our politics so poisonous? Why is there such toxic differences?”€

Well, we actually have a chapter in our book on the “€œRestoration of Civility in the Public Square,”€ the “€œRestoration of the Constitution.”€ You know, if there’s one thing that WallBuilders is known for, it is the United States Constitution.

Restoring the Constitution

And, we have a chapter in our book which talks about why any program, discussion, conversation, or dialogue about the restoration of America has to begin with a conversation on how we are to restore the Constitution. Either the Constitution means what it says or it doesn’t. And we, of course, believe that it does.

Well, how can you apply the restoration of the Constitution to the restoration of the United States? Well, we argue that they are directly related and show and illustrate in the book how that is important and possible. So, I really could go on and on.

The whole goal here was not just to throw out some really good ideas or some really good conversation starters. The goal here was to make sure that all those ideas are connected to where we live, where we work, and what we can actually do.

Discussion Leading to Action

RICK:

Yeah, and that’s that’s why we think our audience is going to love this book so much, is because it’s not just a discussion; it’s actually a discussion leading to action. Our folks are very action-oriented. And, you give them the specific things they can do.

I think you nailed it at the beginning of the show: people, that’s one of the main things they ask. It is the same with us. When we go around the country, that’s one of the main things they ask: What can I do?

The first question is Can it be saved? Then, the second question is What can I do about it? I’m not a congressman or super-wealthy. I don’t have this or that.

And, what you’re giving people on each of these 15 chapters are specific action items they can take right there in their backyard, right where they live. Regardless of how much they think they have an audience or reach, everyone does. They have a realm of influence, and you’re giving them the tools to do something in that realm of influence.

TIM GOEGLEIN:

You know, I’m so glad you said that. And, this is, I think, very important to say. One of my favorite films that I watch once a year is called It’s A Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart.

RICK:

Yes.

TIM GOEGLEIN:

And, it very often appears in that period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. One of the most famous lines in that film is a line that essentially says that it’s amazing how much one life can impact or touch so many other lives. The movie beautifully illustrates the power of community, of neighborhood, the power of the people who live around us.

We say, “€œWait a minute. I don’t; I’m not in–I’m not a broadcaster or in the media. I’m not a politician; so therefore, I don’t have a big audience.”€

The Acts of Renewal Begin with Us.

Well, the acts of restoration and the acts of renewal in America are decidedly not going to begin with the media. They are not gonna begin with the political class. They are going to begin with us because this is not Hollywood’s country, New York’s country, Washington D.C.”€™s country; it’s our country.

And, the whole idea of restoration, Rick, is built in the concept of self-government. Self-government is, in fact, the unique genius of America because if we are not self-governing, then it is not the United States of America.

But, the beautiful reality is that self-government is alive and well; yet, it has to be restored. And, this book is a beautiful roadmap titled American Restoration because that’s what it’s about. But, we actually show how this will happen at a local level and at a place where we can most identify as home.

RICK:

One of the things that we often see here on the program, Tim, is that no matter where you see good or bad happening in the country, we have the tools at our fingertips to solve these issues. It’s not like we live in a complete tyrannical state where we don’t get to influence the process. Rather, we have this wonderful system.

TIM GOEGLEIN:

Yes.

RICK:

A system where we can restore. I mean, everything’s right there at our at our fingertips. Thank you so much for giving people a roadmap to be able to do that.

And, I’m guessing the best place. Do you want folks going to Amazon? Is that Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble?

What’s your preferred place to send folks today?

TIM GOEGLEIN:

You know what? Honestly, Amazon is just as easy; it’s at our fingertips. And, you can easily get American Restoration by clicking onto Amazon; that’s just as easy as anything else.

RICK:

Now we’re gonna have an easy link to get there as well today at WallBuildersLive.com. We’ll have a direct link to Amazon is called American Restoration: How Faith, Family, and Personal Sacrifice Can Heal Our Nation.

Tim Goeglein, always a pleasure, brother. We appreciate you, man. Keep up the great work out there!

TIM GOEGLEIN:

A million thanks, Rick. Be of good cheer. God bless.

Stay with us, folks. We”€™ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

Front Sight Handgun Training Course

Hey friends! Rick Green here, from WallBuilders Live. What do Dennis Prager, Larry Elder, Ben Shapiro, Rick Green, Tim Barton, David Barton – what do all these folks have in common other than the fact that they’re conservative commentators that defend the Constitution and educate America on the Constitution?

They’re all raving about Front Sight Firearms Training Institute. In fact, if you go to my website right now today at RickGreen.com, you can watch the video of Dennis Prager training at Front Sight, or Larry Elder, or Tim Barton, or myself out there training at Front Sight. It’s an opportunity for you to learn how to defend yourself and your family to make sure that you are ready and able to do that.

It is a fantastic place to train. They train 30 to 40,000 people a year and are just wonderful to work with. And, you can go with us!

We’re headed back out. We’re going to have a great time out there as the WallBuilders family and if you’re a supporter of WallBuilders, we have an amazing deal for you. It”€™s actually going to cost you 1/10th the normal price to attend this two day handgun training because you”€™re going with us. And, you”€™ll also get the Constitution crash course.

Teaching Along with the Training 

I”€™ll be teaching on the Constitution, you”€™ll get the intellectual ammunition that you need to defend the Second Amendment and our Constitution. As well as getting the physical training on how to defend yourself and your family.

And, this is for everyone – guys, gals, everyone should take this class. No matter how much you”€™ve shot your whole life or if you”€™ve never touched a gun, learn how to defend your family. We”€™re going to be going several times throughout the year and we would love to have you be a part of that. Check it out at RickGreen.com today to find out the dates, get all the specifics, and get all of your questions answered. Check out RickGreen.com today to join us on this Front Sight trip for both your constitutional and handgun defense training.

Providing Hope and Answers

RICK:

We’re back on WallBuilders Live! Thanks for staying with us. Thanks to Tim Goeglein for joining us today.

We”€™ll have links to his book, so you can get that quickly and then start implementing it quickly in your community. There are some great action items for all of us to take.

I”€™m back with Tim and David Barton now. Guys, he covers a lot of different topics. But, I think the emphasis here is for–everybody”€™s got different passions or areas they’re interested in; and, for each one of those, he gives you things you can actually go do.

He”€™s providing people with hope: that there are answers and a way to solve this. It is probably the most important thing we do here WallBuilders. We”€™re constantly giving them examples of that implementation.

On Good News Friday, you guys bring all the stories of where people have actually engaged in the process and gotten results. Then, we’re constantly having great guests like Tim Goeglein on to talk about how the people who hear those stories want to make that happen at their home communities.

DAVID:

Well, I love the fact that he broke it in 15 chapters, making each one about restoring one area.So, when you look at that, it’s bite-sized pieces that you can really get a grasp of. And, that 15 chapters–every individual doesn’t have to do all 15.

Quite frankly, this is what you see in the book of Nehemiah when they restored the nation. Some people did a whole bunch. The men of Tekoa built 1500 feet on the wall to rebuild the wall; but, it said the priests only rebuilt their own home.

Everybody Can Do Something

So, it’s like if they had had this book back, then the men of Tekoa said, “€œWe’re doing all 15 chapters.”€ And the priest said, “€œWe’ll do the one on family.”€ But, everybody did something.

And, when everybody does something to rebuild and to restore, then the nation gets healthy again. That”€™s what’s really cool about the way he’s laid it out, is you can go in and say, “€œWell, this is not my issue; but, this one is. I can do this.”€

And, if everyone will do something, then it starts moving the nation back in the right direction. It does it at the community level, which is the right level to begin  with. You start rebuilding what’s around you, not what’s around everybody else, but rebuild what’s around you.

Then, when people do that, you start getting the whole thing back together, which is the story of the book of Nehemiah.

RICK:

We”€™ve got to take a quick break. Along with our interview segment, we’ll be right back and talk about some of the specifics you can do in your community. Stay with us; you’re listening to WallBuilders Live!

Patriot Academy

Have you noticed the vacuum of leadership in America? It”€™s not just that we have a few bad leaders taking us away from our founding principles and leading us down a road of destruction. The real challenge is that we’re looking around for leaders of principle to step up and too often no one is there.

This is a generational challenge.  And, we must have a generational solution.  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. And, we need to equip them for the purpose God has laid on their hearts.

Patriot Academy was created to meet that need. You, the listeners of Wallbuilders Live, have supported Patriot Academy over the years.  You have sent your children and grandchildren to the program and the results have been remarkable.

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.

Expanding Across the Nation

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:

We’re backing here on WallBuilders Live! Thanks for staying with us. We’re talking about action items in your community.

Action Items In Your Community

Of course, Tim Goeglein”€™s book we to recommend to you and will have links today so you can get that. David, Tim, of course we talk about this a lot on the program: it takes ordinary citizens. David. already said it, “€œWe can expect change from the top down.”€

It’s got to begin in our home and starts with our own education. I mean, really just being willing to study and read, become students of freedom, get our family educated, and then branch out into our communities.

TIM:

Well, Rick, one of the things that we have talked about before is how little it takes to actually make a much greater difference than we realize. When we look at numbers globally, there are 32 percent of people in the world that identify as Christian. We might argue that even in America, 70-plus percent of Americans identify as Christian.

That number is fluctuating a little bit; it sometimes goes up and down. But, you have a lot of people who haven’t been really living biblically, who are now coming out and saying, “€œWell, I’m not really sure there’s a God.”€ You do see a little of that number declining.

However, I would argue you see, actually, a lot of growth of biblical pursuit from the lower percentages of Christians. Now, the reason I bring that up is because if we said that 32 percent of people in the world actually are Christians, well, how are we going to reach the world? Well, it only takes us reaching one person for–let’s say, “€œIf the next year, everybody reaches one person; then, that second year, you’ve got 64 percent of the world who now has heard the Gospel.”€

Discipleship and Duplication

And, hopefully that year we’re training, discipling, and pouring into them. So, let’s do it again, duplicate again. After two years, you now have taken over and reached everybody in the world. Let’s say in America”€”and, in America, George Barna has identified it’s only 10 percent of Americans that have a biblical worldview. So, let’s say that it’s not a 70-percent number in American, even though 70 percent of Americans might identify as Christian. Let’s say it is only 10 percent of Americans.

Well, what if that 10 percent took another individual? So, all of us duplicate ourselves, find somebody the next year”€”

DAVID:

And, you’re not talking one person taking 10 percent. You’re talking one person taking one person.

TIM:

Exactly, just one. If we said, “€œLet me find one person, pour into them, disciple them, instruct them for an entire year. Then, I”€™m going to encourage them to find somebody to pour into, disciple.”€

So, the 10 then becomes 20, then becomes 40, then becomes 80, right? Now, we can go out from America. The reality of changing a culture, changing a nation, is not as difficult as we imagine if we start in very bite-sized pieces.

Restoring in Record Time

But, Dad, as you mentioned, even with the book of Nehemiah, when everybody does what they can and gets involved”€”in the book of Nehemiah when they talk about rebuilding the wall, that was supposed to be an impossible task that people said, “€œYou’re never going to be able to do this. It’s too much; it’s too big and more than you can handle.”€

This impossible task happened in record time; 52 days is how long it took them to get this done. But, when everybody gets involved and does something, it’s amazing how fast those ripples can reach out. And, this is that principle of discipleship and duplication.

If we just start restoring what’s around us: the relationships with our friends. And, where can we restore? Which is what Tim Goeglein”€™s book is all about.

What can we do if we say, “€œYou know what? Let me just start as the people around me, this close inner circle I have.”€ When everybody starts doing something, it doesn’t take nearly as long as we think to change the world because everybody now is doing something.

Responsible to Play the Role

RICK:

No doubt about it: everyone has a role to play and has a responsibility to play that role. I mean, that’s the thing. We talk a lot about what can happen; we don’t talk as much–maybe we should– about the responsibility to make it happen, that if you’re going to enjoy the blessings of liberty, you’ve got to bear the burden that comes with that.

You’ve got to be willing to take the actions necessary to keep that freedom alive for you to enjoy, but also for your children to be able to enjoy, for your grandchildren to be able to enjoy it. That’s incumbent upon every one of us as citizens to do our part to preserve freedom. And, today’s program is all about those little action steps you can take in your community.

Be sure and get Tim Goeglein”€™s book. We’ll have a link today to make it possible for you to do that. Then also, just listen regularly to WallBuilders Live!

Restoring America Through Faith, Family, And Sacrifice

We’re constantly going to take an optimistic approach, a Joshua-and-Caleb-style approach to making a difference in the culture. And, we’re constantly going to equip and inspire you to be able to do that. One of the things you can do is become a Constitution coach in your community to help bring the Constitution alive, to teach people right there in your church or in your home.

Go to ConstitutionCoach.com to find out more about how to do that. You can actually sponsor pastors to go on our Pastors”€™ Briefings in Washington D.C. Or, get legislators or local legislators to go to our Legislators”€™ Training.

Then, get young people to go through our Patriot Academy or our Leadership Training Program there WallBuilders. There are so many ways you can make a difference. Every individual can make a difference.

You can be the one to make a difference in your community. Thanks so much for listening today. You’ve been listening to WallBuilders Live!