Rick Green: 0:12

This is the intersection of faith and the culture. It's WallBuilders. Thanks for joining us today, I'm Rick Green, America's constitution coach and a former Texas legislator. Here with David and Tim Barton. David's Of course, America's premier historian, I think knows more about the founding fathers than any person alive today definitely has read more of the founders writings and original documents than anyone alive today. And just thrilled to be able to serve alongside him here. Also Tim Barton, national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders. Both these guys you need to get them in to speak at your church, your business conference, your homeschool conference, whatever it might be, check out WallBuilders.com today, to get them in. I'm telling you, it'll inspire you equip you, give you hope for the future, and give you solutions for all the things that we're facing right now. And of course, we bring you that here on the radio program as well. And if you go to WallBuilders.com, you can actually make a donation that helps us to expand this program to reach more people. So we appreciate you doing that. It can be one time or monthly. But thank you very much for being a part of our team and really part of the solution. The more we can get truth in people's hands, and the more we can inspire them to stand for that truth and fight for that truth and defend that truth, the better chance we have of turning this nation around, we're blessed, we're blessed to have the tools we need to save America. And it's not only the political stuff, it's every area of the culture with a biblical infusion we'll do better. All right, David tipand Tim,Tony Perkins with us a little later on, we're going to be talking about a new Bible study he has out on the book of Nehemiah, which by the way, the name WallBuilders, it just might happen to come from that book. You know, often in the intro to the program. I mention WallBuilders, Nehemiah arise and rebuild the walls, and we may no longer be up reproach. This is the purpose of the organization. David, how did you come up with the name WallBuilders, out of that book? Why did that jump out at you, when you were studying Nehemiah all those years ago?

David Barton: 1:58

Well, interesting that the name kind of came after we got started doing some things we were talking at that point about, we had statistical evidence. The first book we did was called American prayer not to pray. And it really was statistical evidence, I had been a math and science teacher, was a school principal, so math and science was my gig. And we got into working in cabinet level departments with their data, and correlating that to specific decisions by the Supreme Court. And we were able to show that when the Supreme Court removed certain values out of the culture, when they removed, whether it's prayer or Bible or whatever, that behavior changed, along with that, and that when we told God, we don't want him in the culture anymore, he said, okay, if you don't, then then I'll just kind of disappears, is what it looked like on the charts. But there were 44 categories in which we saw specifically that, for example, when we took God out of schools, violent crime increased 644%, just shot through the roof after that, when we said, hey, let's not teach Bible and morality in schools anymore, then teen pregnancies to 14 year old girls went up 700%, sexually transmitted diseases went up 221%, almost immediately. You went from having six sexually transmitted diseases to almost 30, now. You went from having one that was incurable, now there's half a dozen that are incurable. And so we just saw the culture go in so many directions in the wrong direction. And we saw that was related back to something that God had said in Jeremiah, I think it was chapter six. He said, Look, if you reject me and reject my word, here's what's going to happen to your nation. And he goes through what happens to families, what happens to the violence and etc. And it was real clear. And so we looked at that and said, nan, this is not good. We got to get the nation back in the right direction. How do you turn a nation around? How do you had to rebuild a nation? And as we were looking for ways to get a solution out there, how do you do that? We were struck with the book of Nehemiah, because that is the story of people who wanted to get their nation back right to get back in the right direction. And it had been torn down, the enemy had come in and ravaged the nation and torn down his greatness in so many categories they weren't great anymore. And that's kind of what we saw. We went from, for example, we were number one in the world and literacy. And after taking God at education, we dropped to number 65 in the world in literacy, I think we're back up to 32 or 33 now, which is still below most industrial nations we're in the third world category. So we saw that and say how do you rebuild? And that's where the book of Nehemiah became very significant. And so as we were looking, because it's one thing to point out problems to people, but man they'll stay depressed if you can't give some solutions with it. And so the question was, what are the solutions? How do you turn this around? And we looked at the book of Nehemiah. And so as we started to looking at Nehemiah, the Lord just kind of really pushed hard on my heart and said, You need to read this book, once every day, all 13 chapters from start to finish every day, and you need to do this for six months. And it's like I started into it because I felt like that's what the Lord had impressed me to do and I'm going to be obedient. And after about two weeks, come on Lord, I've read it yesterday. I I know what the 13th chapter say. And after about the third week, I started seeing new things every day. I mean, just new things popped up about, what are the strategies of the enemy? How do they do it? And what are the strategies to get people associated to help rebuild? And does everybody do everything? Or do you have different people do different parts of rebuilding? And what do you do with media? And what do you do with the different kinds of personalities and the book of Nehemiah just had so much of that. Some people, the priests, quite frankly, did as little as anybody. It said that they just rebuilt the wall along their own homes, where the men of Tekoa built, like 1500 metres of wall. And so there were people who didn't do much at all, but at least they did something. And so we started seeing man, here's how you can get funding for this stuff. Here's how Nehemiah got the funding. Here's how he got the people going together. Here's how he got them thinking right. And so that really kind of became our guidebook. And from that, we've used that for all sorts of political strategies and spiritual strategies as well. But that's kind of how we got started back at the beginning. We started sharing this with with people across the country, we're speaking somewhere, one or two or three times a day, it seemed at that point, and people really wanted to hear the message. So we started sharing some solutions. And my dad who was with us in one of those meetings, said, you know, we really ought to call people to be wall-builders to rebuild the walls that have been torn down around the nation. And so that's where the name WallBuilders came from, was the suggestion my dad made, as we were talking about biblical solutions on how you encourage people to get involved and rebuild. And so that's how WallBuilders came to be.

Rick Green: 6:31

So many positive things out of that, but I just got to say, man, I love the influence of our fathers. And I... you know, not to distract from our topic today. But David, that's so cool that your dad came up with the name. You know, Patriot Academy started because of a phone call with my dad. My dad was the one that suggested the things that we did. I just love the fact that we're in our mission in our purpose, and our dads are the ones that really helped pour that into us and help shape that vision. Alright, folks, we're going to take a quick break, when we come back, Tony Perkins, our special guest, we're going to be talking about really studying the Bible, I mean, actually getting back into the answer book, for everything that ails us in our culture. Stay with us you're listening to WallBuilders.

Tim Barton: 7:21

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. Too often today history education excludes great black heroes from the American founding. Such as Lemuel Haynes. Haynes, though abandoned as a baby, pioneered churches across upper New England. He became the first black American to pastor a white congregation, to receive an honorary master’s degree, and to be ordained by a mainstream Christian denomination, The Congregationalist. He was a soldier during the American Revolution and in his churches on George Washington’s birthday he regularly preached sermons honoring George Washington. Even late in his life he expressed his willingness to go back to battle if necessary to protect America, which he called, “€œa sacred ark.”€ American history is filled with numerous examples of black heroes who are largely ignored by mainstream education today. For more information about Pastor Lemuel Haynes and other colonial Patriots go to WallBuilders.com .

Rick Green: 8:19

Welcome back to WallBuilders. Thanks for staying with us. Tony Perkins, back with us from Family Research Council on a great new study for such a time as this I mean, it's perfect timing to rebuild the walls in America, study on Nehemiah, Tony, thanks for coming on, bro.

Tony Perkins: 8:31

Well, thanks, Rick. Hey, you guys know a little bit about rebuilding the walls.

Rick Green: 8:35

Man, I'm telling you, I think about this a lot lately, just how much God put in place over the last 25-30 years, with all our different organizations and the experiences, you know, with whether in the legislature or congress or all the different things, I just... It's beautiful to see the pieces of the puzzle coming together. The nation needs us right now. And I'm so thankful you're doing this study and for everything you guys are doing at FRC, and for teaming up with us here at WallBuilders, as much as possible. We love you guys.

Tony Perkins: 9:03

Well, it's mutual right back at you. And as I think of the wall, that WallBuilders is such a great analogy. And this is why I love the study of Nehemiah and why we did this 14 day study because it is so applicable, not just to where we are as a nation, but to where our families are, to where we are spiritually. It just has such great principles for leadership and for the family and for the culture. But one of the greatest takeaways, and you just kind of you touched on it, Rick, is that in the way Nehemiah built the walls, kind of maybe jumping ahead here, but the way he successfully did this with a group of people that for over 100 years had been just living in the rubble. He did it by challenging them as families to build the wall right where they were. And they celebrated the accomplishments of one another and that's where I think we are... where we need to be and we're increasingly we are, where we have different organizations, we're different... doing different things that God has called us to. But we're working collectively for the kingdom, celebrating the victories in what God is accomplishing through our various families and organizations.

Rick Green: 10:15

Amen. Amen. No doubt about it. And one theme that is really coming through this year, you know, we know this, that the culture thrives when the Bible is infused into it when we... when that salt and light is actually in every arena, and then it dies and falls apart when the Bible is not. And so getting believers to get into the Word and so a tool like this, to help them specifically in Nehemiah, but also you guys have this Bible reading plan on the website at frc.org/bible . I mean, the more we can get people to saturate in God's Word, the more they're going to know truth, the more they'll recognize the lie and will reject a lot of this craziness out there. So again, all these pieces of the puzzle coming together, just right. Are you seeing people fall in love with God's word, Again? I think that's the most important thing

Tony Perkins: 10:57

You know, it's interesting, I pay close that could happen. attention to this. And many people say, you know, what's the public policy organization in Washington doing focusing on the Bible? Well, I'm telling you, number one, it is our source of strength. And it is our only source of hope. And that is our connection, being tethered to the transcendent truth of God, daily, being nurtured in our relationship with Him. And even in reading the Word, today, as we're in the book of Luke, we've been in the book of Luke. Luke focuses on one aspect of Jesus and His gospel that the others touch on, but not as much as Luke and that is the prayer life of Jesus, that Jesus spent time alone with the Father. And that was a source of direction, a source of strength, a source of really of encouragement from, as David said, you know, when he was at Ziklag, and he encouraged himself in the Lord, I think there were times in Jesus's life as both, you know, man and God, he had to encourage himself, given what he was facing. And we're the same way, we've got to have that time with the Lord. And how do we hear him? We hear Him through His Word. And we need that increasingly, as these days grow dark, because we need the source of hope to sustain us in these moments. And I'm saying this as I read the emails and the messages coming back from those who were on this two year journey with us. And we've got thousands of people that are doing this journey and talking about how their relationships... I was just reading one this morning, about a lady who said, you know, my relationship with my husband has been strengthened. Our home is better off because we've been in the Word of God. So it is our source of strength. It's our source of hope, in these challenging times in which we live.

Rick Green: 12:52

I love it. Wait, Tony, are you actually saying that one of our greatest heroes in the Bible, David, and then of course, Jesus himself, you know, that we're not stronger than them? That we don't... you know, are you saying we need what they needed? I mean, this is so spot on. We do.

Tony Perkins: 13:06

It's right there for us, Rick, if we just read it. What the Lord lays out for us in His Word, is what Jesus said over in John chapter 16, he said, look in the world, you're going to have tribulation, but take comfort, because I've overcome the world. He's telling us all the things that are going to happen. I mean, basically everything that's unfolding before our eyes right now, Jesus told us what's going to happen. Why so that we would have peace in the midst of this tumultuous time in which we live.

Rick Green: 13:37

Amen, amen, man, it just... it requires drawing nearer to him. And these tools help so much. And so how do you recommend people do this if they want to do the daily reading with you but then also do the study through Nehemiah? Is it a group study or do it by yourself? I guess everybody's kind of doing it however they want.

Tony Perkins: 13:54

Well, we have The Journey that it's a two year through the Bible, and it's broken down, in two years. A lot of people have done the one year Bible and you end up just kind of reading all of the time. So this is designed in 10 to 15 minutes a day, you can read the daily reading, and we have diagnostic or the kind of questions that you know kind of probe. I started, this actually started Rick, a number of years ago, I was looking with my five children, I was looking for a devotional that I could do with all of my kids, and we've got a pretty good age range. And I couldn't find anything. And so finally, out of desperation, I just used the Bible. You know? We look for all of these supplemental things. And so this is really focused on... even our study guide that we've got two of them out. We've done one on Jeremiah and one on Nehemiah. Nehemiah is one I like the most because I just resonate with Nehemiah and his life and what he did and how God used him and it's a 14 day study, but it's all centered on the word, so we want... it's not to replace the word. It's simply to come in behind it to help draw out the principles and the truths found in the Word. So we, in all of this, we're encouraging people read the word. So you can go on the... join with us in the two year journey. We're now just started into the New Testament that's at FRC.org/Bible . Or you can get the Nehemiah study that's FRC.org/Nehemiah . And that is a 14 day study. So great way to get introduced into a daily Bible reading plan. And it, you know, takes really about 18 to 21 days to start a habit. But this is a great habit to start just carving out that time. I encourage most people to do it in the mornings. In fact, I've got a... I do a devotional every morning on Facebook and at

TonyPerkins.com at 8: 15:45

44 Eastern time every morning, going along with the daily reading plans about a 10 to 12 minute devotional that I do. But it is all designed to get God's people into his word. So that as we find our strength in the Lord, as Paul said, in Ephesians 6, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, then we're equipped to meet the spiritual challenges of our day, and make a difference in the world in which we live. It's all designed to equip us to be world changers.

Rick Green: 16:21

Love it. I wish I could say Tony, that I was so disciplined, I could do this on my own every day and I would be consistent. But I, every time I do something like this where I'm following along with you or I've got a group together doing it or I know other people are counting on me posting or whatever. There's just something about that community in that knowing that you're, you know, running alongside with other people that makes you more consistent in doing it. It's almost like an accountability thing. And you don't want to... or maybe it's fear of missing out, I don't know what the motivations are. I just know it works better when you do something like this with other people.

Tony Perkins: 16:52

And that's the whole reason for doing that, not just throwing it out there, say, hey, here's a reading plan. But we're actually doing it, and I'm leading, I kind of equate it to, I like to hike, I've been on the Appalachian Trail a number of times. And so I kind of position myself as a trail guide. I'm not the expert, I've been down here a few times. And I'm going to point out some nice vistas and some really neat things. But there's going to be things that you discover yourself and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you. So I'm just there to kind of encourage you on your journey as one who's been down this path a few times. And it's not to do it for you. It's not to replace the experience for you. It's just to encourage you on this journey. And so that's what we're doing. And it's remarkable what the Lord... it shouldn't be remarkable, but it is, to see what God does through His Word in the lives of his people. And doing it as a family is also a great way to do it. And that's kind of going back to how this all got started a number of years ago, I did it with my family, I did, kind of divided the word up into a two year journey. And it's six days a week, reading six days a week, the seventh day, which is actually the first day Sunday is a day of discussion. And so we are, and it's still this case in our family, with the children that are still home, and and those that come over for Sunday lunch is, we have a discussion over the reading of the week. And so to watch the development and the growth spiritually of my children over the years as we have taken the what we've all read during the course of the weekend and apply it to our lives and the world in which we're living. It is developed in my children, that biblical worldview, and the application of God's word to our lives and into the environment in which we live. And so it's been fascinating to watch enriching for our family, drawing us closer together, and giving us this shared experience of walking through God's word.

Rick Green: 18:49

It is the instruction manual for life and including the way we organize our societies. I have said this everywhere spoken for the last year. So you know, if you want to save America, number one thing you can do is get in God's word and get saturated in God's word and know that truth, and like you just said, you know, a public policy organization doing this, I mean, it's because we all see this is the most important answer, it doesn't mean we're not still, you know, very, very involved in voter registration and turning people out and educating people on the Constitution and those sorts of things. We just know, this is the most important thing. So what a great tool to share with folks FRC.org/Bible for the daily reading. And then FRC.org/Nehemiah for the Nehemiah study. And we'll have links today, folks for you to get it there at WallBuilders.com as well, Tony, God bless you, man. Thanks so much for coming on. Look forward to getting you back soon.

Tony Perkins: 19:36

All right, Rick, always great to be with you brother. Keep up the great work.

Rick Green: 19:39

That's Tony Perkins, Family Research Council. Stay with us folks. We'll be right back with David and Tim Barton. Have you noticed the vacuum of leadership in America? We’re looking around for leaders of principle to step up and too often, no one is there. God is raising up a generation of young leaders with a passion for impacting the world around them. They’re crying out for the mentorship and leadership training they need. Patriot Academy was created to meet that need. Patriot Academy graduates now serve in state capitals around America in the halls of Congress, in business, in the film industry, in the pulpit and every area of the culture. They’re leading effectively and impacting the world around them. Patriot Academy is now expanding across the nation and now’s your chance to experience this life changing week that trains champions to change the world. Visit patriotacademy.com for dates and locations. Our core program is still for young leaders 16 to 25 years old, but we also now have a citizen track for adults, so visit the website today to learn more. Help us fill the void of leadership in America join us in training champions to change the world at PatriotAcademy.com . We're back here on WallBuilders. Thanks for staying with us. And thanks to Tony Perkins for joining us as well, back with David and Tim Barton. Tim, man, you grew up rebuilding walls. I mean, all over the country in the van, Right? I mean, you've been there every step of the way. And now of course all over the country, teaching people how to rebuild the walls. So what a great purpose in life. And I know, you know, people tell you now, wow, man, I mean, you're as good as your dad, I say this in front of him. And when I'm not in front of him, you're even better than your dad, I'm telling you, the torch is being passed, so effectively, and WallBuilders is a blessing to so many people. And that's rare that you have a father son team like that, where the torch is getting passed so effectively. So anyway, I'm just bragging on you guys. I love getting to work with you. And this whole topic of Nehemiah just kind of wells all that up in me.

Tim Barton: 21:44

When we saw that Tony Perkins had a book on Nehemiah, we thought okay, like how can you not bring on one of our friends to discuss something that is so pertinent for what we've been doing here WallBuilders for now, more than 30 years. And you know, Rick, as you mentioned, we kind of grew up in this, Dad, even as we look back, and you share some of the stories of reading this day after day after day, and part of the details when you started reading Nehemiah, and every day you were seeing different things. One of the things that, I mean, your dad, who was a pastor, absolutely believed that God speaks to us through His Word. And if you want to hear the voice of God read the Bible, because those are the words of God. That's how you hear the voice of God in so many ways. Once you begin to recognize the voice of God, then right, you might you might hear God's voice in other ways, too. But the Bible is the number one key. And one of the things I think sometimes we miss about the Bible is the new revelation from repeated verses. And as you were reading Nehemiah, every single day, you were getting new revelation. And God was showing you new ways to apply the story you already heard, but different connections which you know, led to ultimately you being obedient to what you felt God was calling you to do. And you know, 30 plus years later here we are doing something like this. But to me, one of the things that is so impressive about this, even as as, you know the Book of Nehemiah, right for us, we are still a... part of our tradition that I learned growing up in our families, we read the Bible at least cover to cover once a year. It's just, it's what we do. It's part of who we are, it's part of how we live our life as Christians. And every time I get to Nehemiah, right, it would be easy to go I've heard this story a thousand times, which it probably wasn't a thousand. But it's probably been hundreds. I know the story really well. But it doesn't discount the fact that you can learn new things from it, which to me even it's cool that, you know, when Tony Perkins was talking about their two year Bible program, and for so many people, they go well, we have a one year Bible, right? And we're taking two years it slows down. It, sometimes it's worth slowing down and digesting meditating chewing on this because there's so much to the Bible, there's so much to the Word of God. And there's so much truth that God speak to us from His word that we don't want to get caught in just reading to get done with a chore and you know, mark something off the to do list but taking time to process and think through it. And I love the fact he said that on Sundays, they don't even necessarily have a specific thing they read, they just... let's just talk about it. Let's try to digest this and meditate upon this as the Bible would even talk about, meditate on God's word, so that you can benefit from it. It's certainly something that the book of Nehemiah has been very rich for us the entire life of this ministry and organization. And it's so great that now, you know, we have a friend leading a Bible study on Nehemiah. Again, we're writing a book on this, which is super fun to see some of that connection, knowing the blessing it's been in our life and understanding it can be a blessing for so many other people as well.

David Barton: 24:42

You know, there's a great founding father example on that, Tim. You mentioned we've got the book Nehemiah how many times but Elias Boudinot, who was the president of Congress, he was there to sign the peace treaty to end the war for independence. He was just a significant founding father all the way through. He also was a founder of the American Bible Society and late in life, he talked about how he had read the Bible, every year, at least once a year. And he talked about how he's gone through it, like 50 times, 70 times, however many and he says, and every time he reads it, he still sees something he has never seen before. That is fresh revelation every time he reads it. And if you're to the point where you say Bible reading is boring, then you're not spending enough time in it, you need to spend enough time in it that you get past the clock in your head ticking and say you're done. Now you can stop and go... get past that to where you spend time in it, and then you start soaking stuff up. And then the Holy Spirit will start showing you stuff, and you get real good revelation out of it. And that's what the Founding Fathers talked about. And that's what made such a difference was spending enough time in it to where it started really talking to you. And that makes a difference.

Rick Green: 25:48

In fact, David, I just read the article you wrote on that in the founders Bible just a few days ago. And it's that way for me, I'm always like, wait a minute, that was not in there last year. Not meaning like the article, meaning, you know, in the Scripture, I'm going that was not there. And who is this person that I can't pronounce their name? I don't remember ever seeing that person in there. I mean, it happens all the time. And no matter how many times, how many years I've read through it, which I think is just incredible, and God continues to make it rich and continues to make it applicable to whatever's going on in our life. So take home message from today is definitely get saturated in God's word. Start spending time in it, whether you do the founders Bible, whether you do the study with FRC, however you do it. Get into God's word. That's the most important thing you can do if you want to help save the nation. Thanks so much for listening today folks, you've been listening to WallBuilders.