Tune in as we delve into critical discussions surrounding our nation’s legislative process, providing a panoramic view behind the scenes of Washington, D.C. Journalist Lindsay McPherson sheds light on the unfolding events while Kena Gonzalez offers a reflective take rooted in Biblical values. This week we also celebrate a major pro-life victory as retail giants respond to ethical concerns, and explore what it means to equip oneself with a Biblical worldview in the face of national challenges.
SPEAKER 13 :
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. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, good afternoon and welcome to this Friday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. An honor to be with you here on this Friday and thank you so much for joining us. Wow, yet again, we’ve got a lot of breaking news and information to bring your way. Let me give you some of the highlights. It has been yet another frantic day of activity on Capitol Hill as lawmakers have raced to work out another agreement that will fund the federal government past tonight’s midnight deadline.
SPEAKER 16 :
We have a unified Republican conference. There is a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward. I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet because I’ve got a couple of things I’ve got to wrap up in a few moments upstairs, but I expect that we will be proceeding forward. We will not have a government shutdown, and we will meet our obligations.
SPEAKER 11 :
That was Speaker Mike Johnson speaking to reporters before heading into a meeting to work out some of the final details for that new deal. So what is the new deal? It looks like the text just came out literally probably 30 minutes ago, but it appears to be about a 118-page bill. And according to reports, there are plans to begin the debate tomorrow. immediately. In fact, we’re hearing right now debates are underway. So probably we can expect votes within the next hour. If those results come in during the program, we will most certainly let you know. But so much is going on, it can be hard to keep up with. So we’ll be getting the latest here in just a few moments when I’m joined by Lindsay McPherson, who’s Capitol Hill reporter for The Washington Times. So she’ll be with us here in just a moment. And looking at all that’s been unfolding over the past few days, what do we need to be keeping in mind and how should we be praying? Well, we’ll discuss this later in the program when I’m joined by Kena Gonzalez, the Senior Director of Government Affairs here at FRC. And while there seems to be so much chaos and uncertainty in so many of the headlines today, it’s good that there’s also some good news. So take a sigh, a big deep breath. We have yet another retail giant that has removed the abortion drug from its website after media outlets like the Washington Stand drew a great deal of public attention. We’ll talk about this when I’m joined later by Mary Zok, who’s the director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity. And then to close out the program today, I’ll be joined by David Claussen for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment. And this week, we’re going to be taking a very close look at some of the issues that have been facing our nation all week and even as we speak right now. How should Christians be looking at these things from a biblical perspective? We’ll talk about that with David Claussen later on. So as always, we’ve got a lot coming your way. You don’t want to miss any of it, but if in case you do, you can go check it out at TonyPerkins.com. And one more reminder before we jump into the program today, this Christmas season, Family Research Council is inviting you to join us in shining the light of biblical truth here in Washington, D.C. and beyond. These certainly are difficult times, perilous times, and we here at FRC We really see ourselves kind of as watchmen on the wall. We’re here to try to protect faith, family, and freedom from all sorts of attacks from multiple fronts. And thanks to a $1.5 million challenge match, every single dollar that you give to FRC before December 31st will be doubled. DOUBLED. WHAT AN IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE. SO WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO COME STAND ALONGSIDE OF FRC AS WE CONTINUE TO BE A STRONG BIBLICAL VOICE HERE IN THIS CITY. YOU CAN JOIN US BY TEXTING THE WORD LIGHT TO 67742 AND TOGETHER WE CAN ALL HAVE AN ETERNAL IMPACT. ALL RIGHT. LET’S JUMP INTO THE PROGRAM FOR TONIGHT. As I mentioned just a few moments ago, we have a brand-new text, 118-page bill, and it would protect the federal government from a deadline shutdown tonight, and a vote could happen literally within the next hour. And the clock is ticking. I mean, as of now, we are less than seven hours away before that government shutdown would take place. So joining me now to discuss the latest developments is Lindsay McPherson. She is a Capitol Hill reporter for The Washington Times. Lindsay, welcome to Washington Watch. Long time no see. Good to see you again.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good to see you again, too.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. So, Lindsay, tell us, what’s the latest? What is going on right now?
SPEAKER 07 :
So as you mentioned, that bill has just been released probably in the last half hour. We finally have the text. They have a plan to vote on it within the next hour, as you have said. And the big question is whether they can get Democratic support. They’ve decided to bring this bill forward under processing. As you know, suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds support of the House rather than a simple majority, that means Democratic votes will be needed if they’re going to successfully pass it. Democrats, having just got the text along with everyone else, are trying to come through and decide what they’re going to do. It is largely identical to a bill that was brought to the floor yesterday and failed, and that was all Democrats and 38 Republicans, all but two Democrats, I should say, and 38 Republicans voted against. But the major difference is that it strips out A TWO-YEAR EXTENSION IN THE DEBT LIMIT THAT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP HAD DEMANDED. SO LARGELY OTHER THAN THAT, THE BILL IS MOSTLY IDENTICAL. THERE IS AT LEAST ONE CHANGE WE NOTICED THAT WOULD DROP, AN EXTENSION OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES PROGRAMS. THERE’S A BRIEF SECTION TO EXTEND SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS THROUGH THE DURATION OF THE CR OF MARCH 14TH. THAT SECTION WAS DROPPED. NOT CLEAR WHY. NOT SURE IF THAT WILL BOTHER DEMOCRATS. SO EVERYTHING IS EVOLVING. that for some time in the next hour, and we’ll find out soon enough whether they have enough votes to pass. House Democrats are currently huddling as we speak to kind of decide what they’re going to do. And as their votes are needed, that is kind of the crucial junction at this point. And if it gets through the House, it’ll probably get through the Senate, and then we’ll get to a conclusion here sometime in the next 24 hours or so, depending how quickly the Senate can come together and speed up their own process.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, so last night we had 38 Republicans vote against it. Two Democrats voted for it. The rest of the Democrats voted against it. And yet this is going to need two-thirds votes because it’s a suspension bill. So if virtually all Democrats voted against it last night, along with 38 Republicans and Are the changes sufficient, you think, to bring the Democrats on board? That raises serious questions to me as to whether or not that would make a difference.
SPEAKER 07 :
Potentially, the Democrats had two issues. One, they were really upset that the original bipartisan deal they negotiated, which included a ton of other measures that are not in this version or yesterday’s version, you know, were dropped. They had a bipartisan agreement among the so-called four corners, which are the top four congressional leaders in Congress, and they are upset that that was scuttled effectively. You know, President-elect Donald Trump didn’t like it. He said it gave away too many things to Democrats. And he also started to demand an increase in the debt limit to be added. So that was added to yesterday’s version and then dropped. So I think that the dropping of the debt limit will help Democrats to some degree in that they did not want to deal with that now. They are worried about approving a debt limit hike before Republicans take up an extension of the tax cuts that they were able to add a lot to the deficit. and other things. So that could help, but we don’t know yet. They’re just getting this bill and meeting now on it. So we will find out soon enough whether they will back us or not.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. Yeah, that’s interesting because one of the big question marks I had about this was what would be the reaction of the Democrats on the debt ceiling issue? But you believe that taking that out of the equation right now will actually help the Democrats come on board. Is that right?
SPEAKER 07 :
I believe it will, just because they did not want to deal with that now before Republicans come into office and pass through reconciliation. They’re planning a lot of things to tax cuts and spending cuts and different things that will impact the deficit. And the debt limit, while it officially January 1st will be unsuspended, it’s been suspended since June 2023. It doesn’t actually. The statutory bargaining limit’s not going to hit. Treasury has extraordinary measures that they can use to kind of continue paying down debt obligations. So it’s not really an issue until sometime, experts estimate, in June when Treasury runs out of that wiggle room. Congress has time to deal with this. Democrats didn’t want to deal with it now. Republicans also kind of had some concerns about dealing with it now without spending cuts, and that’s why they agreed. to drop it for now. And they did have a tentative agreement coming out of the Republican conference where they discussed that they will deal with the debt limit next year as part of these reconciliation bills where they’re dealing with the other things, spending less than tax reform.
SPEAKER 11 :
So what are you expecting on the Republican side? I would think there probably are some that are going to struggle with this because of the lack of pay-fors with the disaster relief and the farm bill. Do you still think there may be 38 opposing it, or do you think that number will go down on the Republican side?
SPEAKER 07 :
I think it could go down a little, but there definitely are a good, at least more than a dozen, I would say, fiscal conservatives who wanted the disaster relief to be paid for and probably will still oppose this. There are also a handful of Republicans who always oppose CRs, you know. don’t like CRS. But I do think it will be slightly lower than 38. I think the debt limit without the spending reforms was a big issue for a lot of Republicans as well, and that’s why that number was as high as it was. But you were colleagues with these people, so you might have better insight.
SPEAKER 11 :
I don’t know if I have a better insight or not. I mean, it’s a lot of moving parts right now. But let me ask you this. I think this is important for our viewers and our listeners to kind of have a perspective on this. Obviously, considering tomorrow is Saturday, how bad would it be if the government does have a shutdown after midnight tonight, but a deal is worked out before Monday, let’s just say? What would…
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, very minimal impact if they get this passed before Monday or even if they’re on track. So if it passes the House and the Senate is just jumping through procedural hoops, the Office of Management Budget doesn’t typically initiate their full shutdown procedures. In that case, they know that the, you know, it’s just about matter mechanics and getting it passed, particularly over the weekend when most government workers aren’t working. It’s not like they have to. show up to work anyway, so it doesn’t matter too much. And all the people that typically work on the weekends in the government, most of those people are essential and would continue to go to work, TSA agents, border agents, all that stuff.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, I think that’s good for people to kind of understand this. All right, so let me just push a little bit further, Lindsay, if I can on this. So what would be the most likely scenarios if the vote tonight fails? What would happen?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, the Republicans did have an alternative plan that they were debating, which they could try to do, which is basically to split these pieces up. And they were going to do three separate bills. This was an offer that they discussed during their conference meeting today, to have a separate bill that has the funding extension through March 14th, a separate bill that has the disaster rate, and a separate bill that has the economic aid to farmers. And then to vote those all separately under a rule that might combine them when they send them to the Senate, but then they would have separate votes. I GUESS THAT WOULD BE POTENTIALLY THE NEXT PLAN TO GO BACK TO THAT, BUT THAT DOES HAVE SOME ISSUES WHERE THE DISASTER AID WILL STILL NEED DEMOCRATS’ SUPPORT, FOR EXAMPLE, BECAUSE LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT, THE CONSERVATIVES HERE DON’T LIKE THAT THAT’S NOT OFFSET.
SPEAKER 11 :
SO WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS? I MEAN, HERE THE VOTE’S VIRTUALLY GOING TO BE STARTING HERE ANY MOMENT. WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE IN YOUR HEART?
SPEAKER 07 :
I THINK in my heart that given the closeness to the funding deadline, that Democrats will accept this and, you know, live to fight another day on the other stuff that they were upset that got excluded. But I don’t want to say 100 percent certainty because this past couple of days have been pretty wild.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yes, they have. Lindsay McPherson, thank you so much. Reporter with the Capitol, Capitol Hill reporter with The Washington Times. Thank you so much. Good to see you again. Hope you have a wonderful Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you. Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, friends, a lot still unfolding even as we speak, so you don’t want to go anywhere. After the break, we’re going to get another perspective on the events unfolding on Capitol Hill. I’ll be joined by FRC Senior Director of Government Affairs, Kena Gonzalez. So much more coming your way here on Washington Watch. Trust me, you don’t want to go anywhere. We’ll be back right after the break. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 19 :
During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 has been another year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. This fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with a community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government. Launching in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us for another year of standing for faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 05 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
a good, good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch on this last Friday before Christmas. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Glad to have you on board with us. All right. As lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to work against the clock to try to keep the federal government open, I want to bring in my next guest. And together, let’s try to provide another perspective on all of the unfolding events. So joining me now is Kena Gonzalez. He’s a senior director of government affairs here at the Family Research Council. Kena, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining me. Merry Christmas, Jody. Merry Christmas. Listen, if there has ever been a time that we needed a Christmas celebration, now is the time. There was so much going on, and now would be a great time to get a nice Christmas present under the tree from Washington, D.C. Look, I know you have been on Capitol Hill all week, on and off. You’ve got so much that you have been tracking. What’s your overall thoughts on how the battle regarding government funding has been playing out?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, folks, if your hope is in Washington, D.C., it is misplaced, and we are watching that happen in real time. Well said. We’ll have something under the Christmas tree, I’m sure. That seems to be the only certainty in Washington, is that Congress will not be working over Christmas. And I think for all of us, those on the Hill, those like us, you and I, off the Hill but observing, and folks at home, that’s a good thing. that Congress will not be working. What’s going to emerge from this, as Lindsey laid out so well just now, we really don’t know. There have been several attempts. I think it’s important to step back from the urgency of the moment, certainly the hype in the news media that drives ratings, sort of the fear, will the government shut down and will that affect you? that kind of thing, and take a longer view at what—a longer look, step back and take a longer view look at what’s going on, you have several different factions, even within the Republican Party, right, as this plays out. angling for different things. There are a great many Republicans who have come to Washington, served in Washington for many years, and are very happy with business as normal and are not that concerned, really, at the end of the day, that we continue to drive up the national debt and the deficit every year. deficit spending doesn’t bother them. There are a few who that really does bother, and they’re working to try to reverse that. And then there are some that are saying those that are working to reverse that aren’t working fast enough. So the Republican Party is not unified. In a normal year, which I’m not sure we’ll ever see again, you would have a large enough margin of either a Democrat majority in Congress or a Republican majority in Congress that a few discontents here and there around the fringes may or may not impact every debate. But with margins so narrow, each of these factions now becomes really critical to these kinds of debates, and they have competing goals. And that’s what we’re seeing playing out in Congress right now, is an actual debate in real time about the future of our country.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, well said. And I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t know that we will ever see large majorities again, at least not for a long, long time. Even the way they’ve redrawn the district line almost ensures across the country that whoever’s in the majority will be so by a razor-thin majority. So what’s your take on what’s going on? As you mentioned, Lindsay, just a few moments ago, she has described now we have a plan A which failed, plan B failed. Now we’re looking at plan C, which is very much like plan B. And if that doesn’t work, we have a plan D hanging out there. I mean, what are we looking at here, particularly as you mentioned the rising national debt? It all, to me at least, doesn’t seem at this point to be addressing the problem.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, and there’s disagreement over which problems to address first, when, and how. Picture if you’re part of a family discussion, maybe a husband and wife, negotiating over the budget. You might have some disagreements. Now take those two people and multiply that by 535. That’s what we have on Capitol Hill. There’s just disagreement about what comes first, what comes second, what to do. And as I said previously, differences over the ultimate gains, goals that people are trying to gain. So that’s what we’re witnessing on TV. And we need to understand some of the over-the-top rhetoric that we’re hearing right now is people— some of it, not all of it. Some of it is quite passionate and quite principled. But some of it is just pushing to see how much they can get and how close. Congress has been playing chicken, frankly, with several deadlines for a very, very long time, for decades. These funding fights always come up at Christmastime. It’s always about funding the government. It’s always about a government shutdown. And it’s frequently about raising the debt limit. so that we don’t default on our national debt. Very few times do we have a substantive conversation on reducing the national debt, reducing and getting rid of the deficit, and driving toward true reform in the long term. So as Christians, as we’re observing that, we should be prayerful. And Jody, I think Christmas time is a great time for that. We think of Christmas carols, we think of joy at Christmas, but if you think of the Christmas hymn, the great Christmas hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, that is based on an Old Testament lament when the children of Israel were looking forward to the coming of Christ. And where did Christ come? Not only to lowly Bethlehem, to a poor family and born in a manger, but he came to a nation that was occupied under occupation by the Roman Empire. And America, in a very different way, has come, I believe, into a spiritual bondage to debt. Our current debt limit is over $31 trillion. That’s the legal limit beyond which we cannot borrow and spend. And we’re about to bump up against that and deciding whether to raise it or to just suspend it, meaning ignore it, for the next two years. It’s really insane what we’re doing. And so I pray and I hope our viewers are praying with us that God will move on the hearts of our leaders and of our country to bring about real and lasting change.
SPEAKER 11 :
And stuck right in all the middle of this, of course, is Speaker Mike Johnson. He’s been taking a lot of shots, obviously, from the media, from some within his own party, from conservative groups, from the other side of the aisle, all across. And we absolutely need to be praying for him. We need to be praying for Congress. We need to be praying for all of them who, even as we speak, they have this vote looming. So real quickly, Kano, why don’t we just pray together? And we’ve got just a few seconds, but let me just join with me. Lord, we do pray for your good hand right now to be upon our members of Congress, upon our leader, upon our national leaders as this time is licking. Lord, we just ask for your intervention in a powerful way. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. All right, Kana Gonzalez, FRC’s Senior Director of Government Affairs, thank you so much for joining us. Great job as always. God bless you. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. All right, friends, after the break, much more coming your way. We’ve got some good news for life, so don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back in a moment.
SPEAKER 04 :
So if you like to think and you like to pray, FRC is the place for you.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it is the best program out there.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, I absolutely love my experience interning at FRC.
SPEAKER 04 :
They really are making waves out in the political world and doing it from the light of the Lord. It’s really humbling for me as a college student who has been involved in the life movement for only a couple of years to be able to witness it alongside of some of the people who have spent their entire lives fighting. A huge thing that sets FRC’s internship apart from others is they are looking for what they can pour into you instead of what they can get out of you.
SPEAKER 03 :
I have talked to so many of my friends who have interned. and they’re responding to emails or taking phone calls and doing things like that. But here we get real hands-on experience and get to talk to important people and do important things that we get to see the impact of.
SPEAKER 09 :
The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it’s never gonna be on the ballot. He’s the King of Kings and he’s the Lord of Lords, and nothing’s gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we’re to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
SPEAKER 10 :
America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the 20th. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10-week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January 20th, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of Congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, and prayer. Text the word SHIELD to 67742 to join us. You’ll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text SHIELD to 67742. Unite with us and pray for our nation.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you so much for joining us on this Friday before Christmas. You’re tuned in to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host Jody Heiss. Glad to have you with us. All right. Earlier this week, you may have read on the Washington Stand how our reporters were able to expose a grocery store giant, in fact, Kroger. They were listing the abortion drug Mifepristone on their pharmacy website. And after a back and forth with Washington Stand staff over our reporting, Kroger removed the abortion drug from their website altogether. A huge, huge win for life and certainly a huge win for our own Washington stands. A great job for them. But the news even gets better. There’s more great news. There is yet another retail giant that is following suit. And here now to share more about all of that is Mary Zox. She’s director of the Center for Human Dignity here at FRC. Mary, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thanks so much for having me on.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s great to have you. So I want to get into this second retail giant. But first of all, the issue revolves around this drug. Remind our audience what Mifepristone is and how harmful its side effects can be.
SPEAKER 17 :
And mifepristone is a horrific drug. It cuts off a woman’s progesterone production, meaning it cuts the actual nourishment to the unborn child. And so it essentially starves an unborn child to death. But it does so at great risk to the child’s mother. So this drug sends one in 25 women to the emergency room. By the New York Times is reporting, one in 20 women who use the drug have to have a follow-up surgery because of it. Ectopic pregnancy is a huge—women are greatly at risk for having an ectopic pregnancy go undiagnosed if they take mifepristone because they can mistake the pain and bleeding from the abortion drug for— for sorry, excuse me, the pain and bleeding from an ectopic pregnancy for the pain and bleeding that would have been caused by the abortion drug. And ectopic pregnancies account for 13% of maternal deaths. So this drug is incredibly risky for women to take.
SPEAKER 11 :
A far, far cry from being nothing other than something like Tylenol, as we’re frequently told. This is an extremely dangerous drug. So let’s shift back to the most recent retail giant that is announcing that they’re backtracking on selling Mifepristone. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, Sam’s Club has also announced that a third-party vendor listed Mifepristone on their website in air. And here we really have to say thank goodness for pro-life journalists like The Washington Stan, like Live Action News. who brought this issue to the attention of Sam’s Club and Kroger, where Sam’s Club and Kroger, that are grocery stores that provide food, Sam’s Club provides food in bulk to nourish people. These stores would have been guilty of selling a drug meant to starve an unborn baby to death. And and I’m sure that they are so grateful that pro-life journalists brought this to their attention, brought this air to their attention and that they were able to immediately correct it. And hopefully that they’ll be vigilant in ensuring that a third party vendor is never able to use their their company to advance the culture of death like this again.
SPEAKER 11 :
Wow. That really is just fantastic news. Great, great stuff there. I’m sure that there are probably many more retailers out there that are either thinking about offering Mifepristone or perhaps are already doing it on their pharmacy websites. What message do you hope that they get from the reporting this week from the Washington stand and the outcome of that with both Kroger and Sam’s Club?
SPEAKER 17 :
I think one thing that these companies need to recognize is that pharmacies are meant to be places that advance the health and wellness of people. Grocery stores are meant to be places that provide food to nourish families and to nourish all Americans. These organizations, these companies need to stay in their lane. They don’t need to become abortion businesses. And in fact, being an abortion business is antithetical to everything that these companies are about. And so they can’t bow down to the pressure of Democrats and of the abortion industry to do this.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, great point. I mean, there are so many reasons, so many for these retailers to stay away from this. I mean, obviously there’s moral reasons that are deeply important to us and biblical reasons, spiritual reasons, but there’s health reasons involved. There are financial reasons involved. There are legal reasons involved. So this is a bad decision, any way you look at it for these retailers. Real quickly, Mary, what kind of resources does FRC have that you’re working with that you
SPEAKER 17 :
uh i think may be uh important for our audience to read about or know about we have a number of articles in the washington stand about the myths surrounding mifepristone there there are a number of these myths like you mentioned that that mifepristone is just as safe as tylenol these are just false and and they need to be dispelled because women are taking this drug thinking that it’s safe. And it’s not safe for them, and it’s certainly not safe for their unborn child. We also have a resource on our website, Chemical Abortion, The New Battleground, that is a comprehensive view of the use of and approval of the drug Mifepristone.
SPEAKER 11 :
So real quickly, where is that website? Where can people find it?
SPEAKER 17 :
FRC.org.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great. Mary Zok, Director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity. Always great to see you. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. All right, friends, stay tuned. Much more coming your way. And here’s the biggie that we’re going to cover. How in the world do we look at all that’s happening right now in our country, what’s been happening this week? How do we look at it from the lens of Scripture? Well, we will have our Biblical Worldview segment with David Claussen coming up right after the break. Boy, we need this segment. So stay tuned. We’ll bring it your way right after this break.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 15 :
Let’s not be discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let’s stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
SPEAKER 14 :
The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don’t defend it, who will?
SPEAKER 02 :
Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don’t say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You’re naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
SPEAKER 12 :
Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we’ve relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we’ve relied too little on the power of God and God’s ability to open doors that we can’t open and do things that we couldn’t even hope to begin to do.
SPEAKER 06 :
This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to have it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful, and that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.
SPEAKER 11 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. So glad to have you on board with us on this Friday before Christmas. All right. Again, I want to remind you before I bring on my next guest to join FRC, to join Family Research Council in shining the light of biblical truth here in Washington, D.C. and across our country. You have a unique opportunity to do it. Thanks to a $1.5 million challenge match, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled from now until December 31st. Come on, join us. You can text the word LIGHT, L-I-G-H-T, to 67742. Help us defend faith, freedom, and family right here at FRC. All right, let’s jump into our last segment here. Our regular viewers and listeners, all of you are aware that throughout the year, we have tried to conclude our Friday Washington Watch broadcast with a biblical worldview conversation. And the whole purpose of this conversation is to try to help us think biblically about the major news headlines of the week and how to think about how theology and how God’s Word intersects with current events. And as we approach the end of the year, I thought it would be helpful to have a very practical discussion about worldview, particularly about how one develops a biblical worldview and what FRC is doing to equip Christians when it comes to biblical worldview. And here we are at the beginning of a new year People were thinking about New Year’s resolutions. What greater resolution could there be than to make a commitment to try to begin the process of developing a biblical worldview? Well, joining me now for this conversation is David Claussen. He’s the director of our Center for Biblical Worldview here at the Family Research Council. David, thanks for joining me yet again.
SPEAKER 18 :
Hey, great to be with you, Jared.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, David, listen, I want to call timeout. We’ve got a lot to discuss as I just introed there with where I want our conversation to go. But I just got word the House of Representatives, as we speak, they are on the floor right now. They are voting. on the motion to suspend the rule. So this is after this, they have about six minutes left in this vote, and then they will begin the vote on the passing or not passing of the bill to fund our government. So a little bit of breaking news. Let me just throw this out to you, David. Even that that they’re voting on right now has a biblical foundation. I mean, the Bible says a lot about debt and all these types of things. Can you mind if I just kind of throw this out there to you? Can you give us kind of some guiding principles of what the Bible has to say about this issue?
SPEAKER 18 :
Sure, Jody. Romans 13 is kind of an important text for understanding God’s purpose and design for government. Government is legitimate. The word that Paul uses, that government actually serves as God’s ministers. And so in conversations about funding and what government’s going to do, it’s important that our government is funded. It’s important that our government has the means to do what it’s tasked to do. Now, when it comes to debt, Jody, this is a huge issue. I know you had a segment earlier talking about this with Cana. This really is a biblical issue. And I know last night the vote failed when they were going to attach, you know, increasing the debt limit. Let me just give you two verses again. have all the time to go into all the details. But as Christians, we should realize the implications of, you know, a $30-plus trillion debt. Let me give you just two verses. Proverbs 22, 7, that says, “‘The borrower is slave to the lender.'” Psalm 37, 21, another important verse, says, “‘The wicked borrows but does not pay back.'” And it goes on to say, in converse to the wicked, the righteous is actually someone who is generous and gives. Jody, and I’m sure, of course, you know this. You know, if we were to look at this, you know, $36 trillion debt and divide it by all the Americans, every American would owe over $100,000. You know, this is unsustainable. We’re setting our future generations up for all sorts of hardship. In fact, let me read one more verse, Jody, that I just looked up. Proverbs 13, 22 says that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. Oh my goodness. I wish that principle guided our lawmakers today. Because again, Jody, we have been spending way more than we’ve been taking in. And this just sets us up for all sorts of problems down the road. And so I think those are a couple of things off the top of my head, Jody, that I think are biblical principles for thinking about debt and why national debt is something that Christians should actually care deeply about.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, absolutely. And listen, David, I want to thank you for literally, just right shortly before we came on the program, I sent David a text and said, hey, listen, this vote’s happening. Can you do something to help us with this understanding biblically about debt? And David, thank you for just being so, I love how you just bring the scripture alive to us and apply it to current events so precisely. But if we can, let’s transition. Yesterday, I had Dr. George Barna on with me, and we talked about issues and developments that he’s been tracking. And although the research and the findings are fascinating in and of themselves, they can admittedly be pretty discouraging when you hear just, for example, how few Americans even possess a biblical worldview. I mean, and how sharply that decline has occurred in the last several years. And look, we’ve known this as a problem for a long time. And in fact, it is for that reason that Tony and FRC here, he led us to start the Center for Biblical Worldview about four years ago. And of course, you are the founding director of this center. So provide for us, if you will, a brief summary of the history of this center and why it’s underway and how it’s so enormously growing right now.
SPEAKER 18 :
Oh, what a joy to share about the history, Jody. You know, FRC was founded in 1983 out of a prayer meeting that Dr. Dobson and others were having. We’ve always come at the issues of the day, whether it’s abortion, sexuality, religious freedom, economics, national security, through the lens of Scripture. We’ve always tried to provide resources to pastors and legislators. But four years ago, as you mentioned, I had already been on staff for about two years. I was actually brought on the team here at FRC to do religious freedom work. That was the initial reason I was brought on the team. So after being here for two years, it was beginning of 2021, so four years ago, that Tony and Travis Weber, the VP of Policy and Government Affairs, really did feel the Lord putting on their heart, and our chief of staff as well, that we need to be doing even more for pastors and for Christian parents particularly. And so that’s kind of, That burden is what led to the creation of the Center for Biblical Worldview. We brought George Barna on as a senior fellow. We brought Owen Strand on, Joseph Backholm, myself, and kind of that was the core team. And we did a lot of research. And then from that research, Jody, we determined kind of what are some resources we can develop to provide pastors and Christian parents and even teenagers and students with the resources they need to think about life and about the issues they deal with through the lens of scripture. You know, Jody, George has proven that one’s worldview, and you know, what’s a worldview, by the way? A worldview is just that fundamental posture you have, that emotional, spiritual filter through which you look at the world and understand things. It’s your most basic assumptions and convictions about what is right and wrong, true and false, and who determines that. And that worldview, Jody, begins to form around 15 and 18 months of age. and is pretty much in place by age 13. And so that’s one of the reasons that we’re providing resources targeting those demographics. So I think, again, we’re almost at four years and looking forward to the next 40 years, because I think there’s a lot to do, Jody, to serve pastors and parents around this country.
SPEAKER 11 :
And it’s amazing the growth. I mean, how many times have I had you on here on Friday and you’re in Alaska or you’re in Ohio or some other part of the country, the two of you going all over teaching biblical worldview principles. And again, if any pastors or anyone listening right now would like to participate in that, just simply contact us. And I know we would love to arrange a them to come to you as well. But David, let me ask you a kind of a two-part question, I guess. First, in your view, what are some of the steps that Christian parents can take? You talk about how our worldview has developed at an extremely young age. What are some of the steps that Christian parents can take to teach a biblical worldview to their children? And this is related, you can’t pass along what you don’t have yourself, right? So what are some, perhaps some resources that you would recommend to parents who want to make sure that they themselves have a biblical worldview that they can then pass on to their kids?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, what a great question, Jody. You know, a couple of things has come to mind. You know, there really is no silver bullet. I can’t recommend just one book and you can guarantee that your child has a biblical worldview. Uh, but what is tried and true Jody, uh, is the basic spiritual disciplines, uh, things like Bible reading and prayer. And so one of the things that I just, uh, cannot stress enough, Jody, uh, to parents and, you know, I just became a parent a couple of weeks ago, uh, And, you know, one thing that’s so important is prioritizing the Bible in your home. And that’s one of the reasons, actually, FRC, a couple of years ago, we actually have a two-year Bible reading plan that I would recommend and encourage all of our listeners and viewers to look at. You can go to frc.org slash Bible. But Jody, I would encourage every parent to prioritize Bible reading in the home. I know my parents growing up, one of the things that we would do either at the dinner table or before we went to bed, my dad and my mom would get my sister and I together, and we would talk about the day and then read Scripture together, and then we would pray together. So reading Scripture together as a family at the dinner table or right before bed, doing family worship, which again, that doesn’t need to… I remember in seminary learning about family worship and I thought, I can’t sing very well. Well, family worship is just opening up God’s word, maybe singing a hymn or two and leading your family to think about these things. One other thing I would say, Jody, prioritize a local church. We live in an age of travel sports and weekend sports and weekend activities. Prioritizing a local church. I’d encourage everyone, find a local church that preaches expositionally through the Bible and plant your life in that church. Whenever the doors of that church are open, be there. Make sure your kids are there. And so these are some of the things that come to mind. And to the second part of your question, Jody, two books that I’ll recommend, Total Truth by Nancy Piercy, and then also Naming the Elephant, Worldview as a Concept by James Sire. Those would be two wonderful books for parents to read. As well, Jeff Myers at Summit Ministries, he’s written some wonderful things. And then I’d also recommend Albert Moeller, president of Southern Seminary, frequent guest on Washington Watch. He has a daily podcast that I think parents would really benefit if they listen to that on a daily basis, because then they could pass some of that information on to their children.
SPEAKER 11 :
Excellent, excellent advice. And let me throw another one in here, one that probably you would not mention, and that is you. You’ve produced some really great resources. I know you’ve got an eight-week study on sexuality and gender. You’ve also got, and I have myself, several booklets that you’ve written, and many of them are available online. to download for free, right? So explain some of these things that you have.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, very briefly, you can go to frc.org slash worldview. And I’ve written five booklets. One of them is called Introduction to Worldview. Another one is Biblical Principles for Pro-Life Engagement. Another one focuses on human sexuality. Another focus is religious liberty. The other focus is on politics and political engagement. Those are on the website for free. And the Again, amazing. Thanks to the generosity of a lot of our listeners, we were able to translate those into multiple languages, Korean, Spanish, and others, Chinese. And then, like you said, the eight-week study on gender, sexuality, and marriage. I co-authored that book. It’s designed for small group study. And again, you can find that at frc.org slash worldview. We’ve had a lot of feedback from pastors around the country who’ve used that resource. And I’ve just been thrilled to see how God’s used that resource.
SPEAKER 11 :
And real quickly, if pastors are listening or watching right now, they would be interested in hosting a Biblical Worldview conference. How can they do that?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, you can go to frc.org slash worldview, and there’s a big banner that says host a one-day workshop. And like you said, Jody, from Alaska to California to Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, we have one booked for Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland. Joseph, back home, my colleague and I, we’ve traveled and hosted these one-day workshops today. for either ministry leaders or for local churches. So you can go to the website, fill out an interest form. It’ll give you more information, frc.org slash worldview. And you’re right, Jody, it’d be a wonderful opportunity to spend some time around the country in 2025 doing more of these workshops.
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. All right. Our time slipping away here, David, just a couple of minutes left. But I know that you’ve talked a lot about parents. And I think at least in, well, probably not just some quarters, it’s scattered all across the country. There are Christian parents who think that as long as they take their kids to a youth group or they send them perhaps to a Christian school or whatever, that they are receiving enough Christian instruction. So can you just speak a little bit more about this and the need for parents literally to be active, for grandparents to be active and engaged when it comes to passing along a worldview formation?
SPEAKER 18 :
Your child will spend 16,000 hours in the classroom from ages from kindergarten through 12th grade. And if you think just an hour at youth group on Wednesday night can counteract 16,000 hours, you’re kidding yourself. Jody, Deuteronomy 6, I just pulled it up here on my Bible. Verse 7, talking about God’s commandments. So, Deuteronomy 6, verse 7. As a parent, you are the chief disciple-maker in your home. That’s why family worship, Bible reading, prayer with your children, making sure as a family you go to church together, nothing replaces the importance of the family. Christian teachers, youth pastors, pastors, Christian friends can supplement and complement what you do, but nothing takes the place of the parents leading their children to understand God, understand His revealed truth through His Word, that is, I think, probably the most important thing I could say, Jody.
SPEAKER 11 :
David Claussen, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate all you do at the Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC and beyond, all the resources you provide. God bless you. This is going to be a very special Christmas for you and your family, your new little family expanding. Merry Christmas to you. And as always, thank you for joining us here for this segment.
SPEAKER 18 :
Absolutely. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you, Jody, and your family as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, friends, listen, the Center for Biblical Worldview, you can go to the FRC.org, find out more. You can also find out more with all of this from a biblical worldview. If you have our app, the Stand Firm app, you can get it by texting APP to 67742. All right. Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas to all of you. Jody Heiss now signing off. God bless you. And we’ll be back next week here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 13 :
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.
