In this episode, Tony Perkins invites listeners on an inspiring journey through the Bible in 2026. Learn about the unique two-year reading plan that is accessible and achievable for everyone. Hear powerful testimonies from participants of various backgrounds and ages whose lives and families have been transformed. Discover why engaging with the Word of God daily is crucial for spiritual health and be inspired by the upcoming ‘America Reads the Bible’ initiative, bringing national leaders together to share Scripture live. Join this faith movement to experience renewal and a deeper connection with God.
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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.
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Well, welcome to a special edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, coming up as the Christmas celebration gives way to a new year, many are asking how to deepen their walk with the Lord in 2026. Well, on this Friday. We focus on the movement God is growing through, Stand on the Word. Tens of thousands walking together through the Bible, discovering clarity, conviction, and renewed faith. We’re going to hear from ministry leaders, pastors, and writers whose lives and work have been shaped by this journey. Well, I hope you had a blessed Christmas. And as we turn the corner toward a new year, and as our nation prepares to mark her 250th anniversary, there may be no better time to return to the foundation that shaped both our faith and our freedoms and the word of God. Over the past two years, tens of thousands of you have joined me on a daily journey through the Bible we call Stand on the Word. And the survey responses that we received this fall from many of you have been, well, remarkable. You told us that this daily time in Scripture helped you build a consistent habit of Bible reading, that it brought families together. around the table on Sundays, that it deepened your understanding of the times we’re living in and that it strengthened your walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So as we prepare to begin another two-year journey on January the 1st, we wanted to take today’s program to focus on what God has done and on what I believe he may do in the lives of even more people in 2026 as we stand together on his words. So we have a great lineup of guests for you today. First, Dr. Kenan Curitan, who has helped spearhead the resources and the daily structure that makes Stand on the Word such a practical and accessible plan. He’ll walk us through the reading guide, the daily questions, the videos that we have available, and all the tools that are new for you and your family this year as we begin another journey. Next, Bunny Pounds, president of Christians Engage. She’s a leading and powerful national voice. leading an initiative called America Reads the Bible. It’s going to be hosted at the Museum of the Bible this April. And she’ll share how this growing movement dovetails with what we’re doing through Stand on the Word as believers across the country return to the Bible together. We’ll also be joined by Pastor Paul Letvin, who will share how Stand on the Word has transformed not only his personal walk, but his family conversations and even his weekly sermon preparation. You’ll hear how pastors and churches can build real spiritual depth when the whole congregation is reading the same portions of Scripture together. And then later in the program, Joshua Arnold and Sarah Holliday from the Washington Stand will join me in studio. They’ll talk about how this daily journey through the Bible has shaped their reporting, their writing, and their own spiritual lives. So as we look toward 2026, a year of enormous significance for our country, we believe God is calling his people to stand firm by standing on his word. And we wanna invite you and your family and your church to join us beginning January the 1st. And if you don’t tell anybody, I’ll give you a head start. Text the word Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. All right, settle in. We’ve got a great program straight ahead. So for over 20 years, the Family Research Council team has begun its day with a morning devotional. And it’s been good. But then around seven years ago, we changed that to a daily chronological Bible reading plan. And some say it has transformed the culture here at FRC into one where God’s word and his leading permeates everything that we do. Now, along the way, FRC friends and partners, many of whom tune into Washington Watch, have joined us in this two year journey through the Bible. That is now called Stand on the Word. An engagement from staff has grown wide and the depth of Bible knowledge has grown as well. And FRC is blessed to have many teachers of the Bible, including my first guest, During our morning devotional, Dr. Keenan Curitan, a former Southern Baptist pastor, actually he’s continuing to pastor, has been instrumental in bringing great context when we start a new book of the Bible. He has also helped develop tremendous tools that participants across the country have found very helpful in this journey through the Bible. So joining me now is Dr. Kenan Curitan, FRC’s Vice President for Christian Resources. Kenan, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a Happy New Year, and thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you, Tony. It’s been great to be with family and stoked to get started on another journey through the Word of God in January.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, I am too. I’m excited about it in large part because of the feedback that we’ve gotten from those. We’ve never done this before, but a couple of months ago, we sent out a survey and over almost about a thousand people responded to this and just, you know, shared some of the impact that this reading plan, just reading the Bible, it’s what it is, it’s reading the Bible, how it’s impacted their lives.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely, yeah, I’ve got a view of those comments right here, Tony. You know, stand of the word is a short time commitment, but really brings the scriptures alive. I learn something every day. Daily devotions, but I’ve never done daily devotions, never read through all the books of the Bible. And I’m so glad to have taken this challenge. It’s been wonderful. In fact, Tony, there’s several who commented who were senior saints. who had started the bible a number of times but you know when you get to leviticus or you get to chronicles sometimes that’s where good intentions die but this is just a different kind of plan and it’s help people uh you know because the bite size chunks that we do of 10 to 15 minutes a day And people have been able to get through the entire Bible for the very first time in their lives. And here they are, senior adults. We’ve got comments from, you know, a young mom of five boys I’m reading here. They go to Christian school and they listen to your Stand on the Word devotional every day, the distance between home and the school, just right for listening to Stand on the Word. And just, you know, TESTIMONY AFTER TESTIMONY, GRANDMA WHO HAS TAKEN THE BIBLE READING PLAN AND BASICALLY TAKEN THE SUNDAY QUESTIONS, THE DEBRIEF QUESTIONS, AND LEADING A SMALL GROUP AT HER CHURCH OF OTHER SENIOR ADULT WIDOWS. SO IT’S JUST AMAZING. YOU JUST SEE THE LENGTH AND BREATH OF ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE. journeying together through the Word of God every day on Stand on the Word.
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So, Dr. Kierton, you’ve pastored for decades, and you’ve seen reading plans, you’ve been a part of reading plans. What differentiates Stand on the Word from the typical cover-to-cover Bible reading plan?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so what you developed, Tony, is not unique. I mean, there are other people who do it, but it’s essentially a chronologically prioritized reading plan. In other words, we’re reading through the Bible as events happen in history as far as possible. Now, we don’t just chop it up at a micro level where you can’t even… discern the theme or the characteristics of an individual author. For example, we don’t take all four gospels and just kind of cut them up. We let each gospel speak for itself, and you hear how the Holy Spirit moved on that author. So it’s not meticulous in the chronological approach, but it’s a chronologically prioritized approach. And I think you’ve created an incredible balance. And the fact, again, that it’s two years, It makes it where people can actually do it. Because these one-year folks, man, they just, they fall by the wayside, feel guilty, and they just quit. But we make it where they can actually get this, get all the way through.
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I’ve read the Bible through before this plan several times, and it felt like a speed reading course. And that was some of the feedback we got. This plan makes daily Bible reading doable and enjoyable. Because it’s not about just reading the word. It’s about meditating upon the word. It’s about applying the word. And so breaking it into those 10, 15-minute reading chunks Monday through Saturday, but then Sunday being a time of discussion. Now, you mentioned the small group that this lady is hosting. Well, that’s one of the new resources we actually have in this journey. We have a small group leader guide. Talk about that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. So, you know, we as you mentioned, we’ve got the Sunday debrief questions, which that’s fine. Your family did it before you introduced it to us. And and that’s been helpful. But now we’ve kind of taken it to the next level. So we’ve actually got a leader’s guide for a group that it could be friends. It could be a church, you know, a group at your church. But you could take this leader guide, and really it’s just a step-by-step, very practical approach at how to lead a small group of people in this daily debrief through their time of the word, through the week. And I think that’s going to add another dimension to this Bible reading plan that’s, I think, take it to the next level.
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And just a moment. Dr. Kirshen, I’m going to ask you to just kind of list the resources that are available on the website and how people can find them. But before I do that, you know, someone might be catching this in the car in our normal audience. This is Friday after Christmas. Not everybody is tuned in as normal. They might be catching this for the first time, you know, going from one family event to another. Why read the Bible? Why be in the Bible each and every day? And why read it from start to finish?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I mean, that’s a great question. You know, Jesus, I think we always, we need to go back to Jesus. You know, when he was doing that duel with the devil in the desert, remember the very first temptation was turn the stones into bread. And remember what Jesus said from Deuteronomy 8, 3, he said, Man can’t live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. You know, the amazing thing about the word of God is that the one who created the universe, the one who spoke it into existence, has a word. for each of us every day. And we get that Word in the Word.
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It’s described as a living Word because it is living. It speaks to us right where we are at the moment. But you don’t get it by osmosis. You don’t get it by passing by the bookshelf where the Bible is sitting collecting dust. You’ve got to be in it. You have to abide in Christ. You have to abide in the Word.
SPEAKER 04 :
Amen. Amen. That’s right. You know, a lot of people, they say, well, you know, I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand the Bible. Well, I always tell people, start with what you do understand and obey it. And when you do, John 14, Jesus said, if you’ll obey me, obedience is proof of your love for me. And when you obey me, the Father will reveal more to you.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and we can help folks understand it better if they want to join us on the journey and do it with us. We just have a little over a minute left. Kenan, talk about the resources and where people can find them.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, so you mentioned it. Text Bible to 67742. That’ll get you started. But then go to the webpage. It is frc.org forward slash Bible or download the Stand Firm app and you can get everything there. But on there, you’re gonna find the readings for the day. You’re gonna find a verse of the day. You’re gonna find two engagement questions that you can text your family. I know you’ve done that with yours. You also have, of course, A calendar of readings for the two years that you can either download or you can purchase and we can ship it to you. Also, we’ve got your videos, which are just a tremendous help. In fact, a lot of the testimonies that you mentioned in that survey just give witness to the fact that they’ve been blessed by your teaching. that you give us in your videos that are given to us most days. And then on top of that, you’ve got these Stand on the Word study guides that are developed from your teaching that we’re cranking out. Man, we just did Matthew in the summer. We did Paul’s prison letters and the letters to leaders in the fall. Now we got Genesis and Exodus coming up first of the year. I’m stoked.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s going to be a great journey. Dr. Curitan, thanks so much for joining us today. Again, Happy New Year. Folks, stick with us. We’re back with more right after this. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, and I want to invite you to join me for Stand on the Word, a daily journey through the Bible, 10 to 15 minutes a day. That’s all it takes. And in no time, you’ll have finished the entire Bible. And along the way, we’ll learn how to apply God’s truths to the world in which we live. As we’re about to start a new year and as our nation is about to celebrate 250 years, there’s never been a better time for a fresh start in the Word of God. To join us, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742.
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Family Research Council, along with congressional friends of FRC, present the Christmas story, a reading from the Gospel of Luke.
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And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
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And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.
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Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea.
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Unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem.
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Because he was of the house and of the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.
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And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
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And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
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Because there was no room for them in the inn.
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And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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Lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them, and they were sore afraid.
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And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people.
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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
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And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host.
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Praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
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And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go even into Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
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And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.
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And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
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And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
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But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
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And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God. For all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas from FRC. Welcome back to Washington Watch, this special Friday edition. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, reading God’s Word is integral to the spiritual health of a Christian. Romans 12, 2 instructs us, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Renewing our mind means changing our mindset. Our friends about Radio Network live by the motto, getting the Word of God into the people of God. Well, that’s one step toward transformation. And as my next guest will share, God’s Word changing us results in an activated follower of Christ. Join me now to discuss this further is Bunny Pounds, the president of Christians Engaged. Bunny, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 14 :
So always great to be with you, Tony.
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Well, you’ve become very passionate about the Word of God. I want to ask you a question before we get into a big project you’re currently working on that we’re a part of and excited about. What happened in your life to instill that hunger personally and now drive you to encourage others to get into the Word?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, frankly, it was my father. My father was a depressed pastor. I know that sounds shocking, but I grew up a pastor’s kid. But my dad had an encounter with the Lord and really experienced God in a fresh way. And that led to him really falling in love with the Bible. And I’ll never forget as a young person, like a nine-year-old going out in the woods in my home in Nashville, Tennessee, and reading a psalm and remember tears running down my face as I realized that the word was alive and that God had a call on my life. And I just really believe that the word is the answer for all of us. And as leaders, as we lead people and we love people, we become more desperate for the word because we need God every day.
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When you look back over history and you look at, you know, the times that God moved and we pray for God to move, we pray for revival, we pray for awakening, we want to see God move. But central to those movements were the Word of God. And, you know, we can pray for these things and prayer is important. We got to pray. But we need to be in the Word of God, obeying the Word of God.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, when we look at the first and second great awakenings, Tony, as you know, there was always transformation in people through the preaching of the gospel, through prayer meetings that accompanied that. But also when people got into the word of God, it brought transformation to their life. And that produced things in the culture and in the nation. You know, it produced more unity, women and And African-Americans were invited more into the body of Christ and into active leadership in those communities. It produced hospitals being built, more education projects, compassion ministries. So anytime that we interact with God’s word, I think we get a larger vision of our life and we see our life in the context of God’s story.
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Well, I’m excited about a project that you’re working on that the Family Research Council has joined with you on regarding the Bible. America Reads the Bible. Tell us about it. How did that come about? And tell us how people can become a part of it.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, April 18 through 25 of next year, 2026, is, of course, next year is the 250th birthday of America. But we are going to have 450 or so of our national leaders read scripture from Genesis to Revelation, live stream to the nation through Great American Pure Flix. Again, very thankful for the partnership of Family Research Council. You guys are going to be reading in the book of Genesis at the very beginning. But it’s exciting because this is the context. We want to see Americans understand that the Bible has something for their life. So I believe 450 leaders reading the Bible, social media clips, media going around the country. educating people on the Bible is going to be impactful. I believe that apathy is going to be broken off the body of Christ, that the Bible is not boring. Even the places that we feel like are boring, God can speak through those passages. And then thirdly, I believe that these leaders… people from government, entertainment, ministries. Over 100 national ministries are partnering with us, Tony. I believe this is going to quicken our hearts as leaders that we have to go to God every day and to be the leaders that God’s called us to be.
SPEAKER 08 :
God in His Word says, my word will not return unto me void. Doesn’t say that about anything else. And so I’m excited about this as we are seeing the Word of God go out across the nation. How can, not everybody is going to be able to come to Washington, D.C., although we invite them to come and get tickets. They can be a part of the event at the Museum of the Bible be taking place all week long. But maybe they can’t get here, but they still want to be a part of it. How can they do that?
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Well, they can sign up at americareadsthebible.com and they’ll get in the live stream. We want to encourage people. Think about how you use this in your family room, in your church. Pastors, stream the Bible all week. Stream our opening celebration that Tony’s going to be a part of. Use this in your businesses. Make this possible. a central part of your life that week. I believe some people are going to take off from their jobs and take a week of vacation and sit under the reading of the scripture all week. I believe God’s going to really move it in people’s lives. So americareadsthebible.com is where you get every information you’d ever want.
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AmericaReadsTheBible.com. You can find out all the information that you need to be a part of, I think, a historic event. I mean, I think this is going to be powerful. Again, counting on God to be faithful to His Word, and He says His Word will not return unto Him void. Very quickly, Bunny, many people want to start the new year, you know, with various commitments and resolutions. What about reading the Word of God throughout the year?
SPEAKER 14 :
Just do it, folks. Just do it. And we have so many great programs like Tony’s Stand on the Word program. I have a podcast that takes people through 15 minutes of scripture every day, Monday through Friday, called Jesus for America. There’s so many projects that you can use. But if you get behind, don’t worry. Just catch up on the weekend. You know, just keep moving forward. And God will really bless you for just taking a few minutes every day in his word. And what I’ve learned is that he empowers us with his word and he gives us fuel for not only our lives, but to give out as bread to the people around us every day.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. Well said, Bunny. Bunny, thanks so much for joining us. Happy New Year. And can’t wait till we have America Reads the Bible.
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s going to be great. Thank you, Tony.
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All right, folks, check that out. AmericaReadsTheBible.com. And look, find a Bible reading plan. Doesn’t matter. It can be stand on the Word. It can be any of it. Just make a commitment with this new year to be in the Word of God on a daily basis. And we’ve designed Stand on the Word so that you can do it. It’s only 10 to 15 minutes of reading a day. And it’s not hard. It’s not onerous. It’s not going to wear you out. It’s not a speed reading course. It’s abiding in the Word of God. And it’ll transform your life. All right, when we come back, we’re going to be joined by a pastor who’s been using the plant. So don’t go away.
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The book of Hebrews says that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Stand on the Word is Family Research Council’s journey through the living and active Word of God. Follow the plan starting January 1st. Spend 10 to 15 minutes a day reading God’s word. And over the course of two years, discover that the Bible is one big story. A story of many words pointing to the word. The one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. because the Word is alive and His name is Jesus. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us as we stand on the Word.
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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 series that explores the connection between biblical principles and the American government, equipping you with truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. We’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Join us to defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. You can view the course at prayvotestand.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch, and again, Happy New Year as we turn the corner into 2026. Well, at the beginning of this program, I shared how the two-year chronological Bible reading plan has positively affected the the culture here at the Family Research Council. Well, my next guest leads a church in North Dakota in the heart of the Red River Valley. He shared with our staff how his congregation has been participating in the two-year Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan. And he’s here with us now to talk about the impact that has had. Joining me now is Paul Letvin. He is the pastor of Submerged Church in West Fargo, North Dakota. Pastor Paul, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you so much for having me, Tony. Glad to be here.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I’m glad you’re joining by Zoom. I would not want to be up there with you right now in North Dakota. A bit too cold for me.
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s a little chilly. We’ve had a mild warm up recently, but we’ve got more cold weather coming. So it’s cold.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it was good to be back there. I think it was earlier this year or maybe it was last year in May. I can’t remember when it was, but I was up there with you. It was great to visit with you. Your church has been a part of the Family Research Council’s Association of Churches and Ministries. And you’ve taken this Bible reading plan, not only your family, but you’ve used it and your churches use it. Talk about that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, well, when I first found out about Family Research Council, about this time, three years ago, I immediately was attracted to the Stand on the Word reading program. I know in the past, even personally for me, tried the one year and it just seems to end up being a lot. And then you try to play catch up and it’s very difficult. But having this spread out over two years, I think just makes a lot more attainable, not only for the average congregants, but for even pastors who lead busy lives and gives more time just to really meditate and chew on and study the word.
SPEAKER 08 :
How has it impacted your sermon preparation and preaching. You know, I’ve always kind of, since I’ve been doing this since when I was pastoring, I led my church through this, I always scratched my head with pastors saying, you know, I have a hard time coming up with a sermon. You know, if you’re reading the Word each and every day, I mean, it almost preaches itself.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yep. Amen. I agree. Yeah, I never have a lack of something to preach about, especially when I take the time to write some verses down that stuck out to me, having those weekly tie-downs on Sundays with our family and saying, hey, you know what? What verses stuck out to you this week that stuck out to me? And then that will give me ideas for sermons, also your study guides that you have provided. I’ve actually used two of those as the foundation of two sermon series that I’ve done, one on Joshua and then currently wrapping up one on Daniel. So those have been very helpful as well.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, earlier this year, we had a Matthew family challenge, and I understand your family was a part of that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely, yeah, we very much enjoyed it. For me, that’s when we really started reading the Bible together out loud. You know, before that, my wife and two older boys, three older boys were kind of reading it on their own, and then we’d talk about it on Sundays. But then the Family Challenge, And now we’ve still to this day been doing that where we sit down, we read the Bible out loud. And then even our younger kids, you know, I’ve got six children. The oldest is 12. The youngest is a little over a year and a half. And even my three-year-old and six-year-old were able to color pictures while we’re reading stories about what they’re coloring, you know, in the book of Matthew about Jesus. And that was just really fun to have the whole family included on it. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, I’m going to talk about that in the next segment, about kind of the origins of this plan. But it’s very similar to what you just described. I was looking for a reading plan that would fit my entire family of five children with a 16-year age spread. And I looked at all these devotional books, and I couldn’t find anything. Finally, the Holy Spirit said, try the word. And so it works. I mean, it’s just it’s walking through and the children learned it. Now, of course, all my kids are adults now. But just that daily participation in the word of God and some took it, you know, more aggressive, took it more aggressively than others. But they’ve been exposed to it and they know the word of God as a result. Amen. Yep. Let’s talk about the impact on the church. Many, I think in this time, this day and time that we’re living in, the people of God need to be in the Word of God. And I think too many of our churches have kind of moved away to, you know, I want to say cotton candy messages when we really need to get back to the meat of the Word of God. Amen.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, I know our congregation, probably about right now, maybe around 25% of our congregation has been participating in the Stand on the Word program for at least a year or so. Many of them have been impacted in other ways through Bible studies that we’ve done, also that have been based off of some of your study guidebooks. But I agree. And actually, the name of our church, Submerged Church, that’s That’s one of our themes is to dive deeper. We want to dive deep into the word of God, be living it, breathing it. And when we’re reading similar passages and asking those questions about what we read, it really helps the word to sink in and to realize that there’s more to the word of God than just being nice and trying not to hurt anybody’s feelings. You know, there’s so much more to that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it’s just helpful when the congregation is reading the same passages that the preacher, the pastor is going to be preaching on on the weekend. It helps. It actually gives them, you know, they have a question. I know my pastor is probably going to address this this coming Sunday. Pastor Paul, we just a little over a half minute left, 45 seconds left. What would you say to pastors contemplating a Bible reading plan for their congregation?
SPEAKER 10 :
I would say it’s the best thing that a leader could do by setting example first. So that’s why I’ve tried to solidify in my own life doing this plan now for the last three years and then encouraging the congregation to jump on board. It builds unity. It builds oneness of mind. You know, these passages that we read about being united when we’re reading the same thing. So I’m hoping we can get up to 50 percent or more in 2026 with our church.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Pastor Paul, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. Happy New Year and stay warm. Happy New Year to you as well, Tony. Thanks so much. All right. Coming up next, two members of the FRC team join me in studio. Don’t go away.
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Should a Christian support Israel? That question has become one of the most emotionally charged issues of our time, both in the world and within the church. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offers a clear biblical and prophetic answer in his latest book. He examines Israel’s past, present, and future through the lens of Scripture, revealing why support for Israel is not rooted in politics, partisanship, or cultural sentiment, but in the unchanging promises of God. Drawing from Genesis to Revelation, Tony Perkins demonstrates that the ultimate rationale for a Christian’s support for Israel is spiritual. Should a Christian Support Israel invites believers to see beyond headlines and ideologies, returning to the foundation of God’s Word to understand His heart for His chosen people and the blessings that flow when we stand with what He has established forever. Text the word Israel to 67742 for more information.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Family Research Council Internship Program educates and inspires students who are passionate about public service and who believe that a biblical worldview is fundamental to the reformation of government and culture.
SPEAKER 01 :
I really wanted to do policy work in Washington, DC. And I saw Family Research Council as a Christian organization that had very conservative values, values that I supported and that I really wanted to do work on.
SPEAKER 16 :
I really love my department. I love working with the stand. I love writing. I love talking to all the different writers and all the great advice they’ve given me about how to improve my writing and what I already am doing well and how to harness those skills to do a better job.
SPEAKER 17 :
This internship really helped clarify my career goals. I would love to go into higher education and help our culture think more critically about the issues that we’re active about. And so this internship has given me more clarity on how to pursue that goal.
SPEAKER 16 :
To come here and to really see my work matter and to see people value it and to value me and what I do and what I can bring to the table has been a great opportunity.
SPEAKER 17 :
To a future intern, I would say take advantage of the moment. There are so many opportunities that FRC provides that can grow you personally and professionally and spiritually. I would 100% recommend this internship to any peer or classmate.
SPEAKER 01 :
This internship has definitely helped me grow spiritually. The fellowship and the discipleship here just sets FRC apart from any other place I’ve worked at before.
SPEAKER 02 :
To apply, visit frc.org slash internships.
SPEAKER 08 :
In times like these, we need something solid to stand on. That’s why I’m inviting you to join me on January the 1st for Stand on the Word, a daily journey through the entire Bible. Each day, we’ll read God’s Word together, discuss how to apply His truths to our lives. 15 minutes that can transform your year. Join me and thousands of others as we stand strong by standing on the Word of God. Text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Welcome back to this special Friday edition of Washington Watch as we talk about Stand on the Word. So I made reference to this with Pastor Paul many years ago when our children were young and I’ve got a kind of a We have a wide age spread. Typically, it’s relatively speaking, 16 or so years between the oldest and the youngest. Anyway, I was looking for a devotional that we could do together as a family and hosting a national program. I got a lot of people send me books, I can get devotionals. And so I went through a few of them and, you know, it’s just not that they weren’t good. It’s just they were fine for an individual, but not so much so for a family, especially with children. And I guess, I don’t know if it was in my quiet time one day, I think the Holy Spirit said, why don’t you just try the Bible? And, you know, pretty novel idea, Bible devotional, use the Bible. So I took and began kind of breaking the Bible into chunks. And so as a family, we started doing this. And then as a church, when I was pastoring, I did it with my church. We first took books of the New Testament and did those and breaking them into daily reading plans. Then we took the entire Bible and took it into a two-year reading plan, six days a week, Monday through Saturday. And then on Sunday… Actually, I was in Israel one time and had Shabbat dinner with a family, and I said, you know, this is so fascinating, just sitting around as a family, having a conversation about, you know, they were talking about the Torah, they were talking about the Old Testament. And so… incorporated in this plan on Sundays. No reading. It’s just a discussion. We have discussion questions where you can sit and talk with your family. And so I just started pastoring my family, my own children, and then worked in the church. And then I don’t know, probably seven years ago, we brought it here to the Family Research Council and then we’ve been going through it. And then probably four years ago, we had partners and then For the last two years, we’ve had probably almost 24,000 people that have joined us on this journey. And it’s very easy to do. You heard from Dr. Curitan earlier some of the comments that we’ve gotten from those who have been on the journey. It’s just very doable. It’s not a speed reading course. It is designed for us to abide in Christ, in His Word. And we’re going to start again. We just finished Revelation, and we’re going to start with Genesis. Now, it’s a chronological plan, so it helps to actually have the reading plan in front of you. And you can get that reading plan. All you need to do is text BIBLE to 67742, BIBLE to 67742. And I want to invite you to join us starting January the 1st for the Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. And be thinking about maybe you’ve been on it already. You can invite someone else to join you. In fact, about 70% of the people who were on this journey with us in the last two years said that they had invited someone. They wanted to share it with other people. So you can do that as well. And I’ve got a special digital Invite, an e-card that you can send to your friends to invite them to join you on this journey. Text the word invite, I-N-V-I-T-E, invite to 67742. And then I’ll send you a link and you can send that to family and friends. Well, to go further into this, I want to bring in two guests who are no strangers to Washington Watch. If you’ve been following FRC for any length of time, you’ve seen them, heard them, or read some of their articles. With me now are Washington Stand senior writer Joshua Arnold and Washington Stand reporter Sarah Holliday. Joshua, Sarah, thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thanks for having me here.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. So let’s start this with a new year just around the corner. We’re about to start another journey through the Bible. And I know this is true for you, Sarah, but you have been going through the study for as long as you’ve been on staff. Joshua, you you frequently chime in in the morning conversations on our morning call, as I talked about earlier in the program. Every morning we start as a team in the word of God. What would you say, Joshua, is a significant takeaway for you in this systematic reading of the word?
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Well, I think now that FRC has done it three whole times through the whole Bible, the six years, so slightly after I started here, one thing that I’ve been surprised by is how I think it’s fostered unity among our staff. We’ve got a diverse group, Catholics, Reformed, Charismatics, Baptists. But when you sit down and you look at God’s Word, you’re all looking at the same Bible. And when you’re asking what God is saying through these words that he has inspired on the page, you know, you end up a lot closer, at least on any particular passage, than you would have thought. You end up saying, you know, this passage is clearly about God’s sovereignty over the nations or about humility or the endurance of the saints. And so that’s been really encouraging to see that unity fostered among people from different theological positions.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well… And I’ve had a little longer period of time to view the team here in over 20 years, and I would agree with that assessment. But it shouldn’t surprise us because… we’re challenged to be one with Christ, to abide in Christ. And when we’re in unity with him, we’re in unity with others. And so by abiding in the word, which is Christ, it would foster that environment. And it certainly has. And it’s been it’s been encouraged. Doesn’t mean we don’t have disagreements. We do. But we’re just we’re on the same page, literally the same page. We start every morning. Now, Sarah, you and I have talked about this recently. You were on the program talking about this. There are many people tuning in today who may not have heard what you shared then. Why should someone consider this one? Especially, all right, I’m going to say this, young people. You know, why, you know, busy, you got all these things going on. Why prioritize being in the Word of God every day?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, well, whether you’re young or old, you need wisdom, you need truth, you need encouragement, you need a guide to life. And that is what we have in the Word of God. And so one thing I love about, well, there’s a few things I love about our Stand on the Word program. It’s that you go through the whole Bible, but I love that it’s not speeding through it, as you mentioned. It’s a two-year program. Bite size, you have so much time to intentionally slow down because the riches of scripture are unsearchable. We’ll never reach the depths of what the word of God has to offer. And so we really are doing ourselves a disservice by just blazing through it. So I love that this devotional, this reading plan, it has you go through it slowly, intentionally. And it’s also very interactive. And I know especially for young people, myself being one of them, it’s a lot easier to remember something or write it on your heart or live it out in your day-to-day when you don’t just read it passively, but you actively engage in it. And so I love that this, especially if you go to the webpage, you have these questions that it asks you. And what better way to force yourself to think than to have to answer a question? and we have prayer and we have videos that we can go to where we people are giving insight we go through it as an organization as we’ve already talked about and you learn so much from hearing the way the lord may be inter working through that passage with someone that might have a different background than you as joshua mentioned and so this bible reading plan i think is great in general because it has some of these more unique aspects that you know some Plan somewhere else probably maybe does two years. Maybe they do more. But ours for sure does the two years. It does the questions. It’s interactive. And more than anything else, we’re going through the word of God. And every single person in the world, I would say, needs to go through the word of God. But Christians especially. It is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path.
SPEAKER 08 :
So both of you write for the Washington Stand. And we are not in any form or fashion hiding the fact that the Washington Stand is news and commentary from a biblical perspective. I mean, that’s how we look at the world, through the lenses of scripture. And we’re trying to help other Christians develop that biblical worldview. With that said, I’m going to ask both of you this question. I’ll start with you, Joshua. How has or has this Bible reading plan impacted the way you view events and write about them?
SPEAKER 15 :
I was actually looking that up this morning, some of the times where I’ve referenced the stand on the word Bible reading for the day or the week in articles that I wrote. So a couple of examples. In September, there was a murder in Charlotte of someone on public transit, tragic murder. But the mayor of Charlotte tried to deflect from the city’s policing policies and say, well, we need to get to the root of the problem. Well, that very week we had read in James where it says, what causes fights and quarrels among you? Are they not the passions that war within you? Right there, the Bible tells you what the root of the problem is. It speaks directly to the issues going on in our world today or all the things that are happening with Israel. You know, there was a time when the ceasefire was violated in Gaza. And that very week we had read Romans 9 through 11, which talk about how Paul agonizes over his kinsmen according to the flesh and desires to see them won over to become part of the new covenant people of God as well.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, Sarah, one of the responses, many of the responses we’ve gotten back in the survey, people were saying, you know, this helps me understand a little bit better what’s happening in the world and takes away some of the anxiety because I have a better understanding of it. Has that been the case as you’ve worked through the news issues and the things happening globally, domestically, by having that context of the word?
SPEAKER 12 :
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is I, when I was younger growing up, leading even all the way up to my employment here, I wanted nothing to do with politics specifically because that realm, from my understanding, was just too much. It was too dark, too chaotic, too dreary. I mean, the news is almost predominantly bad, it feels, because otherwise it wouldn’t be news, right? It was actually coming here, despite my disinterest in politics, so the Lord orchestrated all of that, that I saw not just FRC and everybody who works here, but everybody in, let’s just say, the conservative Christian movement in the political sphere. It was seeing them in action and being a part of that that made me realize the Bible has something to say about practically everything, either directly or indirectly. And when that hit me, I realized that, yes, the political sphere is chaotic. messy, but just like any other aspect of this fallen world, and just like any other aspect of this fallen world, we need to be a part of it, shining light, spreading truth, standing firm in what is good, true, and beautiful according to Christ and God’s Word. And so the Bible has actually been a pivotal aspect of not just bringing me here and wanting me to be a part of this fight, but navigating some of these really tough issues. There are times where I’ll be writing an article and it takes energy almost out of me to write it because it’s just so awful. I’ll never forget early on I was writing, it was somewhat of a news article, somewhat commentary, but I was kind of dissecting, do Democrats draw the line on abortion? Is there actually a limit for them? We know that they in general support, you know, giving women any access to abortion, but they’ll often deny that, you know, they won’t do it up to birth or they won’t do it post birth. But when you really dig into it, it’s so disheartening to see how so many of them will speak about it so flippantly. And we’re talking about human life, precious human life, not to mention the mothers and the fathers and everybody else who is affected by such a terrible act of evil. And all of that to say, there are definitely articles that are hard to write. But you turn to the Word of God, and not only does it give you guidance to write about it from a biblical angle, but it gives you hope. And it gives you something to lean on when everything else seems to be crumbling around you. And so I need the Word of God as a journalist. I need it as a human being. I need it to get through this life because it’s the only source that will continually point you to the fact that Sin doesn’t have the final say. Death doesn’t have the final say. Hostility doesn’t have the final say. God, his word, his truth, his gospel has the final say. And that is a truth that became a reality far before the foundation of the world because, you know, God and his omnipotence and everything. But we saw it reach its fulfillment on the cross. And that truth is still just as alive and active and beautiful today.
SPEAKER 08 :
And folks, you can join us on this journey by texting the word Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. Sign up. We’ll send you a link to all of the resources that you can be a part of this journey. Sarah, you mentioned the word hope. There are four really defining characteristics that we have here at Family Research Council. Truth, we want to tell the truth. Courage, we want to do it with courage, even when no one else is willing to speak the truth. And we want to do it with excellence, everything we do with excellence. But we want everything shaped by hope. And, you know, as you were pointing out, you know, we deal here in our nation’s capital with some disappointing, discouraging, dark things. But we have hope. And we find that hope in the word of God. What would you say, Joshua, to those that maybe say, I don’t have time for that. I just, you know, that’s fine. I’m a believer. I’m a Christian, but I still have time for the word of God.
SPEAKER 15 :
That’s that’s a good question. There’s. The flat answer is that you do have time, somewhere in your schedule. If you don’t have time, make time, because nothing will be more rewarding than reading God’s Word. There’s a lot of quick fix programs in this world, and reading the Bible is not one of those. You know, the kingdom of God grows like planting a seed in the ground that then takes time to sprout and then slowly grows and grows and grows. Reading the Word of God is like that. It starts small, but over the years, as you continue to read and reread, it will change and shape your lives in profound ways that you never expected, that you never thought possible. There’s no time better than now to start. You’ve got to start now or, you know, 50 years from now, you’ll have missed 50 years of reading God’s word.
SPEAKER 08 :
Good point. And we just have about a minute left. But Sarah, we had one of the recipients of the one of the One of those on our journey, she wrote this. She said, I’ve never read the Bible through. I’m 69 years old, and I’ve now read the Bible through. Praise God. But all that time missed. I mean, we need the Word of God each and every day, especially the times in which we’re living that are becoming more intense, more challenging. More and more people are desperate. I mean, we see this crisis of drugs. The Word of God is the solution for that vacuum that’s in the heart of man. Sarah and Joshua, I want to thank you for joining me today, and thank you for the work you do in the Washington stand, and thanks for being on this journey.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you, Tony.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, Tony. And folks, again, I do want to invite you to join us on this journey. Don’t wait. Don’t wait to read the Word of God. Do it now. Make that commitment. Text the word Bible to 67742 and join me and thousands of others as we journey through the Word of God together. Until next time, keep standing on the Word.
SPEAKER 11 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
