The Man in the Arena

0:07 Well, good morning, and what a blessing it is to be here in Southern California. I flew in last night from my home in Memphis, Tennessee, and I was just so excited. I was telling Brother Ryan, who, by the way, what a great blessing he is. Amen? Brother Ryan was telling me that you guys are dealing with humidity, and I'm like, what humidity? I said, this is great weather out here. My goodness. I you know before we get started I just have to tell you how much I love California you have a beautiful state You have beautiful people here. I love your pastor. He's a great pastor Yes, give pastor jack But I got to tell you, we got a problem. You people have to stop moving to my state of Tennessee. All right? We're trying. It's hard.

0:58 You know, we're introducing everybody out there to fried food and sweet tea. You can tell who the Californians are because they walk around puckered because of the iced tea. It's very sweet in Tennessee. No, no, no. We love what's happening, what God is doing, and God is moving here in California. California. And I always tell people, you know, stay put, you know, fight the good fight where you are. And God bless you guys for staying put and fighting the good fight. We're going to have some fun this morning. I am not a pastor. So this is the view from the pew. I'm one of those people that you might remember, there was a president once who said, people like you and me, we cling to our guns and we cling to our religion. You might remember that. There was also somebody who said that we were a basket of deplorables, irredeemable. Well, this morning, I just want you to know that Todd Starnes is proud to be a gun-toting, Bible-clinging son of a Baptist.

2:01 And I'm not bitter. I'm blessed because I've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. So I'm also excited to be here for another reason. About nine weeks ago, I was not feeling very well and went to the doctor, and my doctor told me that there was about a 90% blockage in my main bowel. They call it the widow maker. And in fairness, that's apparently a big problem in the southern states, clogged arteries. I really did think gravy was a lubricant just to be want to put that out there.

2:44 So I had surgery and this is my first big trip after you know since the surgery so my cardiologist thank you. My cardiologist, who's a dear friend of mine, sent me a text this morning, are you alive? So that's good. But praise God for that. You know, I was talking to Pastor Chris, and he was back in the room, and the pastors pray, and we just had a wonderful time of fellowship. I was at Baptist Hospital, which is where all of us go to get our work done, there in Memphis, and those are my people. And I was, I understand Pastor Chris visits a lot of the folks that are sick and in the hospital. What a blessing that is. What an incredible ministry that is. You're going through difficulties, and your pastor shows up, and for me, that was such a blessing. And I just got to hear his heart backstage, and it really blesses me, the great ministry that you guys are doing. You know, I'm here, we're launching our big national book tour here at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills.

3:51 And my new book is out. It's called The Golden Age, How Trump Saved America. And we're going to talk about that in just a little while. But I actually came up with the idea from the book the last time I was at Calvary Chapel. And you guys have, you guys are doing it right here. You are engaging the culture. And the day I was here, folks were dropping off their ballots. There were all these people out there, and everybody was smiling and patriotic and loving God. And I thought, man, this is what it's all about, a church that is engaged in the culture, a church that is not telling you to vote Republican or Democrat, but a church that is teaching you to vote your values. And that's one of the, you know, you want to know what the problem is in America, I'll tell you. We just had an election in Tennessee where just about the entire state is Baptist. Even the Catholics are Baptist in Tennessee.

4:46 maybe 15% of registered voters got out to vote. The problem in America is not the Democrats. Problem is not Antifa or Black Lives Matter. Problem is not the Republicans. The problem, evangelical Christians who are not getting off their blessed assurance to get out and vote on election day. So we've got to get out and vote. I want to tell you a little bit about my history. You heard Pastor Jack talking about my time in New York City. I lived in Brooklyn, New York for 15 years. And people always ask me, why would you live in the most liberal part of New York City? And I said, well, you know, this is who I cover. And to truly understand the American liberal, I wanted to live in their natural habitat. So I did. My mailman said I was the only member of the National Rifle Association in the zip code. And they give you a ball cap when you join the NRA.

5:41 It's a black ball cap with gold letters that spell out NRA. I tried not to wear that around the neighborhood, didn't want to trigger the neighbors. But one day we were getting ready for Hurricane Sandy. And growing up in the South, we're used to tropical storms and hurricanes. You know, it's not that big of a deal. You just need some duct tape, a six-pack of a Bita Springs root beer, and a pork butt so you can have something to eat. And we smoked the pork butts, which, by the way, I wrote about in one of my books. And my New York editor called me up one day. she goes, what is this smoking pork butt? Is this a euphemism for something? I don't understand what that is. So anyway, I was going to the market to get my provisions, and I grabbed the NRA ball cap by mistake. I wasn't even thinking. And in our neighborhood, we have a grocery store, a little bodega. And in front of the bodega, you have all these liberal groups wanting money. You have Planned Parenthood and Greenpeace and PETA. And the PETA people are the most aggressive of the whole bunch. And I think the reason why is they're just angry. And the reason they're angry is they don't eat meat. So I went in and I got my provisions. I mean, nope, everybody in the neighborhood's a vegan. So the produce section, they were fighting over the last bit of arugula.

6:57 And I went over, it was just me and the butchers. So I got my pork butt and got my root beer and my duct tape. And I'm walking out and I have the pork butt under my arm like this. It's a big old piece of meat. And I walk out and the pita lady stops me dead in the tracks. She goes, sir. And she pointed this bony little meatless finger at me. Sir, do you love animals? And I said, ma'am, only if they're deep fried and just kept right on. But as I was here at Calvary Chapel, I was encouraged and inspired. I write a lot about you guys in the book. I write about your pastor. I tell the story of what happened to the day that Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

7:50 We were live on the radio when that happened, and so we thought we would take you inside what was happening inside our studio as those events were unfolding. But I want you to know something about your pastor. He loves Jesus, and he is making such an incredible impact on our nation. And I hope you understand that. And in doing so, you guys as well are making a huge impact on our nation. Thank you for that. Thank you. You know, in the book of Daniel, in the Old Testament, there is an amazing story about three Hebrew boys. We learned about this story in Vacation Bible School, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And it's a story I think every little boy and every little girl who's grown up in the church knows about. But I think there are some adult lessons that we can glean from the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You see, as the great president Teddy Roosevelt once said, they would be considered men in the arena, men who were willing to step out of their comfort zone and take a stand. You see, at the end of the day, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were contemplating that question, do you obey God or do you obey the government? And that is a question that generations since, men and women of faith, have been forced to answer. Do you choose God or do you choose the government? What I find fascinating about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is they chose God knowing that the circumstances may not actually be in their favor because they had no idea what was going to happen. As a matter of fact, the king said, okay, fine, if you don't bow down, we're going to throw you into a fiery furnace.

9:39 and in spite of their lives being on the line these men said we obey God not the government now as the bible tells us of that story which I would read for you but I brought my small print bible so uh and I have 59 year old eyes so I'll do my best to quote from memory the events of that that moment the fire was hot very hot they threw those young men into that fire and suddenly they realized something there was a fourth person there described as an angelic being they also told us scriptures tell us that they took the hands of these young boys and they bound them with ropes so that they would not be able to escape well something very interesting happened in that fire they didn't burn as a matter of fact when you read the bible they say there was not a hair on their head that was singed. Not a piece of clothing was burned.

10:43 But that's not quite accurate because you see there was something that was destroyed in the flames. The ropes that bound these young men, they burned away. You know brothers and sisters, we are facing our own Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego moments right here in the United States of America. Every single day we are faced with those decisions. And many times we can get caught up in life and what's happening and the struggles of life. Many times we can watch the news and we can get aggravated. Sometimes we can get even scared. But I think the lesson that we can glean from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is that we must stand firm in our faith knowing that God is ultimately in control. And yes, sometimes serving God and doing what He says, it may be unpopular in the culture, but we must follow the teachings of Christ. You see, to truly make America great again, brothers and sisters, we've got to put Jesus first in our lives. That's how we do it.

11:52 A lot of people ask me, Todd, where did things go south in this country? I have a theory about that. A couple of years ago, Chick-fil-A introduced something called a cauliflower chicken sandwich. the official chicken of our Lord, desecrated by cauliflower. And then Cracker Barrel decided, well, they were going to renovate their stores and turn them into some sort of, I don't know, millennial coffee shops with lots of shiplap. And Cracker Barrel, of course, is sacred ground in many cities around this nation. and I remember thinking back to those moments and they sort of seem silly getting rid of Aunt Jemima getting rid of Uncle Ben the Indian lady on the butter and I think about those things and I realize wait a second this is no different than when the left comes in and tears down the statues and the monuments and they get rid of the Gideons from our public schools passing out Bibles to boys and girls. Slowly but surely, they're whittling away at all of our traditions, all of our values. And I am a firm believer that we were meant to be, by our founding fathers, to be a Christian nation. It was our second president, John Adams, who once said that our Constitution is wholly inadequate for anyone other than a moral and religious people.

13:27 When you take God out of the public square, when you silence the churches, you get chaos in the culture. And unfortunately, many evangelical churches have been bullied into silence. And as a result, we are called to be what? Salt and light. Unfortunately, many of us are on a sodium-free diet. So I'm not surprised that we have chaos in our culture. Let me tell you about a couple of things. my observations from what we do every single day. I host a national radio show, noon to three Eastern, and we talk about these issues, and we talk about faith intersecting in these issues involving our culture. In Memphis, Tennessee, we're getting ready for a big race for Congress. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a number of liberal members of Congress showed up at a rally at a church, a very large black megachurch in Memphis, a conservative church, they tell me.

14:25 The pastor got up there before a thousand people in the room and proclaimed that Jesus was a socialist, therefore we must be socialist as well, and the entire crowd rose to their feet in applause. This is what we are dealing with, brothers and sisters. It is a very dangerous thing because we are dealing with a two-pronged danger, a clear and present danger in this country, the rise of communism and the rise of Islam. And it is something that every person in this room is going to have to come to terms with. And again, those are some of the things that we talk about on our national radio show. You know, I go back to the founding of our country and the role that Christians played in the founding of our great nation. I'm from the Baptist faith tradition, and our people were pretty involved in creating the army that eventually fought the British. They were having a hard time recruiting farmers back in the day to put down their hoes and their rakes and whatever else they were using and picking up firearms, muskets to fight the British.

15:34 There's a gentleman from Charleston, South Carolina. His name was Oliver Hart. He preached about the British from his pulpit and he used some salty language from his pulpit there at the First Baptist Church in Charleston. But he preached about freedom and liberty. Our founding fathers sent a delegation down to the First Baptist Church in Charleston, and they said, would you take that message out into the countryside? And the pastor said, I know a couple of other preachers will be happy to join me. And they got on horseback, and they rode into the countryside preaching that message in small communities all across South Carolina, and they rose up the army to fight the British. And I find it very interesting that our founding fathers, when they needed help securing our freedom, they came to the church house first. Think about that.

16:26 There was another young man, 15 years old. His name was Richard Furman. He was an evangelist. This 15-year-old boy went out there and he preached the gospel without fear. As a matter of fact, one of the great British generals said that he feared the prayers of that 15-year-old boy more than the armies of George Washington. Do you understand the rich spiritual heritage that we have as a people? Now, it's not in the history books, which is why it's so vitally important that we, as bodies of believers, teach American history. We teach our children, our young people, about who they came from, who their people were. We're not doing that. This is one of the reasons I'm such a huge advocate of Christian school education and homeschooling especially because I believe we have a responsibility, brothers and sisters, to teach our children about American history.

17:25 I think there are four things that we need to be focused on as we get ready for the midterm elections. And again, I'm just excited to see so many churches here in California that are now mobilizing. Yesterday, Steve Hilton, you guys know Steve Hilton. Steve Hilton was at the First Baptist Church in Long Beach, California. They were holding a rally in the church on a Saturday. How exciting is that? There are rallies being held at church houses across California. You guys, once again, are leading the way and setting an example for churches across the nation. But I do believe there are four key issues that we need to be focused on. Number one, we need to come to terms with the rise of Islam. I believe it to be a political ideology that is completely incompatible with the United States Constitution.

18:21 We have got to do something about that. Also, when you look at the rise of communism here, where is all of that coming from? I'm going to tell you where it's coming from. It's coming from our nation's taxpayer-funded education system. Do you really think that moms and dads are having conversations about Marxism around the supper table? I don't think so. No, it's happening in public schools. Many parents are not understanding what their kids are being taught in those public schools. And now as a result, we have at least one generation, at least one generation that already believes America is to blame for every single problem in the world. When you put Islam and communism together, you have a toxic and dangerous problem on your hands. And again, the education system, President Trump promised to defund and dismantle the Department of Education.

19:18 It cannot happen soon enough in my book. We have got to restore local control to our public schools. You know, I remember when I was growing up in the 1970s, I didn't realize those were the old days, but back in the 1970s when I was in grade school, we would actually start the day with a prayer. We actually had the Gideons. The Gideons, great businessmen, volunteers, and their only ministry is to make sure that Bibles are in every hotel room and every school classroom in America. So when I was a little kid, I remember the Gideons came in and they gave all of us heathen children, the little Bibles, and I still have my Gideon Bible that I was given in that school. Do you realize now they let drag queens into your local schools, but the Gideons are not allowed? That is a problem, brothers and sisters. By the way, some breaking news. I don't if you heard this yesterday, the WNBA, they have decided to convene an emergency summit to determine what the letter W stands for in WNBA. So there you go. Again, this is all happening in our nation's education system. The confusion around pronouns, the anti-Christian sentiment that is happening there. So the question is, what can we do about all of this? Is there anything we can do? Or is it all hopeless? Well, when I was growing up in church, we used to sing a hymn. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. So I do have hope in America, because our hope has to be in Jesus Christ and not these political parties. The first thing that we have to do, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, we have got to mobilize. We have got to get together with the younger kids in the family, teach them about America, teach them about the Bible, make sure they have a firm upbringing in the Christian faith. If we do not do that, we can't rely on

21:24 anybody else to do that. We have to start taking personal responsibility. But we also have to organize our churches as well. And we also have to understand, brothers and sisters, this is not about Republican or Democrat. This is about your values. What does the Bible say? Forget about what the parties say about an issue. What does the Bible say about an issue? There is a role. There is a role for Christians in the public marketplace. Absolutely. You know, I think about a young man I interview many years ago. His name was Roy and he was a high school student in a town called Liberty, South Carolina. And he was the valedictorian of his class. Roy was called into the principal's office one day and they said, Roy, you get to write a speech and you get to deliver that speech on graduation day. Roy was excited and he wrote a great speech. He's a Christian young man and he had been through some tough times in his life and so he wrote about those things in his speech and he quoted from the Bible and he got another call from the principal and said, Roy, you've got to come in here and you've got to, we've got to check out your speech. We've got to, we've got to take a look at your speech. Well, a few days went by and Roy was summoned again to the principal's office and when he got his speech back, he noticed that every reference to Jesus and God and the Bible had been blotted out. It looked like an NSA document. I mean, everything had been blotted out. He showed me a copy of it. And Roy was really torn because he knew that was the speech that God had placed on his heart to deliver. So Roy went to go talk to his pastor about the incident and was looking for advice and for guidance. And the pastor told Roy, well, you have a choice here.

23:14 do you obey god or do you obey the government roy prayed about it made sure his heart was in the right place that he wasn't doing it for himself or for his own glory and roy on graduation day it was quite the scene in liberty south carolina that was like the big event in town and his grandma and grandpa were there and mom and dad and everybody was there all the teachers that had censored Roy's speech were up on the platform. And they were smart, these teachers. They didn't let Roy walk up onto the stage with anything in his hands. They actually put the government-approved speech right there on the platform for Roy to deliver. But those educators did not count on the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, Roy Costner, that young 18-year-old boy from Liberty, South Carolina, walked up onto the stage, and he took the government-approved speech in his hands just like this. He tore it in half and set it aside, and he said these words in defiance of the government, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You see, Roy Costner took a stand.

24:23 And that's what we have to start doing. We have to do it in a winsome way. We can't go out like the left and burn down city blocks. That's not who we are. We're ambassadors for Christ. But we can take a stand, and we must be bold in our faith. You know, when I was writing The Golden Age, as Pastor Jack said, I've had the chance to interview the president quite a bit. And I'm always fascinated by those conversations. They say, what's it like interviewing President Trump? And I said, well, it's like being in the Daytona 500, except you're on the roof of the car holding on for dear life. So that's kind of what it's like.

25:04 I had called Mar-a-Lago, and I said, you know, I'm working on a book, and I'd like to sit down for an interview with the president. And they said, well, you're going to have 10 minutes, and you have to fly down to Mar-a-Lago to interview the president. So I'm like, okay, for five minutes I would do it. So anyway, I fly down there. We make all of our reservations. I did not stay at Mar-a-Lago. I stayed at the Hampton Inn. You get a free breakfast there. So I Uber over, and the poor Uber driver had gotten lost. And I finally said, I said, see that fellow with the big gun right there? He said, yeah. I said, turn left there. I think that's Mar-a-Lago. so we get in there and I meet the secret service guy and this is what I love about my job I just meet some of the the coolest people and so this guy happened to be a fan of mine and so and he and his wife they they're on the worship team of their local church he's a believer and we're just having a we're having a grand old time just sitting there talking like brothers in Christ right there at Mar-a-Lago in the lobby and so then all of a sudden he says now now brother Todd I need you to do me a favor. I said, yeah, absolutely. He goes, I need you to stand, put your hands against the wall, spread your legs. And I'm like, whoa, geez, this escalated very quickly here.

26:26 But anyway, I went up to interview the president, and that 10 minutes turned into about a two-hour interview. And it was really just, it was fascinating just to see how he thinks and his mind. And we did talk a lot about the things, and you'll read about those in the book. But this is a man, this is my takeaway from Donald Trump. This is a man who really does love America. And he's a man who believes that family is the most important thing. And I say that, and I write about this in the book. I had lunch there, dinner at Mar-a-Lago, and amazing food. But you can get the steak and the caviar and all that kind of stuff. And I'm going down the menu, and I'm like, Mrs. Trump's meatloaf. And I'm like, wait, what is this? and his mother's meatloaf recipe is served at Mar-a-Lago. And I thought, this is the wealthiest club in America, and they're serving meatloaf.

27:21 And it's great meatloaf, by the way, but it's meatloaf. And I thought to myself, this is what it means when Donald Trump, they call him the blue-collar billionaire. That meatloaf meant something to him. He loves his mom. You know, he's got the Bible that she had when she was alive. And that tells me a lot about this man, that what he's doing for the country, he's doing not just for us, but for our families, for our kids and our grandkids. You know, he really does understand that America was in a really tough spot. A lot of people ask me about the president's faith. Here's what I'm going to say about that. Here's a man who brought our people to the table. Brought your pastor to the table. Seeking their counsel. The counsel of evangelical leaders like Jack Graham from Prestonwood Baptist Church or Dr. Robert Jeffress. This is a president who is seeking wise, godly counsel.

28:22 I respect that. I respect the fact that President Trump is standing up for religious liberty. He's taking a stand and saying, you know what, we're not going to be sending the FBI after pro-lifers anymore. We're not going to be putting grandmas in jail because they prayed outside an abortion clinic. Those days are over in America. I appreciate that about our president. So again, as I was putting together the golden age, because everybody thinks, okay, great, Trump is in, it's over. Well, it's not over. It's not over. It is just the beginning. Because you see, if you see the copy, you think, oh, that kind of looks like the Great Gatsby from the 1920s. Well, guess what happened in the 1930s? You had the Great Depression. so we have a lot of work on our hands you know president trump has set the the stage for us but now it is up to all of us to continue the fight so what does that look like and how do we move forward and that's why it's so vitally important that we have thousands of churches like calgary chapultino hills that are actively engaged in the culture you want to know one of the most important jobs, one of the most important positions in America right now, it's at your local school board. Those roles, and you guys know this, those roles are so vitally important because you guys are on the front lines here. We've got to make sure that our kids are not being spoon-fed Islamic and communist propaganda. And you would be shocked, it's even happening in the southern states. I mean, the buckle of the Bible belt, and we are dealing with these very issues. So again, engage the culture. Be engaged in the fight. You know, I tell a story in the book about Ronald Reagan. He was my favorite president. I love President Trump. Ronald Reagan, that was the first president that I got to, you know, vote for. I was, that was pretty cool experience for me as a kid. And had the old Reagan Bush t-shirt, you know, it's go old school you know when I think about Ronald Reagan and the things that he was dealing

30:31 with at the time one of the most one of the most compelling stories I've ever heard was not in any of the books that they wrote about Ronald Reagan it turns out a columnist in New York by the name of Karen Tumulty was working on a research project about Nancy Reagan she was at the Reagan library and if you haven't been up to the Reagan Library I would urge you to do that and she was going through some boxes and she came across a letter a handwritten letter by Ronald Reagan it's an interesting story this letter you see Ronald Reagan's father-in-law was not a believer he was a renowned neurosurgeon Loyal Davis Dr. Loyal Davis and he was an atheist he was a non-believer and he was nearing the end of his life well at that particular time Reagan had just had still been recovering from the attempted assassination when John Hinckley shot him outside the Washington Hilton.

31:27 And he was recovering from all of that. We were in the throes of whether or not we were going to go to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Reagan had a lot on his mind. But there was one specific thing that was on his mind on that day. It was his father-in-law. His father-in-law was nearing death. And Ronald Reagan sat down. He had the literal, the weight of the world on his shoulders. And he sat down and he wrote a four-page letter by hand to his father-in-law. And he explained the gospel message. And he pleaded with his father-in-law to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. President Reagan writing in that beautiful penmanship of his, quoting John 3.16, and talking about the love that Dr. Davis had with his wife of many, many years, He said, you know a special love, but there is a greater love, a love that compelled God to send Jesus to be crucified on a cross for our sins.

32:32 Reagan wrote all of this. And as he finished his four-page letter, he didn't sign it, President Ronald Reagan. He signed it, Love Ronnie. You see, in spite of all of the chaos in the world, on that particular day, the only thing that mattered to Ronald Reagan was one single soul. you know especially in California I get it you guys have been under under the gun for decades now and when you take a look at how do we fix all of this it sometimes can be overwhelming right but that's not what God is calling us to do God is calling us to go out there and win one soul at a time you see if you really want to change the direction of California it's not going to change with politics it's going to change with hearts and minds and that's our job that is our job to go out there when was the last time that you shared Jesus with someone when was the last time you stopped and just maybe had a conversation with someone put down the smartphones put down all the technology and just have a cup of coffee with somebody you know I I tried that on the flight out here. And I'm a tech, I am so addicted to this thing, it's ridiculous.

34:02 But I thought I'm going to try it on the airplane flight out here. So I asked the flight attendant for a cup of coffee. And I said, I'm not going to, I'm going to unplug, I'm just going to sit here and I'm going to drink the coffee and think. And I made it through two sips. And I started getting jittery and I don't think it was the caffeine. But it's hard to do, right? Because you're so consumed, right, with whatever is happening here when we need to be focused with what's happening out there, right? So my encouragement to us as we move into the election cycle, have conversations with people. Talk to folks. Go share the gospel with somebody. Tell them about Jesus. That's ultimately what the Golden Age is really all about. You see, it's not a destination. Remember, there's a great songwriter, George Beverly Shea, you might remember this he wrote a song I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold it's not about lower gas prices the golden age it's not about getting wealthy that's not what the golden age is about it's an aspiration it's about being a good and godly citizen of this country it's it's about passing along freedom in the bloodstream you see Ronald Reagan once said that our freedom is not passed along in the bloodstream.

35:22 Every single generation has to fight for freedom. And he also said something else. American greatness, no, it doesn't start in Washington, D.C. American greatness starts around the dinner table. Have conversations with your kids. And again, going back to this central theme, we have got to educate the next generation about what it means to be an American citizen. You know, I'm honored to be a part of the Real Life Network, and they'll be carrying my program, my three-hour radio program. We're doing a special one-hour edition, and we're going to talk about these issues every single day on this show, bringing in folks to have those kinds of conversations, real conversations. And it's such a blessing, the great ministry you guys have here, thanks to the Real Life Network, getting that information out. That's what it's all about. You know, I want to read to you, if it's okay, I wanted to share something, if I may, from the book. Because I think ultimately, you know, people get caught up in what's been happening in our culture. And a lot of times we lose sight of it all. And this sort of gives you an idea of where I think we need to go.

36:35 as I get lost in my own book. so at the very end of the book i sort of sum it all up for everybody because people think oh this is like a get rich quick skip no it's not this is about taking a stand for the next generation when i was a little boy my grandparents took me to a billy graham evangelistic crusade at the liberty bowl in memphis years later i was gifted a beautiful piece of artwork commemorating that incredible gathering. I was too young to recall the program in great detail, but the great gospel singer, George Beverly Shea, was a regular performer at the Crusades. In the 1930s, he took a poem written by Ray Miller and wrote a song that is still sung to this day in many churches around the nation. I'd rather have Jesus. I'd rather have Jesus in silver or gold. I'd rather be his than have riches untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land.

37:42 I'd rather be led by his nail-pierced hand. See, the golden age is not about lower gas prices or affordable housing or a super majority of Republicans in Congress. It's not about fame or power. The golden age is about an idea birthed 250 years ago by a group of farmers and shopkeepers and inventors that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. It's true the golden age will bring us great prosperity and peace and scientific achievements. But as a people we must turn our eyes toward Jesus. As President Trump reminded us, President Trump reminded us of this, the love of Christ has unfailingly guided our nation through the calm waters and dark storms. And our Lord will also guide us through this great golden age. In 2005, I had my first major open heart surgery. I was 37 years old. I went to the doctor. I thought I had bronchitis. They said your aortic valve was about to fail. And within a matter of hours, I was at the hospital having open heart surgery.

38:59 I remember for the first time in my life, I really found myself asking a lot of questions. And I remembered right away thinking that my life, literally for the first time in my life, I was not in control. I was not in the driver's seat anymore. And it was a little unsettling. Because I had realized up until that point in my life, I had never just let go and let God take control. I remember that my news organization was going to record the surgery. They wanted to do a big story about it. They had asked me to come up with some things to say. And I had written out a prayer. Now the Episcopalians, they're good at prayers. They have a whole book of them. The Book of Prayers. So I went to the Book of Prayers for some guidance. This is a true story. And I jotted down some things.

39:52 And I came up with like, Almighty, most holy Father, please blesseth thy surgeon as he cutteth upon thy servant's body. Something like that. And I remember this like it was yesterday. They hooked me up with a garden hose. They were putting some good drugs into my system. And I remember as the drugs, I could feel them coursing through my veins. And I remember wanting to get up and get out of there. And I couldn't do it. I had lost complete control. It was almost like I was paralyzed. and then I remembered that prayer I'm like oh I gotta pray the prayer I gotta pray the prayer and I ended up praying the most earnest prayer of my life God please don't let me die you know a lot of times we think that God looks at the trappings of life right we you know we we expect God in the noise but really God in many cases is in the quietness of our lives the Lord he doesn't want fancy words multi-syllable prayers he just wants earnestness and for the first time in my life you know I prayed an earnest prayer well I was single at the time and I remember waking up they wanted to be there for my first words after the heart surgery they took me off the life support and they they had the microphone there and they said Todd you've just survived open heart surgery and I had actually memorized what I was going to say I was going to say to God be the glory and they said you've just survived open heart surgery what do you want to tell Sacramento I was anchoring the news in Sacramento at the time. What do you want to tell Sacramento, Todd? I said, I need a woman.

41:44 It was earnest, what can I say? I promise you this all ties in. As a result of that, I won the Edward R. Murrow Award, that story, and Fox News hired me and moved me to New York City. The following year, that was in 2005, the next year, my dad died very suddenly. He was in his early 60s. And the year after that, my mom passed. She was 59 years old. And I remember I was walking in Central Park and just really having a difficult time. You know, it's just hard. It's just hard. And you wonder, okay, what's coming next, Lord? And I remember my mom was a great cook, a great Southern cook, and she was known for her sweet potato pies, which used a lot of cinnamon. And you could smell those things baking all over the house.

42:53 There's a little bakery over in Central Park. And I was on this particular autumn day, they were baking something and I just caught a whiff of cinnamon in the air. And I don't know why, but it reminded me of a verse that I learned as a little boy growing up in Awana, where you memorize scripture. And that little scripture had been tucked away in my heart for decades, but it came back to me. God's mercies are new every morning. They're new every morning. And you know, sometimes God's mercies, they smell just like sweet potato pie, right? You never know. Again, you look at the big things in life, but God is in the little things. He's in the detail. As we go through what is going to be a difficult time in our nation, no doubt about it, we're fighting some pretty big fights.

43:48 just remember that God is in control and that no matter what happens in your life he is still on the throne and he's going to be on the throne if a Democrat wins or a Libertarian he's going to be on the throne no matter what. So do not be discouraged let not your heart be troubled because we serve a mighty, mighty God. I want to close with a question. Do you know Jesus? Do you know Jesus? Have you taken that moment in your life to contemplate your story, where you are right now? Maybe you're one of those people who is struggling. Maybe you're going through some health issues right now, and you really don't know what the future holds. Pastor Chris, backstage, before we came on to the service this morning, shared with me, he was counseling somebody who was really nervous about going through a surgery, and Pastor Chris said, what's the worst thing that could happen?

45:02 And he said, the worst thing that could happen is, well, you know, I could die? No. the worst thing that could happen is you're still here. It took me a second to think about that back there, but I'm like, I'd only had one cup of coffee, but I'm like, yeah, that's right. Because you know what? My home is not here. My home is in glory. Our home is in glory.

45:28 I want to tell you this. Those of you who don't know Jesus, you can know him. You don't have to put extra money in the offering plate. you don't have to wear a sunday suit jesus says come as you are to the foot of the cross it is equal at the foot of the cross it is equal it doesn't matter what you've done in your life jesus will forgive you he forgives your sins this morning we're going to have a time where maybe you want to come and pray at our church on sunday we we fill the altar and folks come down and they pray. Maybe you want to talk to a pastor here about accepting Jesus. What do you need to do to make that happen? Maybe some of you are looking for a congregation to join. I'm telling you, this is a great congregation. If I could join Calvary Chapel, I would be here on Sundays from Memphis, Tennessee. But maybe you just want to come and grab somebody and just pray. You've got something going on in your life. I'm going to offer us a word of prayer here, and the worship team is going to come out and they're going to lead us in music and we're just gonna we're just gonna worship we're gonna worship Jesus this is not the end of the service this is just the beginning this is who we are as believers in Jesus father we thank you for the work that you have done in our lives we thank you for Jesus thank you father for the ultimate sacrifice that he made on that cross father i just pray that you would move in the hearts of the people gathered in this room you know circumstances we don't need to know but you know there are people that may be struggling with things maybe the future is unclear job situation family situation kids going off to college, trying to figure out what's next in their lives. Father, you have the answers for all of those things. And Lord, we live in a country and a society where it seems like it's all noise all

47:37 the time, whether it's on social media or on cable television. But Father, here in this room, we pray that you would speak to us in the silence father move in our hearts father we pray that you would move in our nation i thank you for this congregation father for the example they are setting for the rest of us and father we do what we do not to bring honor and glory to calvary chapel or the republican party or president trump no we do what we do to bring honor and glory to you. father we love you we are just so blessed as a people thank you for this country thank you for the work you did and our founding fathers they had no idea what they were going to create but they stepped out in faith and look at where we are now so father i pray that this generation would step out in faith father that you would move in our lives that your will would be done and father that no matter what in the good days and the bad days and the so-so days that we would love you we would cling to you and when it's all said and done we can say I'd rather have Jesus.

49:13 let's just stand together, worship together. Come if you want to pray here at the altar. If you want to be saved, if you want to know Jesus, please come to the front as the worship team leads us.