Unintended Consequences Of The Lockdowns – With Dave Roever: Can we survive in trying times…especially in isolation? Depression, job loss, suicide…what can we do when we feel hopeless? Tune in to hear Dave Roever give a helpful perspective on how to redeem the time.

Air Date: 05/19/2020

Guest: Dave Roever

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. We call that WallBuilders Live and that’s because WallBuilders is all about rebuilding the walls that we may no longer be a reproach. That’s that scripture out of Nehemiah and it applies today. We need to rebuild the foundations of America. Desperately, we need to come back to those foundational beliefs and the individual liberties and free enterprise and timeless truths and limited government.

Those things are needed and we need to do those things from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. That’s what we do here on WallBuilders, we’re training and equipping and inspiring people to restore America’s constitutional republic by becoming good citizens, by actually applying that biblical worldview to every issue of the day, by studying history and the Constitution and making sure that we’re operating our government within its constitutional jurisdiction. It’s way outside of those boundaries right now with all these COVID crackdowns across the state.

So, thank you for standing up in your community and with your church and online and just speaking the truth and sharing our videos at WallBuilders and sharing that the education. And this radio program is one of the best ways to get people educated on these issues, is to share the radio program. Go to wallbuilderslive.com, just click on one of the daily program, share it on all your social media outlets and then get educated yourself.

Go to the One-Room Schoolhouse great opportunity right now at the WallBuilders YouTube page to watch some fun and interesting videos that bring our library to life, which brings history to life. Check that out now and also go to our website at wallbuilders.com.

Home Alone

We appreciate you joining us today. We’ve got an interesting program for you today right here in the COVID crackdowns. It’s one of those programs that I think is going to comfort some people that have been stuck in their homes for literally several months now. It’s an important time for us to think about the psychological health of our nation as well.

Alright, David, Tim, we’ll have our friend Dave Roever with us later in the program. We’re really looking at some of the unintended consequences of the COVID crackdowns and so many people been essentially locked in their homes for months at a time here. And we’re starting to see some of the stats and here’s some of the horrible stories. And so, we want to, maybe in some ways, just bring some light to that today, but also hear from Dave to give some hope to those people and some encouragement on how to survive in this tough time.

David:

Yeah, the Bible really kind of for warrants some of this. Way back in the beginning when God made man, He made his creation, He said his creation was good. And He made man, He said, this is very good. So, He put man at a higher level than the rest of creation. And then God makes the comment: it’s not good for him to be alone. And so right from the beginning, you get this thing that isolation is not a good deal. When it comes to humans, God made us as social animals, if you will, as social creatives and it’s not good to be isolated.

And so, when you look at verses like Proverbs 18:1 and I like using what’s called, it’s a website called Bible Hub. And when you look up a verse, it’ll give it to you in a about 13 or 15 versions side by side. And so, when you look up Proverbs 18:1, it says “He who isolates himself rages against all sound judgment.”

And so that isolation, that kind of left alone, it’s just not smart. One version says, “Who isolates himself quarrels against all sound wisdom or rages against all wise judgment or interferes with wisdom.” It’s just not smart to be isolated. And so we’re going 8, 10, 12 weeks and some governors want to extend it on out and we’re starting to see unintended consequences.

Depression and Suicide

There’s a social media video going around of a man talking about how that his son, he lost a son, 12-year-old son lost them to COVID, he said, but not the way you might think. He heard so much of the bad news that the 12-year-old committed suicide, killed himself because he just couldn’t live with what was happening in the nation.

So, that kind of aspect is out there. We’ve seen so many people lose their jobs. We’ve seen so many things that affect their income, people not being able to make payments. We know, statistically that for every one 1% rise in unemployment, there’s 1.6% rise in suicides. So, we’ve seen numbers suggesting that before this is over there may be between 18,000 to 45,000 people who take their life as a result of this.

So, isolation and being forced to be shut up and being cut off from other people, not able to go to church or whatever it is, that has a real impact. And Dave Roever is a guy who has gone through some isolation in a very serious way, medically, as a result of what happened to him. He’s a war veteran. He was wounded very seriously in Vietnam, should not have lived, God willed that he should live and he exists today as a miracle of that. But the isolation that he’s gone through both physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, he’s the guy who’s had to overcome this and he now helps other people overcome it. Great testimony. Great story. He has a really good perspective on how to navigate all the unintended consequences that have come about as a result of COVID-19.

Rick:

Stay with us folks, Dave Roever, our special guests when we return on WallBuilders Live.

One-Room Schoolhouse

Hey friends, this Rick Green from WallBuilders Live and I have had so many requests about, what in the world could we be studying at home right now you know I got the kids at home, they’re normally in school? Or if you homeschool, you’re looking for additional material. One-Room Schoolhouse. It is a great new series WallBuilders is putting out where you literally get a tour of the WallBuilders library as Tim Barton and Jonathan Ritchie bring history to life. There’s a couple of resources on this.

You go to YouTube and search for WallBuilders and look for a One-Room Schoolhouse. You can go to our Facebook page and get it right there on Facebook as we do it live each Monday and sometimes additional days from there.

And then you can also just go to wallbuilders.com, scroll down to the bottom and we’ll be posting the videos as they come out. This is such a great way to learn and a great way for you to share with others. Gather the family around, watch the One-Room Schoolhouse and learn some great history. It’ll be vitally important to restoring our nation and bringing back these principles that made America great in the first place. Check it out [email protected].

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live, thanks for staying with us today. We’re thrilled to have Dave Roever back with us. Dave, always good to have you, brother. Thanks for some time this afternoon.

Welcome Dave Roever

Dave:

Always good to be heard, I love it. I love being with you guys. I love WallBuilders.

Rick:

Well, we appreciate your ministry and you help so many people from the Wounded Warriors program that you’re speaking across the country. And, you know, David was just actually, you know, talking about the fact that so many people are at home right now and dealing with, not just the virus itself, but the isolation and all the negative things that come out of that. He said, you know, let’s get Dave on to give us some perspective on this. And so, we appreciate you coming on to talk about that and just give people an encouraging word. I mean, a lot of people hurting right now and they could use a little tragedy to triumph message.

Dave:

Well, literally, Rick, I got to tell you. Suicide has taken a sharp incline unfortunately and depression is setting in. People are getting, I call it cabin fever while they feel like they’re not under isolation, they feel like they’re under house arrest. And it’s getting frustrating and people are reaching a breaking point. But the way to deal with this is to stay active mentally, not only physically, getting out and doing stuff outside your house or whatever, but invest your mind in the Word of God right now.

I kid you not. I don’t think I have ministered anymore profoundly in use of my time and my talent if not have been in the last two to three weeks. About two and a half weeks, we started producing television. We’re producing a TV show called ‘What is Truth] and it will be coming up in just a few weeks. We hope to have it on our YouTube channels first and then provided to the Christian networks.

Turn the Tragedy Around

But I have been more active and doing more I’m doing right now, interviews, radio, television, and it’s kept me and my fantasy intact. And the reason is, you know, they say, idle mind is the workshop of the devil. Well, an active mind is active because the Holy Spirit can give you ideas to do things you never thought of before. And this is the time to do it. And get your mind off yourself and do something for someone else and boy, I tell you what, you’ll turn this tragedy around.

Rick:

That’s so good. That’s so good. You know, I was just sitting here thinking as you were talking, you spent more time stuck in hospital beds after surgeries and all of that than we’ll ever spend isolated right now from the Coronavirus. You know, when you were redeeming that time, how did you do that mentally?

Dave:

Well, let’s go back a minute, let me just give you a quick and indeed a quick review. I was a year and two months in the hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center nationally. I lived there after 13 surgeries. And now my surgeries, I only count the ones that they put me to sleep or 60, they have now rebuilt my entire face.

Laugh Your Way Out

And of course, they’ll never be normal, never be like it should be, but I have a nose, I’m so proud. I mean, I have a nose, it’s a boy. Brooke Army Medical Center, have a nose again, I have eyelids and I’m not going to let him touch my ears, it’s plastic. I have too much fun when it falls off. I stick it back on, they all think it’s a miracle and everybody gets saved in that service.

But I’m telling you, I’m showing you in actual illustration how I deal with it. Humor. I laughed. I tell people, I laugh my way out of hell and I’m going to laugh my way through swinging [inaudible 09:46] the gates. And I’ll slide through with blisters on my feet and the hair on fire because I went through hell to get there. But I kid you not. Humor is a gift from God and people need to at times like this watch funny things on TV.

You don’t have to watch killings and I was going through the menu, I guess you want to call it, programming on satellite there on my TV and just start looking. This is not a joke. I truly believe 8 out of 10 programs all had to do with the subconscious reaction to fear, horror, extra-terrestrial concepts, you have those… And the biggest one, I think right now it’s taking the country is paranormal activity in the spiritual and the ungodly.

And then in every movie, from the very people who protest the loudest about gun control, Second Amendment, every movie that they produce has guns out of control and they’re just having a great old grand time shooting up Tony. And I look at that and I think, there’s no hope there for people to be watching TV and grow and be helped.

So, I urge people that go to WallBuilders, go to helpavet.com, that’s our network or look at our YouTube channel and subscribe to that and get involved in things that lift up the spirit. Because this thing has turned from physical warfare, it’s now evolving into spiritual warfare.

HelpAVet.com

Rick:

And that’s so good. I mean, even when you go to and I always go straight to Roeverfoundation.org. So that website you just gave it say that one again?

Dave:

Yeah, that’s helpavet.com. It’s easier to remember the spelling, Roever Foundation.

Rick:

Yeah, that’s true. That is harder for people that aren’t for… Yeah, yeah, you’re right. So, helpavet.com, we’ll forward to that. And one of the cool things there is, you know, my mom always told me when I was growing up, you know, when you’re feeling down or depressed, do something for somebody else or you know, read stories of people that had a tougher time than you.

And that’s part of what your website does, is you get to hear all these great stories and I’m assuming the show, I haven’t got to see the show yet. I’m looking forward to this. Same thing, you get to hear these stories and it lifts your spirit. I mean, what a better way to spend this time in isolation?

Dave:

Well I tell you this, if people were put into their mind. Let your mind be stayed on him, not on Corona, not on politics. And just put your mind on Christ, people that don’t know Christ think us as foolish. They think, what are you talking about? This is a real pandemic. Well, I have a solution for the real pandemic mentally. And that is turn your thoughts to the positive, starting to the good news of Christ.

Bibles and Booze

And right now, you know what the two biggest selling items are during the Coronavirus? These are the two biggest sales leaks, Bibles and booze, alcohol and I doubt is still the same people, although there are exceptions to that, I’m sure. But the fact is Bibles are selling faster than they’ve sold in decades and boost on the incline in sales because people are looking for something to dull the pain. Well, alcohol may dull the pain, but when the pain comes back, it has the added pain of what you did while you were under the influence.

But the other alternative is the word of God that brings hope and life and healing and faith and faith. You know, you know what drives out fears? Love. Love is the cancellation of fear. That’s the opposite of fear. The opposite is faith. And when you have faith and hope and charity, which is love, when you have those two things, you got it made in this world of a virus.

And I remember the time my life, I do get out occasionally and drive around a few minutes and just try to remember there is life outside my house, but I don’t live in fear. In fact, we’re planning on hitting out downtown Texas ranch and moving forward Hobby Lobby very graciously, funded a beautiful new pavilion at our Texas ranch and roadwork and built this us a wash stereo slash coffee shop.

And so, we’re going right over and lies and preparing for the future. But I know it’ll be different. I know it’s going to be different. Everybody is going to change like it did after 911. But we will take that difference and make something better out of it to what we had before. That’s the way tragedy turns into triumph. Amen!

Operation Warrior Reconnect

Rick:

Amen. Amen. That’s so good. Now before I let you go, you mentioned the ranch in Texas. So, your original summit ranch where you do the Wounded Warriors programs and different things is in Colorado, but you’re opening one in Texas?

Dave:

Yes, we opened it already and we’ve had our second building project take place now. And we have in Texas down near [inaudible 14:46] closer to junction, but it’s about 20 miles off 510. But that ranch is turning into one of the most glorious, gorgeous places. That Colorado ranch, I can’t expand there, because of building restrictions on property. But we have, there 24 beds for warriors and we don’t use Wounded Warriors like we used to, because I don’t want to be associated with the Wounded Warrior Project, they’re not a faith-based organization. We are. I’m not being critical or mean, I’m just saying, we’re not the same.

Our problem is called Operation Warrior Reconnect. And what do they reconnect to? Family, friends and safe and that covers the life of almost all of us, family, friends and safe. You take any one of those sides of that triangle out in the classes. So, our program is in both ranches and the ranch in Texas will be able to accommodate 100 people. It is outstanding.

We have a brand new chapel, brand new cabins, brand new, so [inaudible 15:51] stepped in yet until this restriction is lifted. We’re on the go and on the grow. And I cannot Enough of my veteran friends and active duty buddies out there, if you’re going through a dark place, go to Helpavet.com right now, go to Helpavet.com. Here’s the problem, folks. When you stare into the darkness too long, the darkness start staring back into you, then it’s too late. Suicides are up. Family abuse of children is up. We’ve got to stop that abuse here and now in Jesus name, we come against it. Amen!

Rick:

Amen. Amen. Helpavet.com. I like what you just said, Dave, on the go and on the grow. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Ministering to Veterans

Dave:

Yes, sir. We haven’t slowed down a bit. All we’ve done is postpone our arrangement for all of our warriors that were signed up for programs that we couldn’t do. They’re being rescheduled and when is time, we can double our number of events and activities. They come from Walter Reed. They come from Brooke Army Medical Center. They come from all the hospitals and all the rehab centers for the military, for physical rehab. And they’re veterans of every age group and every ward that are still alive and can travel, we get them into our ranches and transform their lives.

Rick:

Helpavet.com is a place you can go to help them, but also just going and reading some of those stories is going to help you, it’s going to encourage you and make this time at home easier to get through. Dave, always a pleasure, brother. We appreciate you, keep up the great work. And we’ll send some folks to the website today.

Dave:

Hey, thank you so generous of you. God bless you and [inaudible 17:29]

Rick:

That’s Dave Roever. Stay with us, folks, we’ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

BREAK

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

Constitution Alive!

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

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

Rick:

We’re back from WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. Very Special thanks to Dave Roever for joining us today and we’ll have links to his website and our website today at wallbuilderslive.com. Back with David and Tim and just a wealth of wisdom, of course from Dave and a lot of people needed to hear that right now, I think and are still in these tough situations. Unfortunately, some states may be for weeks or months more.

David:

They are and I’ve got to just kind of laugh at David. If you’ve never seen him, he is so different from what you expected, medicine has come so far from where he was back then. When he was in Vietnam and the hand grenade, white phosphors hand grenade went off right beside his head and blew into his face, it just burned him from top to bottom. But he literally talks about having gone through those 60 surgeries where that he was put to sleep literally, one year in two months in the hospital, etc. I mean, that fire when it blew up in his face, it burned his eyelids, it burned his nose off, burned his ears off. He went for more than 40 years without being able to blink his eyes because he didn’t have an eyelid. I mean, there was nothing there.

A Merry Heart

And if you can imagine 40 years have never been able to shut your eyes. And so, what he’s had to live through and go through and now he help so many veterans and now he’s helping Americans navigate some really tough times. Because the isolation, he still experiences because of the way he looks and what’s happened to him. I mean, even when he’s in groups, you know, he was in isolation even back then.

And as he made the humorous comment, that’s why he doesn’t want them replace his ears, because he can make so many jokes about it. And I thought, you know, that’s a great perspective is the humor that he said how important humor was. I sure, reminded of Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart is a good medicine”. And so even in isolation, other things, watch some humor stuff, watch some funny stuff, have fun, you know, make the jokes. There’s so many good ways to emotionally help yourself.

Tim:

And understandably too, that would be very difficult for people to be able to joke and have fun if they’ve lost their job or if their business can’t open back up and they’re wondering, how are we going to survive as a family in this company that’s been in the family for years. And so, it’s not to make light or trivialize the current situation or hardships, but understanding that sometimes we make things more serious and more intense than they should be and that’s not good for emotionally, mentally, physically.

And so being able to try to make as light as possible and this is something that, you know, even scripture, I think it was Paul who talked about, you know, these present sufferings are nothing compared to what we’re going to get. And I would say too, this is where I think Dave Roever is able to joke about situations because he knows that where we are right now is not the end all.  Right? This is not what life is all about. Because Dave river is a solid believer and, you know, just a glimpse we had of his testimony.

Humor

We’ve had him on so many times and he’s shared so much through the years, but we’ve known him personally for a lot of years. And I’ve heard his testimony in front of so many groups and he is someone who has absolutely his life’s been radically changed by the power of the gospel by Jesus. And because of that relationship, he is able to cope with and endure a lot better. And I think in the midst of him even encouraging, we need to find some humor. You know, go, watch some funny shows, don’t watch all these things that are going to make you intense and they’re going to stir your emotions up.

And I think not only is his perspective about making sure we are maybe more internally motivated, but also just practical that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks kind of scenario, right? That what you put in is going to come out. And if what you put in is constantly intense and dramatic and violence or whatever else, it’s not as easy for you to live as with as much joy as you would want to have as if you were watching other things as he indicates, right?

Maybe we should change some we watch. We can go back and watch some of our old classics and some of the old early Disney’s where there’s some really fun stuff and you know, some old Don Knotts or Bob Hope’s, right and I’m definitely dating how our family grew up, right with these old VHS is that we watched. And nonetheless, right, there’s a lot of good stuff out there.

Rick:

Even from Canada, we could watch some red green. I discovered red green at the Barton’s ranch. That’s where I first found out about red green and you all blessed my life by sharing that comedy with me.

Tim:

I’m a man, but I can change if I have to, I guess. And that meant something totally different when he said it back then. And there’s new gender ideology confused made surgery. Yeah. So red green, oh, man, this is a backwoods Canadian redneck. Just it’s almost like the Canadian version of Home Improvement Tim Allen kind of thing. Oh, it was great.

Set Your Mind

David:

It’s hilarious. But you know, Tim, going to that, one of the things David said, in addition to being positive, he quoted the scriptures Colossians 3:2. He says, look, set your mind on Christ, set your mind on things above. Well, that’s turning your thoughts to the positive. It really is putting good stuff in. And that is such good advice for when you’re alone and you don’t want to brood, you don’t want to be thinking, you don’t be negative. You want to stay positive and so you keep putting good information in and you keep nurturing that good stuff.

And so, you know, if you’re feeling isolated man, go find somebody to talk to, get on the phone with some people or, you know, go talk to each other across the street or whatever. If your governor is still saying you have to have social distancing. A lot of states are opening up, but a lot of states are cracking down the other way. But just find ways to be in relationship with people.  Find ways to have a human connection. Put good positive things in. Think about positive things. Set that your mind on Christ, on things above. Have humor, it is good medicine. There’s just so many good things that Dave shared, that we can learn. He’s a guy who’s walked that path before.

Tim:

And he’s such a good example that the present is only here for a moment. Because right, certainly, in his life when he was going through all he went through, man, that’s a hard moment to find hope and to find joy, but recognizing that this current moment is only momentarily and then we move forward. And obviously with God’s help and God’s strength, we can do that which is what Dave encourages us to do.

Unintended Consequences Of The Lockdowns – With Dave Roever

Rick:

Special thanks to Dave Roever again for joining us today, we’ll have links to his website at our website today at wallbuilderslive.com. While you’re there, wallbuilderslive.com, we sure would appreciate your support. This is a very important time in our nation’s history for people to know the Constitution, to know the biblical perspective and historical perspective on these issues that we’re facing. So, when you make that donation at wallbuilderslive.com, you are helping us to spread the truth, you’re magnifying our voice and you’re becoming a force multiplier. So, check that out at wallbuilderslive.com. Your contribution may be a $5 contribution, it may be $5 a month, it may be $500 or $5,000. Whatever you can do, we greatly appreciate your investment and freedom by helping us to get the truth out there.

We also encourage you to check out constitutioncoach.com. Right now, we’re training and teaching people about their rights, this Know Your Rights Campaign is vitally important. You cannot defend your rights if you don’t know your rights. So check out constitutioncoach.com. If you need legal help, we’ll connect you with the best of the best, the folks that are winning cases all over the country. If you want to just get educated about your constitutional rights during the COVID crackdowns, we’ve got videos on that website to educate you very quickly with rapid response videos.

And then you can sign up for one of our free constitution classes, Constitution Alive with David Barton and myself taking you into Independence Hall, taking you into the library and really bringing the constitution to life. And lastly, you may want to become a Constitution coach yourself. You actually can be the catalyst in your community for bringing back these biblical and constitutional values and it’s all free. We’ll train you. We’ll give you the license. We need you out there, helping your friends and family to get educated on this as well. Check it out at constitutioncoach.com, make that contribution at wallbuilderslive.com. And we thank you for listening to WallBuilders Live.