Join us as we explore the latest findings from the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible report, revealing a remarkable increase in Bible engagement across diverse demographics. With insights from Dr. John Plake, this episode sheds light on the spiritual shifts taking place in America, providing a backdrop to the broader socio-political events unfolding in Washington. Whether addressing humanitarian efforts in Myanmar or the appointment of key political figures, the conversation stresses the importance of integrating faith with public service.
SPEAKER 10 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s a good day in the House, and I told you not to doubt us. The media always does. The Democrats always do. But we get the job done, and we’re really grateful to have had the big victory on the floor just now. It was a big one, a very important one.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was House Speaker Mike Johnson shortly after the House passed the Senate budget resolution earlier today. Welcome to the April 10th edition of Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, before leaving town, the House defied expectations by advancing a budget resolution that brings Congress one step closer to President Trump’s policy priorities. We’ll talk about that and this week’s top highlights with Suzanne Bowdy, Editorial Director and Senior Writer at the Washington Stand. And there’s good news about the good news. Out today from the American Bible Society, in their 15th annual State of the Bible Report, Bible engagement is on the rise, particularly among some surprising demographics. We’ll talk with Dr. John Plague, Chief Innovative Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the State of the Bible series. He joins me to unpack the findings. On March 28, the devastating earthquake struck Myanmar, claiming more than 3,500 lives.
SPEAKER 15 :
The situation is utterly desperate, and I’ve been in Mandalay this morning, which of course is one of the areas that was most affected by the quake. It is a disaster of epic proportions, but there are also enormous amounts of generosity and compassion and resilience out there too.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was Tom Fletcher, Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations. We’ll talk with Edward Graham from Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan’s Purse is on the ground spearheading relief efforts in Myanmar. And grandparents, this one’s for you. Don’t miss my conversation with the Friday host of Washington Watch, Jody Heiss. He’ll be joining me here in studio for a special discussion just for you. And finally, session eight of our FRC God and Government course is now out. In this episode, I explore what the Bible says about economic issues like wealth, inflation, and the government’s role in the economy. I also explain God’s standard for economic relations and our responsibility as Christians in managing our resources. God and Government is available exclusively on the StandFirm app. If you don’t have the StandFirm app yet but want to access the course, Well, guess what? Text the word course to 67742 and I’ll send you a link. That’s course to 67742. All right. It has been a whirlwind week here in Washington, D.C., that culminated this morning with the House’s approval of the Senate budget blueprint for President Trump’s legislative priorities. Joining me now with an update on not only the budget bill, but a lot of the other activities that took place on Capitol Hill this week, Suzanne Bowdy, Editorial Director and Senior Writer at the Washington Stand. Suzanne, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thanks, Tony.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’re becoming a regular.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s like Groundhog Day in here.
SPEAKER 04 :
It is. All right. Let’s talk about the Senate budget resolution. I was actually on the Hill before the vote meeting with the majority leader. A lot of work went in this overnight. It was pulled back yesterday. They didn’t have the votes. Press conference, joint press conference between the House speaker and the Senate leader, John Thune. And they got it across the line.
SPEAKER 11 :
A lot can happen in 12 hours, as we saw last night. When you and I talked last, the rule had passed, which meant that the members could vote on the final bill, but they were nowhere close to getting all of the House Freedom Caucus members on board. You saw House Freedom Caucus members marching across the Capitol to John Thune’s office where they met, walked back not having come to a resolution. They met with Speaker Johnson on the floor numerous times. He kept the vote open 90 minutes before was still not able to convince members. But I don’t know what kind of rabbits he has in his habit. He keeps pulling them out one after the other. And overnight, seemingly after discussions that went on late into the evening, he was able to get some concessions from Thune, which I think ultimately were what brought people like Chip Roy across the line. Thune did agree to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, which is, as we all think, the floor for where the spending cuts should be, but a bare minimum, which I believe got House Freedom Caucus members on board.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I think one of the things that allowed this to occur is, and one of those other rabbits that you talked about that Mike, the speaker, seems to be able to pull out, is that he is allowing the process to work as it should. It’s deliberative, it’s ugly, it’s sometimes messy, and it’s slow. But he’s giving all the members an opportunity to voice their concerns and their objections. And in the end, they generally come together with consensus. That is the legislative process. The sad news is that’s not always how it’s worked.
SPEAKER 11 :
No. And I think one of the most interesting things about last night’s debate and this morning’s is that Donald Trump didn’t call the members this morning. Speaker Johnson did this on his own. And I think it’s a tremendous credit to him as a speaker. You know, we’ve seen several iterations of speakers that have been very, like, very hands-on, very, very tightly gripped members. You know, you can’t step out of line. Very imperial in how they’re dealing with the members. And Mike, to his credit, has just been very willing to listen. And I think that’s a result also of the narrow majority that he has. I mean, he’s forced to listen in some ways.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s also his style.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s also just the kind of person that he is. He cares about his members. He actually agrees with House Freedom Conservative, or House Freedom Caucus members, as he should. It’s not like they were asking for something unreasonable.
SPEAKER 04 :
But But their experience is promises are pretty cheap in this city. But the other side of that is different players. These are different players today than we’ve had before. John Thune is new in this role. Now, he’s not new to the city, but he’s new in this leadership role. Donald Trump clearly is not like any other political leader, any other president we’ve had. There are some dynamics here at play that I think in the end gave them confidence that these promises made will be promises that are kept.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I think it is more of a test for John Thune in a lot of ways than Mike Johnson. We’ve now seen Mike with four huge victories just this year alone. He won the speakership. He won the CR. He passed the House budget, which nobody thought was possible. Now he passes the Senate budget with just two defections, which… No one would have seen coming. Nearly impossible. But for John Thune, this is now his time to prove to conservatives that he means business. And to the members on his side of the chamber, he needs to show that, yes, I’m also interested in spending cuts. This is why Donald Trump was elected. I mean, people get that maybe their eyes glaze over. We’re talking about reconciliation. We’re talking about the budget. But if they voted for Donald Trump and they care about his agenda, then this bill means an awful lot to every voter.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, Suzanne, speaking of his agenda, one of his agenda items that he did an executive order on was election integrity. Of course, we’ve talked about this many times and we’re gonna continue to talk about it because it’s important. It was part of my conversation this morning on the Hill, is that executive orders can change. With the next administration, the pendulum swings the other way. So do the executive orders. Has to be codified. Congress took a step in at least codifying a portion of the president’s work on election integrity with the SAVE Act today.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I hope that it’s something that continues. But you’re right. This will put into if the Senate would take it up. This would actually guarantee that you have to have voter ID, things that we all agree with, proof of citizenship and things like that. And actually, what’s very interesting about the SAVE Act passing is that it passed with four Democrats. That’s that just proves that this is an across the aisle issue. This is a bipartisan issue.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think this is sound like a lot, but it is.
SPEAKER 11 :
It is. And I think Democratic voters, they’ve actually done polling where those voters, too, care about whether their votes are safeguarded, whether there’s election integrity. It’s not just Republicans. So these Democrats that have crossed over, I think it’s very revealing that this is becoming more of a universal issue, as it should be. I mean, we should all care about our elections being safe and secure.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, speaking of crossing over, we only had one Democrat crossover in the Senate to support the new ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. Right, and who is that? Well, that was John Fetterman, was the one Democratic senator giving Mike Huckabee a confirmation vote of 53 to 46.
SPEAKER 11 :
And he’s rapidly becoming the most sane of the Democrats.
SPEAKER 04 :
Which is very fascinating.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s a very surreal situation in the Senate when I agree with John Fetterman. But more and more, he’s seeing where we can come together and agree on things that should be common sense. Mike Huckabee is a great friend to Israel. He’s pro-Israel. I can’t think of a better ambassador. So for Fetterman to at least acknowledge that, the token Democrat, I’m glad to see at least one.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was texting with Mike Deering the vote as the vote total went over 51. He’ll be in Israel probably next week, he said. So I look forward to seeing him maybe at the end of the month when I’m back in Israel. But you’re right, this is the first, and I think this is very important, and this is to Donald Trump’s credit. This is the first time we’ve had an evangelical selected and confirmed to be ambassador to Israel since the foundation of the new nation.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I also think that it just shows how far we’ve come from the Biden administration. This sort of completes, in my mind, the 180 that this president has done on Israel. He’s not only, you know, reestablished our relationship with Israel, strengthened those ties with our best ally in the Middle East, but he’s also appointing his people to go and and negotiate for him men of character, men who care about Israel, who have a long legacy of fighting for Israelis. And I think there’s no better time than now as things are so volatile over there.
SPEAKER 04 :
So what has been the reaction from Israeli officials to the confirmation?
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, I think they’re thrilled. Netanyahu tweeted this morning his congratulations. to Mike Huckabee or yesterday. And I think they’re honestly glad to have a broker who has the same goals as they do in that region. And they trust Donald Trump and they trust they can now trust Mike Huckabee to be one in that region, bringing stability, I believe.
SPEAKER 04 :
There’s a long, long history there, Mike. Mike is now ambassador, has been going to Israel for a long time, actually taking Christians on tours there. I was in a meeting with him in February with the prime minister. A lot of affinity there. This is really good news to see Mike Huckabee as the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Now, David Friedman was a great ambassador as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
Who’s now being considered for the ambassador to the UN role, so he’ll still maybe play a part.
SPEAKER 04 :
So they’re all, I mean, very good. But this is even tightening that relationship between evangelicals and Israel.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and as you say, personnel is policy, and there’s no better person to send to Israel than Mike Huckabee. I think a lot of Christians in America have been waiting for a day when we have somebody who carries that banner with them to the Middle East.
SPEAKER 04 :
What else were we tracking this week on the Hill?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, interestingly, you and I talked yesterday about the No Rogue Judges Act. That did pass the House. Actually, that passed right after the rule was adopted. So that was sort of the vote that was taking place as all the budget meetings were happening. Interestingly enough, you had wondered yesterday, would any Democrats see this as an important bipartisan issue? They did not. No Democrats crossed over and one Republican actually voted with the Democrats, Mike Turner. So It did pass. That’s a good sign. It will now head to the Senate where we hope, I mean, if no Democrats supported in the House, it probably faces a tough battle in the Senate. But Senator Grassley has the bill there and the Senate, I assume, would take it up under Thune. And we’ll see what happens.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, so Congress left town right after the vote, so they’re flying in all parts of the country. And next week, a lot of them on congressional, official congressional trips to various places in the world. What do we anticipate when they return in two weeks?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, I think honestly the conversations are going to continue happening. Now that the budget process has been unlocked, even Speaker Johnson today and Scalise also said, you know, all of our committees are going to start working now. Now they have 11 committees that need to line up and start putting – meat on the bones of what this will look like. And this is the hard work. This is the going line by line. This is deciding what we’re doing about tax cuts, what we’re doing about spending cuts, how we’re handling the debt limit. I mean, obviously, if we cut enough, we wouldn’t have to deal with the debt limit, which is the great irony. But now the real work begins, I think. So this is great. I think Mike Johnson won an incredible victory. He deserves so much credit for how he’s handling the House and receives very little of it with the margins he has. It’s incredible what he’s accomplished. But now he’ll really have his work cut out for him, and so will John Thune.
SPEAKER 04 :
And their commitment is to try to get this done by Memorial Day. That’s what the Speaker said earlier this week, what the Majority Leader Steve Scalise said this morning in my visit with him. So it is…
SPEAKER 11 :
Time is of the essence.
SPEAKER 04 :
But they need to get it. What was important also about this is this is the vehicle for the tax cuts being made permanent, which provides some stability, I think, to the stock market. Suzanne, thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you, Tony.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, folks, don’t go away. Some good news about the good news when we come back.
SPEAKER 08 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
SPEAKER 08 :
Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
SPEAKER 08 :
Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
SPEAKER 04 :
These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
SPEAKER 08 :
Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
SPEAKER 01 :
We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
SPEAKER 08 :
FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
SPEAKER 05 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
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Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Thursday. Well, amid all the news focused on where America is politically and economically, I think it’s good to step back and get a read on where America is spiritually. A new report from the American Bible Society provides another indicator that there is some positive activity taking place, a shift, if you will. The latest State of the Bible report appears to show an increase in both Bible use and Scripture engagement for the first time since 2021. But what is of even greater interest is where this increases coming from? Here to discuss this, Dr. John Plake, Chief Innovation Officer at American Bible Society and Editor-in-Chief of the State of the Bible series. Dr. Plake, welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to see you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you, Tony. It’s good to be back with you.
SPEAKER 04 :
So today, a new report released, 15th annual report. What are the primary takeaways from this year’s report?
SPEAKER 14 :
I think the big headline is that compared to last year, 10 million more American adults are reading the Bible outside of church, at least sometimes. We call these people Bible users, and the threshold there is they have to say they read the Bible at least three times a year outside of times when they’re in church. Of course, many, many of them read the Bible much more frequently than that. We’ve got to draw the line someplace. um we had last year in 2024 recorded an historic low only 38 percent of americans qualified as bible users in 2024 and that was the continuation of a downward trend that we had seen really since covid set in uh covid caused a spike initially in bible use and then it just fell off a cliff and we began to scratch our heads and wonder if this was ever going to come back And we’ve rebounded to 41% of Bible users, Americans being Bible users. So that’s 10 million people. The really interesting part, though, as you mentioned earlier, is what’s beneath that number. You know, we often think about Bible users being anchored by women in America. They have a deep faith. Moms and other women in America are deeply engaged with the Bible, typically. And yet, what we saw here was that women were statistically unchanged from 2024. Not a bad thing. But what we saw, interestingly, was that men increased their Bible use by 19% year over year. And that really closed that long-time gender gap in Bible use. And not just men, but millennials. The millennial generation has been in the doldrums for quite some time. really one of the least engaged generations in America, but they saw a 29% increase in Bible use in that generation alone.
SPEAKER 04 :
Dr. Blake, what I find interesting about that is that’s consistent with other studies and information that’s coming forth. So when you look at that collectively, there’s something to that. What is behind it?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, you know, as researchers, we don’t know. What we do know is that as we talk to our colleagues, not just in the United States, but around the world, Dr. Rhiannon McAleer, who is with the British and Foreign Bible Society, recently completed a major study in England and Wales that showed a surprising warming of Gen Z, as they call it across the pond. a warming toward the Bible and a warming toward God. On April 30th, they’re going to release a real landmark global study called the Patmos Study, and it looks at global Bible use. Over 90,000 people interviewed in that study, along with the Gallup World Poll, so it is a major deal, and I hope you’ll be following along with that. But We’re also hearing, you know, more anecdotal stories. We’re hearing things coming off university campuses with young people crowding into gospel-focused meetings or crowding into churches. Churches outside Oxford University are beginning to fill up with young people who I think are having an openness to the gospel that maybe their parents’ or grandparents’ generation never had, and they’re searching for something more.
SPEAKER 04 :
Again, that’s consistent with the reports I’m getting from colleges, college campuses, even speakers, ministers that are going on to these campuses on Ivy League campuses are telling me, in fact, we’ve talked about it here on Washington Watch. This is my take on it. I mean, you’re the one that did the research, but just as I see across the board, not just with your research, but others, is that the greater the uncertainty on the outside seems to be coming as a culture and as a country, as a society, that people, especially the younger generation, looking for some form of stability and searching for answers.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I think we’ve tracked that year over year, that as people experience disruptions in their lives, so that can be grief and loss as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it can be other kinds of things that are negative, relational discomfort or brokenness. It can be good things. They can become a parent for the first time. We think some of the parenting challenges may be driving what we’re seeing among the millennial generation. But it’s these disruptions that kind of take people out of living their life on rails, just the way they always do it, that creates an openness to maybe there’s something more here. Maybe the assumptions that I’ve had about the world, about how it works, about who I am and who others are, those might not be as useful in these disrupted times, and so they tend to reach for the Bible, and we’re certainly seeing them do that in fairly significant numbers.
SPEAKER 04 :
Dr. Plick, what about those dramatic depictions of Bible stories like The Chosen, and we’ve seen a number of Bible-themed movies. Is that driving interest in biblical engagement?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I think if you listen to Dallas Jenkins and some of the people who are associated with The Chosen, Stan Jantz and others, they will be able to tell you story after story after story of people whose lives have been interrupted and really deeply impacted by that wonderful storytelling that’s going on, whether it’s, you know, Amazon’s House of David or these other kind of theatrical productions that are focusing on biblical themes, I think that many of the people who view these may have been distant from Scripture, and it is causing them to dig in more deeply into Scripture. In fact, our friends at YouVersion, who run the Bible app, that you may use on your phone, they actually can track spikes in search activity within the Bible app based on what The Chosen is talking about during their productions. So, you know, there’s definitely a connection going on there, but also art is imitating life. I think The production companies that stand behind these kinds of Bible-based features are realizing that there is a yearning for something more and that audiences are coming. It would be different if they were putting out this content and nobody showed up. Nobody had any particular interest in it. But that’s not the case. People are more spiritually open than we would imagine. And in fact, we’ve been working recently on a study in San Francisco, which is not known for – It’s, you know, deep Bible engagement. But what we’ve noticed is there’s a deep generational divide. If we take baby boomers and older and we separate them from Gen X and younger, it’s a very different and much warmer picture for the gospel.
SPEAKER 04 :
There’s an open window here. We need to seize that window. Dr. Blake, we’re out of time. Always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. Folks, stick around. We’re back with more after this.
SPEAKER 06 :
Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our world view. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They are disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release, and the forest and the trees.
SPEAKER 04 :
The death toll from the March 28th earthquake in Myanmar now stands at 3,600. The focus has shifted from rescue to providing aid and services to the survivors. Thankfully, they have the help of our friends at Samaritan’s Purse, who recently began surgical operations for the injured. Here to discuss this and more, Edward Graham, Chief Operating Officer of Samaritan’s Purse. Edward, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, Tony. Thanks for always having us on. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, your team is on the ground set up in Myanmar. Give us a read of what the situation looks like there.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, we sent staff members right away. We’re in surrounding countries with offices. We actually used to have an office for years in Miramar. We closed it in 2022. So we have relationships there with local groups. But we got teams in right away, showed us that obviously it’s horrific. There’s such great tragedy, such loss. So we immediately began working to try to deploy our tier three hospital, which is the largest hospital that we can deploy. This was going to be mostly an orthopedic hospital. We’ve done earthquakes before. And so we know usually what’s going to be needed. But we got approval from the government to be able to go in and bring this in. We at first sent forward surgical teams that are able to go in just with equipment that can go on commercial flights. And so they started doing surgeries within really the week after the earthquake. We’ve gotten ours on the ground now. Partial of it came from our DC-8. that flew out of Greensboro, North Carolina, did something different. We went to Calgary, Canada, where we store one of our hospitals there, picked it up and took it along with some of our DART team. And they started doing surgeries pretty much within a couple of days. Then it followed up with a 747 that we leased and it’s brought in the rest of it. The complete hospital will be done here this week, but we’re already surgical capable. And so this is a 60 bed hospital, but to date we’ve already done 26 surgeries. And we do this because we love our neighbor and we want them to know the truth that God loves them and has not forsaken them, but it’s bad. So I just ask your viewers to be praying for Miramar. There’s a lot of hurt and tragedy there.
SPEAKER 04 :
The situation there from a, infrastructure standpoint i mean this is a country that’s been racked by uh turmoil and uh and war and conflicts i mean this is uh they don’t really have a whole lot to begin with no no they’re they’re at war right now actually and uh so there’s a lot going on there politically within the country
SPEAKER 12 :
but the government has been very good to us and allowing us to be there to serve people. They know their people are hurting and so the work that we’re doing is actually in a stadium and they bring the patients further from the north down to us. We’re set up there in the capital but they transformed us just because their hospital medical system is overwhelmed and they desperately needed help. But again, medicine is a magnet for the gospel. And just to be able to love those that are hurting in the world, just like the story of the Good Samaritan, meet the immediate needs of those that are suffering. But the most important part of that story is there was a debt paid and that’s the blood of Jesus Christ and that’s why we go. And so just some neat people there that are working hard to serve and love their own community. Some great civilians there that are working hard are part of our hospital and it’s a neat opportunity for them to be a part of that. And so our staff is bragging about the locals there and what they’re doing to love their neighbors.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and I know that the Samaritan’s Prayer serves in Jesus’ name, and it goes with the gospel because it is the gospel in action. What have you experienced on that front in terms of being able to share the love of Jesus, not just in actions, but in words?
SPEAKER 12 :
YEAH, THEY KNOW WHO WE ARE AND IT SAYS IT ON OUR AIRCRAFT WHEN WE LAND, WHEN THAT D.C. ATLANTA SAYS IN JESUS’ NAME. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE LOCAL PRESS HAS PICKED THAT UP AND EVEN COVERED WHAT IT SAYS ON OUR AIRCRAFT AND WHAT WE TALK ABOUT SERVING IN JESUS’ NAME. AND IT’S KIND OF LIKE AN EMBASSY, YOU KNOW, IF THE HOSPITAL’S THERE, WE’RE ALLOWED TO OPERATE AS WE BELIEVE AND THAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO AND WE CAN BE BOLD WITH THAT. AND SO, YES, IT IS A COUNTRY THAT’S USUALLY NOT OPEN TO THE GOSPEL. But we want the government there to know we love their people very much. And they’re allowing us to be there right now. So we greatly appreciate the invitation. We’re there at the invitation of them. And just fortunate that we get to serve in such a crisis as this. And that’s why your view, just be praying for that country. There’s so much going on even beyond the earthquake. They desperately need our prayers.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, it’s a country that’s long had conflict there. And so we do need to be praying for them, need to be praying for the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers and staff that are on the ground there as well for their safety and stamina in dealing with this. We, Edward, we have a couple minutes left. I want to go to some of the other areas because there’s still a lot. I was talking to a member of Congress from North Carolina just yesterday about the relief effort that restoration, all of that rebuilding that’s taking place in North Carolina, Samaritan’s Purse is still a part of that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, we haven’t gone anywhere. Our immediate disaster relief, as we call it, where we’re mucking out homes, we’re actually sending even some of our disaster assistant response teams, same type of team members that we sent to Miramar, have been working in Western North Carolina delivering car. My dad was at a car distribution today where we were delivering new cars to people that have lost theirs in the storm. And we’ve been doing that for a while. We’ve given, I think, close to 200 by now, cars out to people that need it, campers as well. The campers were for until we can actually get long-term living solutions to people. So we’re doing, we’re committed to a thousand homes, that’s stick built and mobile. And we do it based off case management and we don’t want someone, we don’t want to build a stick built home to someone they lose it to tax reasons later on. But we’re working heavily throughout Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee. This is home to me. It’s home to my father. Really, everything from Boone, North Carolina, where I live, and everything to Asheville, North Carolina, where my dad is from, was just devastated. And so we’re not going anywhere. There’s so much work to be done. But we’re even doing roads and bridges, stuff we’ve never done before. But you can’t get to these communities. The infrastructure is gone. It’s a storm of epic proportions. I’ve never seen anything like it. And so we’re even doing bridges and culverts. And the state’s allowing us to. Usually we can’t touch water with heavy equipment. They don’t want the heavy equipment down in these creeks and rivers. But you have to. And they’re letting us do it. And we greatly appreciate the state letting us do it so we can love our neighbors. All right, Edward, we’re almost out of time. Very quickly, how can folks connect with you? Yeah, go to SamaritansPurse.org. It says how to get involved. We’re in five different locations in the U.S. right now that you can volunteer in. All right, and it’s time well spent. Edward Graham, always great to see you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks for what you do. All right, folks, stick with us. We’re back with more after this.
SPEAKER 07 :
What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. From the Ten Commandments in classrooms to the immigration crisis of America, we’ll uncover the The foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 06 :
The world is hurting. Streets are filled with crime. Families are broken. Sin is celebrated and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these SageCons yourself, go to frc.org slash SageCon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. Let me remind you once again, our eighth edition of God and Government is out and we talk about the economy. What is the government’s role in the economy? What does the Bible have to say about it? Well, you can find out with this week’s edition of God and Government, but it’s available only on the Stand Firm app. And if you don’t have the app, I tell you what, text the word COURSE to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. That’s COURSE to 67742. It’s very timely. Our word for today comes from Ezekiel 28. Because your heart is lifted up… Yet you are a man and not a God. But your great wisdom in trade, you have increased your riches and your heart is lifted up because of your riches. You know, pride places us in a vulnerable state, especially when it tempts us to compete with God. The Prince of Tyre believed he could ascend to divinity, yet God reminded him of his humanity. we too can be seduced by our own achievements forgetting that all we have comes from the lord as c.s lewis observed quote pride gets no pleasure out of having something only out of having more of it than the next man end quote when we measure ourselves against others we cultivate self-exaltation Once comparison ceases, so does pride. Let’s resist the arrogance by daily remembering we are not gods, but stewards of God’s gifts. True humility begins when we acknowledge our dependence on the one who grants us wisdom, success, and life itself. May we guard our hearts against the lure of pride, striving instead to honor him alone. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, as we kind of put a bow on today’s program, I want to bring in someone who is no stranger to our eliciting audience. He is our Friday host, former member of Congress, Jody Heiss, senior vice president here at the Family Research Council. And he’s been serving as president at FRC Action. Jody, welcome to Washington Watch. Tony, great to be with you.
SPEAKER 03 :
A lot going on these days.
SPEAKER 04 :
There is a lot going on these days. And I want to A couple of things I want to do. I want to kind of help folks kind of As we’ve been talking today about what’s the breaking news, the budget bill being passed and just the pressure on some of these guys. I want to talk a little bit about that. But then I want to I’m going to turn a little personal here because you’ve got something that you’ve been doing for a number of years. And you and I have talked about this. This is something that you want to focus more of your time on. And that is one of the titles that you had. You’ve had a lot of titles. You’ve been pastor and congressman, radio talk show host. But one of the ones that you seem to really like is grandfather.
SPEAKER 03 :
Nothing in the world like it. And boy, what an opportunity to invest in an upcoming generation. And that’s one of those things you just can’t afford to waste. You’ve got to maximize it while you have the opportunity because the years go by quickly. Well, we’re going to talk about that in a moment.
SPEAKER 04 :
So a lot of pressure on members of Congress. You know, yesterday they had to pull back from voting on the budget resolution, didn’t have the votes. There were some members saying it’s just not where it needs to be. Had the vote this morning and it passed. Talk a little bit about that process.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, first of all, I think we’re all breathing a sigh of relief that it passed, and we’re deeply grateful for that. But going into a vote, Tony, of this magnitude, where there are legitimate questions that are being asked by different members of Congress, it is almost impossible to adequately express the amount of pressure that is involved in a vote coming like this. Obviously, the personal conflict with the understanding that we’ve got to get our financial house in order in this country and the weight that just comes with that type of bill. But you’ve got pressure coming to these members from their constituents. You’ve got pressure coming, obviously, from the other side, pressure coming from the media, pressure coming from colleagues, pressure coming from leadership, pressure in this case from the administration, perhaps even from the president himself. And you’ve got just tons of voices speaking into your life, all of them coming with a great deal of pressure, a great deal of legitimate issues. And you are internally trying to process all this yourself. And as a believer, trying to process it all from a biblical perspective, it’s unbelievable the amount of pressure that’s involved.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was I was on the Hill this morning, actually had breakfast with the majority leader and another member of Congress. We were discussing it was actually a new member of Congress. He was had served in a state legislature and he said, you know, the difference in the state legislatures is we have single issue bills. WHICH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I SERVED IN THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE, IT’S THE SAME THING. YOU HAVE SINGLE ISSUES. WELL, HERE YOU HAVE A MULTITUDE OF ISSUES. AND ESPECIALLY WHEN IT GETS INTO THE FINANCIAL ISSUES, YOU KNOW, We use a biblical lens through which we make our decisions. But when you look at this bill, there’s so much in it. For instance, you can say we’re going to secure the border. We’re going to keep America safe. You can say we’re going to address the deficit and we’re going to try to get some of our spending under control. But at the same time, you can look at some other things in there that are not so clear cut or good. So it’s really difficult to decide, all right, It’s not clear cut. Sometimes it is weighing good versus bad.
SPEAKER 03 :
It absolutely is. And you were talking to members of Congress. I was as well. I was up to 130 this morning talking with a member wrestling through some of these things. And those things are very real. And I cannot tell you how many times. I used to walk and pray in my office a lot of times in these these type of votes coming up because the conflict that you just described was something personally I was not prepared for. I wasn’t prepared for it emotionally and I wasn’t fully prepared for it spiritually to have within the same bill. things that I’ve been fighting for for years and years and years. And at the same time, in the very same bill, things that I’ve been opposed to and fighting against. And you then have to try to figure out, God, what am I supposed to do with this? And that type of struggle is deep and it’s real. And many of these members face it.
SPEAKER 04 :
And so you have people who For instance, you have something in a bill you’ve been advocating for that has a constituency. You have people who are supportive of that. You have things that you’re opposed to, and that’s something that someone else is focused on stopping. And so you have competing interest in voices from the outside as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that’s where you are stuck in the middle, literally sometimes just feeling pressed down with the pressure that you’re just going to be crushed underneath it. And that’s why, you know, I mean, I can’t tell you. There’s no telling how many miles I paced in my office back and forth, praying in agony.
SPEAKER 04 :
certainly helps your prayer life, doesn’t it?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, it absolutely does. And counsel, I talk to you sometimes on some of those bills. I had my pastor, I had some other people that I would call and just try to help work through some of these things. But it’s real. And, you know, this is an opportunity for us to call upon people to pray for their members of Congress. It’s a very serious situation.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a great reminder, because I think First of all, people think it’s clear cut. And I’m in no way dismissing the responsibility that members have to make those decisions. But I think what we’re trying to articulate is that they are tough decisions.
SPEAKER 03 :
Many times they’re extremely tough. And there are some bills that are clear cut. But you get almost invariably, the bigger the bill, the more difficult the vote is.
SPEAKER 04 :
When you look at, I mean, I could argue both sides of what took place today. There were some of our friends that were opposed to this bill because it did not lock in the $1.5 trillion in cuts that the House had advanced. Now, the president says he’s going to push for it. They had the meeting with Thune. Thune said they was going to do it. But when you look at history, words are cheap.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s the biggest issue I was dealing with up until the wee hours of this morning with the individual I was talking to. It was like we’ve heard these promises, you vote for this, and then we’ll do this other thing later. We’ve heard this type of thing over and over and over and over in years past, and many times those things never come to fruition.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s where we need divine intervention. Absolutely. So it’s prayer… And I’m not saying that at all lightly. It is divine intervention in terms of praying for members of Congress, but praying for this process. As scripture says, the Lord turns the hearts of kings as he turns the rivers of water. And we need to make sure people keep their word. And so that those who make commitments based upon the words of others are able to have confidence that that word will be kept.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I do think in this particular situation that the key players are different. And that makes this a little more believable, if you will, to say, OK, you tell me you’re going to do this. I believe we can at the end of the day go for it. But you’re right. The scenario is still it’s it’s very difficult and emotionally challenging. And it’s difficult, I would also say, on the families of these members of Congress and because there’s a lot of stress for the spouses of these members and so forth as well. They hear from constituents. So when we’re praying, we need to pray not only for the members themselves, but their families.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. All right. You know, on this program, you know, we talk about a lot of different things. And oftentimes when we’re talking about these policy issues, we talk about the responsibility of parents to raise their children. We can’t outsource that. But it doesn’t stop with parents. You know, grandparents have a role in this. And one of the reasons you’ve kind of stepped back from politics and even making some further transitions to spend more time at home is your grandkids. And you have something that you’ve been doing for a number of years. You have a grandparent’s camp. You have a grandkids camp that you have every summer camp where you bring all the grandkids in and you and your wife, you host them and you spend time with them. You pour into them. Talk a little bit about that, why it’s important.
SPEAKER 03 :
I tell you, it is the most exhausting and the most rewarding few weeks. And people can do it. I would encourage people to do this type of thing. They can do it. We have our grandkids camp literally for weeks every summer. But people can do it just for a few days. I mean, you can take a few days, three or four days or whatever, one week. In our case, we literally try to get them for weeks on end and just try to invest as much as we can. And, you know, I will… BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU AT THE END OF THE WEEK. I’VE TALKED TO YOU Listen, but when they’re around, we have to take care of them. But yeah, we bring the kids in and it is, I guess if there’s one word or a couple of words that place the urgency, the intentionality on it is to connect with them and to help them connect with God. I mean, this is all for us a mission to pass the baton of faith to them in such a way that they get it, they see it, they embrace it. And I will say all we have four grandchildren, all four of them have made professions of faith in Christ and and some of them directly as a result. of this time that they spend with us. But it doesn’t stop there. I mean, that is the first step of a relationship with the Lord. There’s discipling. And we live in such a culture that is so opposed to truth and to Christianity. We want them to embrace this for their own, to live passionately for Christ. So we have lots and lots of fun. We do everything imaginable. We live on a farm, so we do everything from farm work and horseback riding to fishing and boating to camping. We brought them to D.C. once. ONE YEAR AND SAW EVERYTHING THERE IS TO SEE HERE IN DC WE SO WE WE TAKE TRIPS BUT LISTEN WE WE PRAY WITH THEM WE JUST TRY TO GET ON A HEART LEVEL SPIRITUALLY AS WELL THIS PAST YEAR I LITERALLY GAVE THEM FIVE DOLLARS PER BIBLE VERSE THAT THEY LEARNED IT COST ME A LOT OF MONEY THANKFULLY BUT IT WAS WORTH EVERY DIME OF IT FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO GET GOD’S WORD IN THEIR HEARTS SO IT’S AN INTENTIONAL TIME
SPEAKER 04 :
We just have a couple minutes left, Jody. Talk about, you know, as a parent, a parent has a critical role, and obviously you did that with your kids. What’s the unique role that a grandparent has that can supplement what the parents are doing?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s a great question, and I don’t fully understand this, but one of my grandparents died when I was very young, but I have the most incredible memories of that granddaddy. The things we did together, although just for a few short years, are forever etched in my memory. There is something that God gives, a special influence that a grandparent possesses that goes even beyond. Obviously, the parents are the most influential, but there is something unique and powerful that the grandparents possess.
SPEAKER 04 :
Part of it is what you’re doing in terms of taking more time. Grandparents tend to have a little more time, but they also have more wisdom knowing that time is short. That’s true. And parents, as parents, as young parents especially, we’re moving quickly. We don’t necessarily have the time. We don’t realize that if we don’t take the time, it’s going to be gone.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is gone. And DeeDee and I are realizing that right now. We are, you know, still healthy as far as we know, but we’re in the fourth quarter of our life. And when you come to the fourth quarter, everything takes on a sense of urgency that perhaps it hadn’t had in years past. And, you know, we realize whatever days we have left, really need to be focused, and one of those areas of primary focus is for our kids and grandkids.
SPEAKER 04 :
And it can be a weekend, it can be a week, it can be two weeks.
SPEAKER 03 :
Any resources available for parents or grandparents out there to launch this? We’ve just kind of stumbled our way through all this. But, yeah, there are tons of resources out there. I don’t have any right off the top of my mind. But we have gone. We’ve done everything. We’ve gotten craft books. We’ve gotten creative things to do books. And we have enough Bible knowledge.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, maybe you can talk about that tomorrow. What else are you going to be talking about tomorrow?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, goodness. We’re in process of still getting a lot. We’ve got a lot to deal with that’s happening in the news from Iran to what’s happening on Capitol Hill to a host of issues, the economy, tariffs. We’ve got a lot to chew on tomorrow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, folks, tune in, and Jody Heiss will be here in the seat tomorrow. Jody, thanks for joining us. Thanks, Tony. And consider that. Pray about that, about having a grandkids camp for your grandparents out there. All right, folks, thanks for joining us. Until next time, I leave you once again with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, prepared, and taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 10 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
