Good News Friday And A Tease

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. It's the Wall Builder Show on a Friday, which means it's good news Friday. We're gonna get some good news from David and Tim. And then a special request today, a little bit unusual a little later in the program. But let's start with some good news, guys. I've seen a lot of good news myself in the news over the last couple of days, including from the White House.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Where do you guys want to start?

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Well, I want to start with the amazing good news that you're teasing and you're like, I have a request coming later. No, no, no. It's amazing good news that uh you have been navigating for several weeks. We have been praying with you and thinking and strategizing and our friends, and you had to keep it on the down low. But I think we can at least make an announcement before you make a request later. The first piece of good news is that Patriot Academy campus is expanding in Fredericksburg, and not only are you expanding, you were able to stop some uh potentially nefarious individuals from coming and taking over the land right beside Patriot Academy campus. So I I won't take more because I know you're gonna tell more of the story and you have a request coming, but we would be remiss to not mention there's an amazing, an amazing piece of good news from Rick Green, Patriot Academy campus that we've literally been praying about for weeks that your eyes have sweated many times over for weeks, and God has helped do something absolutely incredible. It's not over, it's not done, which is why you have a request coming up, but there I mean, just amazing good news already happening. I am so pumped about this, and I've already been down with you guys uh at leadership congress this week. Earlier in the week, I was up at Liberty Pastors Event, our friend Paul Blair, and got to be with our friend Bill Fetter, Alex Newman, so many of our friends that are friends to the program.

Young Leaders Rising At Patriot Academy

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Dad, you've been up in DC. Actually, you and I were together yesterday down at Patriot Academy campus. I'm driving right now. Uh, Dad, you and I are getting ready to fly out to uh go up and do an event up in Plymouth. There's so much happening, but my favorite piece of good news to start off with is that God has answered a prayer in significant ways already and has helped expand Patriot Academy campus. Absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

And kept it from turning into another one of these churches, turning into a mosque kind of thing. That's the that's the kind of thing uh we're gonna be talking about a little later. But uh, but Tim, you're right, man. You got you're headed headed our way. We got an amazing class of of young people from across the nation. Man, I'm telling you, these kids are we say it every year, you know, we're just impressed that they even think about these kind of things, and then that they take what we teach them and they go use it. And it's just so encouraging. People need to know that too, that God is raising up a remnant, that that this next generation is not just a bunch of slackers. There's actually some really, really sharp young people that are on our side, that God's preparing to lead their generation and just getting the iron sharpening. I mean, of course, all three of us pouring into them. We love doing that, but we also love hearing from them, getting their stories and just getting to see what God's doing with them. Great, great group.

Training Faithful Staffers On Capitol Hill

SPEAKER_01 3:20

And Rick, I would even throw in kind of a first cousin you may not even know about, but when I was in DC this week and it was with Museum of the Bible, it's because they're doing something that's kind of like a Patriot Academy light to some degree. And I say that uh in the sense that not really all the training that goes into it, but what they're doing is starting to identify Christian biblical people in congressional offices, people that are staffers, and starting to do some events for them and training for them. And so I was up in D.C. this week with a rabbi, and we talked to these staffers. There's dozens of staffers now, and and if Museum of the Bible is able to develop this on the hill and get this good fellowship going, this good group, this good training where they bring in people and they get these young people trained in the legislative offices, that helps so much. You know, we talked before even in the Bible, how that even when you had a bad leader, a bad ruler like Ahab, you still had somebody really good in his office, Obadiah, who at one point pointed out to Elijah said, Don't you know I've saved a hundred prophets from being killed by my bad leader? And so, in that sense, I'm not saying that we got that kind of bad leaders, but when you're getting good people in an office, they can make a good leader a whole lot better and they can help mitigate a bad leader. And so some of that's kind of going even in DC to a lighter degree than what you're doing, Rick.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Well, bro, you taught me a long time, a lot, I shouldn't, I'm gonna say a long, long time ago when I was a young guy going into the legislature, and you told me staff is policy, be careful who you hire. Um, you know, they're gonna influence you when you're there because there's so many issues, and it's all gonna be happening so fast, and that turned out to be so true. And we were we brought a great team in with us, but it's so important to train that staff because not only, not only you know, keeping them from doing bad things, but but helping them to do to do good things. And there is, there really is a great generation coming up here for this for for this next generation of leadership.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

All right, Rick. I we have a very large sack of good news, but I feel like at this point, uh, since we've already teased, there's something amazing that's happened at Patriot Academy campus, and there's a request coming. I feel like maybe let's take a quick break and then let's come back. And why don't you tell them some of the things that are going on uh down at the campus, what y'all accomplished this year, but but also maybe some of the vision in the heart for the future, um, an opportunity that God's opened for you. Uh, the ways that God's already intervened, miracles have already happened, but maybe ways that people could partner with you and Patriot Academy for some of the future of uh opportunities that God is opening for you.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Let's do it, man. Okay, we'll take

Break And A Lesson On Reconciliation

SPEAKER_03 5:52

a quick break. Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back on the Wall Builder Show.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

This is Tim Barton from Wall Builders with another moment from American history. Founding fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson originally worked closely together, but later became ardent opponents. This troubled Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration, who knew both of them very well. In the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5.18 tells us that God has given each of us the ministry of reconciliation. Dr. Rush believed it and set out to bring the two back together. It took a while, but Adams and Jefferson once again became close friends. And looking back on his role in helping bring about this reconciliation, Dr. Rush stated, it will give me pleasure as long as I live to reflect that I have been in any degree instrumental in affecting this reunion of two souls, destined to be dear to each other and motivated with the same dispositions to serve their country, though in different ways. For more information about Dr. Benjamin Rush and his other remarkable achievements, go to wallbuilders.com.

Patriot Institute Vision And Scholarships

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Welcome back to the Wall Builder Show. Got an unusual plea for you. Today, during this Good News Friday, we have um both a very positive thing happening at the Patriot Academy campus in Constitution City, Texas, and a very serious threat that we are dealing with. And so I I just want to educate the audience on it and and bring you up to speed and and uh and actually ask you for some help. And and and this is, you know, I don't know, it's one of those things where uh I'm a little bit hesitant because, you know, I I don't know. I'm I guess maybe I'm not very good at asking for help, but maybe it's also just um I I don't want to um I I I I don't want to exaggerate the situation, and I don't think there's a way to exaggerate it. I think it is it is that big of a threat. It's an existential threat. But but first let me let me back up. Let me let me back up and just share with you what's happening right now with our Patriot Institute. We had Chris Dunham on last week to to talk about it, and I just want to reiterate that this is the most important thing we do at our Patriot Academy campus. If you didn't hear that program, you can go to Wall Builder Stotts Show, and uh I think it was on um Wednesday, Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. But anyway, Chris is the dean of the of the Patriot Institute, and and he talked about the things that they learn, and and it's incredible the things that we prepare them with, all the different areas that they learn and and the and and they go into all different areas of the culture. So it's not for one particular type of student that's only going to go into, for instance, the political realm. So we cover pretty much every topic you can imagine to prepare them for uh for life, to prepare them to be a difference maker, to prepare them, as I said earlier, to be the Navy SEALs of civics, meaning they're actually going out there and killing bad ideas, they're actually influencing the culture, they're they're uh living out the first Peter 3.15, be ready to answer for the hope that is within. Uh, these kids do it incredibly well. And and and I mean in every arena, like most of these kids do not go into politics. Everybody seems to think when they see what we're doing and we call it the Patriot Institute, part of Patriot Academy, that they're all going to go into politics. But the reality is most of them go into business, they go into education, they go into ministry, they go into the arts. I mean, we have some that are comedians, we have some that have gone into um uh literally our um architecture or art or music or making movies. We have many that are in the political realm in Congress and state legislatures, they're judges, they're serving um in all kinds of offices, many that go into law enforcement. We have a the president of police association in uh in a major city in Texas. And so it's really cool to watch them take what they learn. Because if you can imagine all those professions, but you go into that profession with a foundation and biblical worldview, in moral philosophy, apologetics, communication, biblical civics, leadership, health and fitness, personal mentorship, uh learning how to debate, learn how to teach. I mean, the and not to mention some of the personal skills from getting you know firearms training, learning how to defend themselves, getting uh emergency medical response training, yeah, vehicle maintenance. I mean, it's it's more than you can imagine uh for you know one academic year, meaning you know, roughly the nine months of the fall and spring semester. So check that out, patriotacademy.com forward slash institute, and we are accepting applications right now, and I have some tremendous scholarships to give out. This is normally a $20,000 a year program. I have $15,000 to give to uh recipients and a scholarship so that they only have to pay $5,000 for their for their tuition. And so if you've got someone in your life, a young person in your life that you think that sounds like something they should do, or if you're a young person listening to me right now, get online and apply because these slots will fill fast. In fact, we're in the middle of our national leadership congress right now. I've got well over 100 students here at the Patriot Academy campus in Constitution City, Texas, and they are doing all of these things, but only for a week. So this is our our big National Leadership Congress, and and most of our students that go to the institute come from that National Leadership Congress. So there'll be a lot of kids applying. I'm sorry, I know I say kids, but these are you know 17 to 23 year olds. There'll be a lot of young people applying this week, and we're doing interviews this week, and they are going to take those slots and take those scholarships. So get your application in quick, patriotacademy.com forward slash institute, and uh and you'll and we'll set you up with uh an interview and you'll have the opportunity to learn more. You do not it it's not a requirement that you have attended a leadership congress. It helps if someone's attended one of those, they're more familiar with our with our programs, but there's no more to attend this summer. So if you want to attend the institute this year, that is not a prerequisite. In fact, last year's class, we had uh 27 in that class, and there were several in there, probably five, that had never attended a Patriot Academy event at all. They heard about Patriot Institute here on American Family Radio or on Wall Builders or on some other interview that I did, or some friend told them about it, and they saw what a valuable program it was and came and had an incredible experience. Last thing about the Institute, then I'll get to the major story that I need to share with you and uh and ask for your help at the end of the program today, is that you don't have to be college age to attend this. You can be a what we call a super senior. So if you are going into your senior year of high school and you are very mature and you are ready to do something like this, and you want to get college credit and finish your high school, your senior year at the same time, and you want to do it in a residence program like this where you're around other young people and you're learning these skills and you're getting master's level training, getting the context, figuring out your purpose, I mean, all those things. We had several of our students last year that were what we call super seniors. They they were going into their senior year, they had already finished most of their high school, and they were just mature enough and and wanted to um learn these life skills and wanted to kind of start having that college experience, if you will, that that on their own experience learning to do life. And those those students that were in that supersenior category were outstanding. They were some of our best students of the year, and it's made us very passionate about this, and we know there's a need out there for it, and we want to invite you to be a part of that. So, parents, students, check it out today, patriotacademy.com forward slash institute. Learn more there. Okay, let me get

The Property Threat Next Door

SPEAKER_03 13:05

to the story that I was telling you about at the beginning of the program today. I haven't been able to talk about this until now. Um, it's been two weeks, probably the toughest two weeks of my life, frankly. I I don't know how to describe this on the air. I don't I don't know how to to get across to you what it's been like. But as I mentioned at the beginning of the program, uh one of the largest and most dangerous Islamic groups in the country has been trying to purchase the cottages right next to the main Patriot Academy campus. We have we have these 40 uh brand new cottages that um we had originally owned that property and then uh made a deal with a builder to come in and and finance it and build them and and use them as Airbnbs, but also make them available to us as we were growing our program. And so we were leasing, and our students were able to stay there for the institute and others as they came and visited our programs. Long story short, the agreement that we had with the builder basically fell apart and and the whole deal went south. And so he was going to turn it into just a full-blown Airbnb, and we were gonna build other student housing on the main part of our campus. We have a 130-acre campus in Constitution City, Texas. This property that is adjacent to that 130, right next door, uh, is uh is 47 acres. And so it right now 47 acres has 40 cottages on it. And bottom line is the the builder put it up for sale and actually put it up for auction. And as soon as it went up for auction, this um, you know, this group, which um I'm just telling you, they they go all the way back to the Holy Land Foundation, they their contacts, their people, they they have admitted their affront for the Muslim Brotherhood. I mean, it's not good, it's very bad. And they build and and you've seen, you've seen, I'm Gary, I'm sure you've heard us talk about the fact that they are going in and buying churches that have gone under or moved or whatever. And so they're turning just just recently in in Virginia, right outside of DC, 20 minutes from DC, they bought a Baptist church and turned it into a mosque. And the mayor of that city celebrated it with them. Just crazy. Anyway, they are they love to go into these high Republican areas, these red areas, and and in Texas, it's happening all over the place. So this was a very serious threat, a real threat, and we had to take it seriously. So for the last 12 days, I have done nothing but asked for help to basically purchase the property from the builder and and lock it down with a contract instead of it going to auction. And we were able to do that. We got enough to make the down payment, and we and we got the uh the auction pulled down. It is now ours under contract, but we have to close by August 31st. So I have basically 30 days at this point to raise the rest of the money to close on this

The Cottage Sponsorship Plan

SPEAKER_03 15:45

property. Now, here's what we did, here's how we raised the money so fast. There are 40 cottages on the campus on the 47 acres, and so we started asking people to just sponsor a cottage for $100,000, and they could then name the cottage after a founding father or founding mother of their choice, and of course be honored themselves inside the inside the cottage and thank them for making that happen. And believe it or not, we had 24 people step up and do that, and so we were able to get enough of the purchase money to get this thing locked down. We have 16 cottages left that need a sponsor. So if you're listening to this and you and that sounds like something you might be able to do, or you can even do a pledge and do it over, you know, whatever time period you need, we need those sponsors. But we also, part of the reason we were able to lock it down, it wasn't just the big money people that were able to do a full cottage sponsorship of $100,000. A lot of people donated whatever they could. They donated $50 or they donated $10,000. We had a lot of people that did $10,000 or $25,000 or $50, and some that that pledged that amount and said, well, I'll just do it monthly over the over the next year. So however you can do it, however, you can help gets us to where we need to be in the next 30 days. And I don't ask for money on this program. I often encourage you to go to a Patriot Academy program, but I don't ask for money. I don't know if I've ever asked for money on this program. And but we're just we're in one of those situations where it just has to be done. Um when I say that, I don't ask for money for myself. I often promote other programs and other individuals or things that are being done and so many good causes out there that we want people to support. But I think that if as far as I remember, this is the first time I've ever asked people to donate money directly to Patriot Academy for something like this. And and this is um this is just one of those things. So please consider that. You can go to Patriotacademy.com forward slash donate, or just go to patriotacademy.com and then there's a big donate button up at the top. And on the donate uh page, there's a drop-down menu because we have a lot of different projects going on, and there's a there's an option for Patriot Student Cottages. And if you choose that and donate, it's gonna go to helping us save these cottages and and and it'll and you know I believe God's word. All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. And I believe he is turning this situation into a positive where it could have been a disaster, and I mean an existential threat. It would have destroyed Patriot Academy, would have destroyed Constitution City, it would have been horrible for this county and and for this area. Um it would have been literally giving in to this Islamic invasion that's happening in our country. Now it looks like there is a very good chance if we again, if we raise enough money and we and we do this close by August 31st, um, that it will it will turn into a blessing for Patriot Academy, for the students that come through, the institutes, all of that will be able to increase quickly. We'll be able to ramp up the number of students, we'll be able to um have more go through and and get this incredible training and go be the leaders in in communities. So there are some very positive aspects of this if we step up, if if we get the job done. And so again, it's it's it's housing, brand new cottages right next door to the Patriot Academy campus. We have a contract now, we got the contract this weekend, and and I literally I'm not kidding you. I I sat at my desk and and wept. I'm trying not to break up right now. It was it was a very emotional couple of weeks, as I said, the most trying maybe

A Personal Story Of Pressure And Provision

SPEAKER_03 19:05

of my life. I mean, so many highs, so many lows. I mean, there was a moment where I was just so down and so worried about this. And I know we're not supposed to worry, and you know, I don't have a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, and all those things. I but man, it was kind of like kind of like that song by Mercy Me, even if, where he talks about, you know, I can't remember the lines, but it's essentially, you know, I've said these things to other people all the time, but now I'm going through the fire, and man, it's a lot a lot harder. Anyway, in the middle of this fire, I was I was having to do all of this while I'm on the road. I'm traveling I had got all these speaking engagements I have, you know, I can't get out of and and need to go do, and and at the same time I'm calling everybody I I could personally because I couldn't go public with it at the time. And um, and and and so anyway, we I'm I'm just at this this was a kind of at the beginning of the situation, and I didn't have any significant support, had you know, you know, no one had really stepped up and and it looked like an impossible lift, an impossible task. And I'm walking through the airport in in Seattle of all places, and I basically said to my phone, uh to my to my Siri or whatever, I said, you know, find me the verse where Elijah just needs a nap and a meal. And I just need a nap and a meal, I think, right now. And so I listened to that entire chapter, and then I got back to my hotel, I crashed hard, and my phone wakes me up, and it's a dear friend in ministry. They called and said, you know, uh, he and his wife prayed over me, and they said, Man, we want to we want to give $100,000. And and that began the sponsorship of cottages because after that I thought, you know, that maybe that's the right number. And if we get enough cottages sponsored, we'll have enough to stop the auction and uh and potentially, you know, finish the finish the purchase. And so that that was the beginning. God just and actually got another phone call within an hour, same thing. And before you know it, we had 24 cottages sponsored. So we got 16 to go. And again, any amount helps. Any amount that you want to donate, Patriotacademy.com forward slash donate. Choose Patriot Student Cottages and help us save these cottages and use them to the glory of God and not let them go into the hands of the enemy. I so appreciate you listening. Thank you for letting me even ask for help. I promise not to become one of those people that's constantly asking for help. This one is an existential threat, and we need your help. PatriotAcademy.com.

Break And A Second Amendment History Moment

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Quick break, we'll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

This is Tim Barton from Wall Builders with another moment from American history. The Second Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees to every individual the right to keep and bear arms, has been targeted for years now by those who are determined to dismantle the individual right to self protection. Opponents argue that only the militia, the military, and law enforcement are to have and use firearms. But those who wrote the Second Amendment strenuously disagreed, including founding father Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the declaration. A president of the Continental Congress and one of those who actually framed the Second Amendment, he declared, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them. For more information about Richard Henry Lee and the history of the Second Amendment, go to wallbuilders.com.

Naming Cottages And Final Push

SPEAKER_03 22:30

Welcome back to the Wall Builder Show. Thanks for staying with us. And uh man, guys, thanks for letting me share so much about what's been going on and just the miracles that have happened. And of course, asking folks to help. And uh, as our audience knows, we we almost never even ask for help for the show itself, let alone for special things like this. So I appreciate the opportunity to let people know about the need. And so many people already responded. Um, just super excited about what this could mean for the next chapter for Patriot Academy and for all the ministries we host at the campus.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Well, I I do want to say that if if there are people listening and they go, man, we would love to sponsor. Obviously, Rick, you would say, Well, we want you to come down, right? Come be part of a constitutional defense training, something. Yeah, come come see what you're investing in. But then I just want to say for people that maybe if they feel burdened, they want to do this, and you said, you know, maybe they can name it after a founding father. I just want to offer at this point if they need any help picking some good names. My dad and I have a list of some of our favorites. You let us know if there's a genre, uh, that a type of individual you're interested in, and we will help you come up with some really fun names to maybe help you have the coolest named cottage there on the Patriot Academy campus. So uh we we would like to help partner with some of the people that want to partner with you. They love it.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

And we'll go a step further. We'll even help provide you some uh of the documentation of what makes them so unique from really old books. So we'll go back in the old books so you can see who would they who they were back in the old day. You know, we've kind of forgotten a lot of these guys today, but it's really fun to read biographies from 200-year-old books. That's that's a that's a plus.

SPEAKER_03 24:15

David, you just asked for homework because now what's gonna happen is all 40 of these cottages, everybody's gonna say, you know, when that plaque gets made about so-and-so, whoever the founder is that they're gonna name it after, I want to make sure David and Tim Barton write whatever's gonna be on that plaque.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

I don't want to make it up. So we're gonna be sending homework to the Bartons. That's homework we'll take, brother. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

I think it's only 16 left, though.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

So I feel like No, the problem though, Tim, the problem though is that the other 24 are gonna hear about this and they're gonna say, oh, really? David and Tim will help me write this. This is great.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

I mean, I guess, I guess we could extend it to everybody. I was saying for people that were going to partner pod. Yes. If you've already partnered, we love and appreciate that about you too. So, yes, we for any of the 40, if you're looking for suggestions, we have a strong list of names. We also have a pretty strong research team, and we've already done a lot of research. So we can absolutely help come up with names, but but Rick, big picture, man, how amazing is this that in in the midst of the concern when we had long conversations, um, there was obviously there was always a faith in God, but there was the uncertainty of man, I I don't know what's gonna happen. And like, is is this God's will? Is there gonna be something else? And there was there was moments of doubt, and to see in the midst of this, God intervene was absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

Well, now I get it. You were trying to entice people to sponsor a cottage because of the help you would bring. And now I've added more work to your plate, but you're 100% right.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

You know, you guys know I quote all the time out of James count it all joy when you experience various trials, you know, knowing God's gonna teach you patience and then perseverance and be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. But I felt like it was that song by Mercy Me, even if, you know, where you get on stage and you say those things to people for years and years and years, and then when you go through the fire, you're like, wow, this is a lot harder. So that's kind of how I felt. So what you just said describes it perfectly.

SPEAKER_03 26:11

And the Lord just absolutely came alongside us, our whole family, the whole team, not only provided but lifted us up through the whole thing, and we can already see how he's gonna turn it in to an incredible positive. So it's true, folks. All things do work together for good for those who love the Lord to call it according to his purpose. Thank you for your help. Patriotacademy.com to learn more. David and Tim, thank you guys. God bless you. Thanks for the good news Friday being so focused on all of this, but I appreciate it. Everybody have a great weekend, and we will be sharing good news about the final outcome of this whole thing. You've been listening to the Wallbower Show.