Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to Intersection of Faith and Culture. It's The Wobbler Show, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. And that includes national tragedies, natural disasters and political disasters. And we get a combination of all of those today. Pastor Jack Hibbs will be with us a little later in the program. I'm Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton. You can learn more about us at our website wallbuilders.com and WallBuilders.show. David And of course, everybody's very focused on the fires in California. They continue to rage. It's been a political disaster also a natural disaster and and you know just ten times as bad because of the bad political decisions. But our friend Jack Hibbs is right there in the middle of it. We'll get him on to talk a little bit about what's going on. 

Tim Barton [00:00:53] Well, guys, it's interesting looking at all these California fire issues. I was seeing a clip on social media from CNN where one of their their commentators was lamenting the fact that even though Internet searches for wildfires is like skyrocketing Internet searches for climate change is going down. And and there's two of them talking. They're limiting how sad it is that people don't see the connection. The only reason we're having this is because of climate change. And it's it's so interesting is we've talked many times in the program before where people are waking up to recognize and identify some of the nonsense has been promoted for a long time. And when there are clearly videos of people that are committing arson and they're going and setting fires like you can see them on camera, there's been citizens kind of like making these quote unquote, citizen's arrest, trying to stop them. And I'm not saying that this is where all the fires are from, although it starts to make you wonder and ask questions, because certainly there are high winds and that contributed. But now there's even reports coming out that one of the worst fires that they've been dealing with, it looks like that might have started from arson. And then the wind just took and ran with this. And what we are seeing is a failure on so many levels because it's a failure going to the fact that California, I think was it six dams? You guys might know that they're saying, Governor Newsom, I don't know who I'll be behind this from the hierarchy standpoint. Some environmental official from California, I'm sure is the one that oversaw this, but certainly is reflection of Governor Newsom's direction or lack thereof, where they opened up six dams to get more water out there. So they haven't been collecting water. They they've been letting all of it run into the ocean. They haven't been cleaning the timbers. They haven't been going through and taking out even the dead trees that are there. They're not punishing criminals and they do things. So when you don't punish criminals, it only incentivizes more people to do criminal acts. So there's this whole list of leadership failures. And yet what they're going to say is what's climate change is fault? And then I saw a video where Governor Newsom was saying, hey, this gives us an incredible opportunity to rebuild Los Angeles, getting ready for the 2028 Olympics that they want to host. And so don't see this as a tragedy. This is something that we can really rebuild now. And you're seeing just so many things. It feels dystopian. I'm not even sure if this is real. And one of the reasons we went to have Jack Hibbs on is we saw clips of his sermon from Sunday where he incredibly boldly stood up and acknowledged the failure of leadership. And what is Christian's role when when you are living with ungodly leaders and especially when you're supposed to be in a Republic and you're supposed to choose these leaders. And he just goes off on this. And I think so much of what we've been missing in our culture is leadership. And so to see Pastor stepping up in lead, it's so refreshing. And it's also encouraging that more and more people are starting to see through some of this dishonesty coming from these political leaders and even these major media pundits that are suggesting the only reason this is happening is not because we're not prosecuting criminals, it's not because there's been a failure of leadership and lots of areas. It's only climate change. It's really encouraging to see people seeing through this nonsense. But certainly it makes us even more grateful for people like Pastor Jack. 

David Barton [00:04:20] Yeah, I think to echo that, you know, we talk about the craziness. So apparently climate change is what caused people to go do criminal acts. If it had not been for climate change, they would not have thought about starting fires that would have spread. I mean, none of that makes sense. But we go back to what we said for so long. Biblically, one of the fruits of varying God is common sense. And when you stop fearing God, when you start becoming a secularist, you lose your mind. In so many areas, common sense goes out the door. And that's certainly what we have seen here. And having Jack address this, this goes back throughout history. I mean, on the website WallBuilders.com, we've got sermons posted of were pastors back in the founding era addressed mass of cities that were a fly in fires that happened in cities and. It wasn't climate change back then. It was because people did things. Sometimes with disasters, they can be accidents and sometimes they can be deliberate. But all of this it's good to say that there are some historical landmarks we can go back to to help us understand something like this. And it's good to say that we still have pastors that are willing to take on issues that are going right now call out bad leadership when it's there and give counsel and help the people who need it. 

Rick Green [00:05:29] Jack Hibbs will be with us when we come back from the break. As we're going to break, we're going to listen to just a few minutes, a quick clip from his sermon just a couple of days ago at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:05:39] Nobody can hide from this. Nobody can hide from it. There's no excuses. Most. This is the wealthiest, most wealthy estate in the 50. We pay the most in taxes. We pay the most in gas, we pay the most in electricity, you name it. If it's in California, we pay the most for it. Why? Why? Because of our government. Why? Because of things that Sacramento does. Because they can. Our flag of this state is an absolute abject lie. The flag says California Republic. It is not. A republic is where the people decide and the people have their way. What has happened to California? And you prove me wrong. I challenge you today if you don't like what I'm about to say. California has been under unmitigated Democrat 100% power control. Democrat supermajority. What does that mean? Supermajority? It means nobody can oppose their decision making. And now you've got it. You've got a situation where a catastrophe came, and the billions of dollars that you and I gave was diverted to other woke stupid Democrat projects. That's not that's not hyperbole. It is a fact. You don't like it? Change your party if you don't like a change different. But I'm telling you right now I'm upset and I'm angry and it's the right kind of anger. I'm telling you this right now when you open up a fire hydrant and nothing comes out.  And then Joe Biden says it's because we need electricity. It was turned off for the fire hydrant to turn on. Yeah. In some cases, that might be true. If the fire hydrants are on top of a mountain, you need a motor to drive the water up. That's extremely rare. It wasn't the case in these fires. Bad management, horrific politicians who took your money and took trips like Karen Bass, the mayor of L.A. She decided to go to Africa the week of the fires to be on a little trip that you paid for. She was really put out when she was told to come home. It did look bad. I mean, it didn't look good that it looked very bad. You had Gavin Newsom flying down here and then at a command center laughing it up with some people and it's caught on tape while he spends 9. so many millions of probably your dollars to buy himself a new house. It's time to replace the leadership in California. You don't need any more. You don't need any more examples. These fires could have been stopped. 

Speaker 5 [00:09:36]  

Rick Green [00:09:43] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. Always honored to have Jack Hibbs with us, but especially thankful that he's able to call in in the midst of the chaos in Los Angeles. Pastor Jack love you, brother. Thank you so much for taking some time for WallBuilders. 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:09:57] Listen, thank you. The opportunity is precious to us to get the word out about about what's going on here. 

Rick Green [00:10:04] Well, David and Tim both want you to know we're praying for you, lifting you guys up. Thankful for you. And, of course, you've got a huge balancing act dealing with the need right in front of you, but not ignoring the political, you know, that that led to too much of this. Not that they could avoid a natural disaster, but a turn as bad because of their bad decisions. And you preached on this Sunday, actually, and David said, man, let's get Jack on and just get an update from Boots on the ground right there. So, again, thank you. I know you've been out there all day and got to be worn out, but man, just what do you see in on the ground right now? 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:10:37] Yeah, it's hard to believe. And when you say boots on the ground, that's quite literally what we were doing. We were there on the ground where the National Guard is. We we were allowed into areas where others are not allowed. And we saw the devastation of people's homes there in Malibu and various areas. That is quite it's just impossible, Rick, to put your heart and your mind around. The closest thing I could tell you is Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Dresden, maybe parts of of Germany or England. But the only thing standing in many of the areas is so surreal is steel girders from homes that have steel supports. And then, you know, 25ft away is a palm tree that is still providing some form of landscape. And it did. It's bizarre. And some of these places where we we stood at where it was a perfect day today in L.A., 74 degrees, crystal blue skies. And we're looking at the Pacific Ocean. And there is a wildlife in the water. And I'm standing in a home that has been reduced to ashes and a car that has basically melted. And it's look, the fires are still going. We hope to see some relief. But this is going to be months and years of restoration of people's lives. And yet it's going to be the opportunity that the church has never had in California before to preach the gospel and to bring love to people. Practically, this is a golden moment for the church to rise in California hands on and hearts out to others. And that's what's happening now. It's been epic. 

Rick Green [00:12:28] You have such a good biblical perspective, Jack, that, you know, thinking about that even when North Carolina, with all the disasters there, we saw such amazing work from the churches and the fact that you're already thinking like that and already showing that. Incredible. I do want to say, you mentioned Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Someone out there might be thinking what an exaggeration. I had just seen the numbers on this. 62.5mi² destroyed 40,000 acres from these fires. When Fat Man detonated over Nagasaki. It was about 43mi² of total devastation. That's right. Spot on. And say, I mean, the level of devastation, obviously not the radiation in the years of, you know, all that, but the same kind of lives destroyed in the moment and thankfully not the same deaths, but the the livelihoods that the memories, the homes, the the infrastructure, I mean, all of that. I can't even begin to take that into our friends at Mercury One. Of course, you're going to be out there already out there helping. Yes. Jack, what can people do? Like, number one, what should we be praying for? Number two, how can we help, you know, financially? And I know we're seeing firefighters and others come in from around the country and frankly, even other countries at this point. What what are you saying to people? Because I know you've got a big audience. What do you say to people outside of your area if they want to help in some way? 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:13:45] Well, this is a remarkable thing, because if people follow the pathology of California, let's all remember this. And I know people are going to not they're not going to be happy about this, Rick, when I say it, but it's going to make sense. And then they'll come to the realization. Number one, what happens in California, Rick, you and I have been saying this for decades. What happened in California goes to the other states. What are we talking about here? California's devastation. Man, I hate to say this, but it's breaking news this morning in Los Angeles. They've actually optically saw it's on video. The person that started the Palisades fire. It was captured on on a video. And that's all I'll say about that. It was not started by the winds. Somebody took advantage of the winds. What does this mean? It means that it revealed the fires revealed bad leadership, systemic bad leadership in California. You're talking about decades of Democrat. Supermajority control. In other words, the Democrats in California right now have nobody to blame but themselves. But they refuse to do that. So what's happening is that California is now calling the Democrat Party out there, holding Karen Bass, for example. There are holding Gavin Newsom to account. And that said, it revealed the fact that we've been living in a dream. Talk about California dreamin. Our politics is broken. And so people are demanding answers. And I'm not politicizing a catastrophe. But the catastrophe started because of politics. Our reservoirs, Rick, were bone dry. We didn't know that. It turns out that the water in the pipes leading to the fire hydrants in Palisades areas of Pasadena and Altadena didn't have any water in them. Rick. Someone is going to be very responsible for the catastrophe of even death itself. And so this the revelation begins now. And at the same time, we were on the ground today with those that. Can do something about it. And so what I mean by that is we are already lining up really good statesmen. They're not even politicians. These are businessmen and women who have said today, I've had enough. I'm going to run for office. I'm going to get this fixed. And out of these ashes, no pun intended, there is going to be a beauty arise. And I think you're going to see something in California that is now going to be exported to the nation. Not bad. Not woke, not weird. But California is going to start, I think, exporting something that is going to be awesome and could be that the church leads the way. I know that sounds crazy to some people, but there's this and there's no hope coming out of Sacramento. And the hope in California is in each and every pulpit. If the pastor chooses to deliver it. 

Rick Green [00:16:45] Praise God. So good, brother. And I got to say, I mean, you said, you know, not to politicize or whatever, but it takes moments like this to be catalytic. So to wake people up. Right. They like you said, they've been in a dream and a shallow kind of almost a fake. Everything's just fine when underneath things are falling apart. And then this exposes this sunlight's the best disinfectant. And sometimes a tragedy like this, it takes that to shake, shake a lot of people out of their slumber. And I'm seeing some some pretty big, you know, Hollywood elites and others posting things that I would have never thought they would say about the Democratic leadership in California. So I think you're right. You're it could lead to a significant, really positive change. And you are so right about the church leading the way and the opportunity for the church to shine in these kind of situations. Man. And you and you've you know, you and Rob McCoy, y'all are y'all always chastise me when I say anything negative about California. And you remind me California can be a positive influence on the world again. And that's why David and Tim and I spent so much time out there. We love you guys. We believe that way as well. And we haven't given up on you. And I think I love what you just said. Out of out of the ashes, man. No doubt about it. But like you said, tough days ahead. There's going to be some, you know, really difficult days for the church to step in and heal hearts. And obviously, it's going to be financial issues and political issues and all those things as well. And that's why having a church like yours that has spoken into those issues for years not left them, you know, somehow, that's not biblical. If we can't get into politics and all that. No, you guys know how to speak into these tough issues and you know how to preach biblically into these tough issues. So for such a time, is this my man? 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:18:27] Well, you know, listen. Amen. And and I know we're wrapping this up, but I want everybody to be encouraged spontaneously. I made an announcement to the church. The people went out to Costco, Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, and literally bought the stores out of water, energy drinks, protein bars and pillows and blankets, because that's what the National Guard asked of us. That's what the California Highway Patrol asked of us. That's what L.A. County Fire asked of us. And the people responded. Since last night and all day today, massive deliveries of water and all of those items have been going into the fire areas and into the the areas where people are being displaced, where they're gathered together. Santa Anita race track is going to be or is now converted into a staging area. The Rose Bowl has become a gigantic corral for the horses and large animals. But listen, that's the church. You should have seen the line, Rick. The church down the roadway of people coming and bringing in goods. Never seen anything like this before, smiling with tears in their eyes of joy because it gives the church, it gives each individual the sense and the feeling. I get to be like Jesus right now. I get to make this practical contribution and we're seeing to that Every penny and every pillow goes exactly to the need of those who are getting out to us. So thank you for you guys for Mercury One, I just got off the phone with JP, who you know well and think things are moving, brother. We're not talk. We're not preaching. We're preaching and we're doing. 

Rick Green [00:20:04] Jack, you just said something so important, I think for us to recognize the error. Everybody wants to know right now. They've got such a distrust of the institutions, right? The lack of faith in government are the typical organizations that you would think of to come come into a situation like this. And so the church stepping up is critical and you guys being effective at being able to not only call out what needs to be helped with and go get these things, but then distributing it just a basic, almost businesslike effectiveness of leadership to get those things in the right hands. So knowing that they can come the ball and you've got the right people on the team to do that, I mean, that's huge right now. 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:20:41] It is amazing. And the beautiful thing is, is you get to see the facets of the body of Christ. You get to see people who, you know, they're Christians, they love the Lord, but they happen to own companies like Office Depot. And then they find out I can be involved, I can help out, I can do logistics, I can get trucks, those kinds of things in secret. A Crystal Geyser. I want to give a shout out to them. Crystal Geyser, the water company, they donated five truckloads of water. And this is where people are saying, I want to get involved. I've never been able to get involved in more because I know who needed logistics in the church. Well, now we do. 

Rick Green [00:21:17] That's right. That's right. Hey man, it's you know, we've said it for years, the epicenter of the community. When the church is the epicenter, the community, things work well. When it's not, you know, things fall apart. And so it's it's almost like others that that maybe didn't go to your church. Now they're looking to your church for help and they're beginning to see, this is a better way, man. 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:21:35] Yeah. Amazing. God's good all the time. 

Rick Green [00:21:38] Hey, we're praying for your your health, your your, you know, just rest and all of this, the few hours of sleep you're going to get tonight, they God will just, just totally revive you and your whole team and and and just look forward to helping in any way that we can. But we appreciate your brother and look forward to hearing back from you. 

Pastor Jack Hibbs [00:21:53] Appreciate you, too. God bless you. You know, we'll catch up on our sleep in heaven until until then it's it's 24 seven. Thank you, Rick. 

Rick Green [00:22:02] And as Jack gives Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back with David and Tim Barton. 

Rick Green [00:23:14] Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders. Thanks to Jack Hibbs. Guys, man, he I know he was telling me right before we started recording, he was out there all day long, guys at the fires, getting food to people, getting supplies to people, the church doing what the church should do in a situation like this. That part of it is, like you said, Tim, it's great to hear him standing up and speaking the right things, but then acting on those things too. 

Tim Barton [00:23:36] Yeah, we're very connected with Mercury One as well, which is the nonprofit Glenn started. Glenn Beck started more than than a decade ago. But he mentioned J.P. Decker, one of our good friends. And I know when this started, I was texting and calling J.P. and we actually were together not long ago. And he was just going through some of these stories. But they're reaching out to pastors to try to help get them supplies and materials so they can go do the work of the church. And as you heard Pastor Jack say, when they found out their own church, when they found out what some of the needs were and he encouraged his congregation, hey, let's get these supplies for these front line workers, for people that are are fighting these fires and see what we can do to help. And in his church, I mean, just incredible. They go and they buy out the stores of all the supplies needed. It's incredible to see what Christians are doing to respond in these moments. And so in my mind, there are two big takeaways. First of all, praise God for the church, for Christians that recognize their calling to be the hands and feet to help those in need. But secondly, this is also where we talk so often about there are consequences for actions. And sometimes those consequences are when you elect incompetent people or people with very bad policies, there's always consequences that come with those policies. And if California is not one of the best examples of the failure of those Democratic policies in America, I don't know what a state you would look to because it's so evident right now. But I'm so grateful for Pastor Jack and all they're doing. 

David Barton [00:25:10] Well, actually, you may not have to look at a state. You can look at the feds. I mean, this is amazing that FEMA is absent. There's not there. The the last down and the first out. And all these disasters have been happening from North Carolina going back even before that. They have been sometimes 7 to 10 days getting there. And this is not that I'm not advocating the government should take up and fill the slack here. Churches are doing the right thing. We're we don't look to the government to be the one that gets us out of trouble. That's not it. But as you said, Tim, Democrat administrations leadership. We've seen that federally. We see it at the state level. And just going back to what Jack closed with, you said, you know, he was really tired. He said, but I guess I'll rest and have it reminded me of something. I looked it up real quick. Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Penance. He said to do good is the business of life to enjoy rest is the happiness of heaven we pluck for forbidden fruit. When we grasp at rest on this side of the grave. So we're not here to rest. We're here to work. We get to rest for eternity. And Jack is illustrating that, not only talking about good stuff in the sermon and giving good leadership, but also understands that principle that we work here and will rest later. 

Rick Green [00:26:16] So it's good stuff. David You're right. We're not looking to government to solve its problem is we give them all the money to do it and then they don't show up, right? They get all their billions of billions of dollars and then they don't show up. It's just crazy. But yeah. Great quote from Benjamin Rush as well, Folks, thanks for listening today. Thanks for helping Mercury one, by the way. And Tim, what's the best website to help at Mercury One? Because they're helping Jack and so many other people out there. 

Tim Barton [00:26:36] Yeah, Mercuryone.org is the best place to do Mercuryone.org.  Thanks for listening today to the WallBuilders Show