In this episode of Washington Watch, the spotlight is on global conflict and the media’s role in shaping narratives. As tensions rise between Israel and Hamas, U.S. Congressman Marlon Stutzman provides firsthand insights from his recent trip to Israel. The episode highlights critical conversations about the integrity and accountability of media reporting, which is believed to fuel international hostilities. As the dialogue turns towards domestic issues, Senator Ron Johnson discusses the Biden administration’s controversial handling of the COVID-19 vaccines, raising questions about transparency and trust. Tune in for thoughtful analysis and a faith-based perspective on these pressing global and
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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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Witnesses are reporting that the subject used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd. The suspect was heard to yell, free Palestine, during the attack. It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence, and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism.
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That was Mark McCulloch, special agent in charge of FBI’s Denver field office at yesterday’s press briefing. Welcome to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in for this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Coming up, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, brings us the latest on yesterday’s terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, carried out by an Egyptian national who was in the country illegally. We’ll also ask about documents indicating the Biden administration downplayed the risk of heart inflammation linked to COVID-19 vaccines. And then Congressman Marlon Stutzman of Indiana, just back from Israel, explains how the media’s facilitation of Hamas’s propaganda is fueling this anti-Semitic violence.
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Hamas is doing his best. He’s almost to stop us from doing so. He’s spreading rumors, fake news. He’s trying bluntly and violently to stop the people of Gaza from reaching those distribution centers. I urge you not to believe every rumor spread by Hamas.
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That was IDF spokesman Effie Defrin. Also, we’ll get Congressman Stutzman to respond to an IAEA report showing Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile has jumped 50 percent in the last three months. And looking for a meaningful way to kick off the summer, Dr. Keenan Curitan stops by with a great idea. Then Travis Weber of FRC and Suzanne Bowdy from the Washington Stand unpack the weekend stories that are shaping the week ahead. And finally, gender identity confusion is sweeping our culture and the church is not immune. So join us tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern time on the Stand Firm app as Dr. Jennifer Bowens and Walt Heyer discuss their new book, Embracing God’s Design, addressing the spiritual and psychological crisis behind transgender identity. It’s a compassionate scripture-based guide for responding with both truth and grace. Again, that’s tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern time on the Stand Firm app. If you don’t have the Stand Firm app, we’ll text APP to 67742 or Hurry up and go to the App Store and download the StandFirm app so you can be a part of tonight’s conversation. A fiery attack yesterday on a pro-Israel group that was peacefully gathered in Boulder, Colorado, is being investigated as a targeted terror attack. Suspect in question is reportedly an Egyptian national who at the time of the attack had overstayed his visa. According to the FBI, witnesses heard the suspect yell, free Palestine during the attack. So what’s fueling these attacks and what can be done to stop the spread? Here to discuss this and more, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. He serves on four committees, including the Homeland Security Committee. Senator Johnson, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, Tony, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 12 :
So what do we know about this attack yesterday?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, from my standpoint, I don’t know that much other than when I’ve read the newspaper, but it sounds like this is another individual that was in the country illegally and shouldn’t have been. So you say, what could we do to prevent some of these things is support President Trump. to deport individuals that should not be in this country illegally. I mean, the good news is we elected President Trump, so we’ve largely secured our border in a stunningly short time. But I know his efforts are being frustrated by the courts. I hope John Roberts does end up taking up some cases here to bring the court back into its constitutional constraints. You know, these district judges who are issuing nationwide injunctions, I think just overstepping their constitutional authority. So it’s going to take basically three branches of government trying to do the things that they need to do. Unfortunately, we don’t have Democrats in the Congress that are willing to help us with this. So it’s going to be relying an awful lot on presidential authority. And by the way, we’ve proven that the Democrats lied to us all four years saying you had to do something. You know, Congress had to act in order to secure the border. No, we just need a new president. But we also need a chief justice to step up the plate and rein in his out of control district judges.
SPEAKER 12 :
So, Senator, based upon what we know or we think we know about who entered the country illegally during the time of the Biden administration, we have Mohammed Salbry Solomon, 45, an Egyptian national, overstayed his visa. How many others might we have like this in the country that are willing to do harm to Americans?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, my fear are way too many. I can’t put a number on it, but when you’ve allowed millions to flood into here, into this country, when we know that there are people on the terror watch list, when we let in tens of thousands of Afghanistan citizens without vetting them at all, just basically gave them identities. People don’t necessarily share our values. Again, I sympathize with the fact they’re trying to escape a war zone, but coming to this country, not sharing our values, It’s not particularly a good idea. So again, this was an unmitigated disaster, what Biden administration and his Democrat colleagues here in Congress did, opening up America to these types of attacks, to these vulnerabilities, a clear and present danger. It’s a big mess that President Trump got really dropped in his lap that he’s trying to fix.
SPEAKER 12 :
Are you concerned, Senator, that we’ve become too accustomed to these types of things, that we we don’t realize the urgency of the moment in that? As you point out, we don’t know how many of these folks are here. This guy, you know, we don’t know yet. It appears he acted alone, although he said he was plotting this for about a year. We know that there are sleeper cells in the country. I mean, I. I’m not sure we’re responding with a sense of urgency as we should. Am I wrong?
SPEAKER 14 :
No, not at all. I think we’ve we’ve been numbed across the board on what radical leftism has done to this country. You get almost immune from from the outrage that we should be all feeling when you take a look at all the issues that the. radical leftists push on America, all the things they’ve done to put us on a path of destruction. Remember, President Obama, shortly before being elected president, said in five days we’re going to fundamentally transform America. He meant it. And they’ve gone a long way toward doing it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Let’s shift to another topic that I think will create more outrage. You recently led a hearing on the Biden administration, how they downplayed the negative side effects of one of the COVID-19 vaccines, that they knew that this led to myocarditis, the inflammation of the heart, and they basically sat on that information. Tell us about the hearing.
SPEAKER 14 :
But we already knew because the good work of people like Naomi Wolf and Amy Kelly, the Pfizer papers, and some other journalists who were digging into this, we already knew that Israel had contacted our federal health agencies in late February with a large number of cases of myocarditis, particularly in young. Particularly young men. So again, they were aware of this. They were, you know, I was watching VAERS. I was alarmed by what I was seeing in VAERS, you know, thousands of worldwide deaths back then. Close to 50% occurring on the day of vaccinations in one or two days. When I confronted Francis Collins about it at the end of April, he just said, hey, you know, Senator, people die. that’s how cavalier he was but specifically now we have gotten documents and others obtained by foia but we got them unredacted so now we have proof and in the internal discussions when they asked are we seeing a signal for myocarditis and the answer was in young people yes And yet, days later, they decided not to issue a warning on the Health Alert Network, which would alert doctors to try and put two and two together to maybe make the connection between a case of myocarditis and the vaccine. And even worse, in the clinical considerations, a lesser of a warning, they decided to remove a warning to doctors to make sure that their patients with myocarditis you know, didn’t involve themselves in strenuous activity. Again, that warning alone could have saved lives. But this is how vested they were in a vaccine in every arm. They were trying to make sure they get approvals for these vaccines, for these injections. They’re not traditional vaccines, that they could mandate them, that they wouldn’t create any kind of vaccine hesitancy. So they kept the public uninformed. which is completely contrary. It violates the inviolable concept of informed consent. Informed consent was thrown by the wayside. It was kicked to the curb, all on the altar of this COVID injection.
SPEAKER 12 :
Senator, this raises much bigger issues. And I would say, number one, the issue of trust. When you can no longer trust your own government to tell you information that is about your well-being. I mean, this causes us, and I know this is not new, but this raises it to a whole other level where we were being mandated in many situations to get these vaccines and we weren’t told the whole story. I mean, this undermines credibility of the federal government in such a significant way. I’m not sure they can recover from this.
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s going to be tough. I mean, that’s going to be a task for Bobby Kennedy. I think you can do it if you restore integrity of science. You have to start there. You can restore integrity to these agencies, but not until there’s a thorough reckoning. And Bobby Kennedy is absolutely dedicated to radical transparency, but much to his chagrin, he’s finding out that radical transparency is much easier said than done. We’re having a hard time. It’s like pulling teeth getting these documents. So the documents we got, IT TOOK US MONTHS TO GET THEM. WE’RE JUST SEEING THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. WE STILL DON’T HAVE THE FULL ACCOUNTING OF THE ANALYSIS THEY USED ON THEIR SAFETY SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM. ONE INDIVIDUAL, I DON’T THINK WE’VE GOTTEN ANY DOCUMENTS FROM HIS E-MAIL SERVER. WE’VE GOTTEN SOME WITH HIS NAME ON THEM. WE HAD A HARD TIME IDENTIFYING WHETHER HE WAS STILL WORKING THERE. HE WAS THE GUY WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THE SAFETY SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM ON THESE COVID INJECTIONS. When people do wrong, they cover their tracks pretty well. The deep state does not reveal secrets very easily. And so these investigations can be a tough slog.
SPEAKER 12 :
So how do we, I mean, obviously accountability from what has happened, but going forward, how do we ensure that these safety mechanisms that had been put in place that were violated here, such as the reporting mechanisms that let people know if there are adverse circumstances or adverse effects to these vaccines, how do we make sure that that is in place and it stays in place?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, it starts with exposure of what happened so people understand what went wrong, so you can hold people accountable so that other people in those positions will do the right thing. It’s also going to take doctors to understand that they are at the top of the treatment pyramid. Right now, they’re being crushed at the very bottom of it. They are the ones with the primary responsibility to their patients. And they need to question protocols. They need to advocate for their patients. When patients ask for different types of treatments, rather than just outright dismiss them, but listen to their patients. I heard Bill Maher, and I’ve got to look up this study, but he said that the confidence in doctors, patients’ trust in doctors, was 70% before the pandemic. Now it’s in the 40s. Again, that is a tragedy. Patients have to have confidence in their doctors, but unfortunately, because of COVID, that trust has been eroded, not only in doctors, but certainly in our federal health agencies as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
I think you’re absolutely right across the board. The trust and the confidence in our federal government and the health agencies and doctors. I think Congressmen just get about 45 seconds left. But this also underscores the need for citizens themselves to speak up and ask questions. We shouldn’t just follow these things blindly.
SPEAKER 14 :
Now, listen, in the end, you have to recognize you’re responsible for your own health. And I think it’s actually probably pretty healthy that we’re starting to ask questions of the system, of pharmaceutical companies across the board. We have to take matters into our own hands. But we have to have a trust and faith in the integrity of science. And right now, that has been legitimately eroded.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s the only way our system works. Senator Ron Johnson, always great to have you on the program. Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 14 :
Have a great day.
SPEAKER 12 :
You too. All right. Up next, I’m going to talk with Congressman Marlon Stutzman from Indiana on his recent trip. He just returned from Israel. So we’re going to talk about what he saw over there. So don’t go away. We’re back with more right after this. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, and we’re here in Jerusalem, the city of King David, and I’m excited to announce the launch of our Family Bible Challenge to read through the Gospel of Matthew. Now, this 21-day challenge begins on June the 11th, and it’s a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. It’s in bite-sized readings. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes a day, and we provide a toolbox full of resources to help you along the journey, including a study guide titled, Matthew, the King and His Kingdom. We also provide downloadable resources such as age appropriate questions to engage children. And we have a variety of family friendly projects as well as this, listen, a coloring book, coloring pages about the life of Jesus for the younger kids and your grandkids. Think about it. What could be a better summer activity than to go on a journey through the life of Jesus as a family? Just think what God could do in the lives of your loved ones as they read Matthew. Unforgettable stories about the greater son of David, Jesus the Messiah. I hope you’ll join us for our family Bible challenge beginning June the 11th. Text the word Matthew to 67742. I hope you’ll join us. Thank you.
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In a time when Washington seems clouded by compromise, a bold group of lawmakers are standing firm in defense of the values which our nation was built upon. At FRC Actions 100% Awards, 171 members of Congress were honored for voting 100% in line with policies that promote faith, family, and freedom.
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Faith and family made our country, it’s the foundation that made our country not only great, but good.
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The values that make America, faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility. I mean, that to me is the heart of FRC and grateful for everything that they do.
SPEAKER 16 :
It’s very important for us to have organizations such as FRC. First of all, I think it keeps us grounded, in addition to which the issues that you champion are issues that we should all be championing.
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FRC is very, very good at honing in on those things that really affect Christians’ lives. Also, working with members of Congress, too, to make sure that those values are instilled in the legislation that we create.
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Having the Family Research Council to guide us is critically important to being able to do the right thing consistently.
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These lawmakers have drawn the line, not just in policy, but in principle. This is more than politics. This is conviction in action. Visit frcaction.org for more information on how you too can make a difference.
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Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Hey, I want to encourage you and your family to join FRC for our 21-day family Bible challenge through the book of Matthew starting June the 11th as a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. You and your family can walk together through the life of Christ. We have study guides, weekly discussion questions, kid-friendly activities, and much more. So take the challenge. Text the word Matthew to 67742. That’s Matthew to 67742. In fact, I’m going to talk a little bit more about that in our next segment. Well, over the weekend, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest report on Iran’s nuclear program was made public, stating the regime has increased its enriched uranium by almost 50 percent in the last three months. A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the report was a clear warning sign that Iran is totally determined to complete its nuclear weapons program. Here to discuss this and more, Congressman Marlon Stutzman, who was recently in Israel. He represents the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana. Congressman Stutzman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. How’s the jet lag?
SPEAKER 04 :
A little bit this morning, but I’m doing OK. I don’t know that I really got accustomed to the time change. We were so busy while we were in Israel, but it was a great trip.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, it’s always a busy time over there. So I was there about four weeks ago, and I don’t think the issues have changed much. You had a meeting with the prime minister. What was top of mind with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, what you just mentioned, the nuclear program that Iran is trying to implement or create, that is top of mind for the Israelis and the Israeli government. We all know THAT IRAN HAS NEFARIOUS REASONS FOR A NUCLEAR PROGRAM. IN FACT, I DON’T BELIEVE IRAN SHOULD HAVE A NUCLEAR PROGRAM FULL STOP. I MEAN, THEY HAVE PLENTY OF GAS, THEY HAVE PLENTY OF OIL. THERE’S NO REASON FOR A NUCLEAR PROGRAM FOR UTILITY PURPOSES BECAUSE WHEN YOU START AND TEACH YOUR YOUNG CHILDREN TO DEATH TO AMERICA, DEATH TO ISRAEL, AND YOU CONTINUE TO FUND TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE MIDDLE EAST, to attack Israel, there is no reason for them to have a nuclear program. And frankly, not only Israel, but also Saudi Arabia, Turkey, any other Middle Eastern country shouldn’t want Iran to have a nuclear program because they’re already the bullies in the Middle East, and they would only be a bigger one with a nuclear program.
SPEAKER 12 :
And this today, after, I think, five rounds of talks between the United States and Iran, Iran report, a media report today, and I take that with a grain of salt. It comes from the media. But they intend to reject the U.S. proposed deal regarding their nuclear program. And this is my sense in my conversations with some Israeli officials is that the concern here is dragging out this timeline. You know, you combine this with the report of the International Nuclear Atomic Energy Agency. And in three months, they’ve been able to increase by 50 percent the amount of enriched uranium that they have. Time is not on the side of safety.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now it’s not. And that’s what they do. I’ve had several people in the Middle East tell me that there are certain countries in the Middle East that they laugh at the United States behind closed doors because they’re just going to wait us out. They’re hoping that they’ll be willing to wait out President Trump once he’s gone in a couple of years and out of office, that maybe the next president will be weaker. They have a long-term plan. to accomplish their goals of eliminating the infidel. And so we have to be vigilant here. And I know that President Trump is the strongest negotiator and strongest diplomat that we’ve had since President Reagan. But I truly think that President Trump is flushing them out, showing again that they’re going to reveal themselves for what they truly want to do, and that is to have a nuclear program to bomb Israel and then, of course, to engage with the United States at some point.
SPEAKER 12 :
I want to switch gears, Congressman Stutzman. I know you met with the ambassador to Israel from the United States, Mike Huckabee, while you were there, a dear friend. He released a statement challenging the media for their reckless and irresponsible reporting. Disrepeating the claims by Hamas that IDF soldiers actually killed civilians as they were waiting in line for humanitarian aid. This type of stuff that the media is facilitating when it comes to Hamas’s narrative is what’s fueling what we saw in Colorado yesterday.
SPEAKER 04 :
It absolutely is. And, you know, also the shooting in Washington, D.C. by a man who traveled from Chicago and he kills two Israeli diplomats here on the streets of Washington, D.C. This is this sort of rhetoric has to stop. I, Tony, I had the privilege of visiting with some Israeli soldiers and they, you know, of course, all of the young men and women right now are serving in Gaza at one point or another, whether it’s in active duty or reserve duty, and their reserve duty is doing about 300 hours a year when they’re used to doing zero to maybe capping around 70. So they’re doing a lot of overtime to help stop the, to go after Hamas and eliminate them. But the Israeli soldiers told me that they’re so sad for the people of Gaza because they’re being used as human shields. And Hamas is hiding behind them or hiding under them in their tunnel system, which their tunnel system is as sophisticated as the subway system in London, England. They obviously don’t have trains down there, but they have Hummers down there. They have vehicles down there. It’s a very sophisticated tunnel system. And they’re hiding underneath the Gazan people. And these soldiers were telling me, one way or another, we want to get our hostages out of there. We want to end this war. They want peace right there. And so it’s not coming from the Israeli side. I, again, was so amazed by the Israeli people, how badly they want peace and they want to have prosperity and to raise their families in the promised land that they were given to them. You know, again, was reminded by that, those verses in Genesis and Numbers about, you know, God’s hand blessing those in Israel. and cursing those who curse him. And so the Israeli people are doing the right thing by going after Hamas. We’ve got to make sure other allies or countries like Qatar and, of course, Iran funds those organizations. And we need to be asking a lot of questions, I think, of Qatar on what their intentions are and who they’re really loyal to.
SPEAKER 12 :
I agree 100 percent. We’ve got about 50 seconds left. But along those lines, I think you and Congressman Andrew Clyde, who was there with you, expressed support for Israel declaring sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, because that is a that that’s a threat right there in the heart of their land.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. And, you know, they call it the West Bank. And, you know, when we ever think of a West Bank of the Jordan River, we don’t think of, you know, hundreds of square miles into the middle of Israel, you know. And so it is Judea and Samaria. And I believe that Israel does, you know, deserve sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. And I also believe in the long run that we need to find a way for Gaza to go back under Israeli sovereignty as well. Hamas has proven they can’t use it for proper means.
SPEAKER 12 :
That was the start of all of this. Marlon, we’ve got to leave it there. Thanks for joining us, folks. Stick with us. We’re back after this.
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The Center for Biblical Worldview’s all-day workshops delves into the formation of a worldview, what it is, how it’s formed, when it’s formed, what that means to them personally and their churches and communities.
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My hope for people when they come to these worldview workshops is that they will come away better equipped to engage the people and the ideas that they’re living with and around. And our goal is to give people more confidence in the gospel and the fact that what God said to us actually is true, actually is the path to happiness and human flourishing for all of us, but also more confidence in their ability to have these conversations and help lead other people to the truth.
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for Bible-believing Christians to know what God’s Word says on these issues and to learn how they can apply it to their lives. And we believe that the more Christians that we equip, that’s how we’ll change the nation.
SPEAKER 20 :
Hey, fam, listen, Pastor Sammy here at Lighthouse Church, and I cannot tell you how equipping, how empowering, how… incredibly educating this conference has been. And so I just want to encourage anybody that either has not been part of or is thinking about hosting this event, certainly to pastors, leaders, even CEOs for that matter. This conference is lights out. Stand behind it myself. I can’t commend it enough. We’re going to be talking about this for some time to come.
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The culture is kind of squeezing in on us as God’s people, forcing those of us with biblical views to change those views or to suppress those views. It’s forcing us to engage with issues that we’ve never had to engage with. And so what this teaches us is what those issues are, what the Bible says about those issues, and then how we can critically engage our culture on these things in a way that is committed to biblical principles.
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Visit frc.org slash worldview for more information.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. This is Washington Watch. I hope you have the Stand Firm app because tonight, Dr. Jennifer Bowens, and she’s going to be out with a new book by her and Walt Heyer, God’s Design, Embracing God’s Design. It’s all about the transgender ideology and how it’s, you know, they’re trying to take the country by storm. And the church is not immune to this. This is a biblically-based approach to this, not just from a policy standpoint, but from a ministry standpoint. So tune in tonight, 7 p.m. Eastern time to be a part of that, but you can only get it on the app. So if you don’t have the Stand Firm app, text APP to 67742. All right, we’re in the month of June. Wow. how fast this year has gone and as the school year is on its way out for most, summer is here. All right, what are you gonna do to kick off the summer? Well, I’ll tell you what, I can’t think of a better way to start the summer than as a family reading the Bible, the Word of God. So the Family Research Council, beginning June the 11th, is doing a 21-day family Bible challenge. Now, this is a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. We actually move into the New Testament on June the 11th, so it works out well for 21 days, June 11th through July 1st. As a family, you can read through the Bible together. And we’ve got lots of resources available for you. And here to talk about that is Dr. Kenan Curitan, FRC’s Vice President for Christian Resources. Kenan, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great to be with you, Tony. Man, I am so stoked about this Family Bible Challenge, encouraging families to read the Gospel of Matthew together. It’s going to be great.
SPEAKER 12 :
Let’s talk a little bit about the resources that you have put together. So this is a comprehensive family from, you know, a couple of years old all the way up to, you know, whatever it might be, as old as you can be. If you’re still breathing, you can be a part of this. Talk about the resources we have available.
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. Well, you know, obviously on the foundational level, we’re doing what we’ve always done with the Bible reading plan. And that’s, you know, we challenge folks to read the Bible together as a family in these bite-sized chunks. You mentioned it, 10 to 15 minutes a day, reading one or two chapters from the Gospel of Matthew Monday through Saturday. Plus, we have a couple of reflection questions every day, you know, sometimes for accountability. Great to text those out each day or share them by email. And then on Sunday, we take a break from our daily reading. We gather for prayer and discussion about what God has said to each member of the family or the group you got, what God said to them over the past week. So we’ve broken it down into four weeks. And for each of these four weeks, we’ve got four resources that we’ve got, of course, the daily readings and the reflection questions. But we also have, for those who gather their families on Sunday, and that’s such a key thing, are the chapter recaps. And that allows a parent or grandparent, a facilitator, to get the gist of each chapter of Matthew at a glance. So we’re covering the chapters 1 to 7 in the first week, 8 to 17 the second week, 18 to 26 the third week, and then the last chapters in that fourth week with a bonus section in Luke that goes all the way, really, the focus goes all the way through Independence Day weekend. And the first Sunday’s Father’s Day, and the last Sunday is Independence Day weekend. So we’ve got those chapter recaps. But we also have the age appropriate questions. One of the ways we’re doing this to engage families and including kids and grandkids is to do these questions so that, you know, they are able to reflect on what God has said in his word on a level where they are. You know, like for example, I’m looking at the Family Bible Challenge in the very first week here. And Matthew chapter 3, it talks about the baptism of Jesus. And one of the things that it asks there is, you know, he’s talking about how God said, this is my beloved son and whom I will please. How do our fathers show us that we’re loved and special to them? So, you know, it’s just some discussion starters.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. And you don’t have to have a theological degree to lead your family in this. We’ve put this thing out. We’ve got everything you need. It’s just a matter of will. I mean, if you really want to do it, we’ve got it there for you. And as Kenan said, bite-sized chunks, 10 to 15 minutes a day. And then the highlight, and you don’t want to miss this, is what Kenan was describing on the Sunday, where you just have a discussion around the dinner table after lunch about you know, how God has spoken to you through the Word, and then as the father or the mother, whoever’s leading the conversation, integrating that with what’s happening in the world around us. This is about developing a biblical worldview by having a discussion over the Word of God. And Keenan, I got a letter from a 12-year-old girl whose family has been doing the Bible reading plan And she wrote this letter to me, and it was quite amazing, coming from a 12-year-old girl writing, said, I’m writing this to tell you how much I appreciate and enjoy Stand on the Word. She went on to say, I just want you to know that God has used it to bless and strengthen my family spiritually. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And so, and you’ve got a 12-year-old saying this, Thank you for encouraging my family to do this journey through the Bible together. And Kenia, there’s a lot of studies out there that actually say kids want their parents to lead them spiritually. There might be some eye rolling, but in the heart, they are wanting to be led and nurtured by their parents spiritually.
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. And that’s why this is so important when you think about it. We’ve talked a lot about George Barna and his research that shows that a biblical worldview, a person’s worldview, is developed between 15 months and 13 years. So we just have this brief window of opportunity to instill a biblical worldview in children and teens.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. So important, and we’ve got it all right there for you. Kenan, thanks so much for joining us today and for all the work you did on putting this together. Folks, text the word MATTHEW to 67742. That’s MATTHEW to 67742 to take the challenge. You’ll get a link. You’ll have all the resources you need to lead your family through this 21 days. All right, don’t go away.
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Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 07 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 23 :
There’s so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 23 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture. and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, thanks for tuning in for this Monday edition of Washington Watch. And as I was wrapping up that conversation with Kenan, Curitan, if you want to be a part of the 21-day challenge, the family challenge through the book of Matthew, text Matthew to 67742. That’s Matthew to 67742. Look, 21 days. That’s all that’s required. You will not be disappointed. So I encourage you to join us in that. Speaking of the Word, today’s Word comes from Nehemiah 5, verses 7 through 9. After reflection, Nehemiah rebuked the nobles and rulers for exacting usury from their own brothers. He reminded them, according to our ability, we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now will you sell your brethren? The leaders stood speechless. Nehemiah concluded, what you’re doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations? Israel had just tasted freedom from foreign servitude. Now driven by profit, its elites were re-enslaving their own countrymen through predatory loans, repudiating God’s law and tarnishing the nation’s witness. The passage exposes a timeless tension. Markets can liberate, but when gain becomes the only gauge, they quickly shackle. Capitalism, like any economic system, flourishes only when pursued within the boundaries of biblical truth and morality. Without reverence for God and regard for neighbor, profit mutates into oppression, and freedom erodes from within. Let Nehemiah’s rebuke recalibrate our own ambitions. Wealth is a tool for service, never a license to exploit. For more on our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, over the weekend, Ukrainian forces pulled off stunning attacks on four Russian air bases, even as far away as from Moscow. from the war is the far eastern Russian port city of Vladivostok. That, by way, is thousands of miles away from the front lines of the war between Ukraine and Russia and actually less than 50 miles from the Chinese border. It’s amazing. Some military analysts even call this attack Russia’s Pearl Harbor. What does the attack tell us? Not just in terms of the status of the war, but about the two sides, as Russia was targeting… Sites where civilians were housed over the weekend. So joining me now to discuss this as well as other news from the weekend are Suzanne Bowdy from the Washington stand and FRC’s vice president for policy and government affairs, Travis Weber. Travis, Suzanne, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks, Tony. All right. Let me just start with you, Travis. Ukrainian forces pulled off an extraordinary attack on Russia’s air bases, about four different bases. You’re a Navy veteran, a pilot. Unpack the differences in targets we see here that the Ukrainians are focused on versus the Russian military.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah, Tony. So there’s a lot of reporting about this. A lot of the news sites are carrying a version of the story and how the attack was special in the sense of how far away from the battlefield Ukraine was able to strike these Russian bombers and how this might alter the course of the conflict. I think Certainly, there are some commentators and some of the news reporting is talking about how this may strategically cause Russia and Ukraine to recalculate. But as we see, as efforts continue to be made to get Russia and Ukraine to the table, we don’t yet… We’re not really seeing that breakthrough, right? And so we’re seeing Turkey positioned as the site of these talks, also Saudi Arabia in the mix. It’s giving a boost in world opinion to the host of the talks, to some of those involved, but we’ve not yet seen breakthroughs. That’s an area of contingent prayer. But Tony, as you note, In terms of how Russia and Ukraine are conducting themselves, under the law of war, which has been developed in the modern era, recent modern history, there are certain ethical principles that have guided nations that have conducted war according to the law of armed conflict and the principles of war. Some of those involve core principles, necessity, proportionality, and those involve who you’re targeting and why you’re targeting them. you basically have a distinction between legitimate military targets and illegitimate targets. And it’s generally agreed that the intentional targeting of civilians is not a legitimate military aim. You can target military targets that are necessary to the conduct of your enemy’s war, and therefore it’s legitimate to target those. And at times there is incidental damage or damage to civilian infrastructure or unfortunately the killing of civilians during those attacks. And that’s considered legal under the principles of war, the principles of armed conflict, but you cannot intentionally target them. So that is an important consideration as we look at what’s happening here.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, we’ve repeatedly seen Russia going after civilian infrastructure targets, where you see here very clearly that Ukraine is going after military targets to weaken Russia’s military capacity. I think this strike over the weekend took out about 30%, I understand, of their air capacity, which was quite significant. Continuing on our foreign policy front, Suzanne, I want to go to you about how the legacy media here in the United States has been all too willing to carry the water for Hamas, repeating Hamas’s narrative, even though study after study has brought into question the facts that are being released by Hamas. This fueling what some say, in fact, Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel from the United States, pointed to this facilitation of false narrative, linking it to the violence that we saw on the streets of D.C. recently, as well as what happened yesterday in Colorado.
SPEAKER 18 :
And the very sad thing about all of this is that it overshadows what should be a very good news story, which is that America is finally able to deliver aid to the Palestinians who haven’t had aid that was controlled by a neutral force. They’ve only had it controlled by Hamas. And so the sympathetic media to the Palestinians, instead of reporting on this good news that, hey, look, 800,000 meals were delivered in two days. to people who, if you look at the photos, are smiling, they’re thanking America. The legitimate photos on the ground showed them appreciative of the work that America has done. All of that was overshadowed by the fact that several legacy media outlets, including The New York Times, the BBC, Sky News, AP, on and on and on, all propagated this story from Hamas sources who they like to refer to as you know, health agency officials. That’s their code for their sources who are Hamas on the ground, feeding them this propaganda, these lies, saying that the IDF fired on innocent civilians when in fact everyone disputed that claim from the government sources down onto the reporters on the ground. No one has substantiated this claim. In fact, just a couple of hours ago, the AP was out with a second story saying that three people had died again, this time from IDF Soldiers firing on innocent Palestinians a kilometer away from the humanitarian relief source. And again, that was all devoted to health sources when we know this is just Hamas. It is shoddy journalism. It’s dangerous journalism and it’s fomenting hate around the world, as we’ve seen here and abroad.
SPEAKER 12 :
And again, there have been studies that have debunked the claims put out by Hamas is like they’re they’re. various agency, they have their, I forget what they call their agency where they’re, oh, what’s the name of their, it goes by the initials of MOH. It’s what reports on, oh, the health, agency that reports on the fatalities and and that’s repeatedly been debunked that they’ve inflated the numbers but the media continues to run with every time they release a number of how many civilians have been killed the media runs with it in the same thing here they did they don’t even fact-check it and it is as you said fomenting this hostility and acts of violence here in our own country
SPEAKER 18 :
And it’s really journalism 101. On what planet do you take the word of terrorists over people on the ground, government officials, American aid workers who’ve all said this never happened? Carolyn Glick, who you’ve had on the show a number of times, a very respected source in Israel. actually was celebrating and observing a Jewish holiday and actually came online to show pictures of the Palestinians thanking America’s children with huge smiles on their faces, saying that the media is actually responsible for the violence that’s starting to ripple throughout the world. And she’s 100 percent correct. You see it in Colorado. You’ve seen it in D.C. You see it all over the world now. And it’s truly a shame that this is happening, especially in America.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I saw some reports coming out from conservative outlets that said that many of the people in Gaza were shocked they didn’t have to pay for the aid.
SPEAKER 18 :
Right, absolutely, because this has been something that Hamas has lorded over them. They’ve actually stolen convoys of aid in the time that this war has gone on and charged the Palestinians. So the Gazans were actually shocked that this food was free. That’s why they were so happy. So it really is overshadowing what I believe is a good news story, and it’s tragic.
SPEAKER 12 :
So this is exactly what the Israelis have been saying, that Hamas is utilizing this humanitarian aid coming from the United Nations, and they’re selling it, and they’re funding their war machine off a humanitarian aid.
SPEAKER 18 :
And it’s sad. Yes, go ahead, Travis.
SPEAKER 22 :
I was going to say, Tony, to that point, we know that Hamas uses the civilian population under their control as a point of leverage to uh… direct world opinion or control world opinion and so they will seek to do whatever they can to make sure that population stays under that that leverage point for them so in the united states in the israeli governments were able to set up an alternative aid distribution system which we have going on here certainly you have re- Hamas would have reason to be concerned it i don’t think it’s too far-fetched beyond the realm of possibility for Hamas to intentionally insert or cause some disruption to provoke an Israeli response against what would be perceived as a legitimate military threat or a legitimate threat to Israeli forces, as we were just talking about in the context of Russia, you have principles that govern the law of war, and those apply here as well. And so when you have military using civilians, hiding behind civilians, but there are military targets, you have, unfortunately, Hamas putting the civilians in Gaza in a position of danger, putting them in a line of fire. This is a well-known fact. And so I think it’s very important for people to seek to understand how Hamas might use this situation to continue to have the civilian population as a source of leverage for them to direct world opinion in their favor.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. And Suzanne, you just mentioned a report earlier within the last couple of hours. I’m looking at the AP report. And again, here’s a line at the bottom of the report. Israel’s military campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. This has been debunked over and over, but yet they throw this in there, saying that Israel’s killed 54,000 Palestinians. has no credibility. All right. I want to shift to, we got about four minutes left. I want to shift to the domestic front because as Congress returns this week, the big, beautiful bill is now in the hands of Senator John Thune and his colleagues. So what, what’s ahead in the Senate this week?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I think it’s going to be interesting to see now that John Thune is in the hot seat. He’s going to have some of the same headaches that I think Mike Johnson had in that he also has a very slim majority. He can also only afford to lose three members, three votes on this bill. So he has his work cut out from him. We haven’t really seen what his leadership style is. I think we’ve all seen Mike Johnson as someone who really likes to govern through regular order. He’s open. He’s transparent. From what I understand about the procedures coming up this week, there will not be the same kind of committee markups that Mike Johnson held. So in other words, you have Republicans sort of crafting these bills on the committees behind closed doors. And we’ll see what comes of that. Usually bringing things out into the light is the best way to do business, but it’s also the hardest way to do business. And John Thune is going to have to contend with warring factions just like Mike Johnson has. There are several moderates in the Senate who have different opinions on everything from you know, nutritional supplement, the snap to Medicaid cuts. Some are on both sides of that. You have people who want bigger spending cuts, people who want lesser spending cuts on the same side of the party. So it’ll be very interesting to see how this develops this week. A lot of the action will be taking place in the finance committee. Uh, that’s the one that FRC is really going to be paying attention to. That’s where we’ll see whether big abortion is defunded. We’ll see what happens with the gender transition surgery. It’s also where the Medicaid work requirements will be coming into play, the tax cuts. So all eyes will be on the Finance Committee and John Thune this week.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s very interesting, Suzanne. So the spotlight really since the start of this Congress has been on the House because almost everything has been occurring over there. And now that spotlight is going to shift over to the Senate. And we’re going to see, as you said, John Thune doesn’t have much of a margin to work with either. And how is he able to corral all of those votes that he’s going to need? It’s going to be very interesting to watch. But, Travis, that doesn’t mean the House is on the sidelines. They’ve got their own issues they’ll be dealing with, with a major rescission package coming in. So tell us what’s ahead for the House this week.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah, I mean, Tony, as as discussed, a lot of activity over both chambers. Right. And so we’ve been focused on reconciliation. But the whole the regular appropriations process process by which government funding for our government and its operations will should be happening on an annual basis and historically sometimes we don’t see that process playing out to completion so we see temporary funding funding measures passed but the appropriations process is going to be ramping up and developing by which the government looks at just funding its operations for the next year longer term into the into the fall we have initiatives that are in concert with what the trump administration wants to do for example state department reauthorization we’re talking about legislatively reauthorizing some very important programs in our government, whole operations of agencies that we’ve not done in some time. So, Tony, looking at appropriations picking up, continuing past this week into the months to come.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, Suzanne, just about 20 seconds left. Give you the final word. What should we be watching this week?
SPEAKER 18 :
Watching and praying for the House, for the media, as we’ve heard today, for global conflicts around the world. We just need to continue to be in prayer that God’s will be done and we continue to speak truth and stand on it.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. And that’s what we will do at the Washington Stand and at Washington Watch. Travis, Suzanne, thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 18 :
Thanks, Tony.
SPEAKER 12 :
And folks, thank you for joining us as well. Be sure to tune in tonight, 7 p.m. on the Stand Firm app for Dr. Jennifer Bowens and Walt Heyer. All right. Until next time, do what Suzanne said, pray and stand.
SPEAKER 21 :
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.
