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[0:00] Our first and previous message on God, Christian, and politics set forth the claim that a Christian should be more qualified to hold a political office than anyone else.

[0:18] This is not elitism, it is not arrogance or superiority that makes Christians better than anyone else. We take this position because only the Christian has the enormous potential and advantage of bringing a biblical worldview to the office and responsibility that he or she has in fulfilling that office.

[0:47] But, you will recall we emphasize potential. It is the potential that is automatic, but its realization is not automatic.

[1:03] By that, I simply mean that one may be a Christian, a true born-again believer, and not have a biblical worldview, simply because they are not familiar enough with the Scriptures, and they do not realize that the Bible even sets forth a biblical worldview.

[1:24] Consequently, they have adopted a worldview that in many respects is just like everyone else's, in which case they really don't have much more to offer a governing body than does one who does not have a biblical worldview.

[1:41] The potential remains with them, but if they have not developed it, and have not understood and adopted what a biblical worldview is, then they really have little more to offer than anyone else.

[1:56] And, what is the great advantage of bringing and utilizing a biblical worldview? What is a biblical worldview?

[2:07] It is simply this. The Bible very clearly sets forth God's position and God's perspective on virtually all issues of humanity.

[2:22] God has a point of view. God has a position that He takes. God has certain standards, and He has been pleased to reveal those in and through the Bible.

[2:37] And once a Christian understands what they are, adopts them, plugs into them, operates with them, he or she has and is working out of a biblical worldview framework.

[2:53] It is this precise worldview that our founding fathers adopted when they drafted those great documents, our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

[3:07] It is somewhat confusing to realize, however, that some of them had what we would call a biblical worldview.

[3:17] That is, they operated from a Judeo-Christian perspective, but they themselves might not even have been true believers.

[3:29] That's how pervasive the Judeo-Christian ethic was in their day. It was a time when virtually everyone, even unbelievers, accepted the authority of Scripture, never questioned the authority, even though they did not place themselves under it.

[3:49] In obedience, they still recognized it and honored it as God's Word. Therefore, they often made decisions based upon that. But today we realize, of course, it is entirely different.

[4:03] And the reason, the reason that it is so critical, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the reason it is so critical to adopt and implement and work from the umbrella of a biblical worldview is because it is a biblical worldview, and only a biblical worldview, that truly corresponds to reality.

[4:32] It is a biblical worldview that truly corresponds to reality.

[4:42] By that I mean, the Bible is the only, the Bible is the only source, the only document, that sets forth an authoritative, coherent explanation and understanding of why the world is as it is, how it got this way, and where it's going, and what it takes to fix it.

[5:09] Only in Scripture do you find that. Nowhere else, no writings of men, no matter how brilliant their philosophy, can set that forth with any kind of authority.

[5:21] The Bible does this from the beginning to the end. It is a book that tells it like it is. And much of it is not pretty.

[5:33] But it is truthful. It is factual. The Bible paints man in a picture with warts and all.

[5:44] It really does tell it like it is. And when you understand the real world and the way it really is, then you can take corresponding positions and actions that are in compliance with that, rather than going against it, which man spends so much time, money, and energy doing.

[6:13] And we all know about that. Those who enact our laws do so from their individual perspective, and they cast their votes.

[6:30] And the decision is a kind of corporate or aggregate decision. And then the population living under that authority has to deal with the consequences of that, living under it, for good or for ill.

[6:48] That's the way it works. So if you can have a preponderance of lawmakers, whether they are locals, drafting local ordinances and laws, or whether they represent our federal government, if they have a tuning, a comprehension, an adoption of what the Bible sets forth in the Judeo-Christian concept, as we have traditionally known it, then they understand what God's viewpoint is.

[7:22] And they also understand how utterly foolish it would be to take any action that is contrary to it. But when you do not have that, and you have a preponderance of individuals who are coming from a humanistic worldview, which sees man as the measure of all things, and man is his own supreme authority, then of course you're going to get legislation that reflects that.

[7:53] And we've got a lot of that today that we have to contend with on local and national levels. A humanist worldview, not to be confused with humanitarian.

[8:09] Every Christian certainly ought to be a humanitarian in that he has compassion and care for his fellow human being. That is a far cry different from being a humanist.

[8:22] A humanist is someone who sees man as the center of the universe. Man is the only real authority. And I have never met a humanist who was not a full-fledged evolutionist.

[8:36] He simply believes that man is the top of the totem pole of evolution, that he is the greatest representation and product of the evolutionary process.

[8:49] Therefore, that makes him king, makes him wiser. They do not recognize any authority above man, not even God. That's why they are called humanists. And the humanist worldview is man seeing his world through his own biases and prejudices, through his own ambitions and greed, through his own flawed fallenness and his own misperceptions.

[9:16] Whereas the Bible reveals the world as it truly is, as seen through the eyes of the Creator God, who alone possesses all truth and all understanding.

[9:28] For a Christian, for a Christian then, to have a biblical worldview means to see, evaluate, and discern the world the way God does.

[9:43] This, I emphasize, this is not the Christian's natural perspective of the world. It is a supernatural perspective, because the Christian's natural perspective is no different and no better than that of a non-Christian.

[10:02] Do you understand that? A Christian's natural perspective is no different from a non-Christian's natural perspective.

[10:13] The problem with both of them is they're both natural. But we are dealing with a supernatural being who through supernatural acts created this world.

[10:28] That's the difference. The Christian who has a biblical worldview has it only because God has revealed to believers what his views are.

[10:42] Now, I'm going to make a statement that might sound contradictory, and I want to preface it with some remarks that I hope will clarify things, because it's going to sound like this is coming across as double talk, and I want to emphasize this very important point, and that is a non-Christian can have more of a biblical worldview than a Christian, even though he or she may not even be a believer.

[11:16] they can take a position that is akin to our founding fathers that I mentioned earlier, some of whom were not even believers, but they accepted the authority of the Bible, and the description of humanity is given in the Bible.

[11:30] I think it is a sad, sad thing for one who is truly a believer to serve in a public office without a biblical worldview, because he essentially has nothing extra to offer other than his own expertise, his own intelligence, his own understanding, and it may not be as effective or as beneficial as the non-Christian who is sitting beside him.

[11:56] There are unbelievers who have human wisdom that can be superior to a Christian and his wisdom.

[12:10] That ought not so to be, but it is. Sometimes it is. I am talking about one who is truly a born-again believer, but who has little appreciation and less appropriation of biblical principles and concepts into his life.

[12:29] He is a believer. When he dies, he is going to heaven, but he is not functioning from a biblical worldview. That is tragic. It is such a waste, because his potential to do so is automatic.

[12:42] Understand, once you become a believer in Jesus Christ, you have incredible potential for a whole host of things, but it is only potential.

[12:56] It is not realized unless you act on that potential, which includes educating yourself in the scriptures, understanding what God's point of view is on all of these important issues, then aligning yourself with it.

[13:17] There are people who are not even believers who have a Judeo-Christian ethic and principle, the kind that founded this country, and they have far more to offer in the decisions that they make and the positions that they take.

[13:36] They have far more to offer than one who is merely a Christian, but not in tune with a biblical concept at all. That is sad, but we all know that that can happen.

[13:48] There is no greater gift that the American people can have at a local level or at a national level than to have a man or woman in a position of authority, legislation, judging, whatever, who is thoroughly attuned to the biblical point of view regarding life and all of its attendant issues.

[14:20] And I just mentioned regarding life. That's where it begins. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.

[14:33] One who has that is in a position to render the greatest possible service, provided, of course, they keep themselves aligned with that biblical worldview.

[14:48] Do not stray from it, which would mean a sacrifice of a principle in order to be politically expedient, in order to assuage the voters, in order to you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back.

[15:07] this may mean that one in such a position may find himself or herself somewhat lonely or surrounded by a small number of colleagues.

[15:23] But never mind. Has not God always done his most significant works with minorities, never with majorities?

[15:35] So that ought not to dissuade us. It ought to even in fact encourage us. A Christian armed with a biblical viewpoint and insight is uniquely positioned to render a quality of service that the world cannot even understand, yet desperately needs.

[15:55] His views, decisions, and yes, his vote will reflect these convictions. And to give us some really poignant examples of that, I would ask you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

[16:16] 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We have three powerful illustrations that distinguish a biblical position, God's position, from the position of what shall we say?

[16:34] Conventional wisdom of humanity, or the majority opinion, if you will. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and the first one I would have you look at is verse 17.

[16:47] This is a picture of God's view versus man's view regarding the power and accomplishment of his word. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 17. The apostle said, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.

[17:11] For the word of the cross, which essentially is Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's the word of the cross.

[17:21] That's the message of the cross. The message of the cross isn't a piece of religious jewelry. the message of the cross is what happened there on that cross 2,000 years ago when he who knew no sin was made sin for us.

[17:37] That's the word of the cross. And it is to those who are perishing, that is, those who are en route to perdition.

[17:49] We might say those who are bound for a Christless eternity. they are those who are perishing and to them, how do they regard the word of the cross?

[18:02] How do they regard what took place on that cross? Abject nonsense. That's how they view it. And when they do, they are doing exactly what is expected of them because they don't have God's perspective, they don't have a biblical worldview, worldview, they have their worldview.

[18:27] The cross to those who are perishing is foolishness, but to us who are being saved, delivered, rescued, it is the power of God, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.

[18:50] Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? It's a humbling thing to realize that the wisdom of this world, the greatest conclusions, discoveries, etc., that the best minds of this world can offer are regarded as foolishness to God.

[19:29] What? You mean God is not impressed with E equals MC squared? God is not dazzled by the likes of an Einstein mind?

[19:47] How does he see that? How does he regard that? Their foolishness child's play. While Einstein in his intellect may tower considerably above mere ordinary mortals like you and me, doesn't register that way with the deity.

[20:08] God looks at Einstein's IQ and all of his accomplishments and the Galileos and the De Vinci's and the Michelangelo's and God looks at all of that classic intelligence, super intelligence, and his response is that's about his response.

[20:36] He is not terribly impressed. We are. But then we are comparing them with ourselves and they look pretty outstanding.

[20:47] But with God, it just isn't that way. The wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom, did not come to know God. God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

[21:03] indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom. We preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness.

[21:14] Isn't that so? You see, this is the twist that God puts on things. We look at the cross and in our humanity, we quite naturally ask the question.

[21:31] Here, you've got a Galilean peasant charged with crimes he obviously did not commit, sentenced to death on a Roman cross where he dies a horrible, horrible death.

[21:51] And that's supposed to save somebody? That's supposed to save the world? give me a break. The Greeks see it as foolishness and their logic is really right on track, humanly speaking.

[22:10] How in the world do you expect me to believe a man who wasn't even clever enough to avoid his own crucifixion is supposed to provide eternal life for me? You've got to be kidding.

[22:22] That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard of. And when the text uses the word to the Greeks, it's foolishness, the word in the Greek is moria, from which we get the word moron.

[22:35] That's moronic. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard of. And to the Jews, the whole thing is a stumbling block, which means they just trip all over it.

[22:47] They just can't get over that. It's a hurdle to them. They just cannot get beyond it. It is so incomprehensible how anything like that could be good.

[23:00] Are you kidding? And it's not only good, it's the ultimate good. And not merely the ultimate good, it's God's ultimate good.

[23:13] That's amazing. Now, don't expect people to go for this in droves, because they don't.

[23:25] The cross contains what is referred to as a built-in offense. There is the offense of the cross, and we've just been talking about that.

[23:38] what beauty is there in that? Ugly, vile, bloody, deathful, terrible, horrible.

[23:52] What other words can you think of to describe it? And that, that is God's remedy? Is it not 180 degrees removed from what we would call logical, reasonable?

[24:14] Yes, it is. But God's ways are not our ways, saith the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

[24:25] And there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. You follow your logic and your reasoning using your mind as the authority, and it will take you right straight into an oblivion of hell.

[24:46] That is why we are so desperately in need of the revelation that God has given. And here we have it. Verse 25 says, the foolishness of God is wiser than men.

[25:02] Now, Paul is not saying that God is foolish, foolish, or that there is anything about him that is foolish, but he is using a hypothetical kind of argument, and he is saying, suppose, just for the sake of logic and reasoning, suppose there is something about God that is foolish.

[25:21] Even God's foolishness, even God's low point, is greater and wiser than anything man has to offer. The very least that God has is greater than the very most that man has.

[25:37] So, in the final analysis, there is no comparison. It is, again, the heavens and the earth. And the weakness of God is stronger than men.

[25:49] Well, I didn't know that God had anything about him that was weak. Of course not. And he doesn't. And again, Paul is using a kind of propositional argument here.

[25:59] And he is saying, suppose that there is something about God for the sake of argument that represents God's weakness over here and then God's strength over here. I want you to understand that for purposes of comparison, that in which God is weak is still stronger than the strength of any man.

[26:19] So, there is no comparison. That's the argument that he is formulating here. God has chosen the foolish things.

[26:33] Verse 26. Consider your calling. It's really kind of unique. And I venture to say that Paul or the Spirit of God here has a sense of humor.

[26:45] He's addressing the Corinthians and he's using them as an example. And he's saying the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The weakness of God is stronger than men. And now what he's saying is Corinthians, Corinthians, just take a look around you.

[27:04] Take a look around you. What do you see? God has chosen foolish things of the world.

[27:18] Are there any fools among you? Paul said, I am a fool for Christ's sake. Glad to be branded a fool. If you want to call me a fool for being a believer, for having a connection with Jesus Christ, if that makes me a fool, say on.

[27:37] I'll gladly wear the title. I'll be a fool for Christ and no complaints. God has chosen the foolish things of the world.

[27:48] Consider your own calling to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. God delights in using nobodies and nothings.

[28:05] That's remarkable. If I were going to put together a team and charge them with some great accomplishment that they needed to achieve, how would we go about that?

[28:19] Well, we would probably set up a screening committee, wouldn't we? and we would administer IQ tests and we would do background checks and we would want to get the very cream of the crop, the ultimate, the best of the best and send them forth on this mission with the likelihood that they would be most likely to accomplish that mission because after all, they're the most gifted, the most talented, the most intelligent, the most well-educated, the most well-rounded, we would use them.

[28:55] But who did God use? A big old oaf of a fisherman that put his foot in his mouth every time he opened it, who at times had the brass to contradict his Lord and chose one who would betray him and he chose another who would doubt him and he chose another who in fact a couple of brothers and all they could think about was feathering their own nest and can I sit on your right hand and my brother sit on the left hand when you come into the king?

[29:31] We want to put our dibs in for these positions. Ambitious, selfish, flawed, these are those whom God chose.

[29:43] They were far from what you would call the cream of the crop and do you know what God does today? Nothing different. Nothing different. He still uses the relative nobodies and he gets the job done.

[29:58] And then we've got a third illustration in chapter two. Paul said, when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

[30:11] I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I did not come with great intellect, great logic, great arguments. I did not come with great rhetorical skills so that I could just bowl over an audience and have them right in the palm of my hand.

[30:30] No. It wasn't like that at all. Paul said, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in trembling. and it was said of me when the reviews came out the next day after some of my public speeches, not very polished, not very eloquent.

[30:51] I'm surprised that people would sit there and listen to him. But Paul makes it clear. The dynamic is not in the messenger.

[31:05] The dynamic is in the message. it is the message that is the power of the cross. It pleased God through the foolishness of the thing preached to save men and women.

[31:23] Incredible. Incredible. This is a biblical viewpoint. This is not, this is not common thinking or common position.

[31:37] this is not the majority report. My message, verse 4, and my preaching, I love this, were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men.

[32:07] That is beautiful. That is beautiful. Paul is saying, listen, I don't want any of you people running around saying, I'm a convert of the Apostle Paul.

[32:19] I'm a follower of Paul. In fact, he denounced that earlier. You who say, I'm a Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Peter. Away with that nonsense.

[32:29] You don't have any room for that garbage in the body of Christ. You don't line up and identify behind a human vessel like that.

[32:41] It is the power of God. It is the message of the cross. It is doing business with the divine. And who is Paul?

[32:53] Or who is Cephas? Or who is Apollos? Anyway, what are these guys? They're just people. Just like you. It's the message.

[33:04] It's not the vehicle. It's the content. That's the power of God. That's that which regenerates. That's that which makes new men and women out of old men and old women.

[33:20] That's the dynamic. And it is completely contrary to the way the world sees things. The world doesn't visualize it this way at all. You ask them and it's all performance.

[33:34] It's all self-help stuff. Well, you've got to be a better person. I even heard one person say, listen, you can't be a Christian just by making up your mind that you're going to be a Christian.

[33:47] That's not the way you become a Christian. You've got to work at it. You've got to be serious. You've got to live the life. You've got to do this and do that and do three other things and you've got to keep on doing it.

[34:01] And then maybe, maybe you've done it long enough and strong enough and consistent enough, God will say, okay, that last thing you did, that put you in. You're okay.

[34:14] That's the way the world views this. You can't be a Christian just by saying you're going to be. Well, let me tell you, dear friend, there isn't any other way you can be.

[34:26] Because becoming a Christian is an act of the will. It is a volitional decision. That's like saying, you can't become married just by standing here before a preacher and you're intended by your side.

[34:49] And when he says, will you, and you say, I will, you can't become married just by saying, I will. Yes, you can. That's how you do it. That's exactly how you do it.

[35:02] And when you say you will, all you are doing is expressing your volition. You are using your decider. And you are deciding.

[35:14] You are making a decision. That is exactly what you do. When one comes to personal faith in Jesus Christ. You hear the claims of Christ. You hear the position that you are in, which is unacceptable to God as you are because of your sin.

[35:34] And it doesn't make any difference that you're not a great sinner. Maybe you're just a teeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-weeny-witsy-bitsy sinner. That's enough. That's all you need.

[35:46] That's enough. That's completely unlike God. And that's unacceptable. So, you recognize your true condition.

[35:59] You recognize who Jesus Christ is, what he did and why he did it. And as an act of your will, you say, I want this one who died on that cross to be my Savior.

[36:13] I want to place myself in his hands. I want his salvation and his righteousness to be mine as a gift from God.

[36:27] That's it. That's it. And for someone who's at all, that's too easy. Let me tell you something. Nothing easy about it.

[36:40] Because the hardest thing you've got to do, the hardest thing you've got to do is admit to yourself that you can't make it. You can't do it.

[36:51] You can't be good enough. You can't give enough. You can't pray enough. And when you come to the end of yourself and recognize your own weakness, that is a huge hurdle to get over.

[37:08] And I'll tell you why. We've got this enormous thing called an ego. And we want to do it ourselves. I can clean myself up.

[37:20] I can make myself accept. I know I've got some bad habits to get rid of, but I can do that, and I'll get rid of them, and I'll do this, and I'll start going to church more and on and on. This is all human wisdom, and it's all human nonsense, and it all negates the need for the cross.

[37:36] Because if righteousness comes by the law, or if righteousness comes by human effort or by doing good, then Jesus Christ died for nothing. We really didn't need him.

[37:50] So it is not an easy thing. It's a hard thing to get over that hurdle. I am not good enough, I never will be good enough, and neither is anybody else, including Billy Graham and Mother Teresa.

[38:10] That's why we need Christ. This is a biblical worldview regarding salvation, and when you have tapped into that, you have done business with God's viewpoint of humanity, God's viewpoint of the cross, God's viewpoint of salvation, and it puts you on a fast track for developing a biblical worldview about everything else.

[38:40] But this is the beginning point. This is where it has to start. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So a Christian, armed with this viewpoint and insight, is uniquely positioned to render a quality of service that the world cannot even understand, yet it desperately needs.

[39:03] So, should Christians get involved in politics or public office? Who better? Who better?

[39:17] Whether you're talking about a local school board, running for town or village council, or running for national office, that's immaterial. In any office, in any position of authority, a believer with a biblical worldview is uniquely positioned to render an incredibly valuable service, even though those to whom and for whom he is rendering it don't really understand where he's coming from much of the time.

[39:50] he can still make decisions that are in their best interest. For far too long, Christians have been willing to sit on the sidelines, removed from the fray, and simply criticize the foolish, costly decisions of those in power, while they and they alone possess the potential for making a real and lasting difference.

[40:15] but many of them, many of them, refuse to get involved, and what is their reluctance? They don't want to get dirty.

[40:30] Politics can be a dirty business. You know the old saying, you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

[40:43] So, the biblical mandate for the believer is to equip yourself with plenty of flea collars, and take that good flea-killing insecticide, which is the truth of God born out of the biblical worldview, and get in there and mix it up.

[41:08] wonderful provision has been made for us in the word of God to be instrumental and effective whatever capacity the office may be.

[41:27] And we will look in our next session together about some of the aspects of that biblical worldview, view, and how they will play out in decisions and positions taken, some of which are very, very much with us as I speak.

[41:50] And there will be a lot of repercussions come from what's going on right now. We're already feeling some of it. There's more to come. We'll address that somewhat in our next session. Questions or comments?

[42:00] Have we got a roving mic out there? Who's got the mic? Mike's got the mic? Okay, Mike.

[42:13] Question right up here. Loretta Daniel has a question or comment. I mentioned the book last week, Personal Faith, Public Policy.

[42:35] It's by Dr. Harry Jackson and Tony Perkins. And I just haven't had time to read it all, but just want to read a couple things out of here.

[42:48] If we are ever to speak as a moral conscience of the nation, we must consistently stand for clear set values and principles.

[43:00] It is important to remember that we must earn the right to be heard. the gospel must be preached at all times and when necessary, use words.

[43:17] Yeah. A couple more. Unless we are willing to give people godly opinions, helping them to do the right thing, we become judges instead of servants.

[43:34] Right. Right. And so I'm going to pass this book along to you to take a look at. I'll look forward to it. Thank you. I just wanted to share those.

[43:45] Thank you. Thank you. And in connection with what she just said and what she just read, we really need to make it clear as believers that when we offer our opinion or take a position or something like that, it isn't that we are so superior to somebody else, smarter than somebody else.

[44:06] It's that we have adopted a principle or principles that lead us to take the positions that we take and they are not our principles.

[44:19] We don't own them. We simply got them from God who was pleased to reveal them. And this, once again, what does it do? It always brings us back to the subject of authority.

[44:32] What do you accept as authoritative? Whether it is the mind of man or the mind of God. And we make no apologies for saying this is my position, but it's not one I originated and it's not one that I thought up.

[44:48] It is a position that is revealed in Scripture. This is the way God views it. That's why I take this position because it's his position. I want to align myself with him.

[45:02] Someone else. John and then Terry will you be addressing that in this series?

[45:23] Yes. Probably not next week, maybe not the following week, but I intend to wrap this up on 4th of July Sunday. So, we will be looking at that.

[45:34] That's a very key passage for believers, our responsibility to government. And John has a question up here or comment. It's a comment.

[45:51] When you were speaking about the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God, and you described some of those, what we consider as great thinkers and have in a place of all, the reason we think of them in all is that they are better describing what God has created.

[46:19] That's true. Yeah, that's true. So, we need to transfer that all beyond them to the one who's really responsible for it. Amen. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, John.

[46:30] You know, I feel that, I sense that every time I see something of really significant accomplishment.

[46:40] And I'm talking about just about anything. I'm talking about, I'm talking about watching footage, a clip of Air Jordan when he is en route to the basket and he starts somewhere in mid court and he's on his way to the basket with these incredible moves, gyrations, and ends up with a slam dunk that brings down the house.

[47:11] And we say, wow, what an incredible athlete. Isn't he wonderful? No. No.

[47:22] It's what an incredible God that could put together the DNA and skin and bones and flesh and tissue that could manufacture a human being capable of doing that.

[47:38] We are so in awe, as John said, of the individual. But it is the God behind the individual that really gets the credit. Whether it is an Einstein, an Air Jordan, a Michelangelo, or whatever.

[47:53] When someone sits down at the piano, and plays some of the most incredible heart-stirring music that I have ever seen, I just think, wow, how do they know which one of those things to push and how long to hold it?

[48:17] And touch and timing is everything. And it produces the most incredible sounds. think of the creator God who created an individual, gave them that ability, that capacity to turn out something like that.

[48:35] That is amazing. It is amazing. It is amazing. Someone else before we dismiss? Anyone? over here. Roger.

[48:47] I find it, I don't know, disheartening, maddening when we elect people to represent us to our government, to express our views, and then they get there and do their own thing.

[49:12] We need to educate people that, you know, that's what they're there for is to represent us, not to, you know, we elect them and then they go do whatever they want to.

[49:26] I think that's what's wrong with America today. We don't have representatives. We have people that seek after their own selves and do their own buddying and compromising on issues.

[49:40] It's just muddling things up. Well, I understand your frustration, and there have certainly been a number of times when I've shared it. But in all fairness, I need to add this, and with this I'll let you go.

[49:51] Our time is just about gone. People elected to office by their constituency sometimes, well, I won't say sometimes.

[50:02] I'd rather say many times find themselves on the horns of a dilemma for this reason. When you send a representative, whether it's to Congress or whether it's to the State House, they are sent as a representative.

[50:22] But, now keep this in mind, I would hope that very often they would not represent the majority opinion for the very reasons we've just been talking about.

[50:37] Because, frankly, the majority opinion is not representing a biblical worldview. It is a humanist opinion. So, when we send someone off as an elected representative, if all they are going to do is constantly take polls to see what most of the people want and then vote accordingly, we really don't need them.

[51:01] All we need to do is just take the polls and send the results up. But, we send someone up there with the idea that they will not automatically reflect the majority opinion.

[51:14] They may reflect the minority opinion, but they are still representing the people. So, what do we mean by representing? If it's just do what most of the people want, that's not really what.

[51:27] We send them with the idea that they are going to be able to apply some judicious thinking and wisdom and understand the ramifications, which very often few of the electorate do because they don't have the sources of information that they often have.

[51:49] And this is one of the reasons why I think a lot of the criticism of our president, whoever our president may be, a lot of the criticism I suspect is really unjustified.

[52:05] And what I base that on is this. The man has to make decisions on the basis of the information he has. Very often, we don't have that information.

[52:17] Or we don't have all the information that he has. Or we don't have the depth of the information that he has. And we don't understand the threats and the ramifications that he may understand. And he may not be in a position to explain it to us because of national security concerns.

[52:33] So, we ought to really think twice before we are too critical of the powers that be. Sometimes, they know things we don't know.

[52:44] And they are not in a position to tell us. And yet, we put them there on the basis of a trust factor. And you have to trust somebody.

[52:57] So, we try to single out those whom we feel we can trust the most and send them off. And sometimes, we're not always happy with their decisions. And sometimes, we don't understand the full basis of their making decisions.

[53:11] So, it's a tough call. It's not an easy thing. It is not easy. Jim, I wouldn't be in your shoes for anything. I'm glad you're there.

[53:21] And I wish we had 434 more. But, I'm sure glad I don't have to wrestle with the things that you have to wrestle with.

[53:35] I tell you. My hat's off to you. May we stand, please. Father, once again, we want to express to you our deep appreciation for your absolute sufficiency in all things.

[53:49] We know how lacking we are, sometimes even as believers, in our understanding, in our appreciation of the depth of some of the problems that confront our lawmakers.

[54:03] Help us, we pray, to be more supportive and more encouraging and less critical. But, help us not to abandon criticism, but to hold accountable those whom we elect and send off.

[54:18] And, to expect those who do subscribe to a biblical worldview to align themselves in the positions they take and the votes they cast. Consistent with that worldview.

[54:32] Thank you.

[55:02]  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.