Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for joining us today where we take on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective. David Barton, America's premier historian, Tim Barton, National Speaker and Pastor. I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution Coach, and we're actually going to take you out today to the Pro Family Legislators Conference for the conclusion of Pastor Allen Jackson's presentation there. If you missed the last couple of days and you're just tuning in with us for the first time this week, or maybe you're a new listener, first time to listen to the program, we're always talking about whatever's going on in the culture. And we take a special approach. We take a biblical approach. We want to know what the Bible says about it. We take a historical approach. We sort of measure it against what's happened in history and look at things that work and don't work. And then we take a constitutional approach. How do we do this in our culture, in our particular society, our particular nation under our law and our constitutional republic? So, we do that with topics all throughout the week. And sometimes we have a special guest on, or we have our Good News Friday programs or Foundations of Freedom Thursday programs where you get to ask the questions. But once in a while we share a presentation at one of our from one of our events. It might be one of our constitution classes somewhere across the country. In this case, it's our legislators conference. That's specifically for state reps and senators from across America. And they come in once a year and join us in in Dallas, Texas, and get a chance to hear from people like Pastor Jackson, like you know, people like Glenn Beck and all kinds of other people. And gives them a chance to really get grounded and get good ideas and then go back to their state and implement that. And so today. We're getting the conclusion of Pastor Allen Jackson's presentation. And today's gonna be a lot of action steps for us as individuals. So, make sure you're listening close, taking good notes, and then implementing it. Not just listening, but acting on it. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, we'll get the conclusion of Pastor Allen Jackson at the Pro Family Legislators Conference. 

Rick Green [00:02:59] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. All right, here we go. This will be the third part of Pastor Allen Jackson's presentation. If you missed the first two parts, they're available at wallbuilders.show, but let's jump in and get started for today. 

Pastor Allen Jackson [00:03:11] I have a friend, he's a businessman, very successful and all entrepreneur, owns multiple restaurants, all sorts of things. And his circumstances emerged last year in such a way that in a six-month window, he read through his Bible six times. And he was a different human being. He didn't go to some, he didn't take a course. He just invested the time in reading his Bible in a way that most of us would think, well, that's excessive. About 15 minutes a day, if you will read, you can read through your whole Bible from the table of contents to the maps in a year. Make it a part of your routine. If you're too busy for that, you're too busy. And I like to be busy. Read your Bible. The second thing I would submit to you, it's equally simple. It's an invitation we've been giving to our congregation now for a few months. You know, one of the things we've I've listened to you in the last couple of days, I think we're all agreed upon, is in the family is under tremendous stress. And that's as true for the families in the church as without. So, I've been going to invite the families to once a week have a meal together at the kitchen table. Everybody that lives under the roof, once a week at the table, together with no devices. It's a wellness check. How have you been since we were together last? What have you wept about? What have you celebrated? What's on the horizon for the next week that's most frightening or intimidating to you? It's a great opportunity for the family to say thank you to God for the victories and to pray about the things that are threatening, to bring your faith to bear in that family system. Folks, our families are too fractured, they're too divided, they're too busy, there's too many voices of authority in our families. If your families are mature enough that you don't have children at home anymore, that a family meal is not a thing, then you take the backup plan biblically, and it's called hospitality. Once a week, open your table to someone, invite them into your home for that same kind of a wellness check. Tell me about your spiritual life. What are you celebrating in your life? Say, well, that's hard work. No kidding. You don't have to go all Martha Stewart. You know, I'm not one of those people that can walk out into the backyard and come back in with a wreath and a centerpiece. You know, that's not me. I'm not above ordering pizza, and my wife, she's got higher standards than I do. But I'm interested in the people that I can gather around that table. We have a there's something that has happened to the American family, the Christian American family that we have to reverse. We have allowed our success or our failure to be determined by secular voices. I'll tell you, I've heard it referenced here in a few ways, but one of them that I'm completely uncomfortable with is coaches for our children when they're in very young. Having more authority over your family than the youth ministers do in your church. I watched the kids and the families quake. Coach said, I can't miss practice. Then you tell the coach he needs new athletes. Or you go see the administrator of the school and say, you don't have the authority to dictate my family schedule. We've allowed the secular culture to define what makes us good parents. That's why you've got to read the Bible. My time's gone. I'm not going to dwell on this, but I tell you what I hear frequently. I do memorial services as a part of my deal. And they'll say, you know, this was the most amazing father. Kids are giving the testimony. They say, he never missed a ball game. Well, it's commendable, fathers that are engaged in their children's lives. That's a good thing. But that won't get you through the doors of heaven. Fathers are supposed to be more than athletic cheerleaders. They're supposed to be spiritual leaders in those homes. How is it that those of us who imagine ourselves to be under the authority of Jesus of Nazareth have accepted secular definitions for leadership in our families? The smut in our schools. I'm grateful John Ammanchuku's crisscrossed this nation talking to school boards. But where were the fathers in those communities? If you don't move those books out of our libraries, you won't sit in a seat of authority in this city any longer. That shouldn't require great clarity. One meal each week with your family at a table. And if your kids are grown, invite somebody else. Practice hospitality. It's biblical. No. It'll change our communities. We've got to take prayer outside of formal settings. You know, we pray at the beginning of a meeting or at the end of the meeting, or we pray at the beginning of a legislative session. I'm grateful for that. Prayer's got to be as normal as breathing. Some of the most powerful prayers that the Bible presents to us are just sentence prayer. Jesus spoke to the storm. He spoke to the wind and the waves. Be still. He stood outside Lazarus' tomb. He'd been dead long enough that he was stinky. Or if you're King James, he stinketh. What Jesus said, Lazarus, come here. If I'd been in charge of that, if I'd have been charged of that resurrection service, it would have been very different. I'd have called the church to fast and pray for three days. I'd have had the worship team and a hundred voice choir. We're going to worship the Lord for an hour and a half. We're going to kind of work up to this. I'd have had a few proclamations, a few readings of resurrections that had taken place already, right? I'd have cranked up everything I knew to crank, pushed every button, pulled every letter. Jesus said, you know, move the stone. Lazarus! And out he came. So, I want to give you a way to take make prayer as normal as saying good morning. We're social creatures. I live in the South. So, we ask all kinds of questions that we don't care about. Right? Harry, how do you feel? How are you today? We don't really want to know, but we're being polite. And if you answer those questions with any sincerity, we know you're not from here. Bless your heart. But if you'll listen just a little bit to people, they are very, they they're very revealing about their circle. How are you today? Oh, I'm not great. The kids were sick last night. Or my husband's been gone on a business trip and I've had all the responsibilities at home, or my car didn't start, or our earnings reports are due on Monday, and I don't think they're going to be good. People tell you a great deal about themselves. If you're willing, at that point that you get that little bit of insight. And you can do this when you're buying gas, when you're checking out at a grocery store, when you're getting the mail and your neighbor comes to the mailbox. When you hear that little bit of an expression of a place where there's a need, here's what I'm suggesting. You say, let's pray. And then you close your eyes. Forget this is not about them. You didn't ask them to pray. You're going to pray. Do not say to them, would it be all right with you if I invited the Most High God into the midst of your life? Don't give away your power. Don't ask, you know, I believe in prayer. I heard this crazy pastor speak at a conference I went to this past weekend. He gave me this crazy idea. So, I wonder, would it be okay? No, just say, let's pray. Close your eyes. Now here's the key you only get one sentence. Father, help my friend. I know they're tired in Jesus' name. But I pray for the earnings report that you'll direct everything that's done in Jesus' name. Amen. But I gotta thank you that you bring healing. Amen. One sentence. 

Rick Green [00:11:13] Quick break, everybody, we'll be right back. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show. 

Rick Green [00:12:23] Welcome back to the Wall Builder Show. We're jumping in with Pastor Allen Jackson for the final part in our three-part series with him from the Pro Family Legislators Conference. 

Pastor Allen Jackson [00:12:32] You just get one sentence. Don't quote them your favorite verse. Don't give them a link to your favorite podcast. Don't invite him to church with you. Okay? One sentence. Can you say one sentence? Okay. Now, this is second P, this is equally critical. The prayer is not about you. So, when you say amen, don't do that creepy Christian thing. You ever heard somebody say, oh, when you prayed, I felt something warm from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. It makes me think there the Depends leaked. I don't know what's going on. And oftentimes when we pray, we want to be affirmed. We want them to say, oh, I was hoping someone would pray for me. And because we want affirmed, when we say amen, then we do this weird, we give them this creepy Christian look. We're begging with every pore in our being, say something affirming to me about that prayer. Don't do that. When you say amen, you're done. You move on. Think the Cowboys will win this weekend? Beautiful weather we're having today. Good to see you today. Talk to you later. Thanks for the gasoline. Don't make another statement that has anything spiritual in it. You've done two things. You've invited God into the midst of somebody's circumstance. And you've introduced them to someone that they have an imagination that might pray for them if they had a need in the future. If you do that a little bit, you'll get a reputation. I was at the gym not too long ago. I was on the stair climber. Do you know what those things are? When I go to the gym, I don't want to do ministry. You know, I put on a hoodie and I pull it over and I put in earbuds. I've got a sign in front of me that says, do not disturb. And a lady I didn't know came up and stood at the bottom of the stair and she said, Are you that pastor? And she said, the doctors have said, my son can't survive. Would you pray? So, I said I would. So, I stopped the stair climber and I got down and I'm standing on the floor. And this lady that I didn't know, she said, I don't go to a church. I didn't know who else to ask. She got down on the carpet in the middle of the gym, put her face on the carpet. I thought, well, I can't let a stranger outdo me in the gym. So here I am in the carpet with my face on the carpet in the middle of the gym, praying for that lady. He said, if you will take that one sentence, even the people that maybe don't want you to pray for them, when they hear somebody that has a need, they will send them to you. All you have to say is let's pray and then close your eyes. God help my friend. Amen. That's enough. God doesn't need me to be eloquent, He knows Greek and Hebrew already. If you listen to us exchange prayer requests, just like we're explaining the Bible to God, He knows it. Invite Him into the circumstance and then don't be weird. Weird does not make you spiritual, it just makes you weird. Okay? I've given you three things. You're gonna read your Bible. You're gonna get your family together for a meal at least once a week, or you're gonna make it an expression of hospitality in your sphere of influence. Some of you live next door to people that you don't know. You worship with people that you've never invited into your home when you say the church is not friendly. And then we're gonna begin to let's pray when we're not at church. It will change our culture. We're the people of God, folks. He is shaking the earth. We're not staying in Egypt anymore. We're not staying on the opposite side of the Jordan River looking at the promised land. We're gonna occupy God's best for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. I want to close with an invitation. If I wanted to give religious lectures, I would go to the university. The hours are better and I could have tenure. I do ministry because I believe God changes lives. And I didn't come to Texas to deliver a religious lecture. I came to invite you to welcome God into your life in a new way. And I want to close with a prayer, but it's really an invitation I'm gonna ask you to extend to the Lord in your own life. I'm grateful for your hard work, for your diligence, for your preparation. For the sacrifices. You know, running for election, I can't is a very, I would imagine humiliating process. It's inviting your enemies to express their opinions. But in Acts chapter 1, Jesus is preparing to leave, and he's getting his disciples ready for his absence. And he said, I don't even want you to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes on you in a new way. And he said, you’ll be empowered to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. I believe that same Spirit of God is available to you and me. If we will ask for His help. I don't even know the help I need to ask for. I just know I need help on my best day, I can't heal a gnat's wing. I'm no match for the devil. He's been defeating God's champions for millennia. The only thing that will keep us is God Himself. The disciples that had a three-year personal seminar with Jesus. I mean, they were they picked up basketfuls of leftovers when He fed the crowd. They were in the boat when He spoke to the wind. They were there wide-eyed when Lazarus walked out. He came to see them on resurrection afternoon and showed them the signs of his passion. I mean, they'd had a front row seat. And then post-resurrection, they had a 40-day seminar with the Lord on the kingdom of heaven. And He said, then don't you even leave town. You're not, you're not even close to ready. Don't you leave town until you're empowered to be witnesses for Me. How many of you would be willing to say, God, I would like you to empower me for outcomes that look far different than what I could do on my own? If that's you, I'm just going to ask you to stand. They're going to come, I think they're going to come play. Next time I see you, I want to hear your God stories in a sentence or two. God is moving in the earth in the most remarkable, remarkable ways. My time, I could tell you story after story after story. This past weekend at church, I stay at the altar and pray with whomever's there until they're all gone. And sometimes it takes a while. And I was finished with that. I thought we were done. Then I was tired. And one more family stepped up. It was a husband and wife and their adult son. And they were dressed kind of simply, not shabbily, not poor quality, just very simple, monochromatic. And they were reluctant, they were hesitant. It wasn't, it just didn't. And so, I stepped over to them and they said they had a bit of an accent. 

Rick Green [00:19:52] Alright folks, final break of the day. Stay with us, we'll be right back on the WallBuilders Show. 

Rick Green [00:21:01] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. This will be the last part of Pastor Allen Jackson's presentation at the Pro Family Legislators Conference. 

Pastor Allen Jackson [00:21:09] They spoke English clearly. I mean, then I said, you know, you've got an accent. And they said, well, we immigrated from Ukraine 20 years ago. And I waited, and they had trouble. They were reluctant. It took a bit. And they said, we've driven 15 hours. We came from Brooklyn. They said, we saw a YouTube video. And we started watching you on YouTube. And it they they'd look at one another, and there was a hesitancy amongst them. And they said, they finally said, we need to transition, and we think you could help us. And I said, Are you Jewish? And they nodded. And I said, and you're Orthodox. They said, yes. So, you don't have to transition. You just need to know Jesus as your Messiah. We talked about that a minute, and they said, but all our friends. And I said, they keep kosher. And they said, oh yeah. What will we say to them? And I said, tell me, you've been watching on YouTube. Is it different when you're in person? Because I'm always trying to figure out how to narrow that gap. And the father, it's the first time he'd really stepped forward with some authority, and he said, the only day like it was when I went before the judge and I got my U.S. Citizenship. He said, I felt like that today. Folks, when people are driving 15 hours to say, will you tell me about the Messiah? God is moving in the earth. I mean, I'm a hillbilly preacher in a little country church. I'm not confused. God is moving in the earth. He's gathered you to a place where you want to understand how to put policies in place to give an opportunity for the generations who come behind us to live under the authority of a Judeo-Christian worldview. You are a miracle. But we need the help of the Spirit of God. We're going to do two things. We're going to start; I learned it as a Quaker. I'm not sure the Quakers had anything to do with it, but I'm going to give them credit. We're going to start with our palms down. If you don't raise your hands in church, you keep it waist height. Okay, that won't get caught on the video. It's deniable. You were just stretching after we'd been seated for a long time. But we're going to start with our palms down to relinquish to the Lord all those things we need to give Him. We're going to repent. But when we haven't asked His help, we thought we could do this in our strength. Folks, I want outcomes that anybody looks at it and go, I know Alan couldn't have done that, God had to do it. I want to live my life on the edge. If God isn't helping, it's going to be awkward. Don't you? So, we're going to acknowledge that, and then we're going to turn our heart hands up to receive what the Lord has for us. His help, His power, His outcomes. You ready? Father, I thank You for this time together. I thank You for Your great love for these people. And Lord, we come in humility to acknowledge our weaknesses, our inconsistencies. Forgive us for those times when we have been ambivalent. When we have stayed silent when our voices might have made a difference. And because of our fear of reprisal or loss or forfeiture, whatever, we failed to be advocates, Father. When we've refused Your direction, we've chosen not to live under the authority of the truth that we know. But we don't come with any justification or with any excuse. We come to say we're sorry. We want to change our thought and we want to change our behavior. We want to walk uprightly before You. And Lord, now we turn our hands and our hearts to You to receive Your best into our lives. Holy Spirit, help us. Help us to know Your thoughts. Give us understanding of Your will. Direct our steps, lead us that we might cooperate with You. May the power of Almighty God be made evident in our lives. To the extent that even our adversaries would know that God is at work in our midst. We'll be careful to give You the glory and the honor and the praise. I thank You that we are chosen to live in a season when You're shaking the earth, when Your kingdom is being made evident, when those things that are temporary are crumbling around us, Father. We give You thanks for that great honor. And then may we cooperate with You in such a way that Your purposes will shape the days ahead so that our children and our grandchildren might know freedom and liberty, and that we can see with our eyes, God bless America again. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. God bless you. 

Rick Green [00:26:24] All right, everybody, that was Pastor Allen Jackson from Nashville, Tennessee, at the Pro Family Legislators Conference. All of it available right now at wallbuilders.show. And coming up in the next few weeks, we'll have even more of those amazing presentations that the legislators already got to hear, but now you and our WallBuilders audience get to hear. Sure appreciate your listening today. You've been listening to the WallBuilders Show.