MikeSlater
Politics • Spirituality/Belief • Culture
Politics by Faith, The Bubbling Anger
Is It Righteous?
May 02, 2023

*The Politics by Faith podcast is available everywhere. We put it here ad-free and provide the transcript.*

Tucker Carlson said the debates in our country are between Good and Evil. But you can't say that today. In today's culture, everything is good. If you talk about evil then you're being mean. This leads to a lack of moral clarity and conviction. This has led to chaos.
Let's learn from Achilles to the Puritans about when anger is righteous and when it's corrosive.


Welcome to Politics by Faith, the long-form episode. We have the daily, shorter episodes, and then we have the twice-a-week, longer episodes here just for you, just for the podcast, and I'm grateful you're here. It's brought to you by Patriot Gold Group and Public Square. There is a lot to be angry about right now. A lot to be grateful for, of course, but anger is an overwhelming emotion. It's a very motivating emotion. It's a captivating emotion. This is why a lot of snake oil salesmen use anger to captivate us, to hook us, and then manipulate us. I'm thinking about the debt ceiling in DC. There's so much betrayal. Oh, it's just a mess. And the Democrats do this all like self-righteous. Oh, can you believe the Republicans would be willing to default on the debt of the United States of America? It's like, guys, you kidding me? You're the ones who keep spending all this money that puts us in this position every year.

0:01:18
There's been a lot of senseless murders lately. The guy in Texas, the neighbor who goes to the fence and says, hey man, can you stop shooting your gun? We have a baby over here trying to sleep. So then he walks over to their house and murders five of the people in the house, including an eight-year-old, shoots him in the head, and then he's on the loose. I'm talking right now, and they haven't even found him. This happened on Friday.

0:01:40
I'm recording this Monday night. And it's like, what? And then just to make you more angry, he's been deported four times. How can that be? Four times? This murderer has been deported four times to Mexico and he keeps coming back? He keeps... he's able to come back? I read early on, don't know if this one is true, but the last time he was deported maybe was 2006. So all that time he's able to come back many times and then just stay here for that long. Unbelievable. He came over a fifth time. That makes me angry. The military found another unidentified balloon flying over Hawaii. We're back to the balloons and they don't even know, they don't know what it is, they don't know who it belongs to, they don't know anything. And it's just, we are just being led by inept people. So I get angry that we have a system that has turned into this. It's just, it's just such a far cry from founding FOD. And I don't know, is it just me?

0:02:56
I'm the only one feeling this low grade malaise of anger. I don't know where you are. It's somewhere between anger simmering deep below to, oh no, it's boiling on the surface later. Either way, anywhere in between, it's not good. So let's talk about it. We've played a couple clips from Tucker Carlson's final speech that he gave as an employee of Fox News. He was speaking at the Heritage Foundation 50th anniversary dinner. And there's a couple great clips.

0:03:33
I don't think we've played this one, but this is an important one because some people are saying that this is maybe not the thing that got him fired, but the type of talk that got him fired. He's talking about good and evil. What you're watching is not a political movement. It's evil. So if you want to assess and I'll put it in and I'll stop with this, I'll put it in non political, I'll put it in non political or non rather non specific theological terms and just say, if you want to know what's evil and what's good, what are the characteristics of those? And by the way, you know, I think the Athenians would have agreed with this. This is not necessarily just a Christian notion. This is kind of a, I would say, widely agreed upon understanding of good and evil. What are its products? What do these two Well, I mean, good is characterized by order, calmness, tranquility, peace, whatever you want to call it, lack of conflict, cleanliness.

0:04:38
Cleanliness is next to godliness. It's true. It is. And evil is characterized by their opposites. violence, hate, disorder, division, disorganization, and filth. So if you are all in on the things that produce the latter basket of outcomes, what you're really advocating for is evil. That's just true. I'm not calling for a religious war. Far from it.

0:05:06
I'm merely calling for an acknowledgment of what we're watching. One side's like, no, no, I've got this idea, and we've got this idea, let's have a debate about our ideas. They don't want a debate. Those ideas won't produce outcomes that any rational person would want under any circumstances. Those are manifestations of some larger force acting upon us. It's just so obvious. It's completely obvious. And I think two things. One, we should say that and stop engaging in these totally fraudulent debates where we are using the terms that we used in 1991 when I started at Heritage as if maybe you know I could just win the debate if I marshaled more facts. I've tried that, doesn't work. And two, maybe maybe we should all take just like 10 minutes a day to say a prayer about it.

0:06:05
I'm serious, like why not? And I'm saying that to you not as some kind of evangelist, I'm literally saying that to you as an Episcopalian, the Samaritans of our time. I'm literally an Episcopalian, okay? And even I have concluded it might be worth taking just 10 minutes out of your busy schedule to say a prayer for the future, and I hope you will. People get turned off by that language of good and evil. It makes people very uncomfortable. Christians shouldn't. Christians should not get uncomfortable when talking about good and evil. We need to have more maturity and discernment and confidence when it comes to talking about this.

0:07:02
Ephesians 6, 10, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm." Not wishy-washy, not, I don't want to, stand firm. having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, in all circumstances, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, oh I don't know, evil, good, makes me feel uncomfortable, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

0:08:07
To that end, keep alert, with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me, and opening my mouth boldly, and this is true for you, to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I might declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Yes, there are some people who may support a policy, let's just say transgender kids. They may support a policy that they haven't thought through and they may not know any better and they just want to be seen as nice and it hasn't really affected them personally so they don't really get it and they say they support it.

0:08:42
Is that an evil person? No, they're not evil. They're misguided, certainly. But then, some people are actively involved and pushing evil things. And that is more than just misguided. That is evil. We must admit—well, maybe first we must be aware that evil exists, and then we must be able to admit that evil exists and not be afraid to say it. Far from this modern idea that evil doesn't exist, evil is pervasive.

0:09:19
It's everywhere. It's inside all of us. It's personal. It's spiritual. And it carries on. Sultan Iskandar said that the problem with revolution is, his quote is, they destroy only the carriers of evil. So the person may die, but the evil lives on. So what's really going on with this? We're so far away from battling good and evil. We're in a culture today where we can't even admit that that even exists. That there even is evil. So who do you think will win? I remember as I just a quick flashback to the war on terror and there are people on the left who wouldn't say islamic extremists and uh... claim from the conservatives were you're not going to win if you can't even say what it is, like what are you fighting against, even the war on terror itself, like what do you mean terror, you can't fight a war against terror, what are you even talking about, define what we're talking about and the same thing with our country today, we can't even define evil, we can't even admit that it exists. My concern is in our modern world, which prioritizes being nice over everything else, tolerance isn't even enough. Tolerance has been replaced with affirmation of acceptance of everything all the time, no matter how deviant, how perverted, how sinful, how just dumb, how wrong or evil, you must actively affirm always. So the concern is that because you just have to be nice that this concept of evil is therefore mean. And if you speak in terms of good and evil you're called a bigot and an extremist and you're shut down. It's funny, if you say good and evil and you like you're talking about these terms, they say, oh, that's, you're being exclusionary and you're shutting down debate and you're like, no, you're shutting me down.

0:11:22
I'm trying to define some terms here. If you see things in terms of good and evil, your opinion doesn't count because apparently you think you're better than everyone else or you're too extreme. And you're like, no, I just have moral clarity on this issue and I have a conviction that this is wrong and I have some wisdom here of a better way. That's all. I'm like, oh, you're a bigot extremist. No, moral clarity, conviction, and wisdom is actually what I have. Moral evil has dominated human life. Genesis 8, 21, the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth.

0:12:06
There's three types of evil. You have your natural evil, that's disease, disaster, catastrophes, that all comes from the fall as well. Then you have moral evil, and that's, I mean, we see it all the time. We see it everywhere. It's every human person and every human relationship, therefore, because every human relationship is just collisions of immoral people and then you have supernatural evil this is demonic evil John 844 Jesus said to the Pharisees you are of your father the devil first John 519 the whole world lies in the power of the evil one I know we've talked about Judas a couple times in the last week but Luke 22 3 says, Then Satan entered Judas, one of the twelve, entered him. Fascinating detail right there.

0:12:59
So yes, there's evil in the world. I mean, that's what they, well, is there evil in the world? You're not even allowed to say there is. What are you talking about? Is there? Isn't there? It's everywhere, and it's inside all of us, and we have to hate it. We have to have a moral clarity against it. We must hate it and it's okay to be angry about it. And that's what I want to talk about today. Righteous anger. Let's lament first though. Let's lament. Let's lament all this brokenness. I want to talk about Homer and Achilles here in just a minute and see, there's four ways that Achilles' anger led to even worse destruction, and I wanna see which of these relate most to your life, but first I wanna tell you about Patriot Gold Group.

0:13:51
We have more banks being taken over by the federal government. It's like, this is fine. We have more failed banks. I guess First Republic Bank was seized by the feds and then sold to JPMorgan. Okay. Oh, it's all fine. And Biden says, no, the system is safe and sound. Do you believe him? You believe any of them?

0:14:15
I don't. See if gold is wise for you and your family. Consider it. I can tell you it's been around for a while. Patriot Gold Group is, well, it's where I bought gold. I think they're the best. I'm not going to mess around with anyone less than the best. Why would I not go to the best? So I went to the best, and I'm telling you who I went with, Patriot Gold Group. They have a no-fee-for-life IRA, where your IRA or 401k can be put in physical gold or silver, and you may be eligible for a no-fee-for-life IRA and qualifying rollovers, that's good.

0:14:56
Or you can just buy gold and just have it, and they mail it to you. A FedEx truck shows up and gives you gold. You're like, huh, this seems illegal, but that's certainly not. Well, not now. For now it isn't, I should say. FDR made it illegal to own gold physically. basically. 888-617-6122.

0:15:14
Get a free investor guide. Start there. Patriot Gold Group, consumer affairs top rated gold IRA dealer six years in a row. Told you they're the best. 1-888-617-6122. 888-617-6122. Tell them you know Mike Slater. PatriotGoldGroup.com. Homer's The Iliad is a great description of how rage and anger it's all-consuming. The opening word of The Iliad is wrath.

0:15:48
It's the first word in the whole thing. It's long, but Homer went with wrath as the very first word. So I've got four examples of the wrath of Achilles here, and I want to see which one of these four you can relate to the most. So you can look back on the anger, the times when you've been angry in your life, and then also if you're angry right now. So the very first one is, dear childhood friend died in battle. His name was Patroclus.

0:16:15
So here's from the Iliad. Achilles was now beside Patroclus, weeping bitterly. He laid his hands on his chest and held them there for a long time as if warming them out of fire. Patroclus, he cried, dearest friend, since I left you last, I have come to know the full extent of my anger. It has brought me nothing but pain and grief, and now it has cost you your life.

0:16:39
So anger can bring pain to others around you, those closest to you. Have you ever experienced that? Okay, we don't want that. So let's table that. We'll get back to it. Achilles was also angry at the Trojans for killing his fellow Greeks. Achilles was burning with anger. He stood on the high ramparts looking out over the plain and shouted to the gods of Olympus, Father Zeus, if you have ever granted me a prayer, grant me this. Let me take revenge on these Trojans for they have killed my friends and stripped them of There's anger again, and again not helping. So anger can hurt not only the people you love the most, those closest to you, friends or family, but any group you're a part of, any community you're a member of, and your country.

0:17:27
It derails the mission you're on in life, consumes you, and takes you to places you don't want to go. We'll get to that in a minute. A third example, his rage and battle. Thus spoke Achilles and led the way in the forefront of the battle. And the earth groaned beneath the tread of the warriors as they rushed to the fight. And the dust rose up like a thick cloud as the Trojans and their allies advanced to meet them. And in the midst of the conflict, Achilles raged like a lion that has been wounded by hunters and fights with double fury. Anger makes you go berserk, makes you lose your mind and do things you would never dream of doing, nor should you do. And the fourth example is the beginning of the entire thing. It's the opening line of the epic poem. Agamemnon took his war prize and Achilles that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.

0:18:30
Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures. So Achilles' wrath didn't help anything. Sent them all down a path. That's not a point you just can't get back from As either of those happen to you Just examples of where your anger Doesn't help I Lament that all of it inside of us Ecclesiastes 7 9 says be not quick in your spirit to become angry for anger lodges in the hearts of fools I Don't want to be a fool, but hold on Slater not all anger is bad, because Jesus got angry. So how do we make sense of this? All right, let's pivot to the biblical stuff here. So my conclusion here is that it's okay to get angry just for the right reasons and in the right way. And the Bible is clear about this. Well, the Bible is full of wrath. So God's wrath is just. That's the first point Romans 2 5 pauses, but because of your hard and impenitent heart Means a feel no shame you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath When God's righteous judgment will be revealed so it will be revealed and you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath There's more wrath coming." Proverbs 24 12 says, If you say, Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

0:20:09
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay man according to his work? Yes, he will, is the answer to that. The main difference, one of the main differences, but I think the biggest difference between the Greek and Roman gods, we were talking about Zeus a second ago, right? And God is the, uh, like Roman, uh, that's what I'm looking for, uh, when they're fake. What's the fake gods? Mythology. The mythological gods, they were fickle and irritable and acted on whim and they were just people. They were just like acting like people, they just had like power. God never does that. God is not fickle. He does not act on a whim.

0:20:53
His wrath, in the words of J.I. Packer, is a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. It's a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. And second point, God's wrath is love. His wrath is just and it is loving. He must act justly to judge sin, otherwise He wouldn't be God, or good, or loving. And Jesus did the same. Jesus got angry too. People only refer to Him as the Prince of Peace, but He's also the King of Righteousness. Matthew 18, 6 Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.

0:21:36
But whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. That's a better outcome than what is going to happen to you. Dane Ortlund makes an important point. He says, Jesus says this not because he gleefully enjoys torturing the wicked, but because he loves little children. It's the love. People today, just in our politics, they focus on the wrath and how bad that is, but what they don't realize is that the wrath comes from love.

0:22:11
I'll just give you a simple example. So let's say someone murders someone, and people focus on how mean it is to sentence the murderer to life in prison, But what about the family of the people he murdered? So people's desire to not have a righteous anger at the murderer and not to seek justice is leading them to not act lovingly towards the victims. So you have to balance both of those. Matthew 23, 13, But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

0:22:43
For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves." That's not like, woe to you! This isn't nice. Oh, Jesus, you're being very judgy. Yeah.

0:23:23
How about the famous scene of Jesus flipping tables? Not nice! Come on, Jesus, control yourself. He was. He was perfectly under control. John 2, 14, In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there and making a whip of cords. He drove them all out of the temple with a whip with the sheep and oxen and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables and told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away.

0:23:51
Do not make my father's house a house of trade. This visual of Jesus sitting there making a whip himself. Why did he do this? And why didn't he just do it nicer? Because he knew it mattered. He knew it mattered. The temple, the Lord's house, his Father's house, was a house of prayer. By the way, our churches today, many have forgotten their true purpose. It's not a social club. It's not a babysitting event.

0:24:20
It's not a place to be entertained. It's a place to praise God. And it's time that we clear out all the lies from the church and clear out all the corruption from our government, from DC, from the media, from everywhere. There needs to be a clearing out of the temple and a draining of the swamp. We need to demand more. Let me, because here's what happens. When you clear out and you demand more, you get clarity and conviction. A righteous anger that doesn't turn into sin, we'll get to that in a second, but a righteous anger properly acted upon leads to clarity and conviction. Here is Martin Lloyd-Jones, I was able to find his actual sermon, this is out of maybe 1930s or 40s or something like that, and listen to him talk about what happens during a proper restoration, a proper clearing out.

0:25:17
Go back and read your history. Read about the Protestant Reformation. What did it lead to? Well, amongst other things you know, it did lead to the Elizabethan period. Once you are right at the center, once the temple is cleansed and reformed and renewed, it percolates through the whole of life as a new tone. Where there is vision, the people succeed. Where there is no vision, the people perish. And this is the supreme need of the hour, to recapture the vision, to turn back to him and allow him to act and to speak to us, and to cleanse and to drive out. And then I say, you will get what you had following the Protestant Reformation.

0:26:09
You had exactly the same thing in the Puritan era. You can laugh at the Puritans if you like, my friends, but never forget this, that the Cromwellian period, the period of the Commonwealth, was one of the greatest periods in the whole history of this country. Everybody's agreed, even secular historians, that the basis of this country's greatness was laid down then, when there was a moral tone in the nation, when men and women put God first. Then, I say, the whole nation was elevated. Righteousness exalted the nation. And indeed, it is true to say in a large measure that what was truly great and glorious in the last century was the direct outcome of the evangelical awakening of the eighteenth century. There is no question about this. It can be established even historically.

0:27:02
Leckie, the historian, tells us that it was that and that alone that saved this country from something similar to what happened in the French Revolution. And other historians will tell you the same thing. The fount, the origin, the source, not only of greatness in a national sense, but the enlightenment of the people. I've been saying the same thing about, and this is why I've been focused so much lately on Puritans and the preaching from America's true founding, like the 1600s, early 1700s, because they laid the groundwork for our founding fathers. I've been very focused on our founding grandfathers and great-grandfathers and the people who laid the moral foundation that our founding fathers were born into, that gave them clarity and conviction.

0:27:52
They were angry at the right people for the right reasons. My point of all this is it's okay for humans to get angry. In fact, it's essential because here's the problem. The people who say, oh, you're talking about more good and evil, that's not right, you don't know, you can't judge. What that does is it turns them into people of indifference. And that's like awful, like that's terrible, indifference. Like, wake up, wake up and make a stand, take a stand on these, you know, not on everything necessarily, if you don't know all the facts or whatever, that's fine, but on the things that are obvious and that matter, take a stand. This is B.B. Warfield, he was a professor at the Princeton Cemetery, this is like late 1800s.

0:28:37
He says, it would be impossible, therefore, for a moral being to stand in the presence of perceived wrong, indifferent and unmoved. If you are a moral being, you should not stand, you should not be able to look at evil and be indifferent and unmoved. Precisely what we mean by a moral being is a being perceptive of the difference between right and wrong. If you're unable to determine or to see the right and wrong, you're not a moral being. And not only determining the difference between right and wrong, but reacting appropriately to right and wrong. The emotions of indignation and anger belong, therefore, to the very self-expression of a moral being as such and cannot be lacking to him in the presence of wrong." You have, clearly, a deceived world telling you that there's no such thing as evil.

0:29:34
You can't—how dare you even say such a thing? You're a bigot and trying to silence you, that is an effort to make you no longer a moral being. That is an effort to silence you and make you indifferent and meaningless and to doubt and to not have conviction and not have moral clarity. And then what are you? The Bible on the other hand is very clear. Psalm 4.4. David says, be angry and do not sin. The Hebrew word here for be angry is, it means to tremble, to be troubled, to shake, to quake, to be perturbed, to quiver with anger.

0:30:23
So care. Care. Like, have conviction. Care about what's happening in front of you. Care about it. Be angry. Be perturbed. Tremble. Shake at what you're seeing. Have the moral clarity to see that this is evil.

0:30:46
And while our country is saying, Oh, who are you to say blah blah blah, I'm a moral being. I am angry at this because this is bad, this is wrong, this is dangerous, this is evil. Be angry and do not sin. So his point here is it's okay to care a lot. You must, in fact. Just don't go so far as to sin. Ephesians 4, 26, be angry. This is in Greek so it's a different word, but be angry and do not sin.

0:31:12
Do not let the sun go down on your anger. So the Bible commands you to be angry. But what do we do with that anger? Well, a couple lines after that Psalm 4-4, he told you, be angry, but don't sin, offer right sacrifices and put our trust in the Lord. Put your trust in the Lord. That's the key. So, what's in my control? First you don't get discouraged. When everyone around you is lukewarm, when everyone around you is, oh don't be judgy, when everyone around you doesn't have conviction and doesn't care and isn't paying attention, don't let that distract you, don't let that discourage you. You are called as a moral being.

0:31:50
See a lot of people will say, well who are you to say? I am a moral being. I'm a moral American human being. That is who I am to say. Oh, who are you to say? I'm a moral being. So don't get discouraged by people who are not. That's the first thing. Are you angry today? Why? Is it righteous? Here's a good tip. Is it about you? If it's about you, it's probably not righteous. Could be, could be, could be, don't get me wrong, but that's a first hint of just something to be aware of.

0:32:38
A yellow flag, not a red flag, a yellow flag. Is it something bigger than you? Is that why you're angry? That's a better sign. Is this anger leading you to a sinful place? I'm reminded of the story of Catherine of Siena, 1400s. She died when she was 33. She had a stroke at 33. Her final words, she said, Dear children, let not my death sadden you? Rather, rejoice to think that I am leaving a place of many sufferings, to go to rest in the quiet sea, the eternal God, and to be united forever with my most sweet and loving bridegroom. I leave darkness to pass into the true and everlasting light.

0:33:32
I have sinned, O Lord, be merciful to me." She had a stroke at 33. She wasn't angry. I say that because anger isn't the only emotion, but it may be a good place to start. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 21, hold fast to what is good. Hold fast to what is good. So let's not be discouraged by those who say, who are you to say? Let's have a righteous anger in the right way. And then hold and all at the same time while holding fast to what is good. How's that? Let's be angry about the things that truly matter. Final thing to meditate on.

0:34:33
I just found this hymn. Thy kingdom come, O God. Thy rule, O Christ, begin. Break with thine iron rod the tyrannies of sin. Oh, that's violent. Yeah. Break with thine iron rod the tyrannies of sin. Our first sponsor of this podcast is Public Square. Was Public Square. It is Public Square.

0:35:09
They're amazing. It's an app. You can download it in the app store for free and it connects you with people who own businesses that share your values. So the Bud Light is just like a perfect example. I love that people are not spending the money on Bud Light. Great, perfect, but where do you go? Or whatever, but it's not just alcohol. It's every business, every single business has these major players that hate you.

0:35:32
Like they just despise everything about you. They hate every value you have and they're getting bolder and bolder in speaking against you. So enough already. Public square, download it, start small like I did, just hit near me restaurants, and instead of going to some big chain that hates you, go to a local restaurant that shares your values. They have coffee and tea, so just something easy, and then grow from there.

0:35:58
And pretty soon, you're only buying things from people who share your values. And it's great because money's a tool. And how you spend it matters, not only on what you spend it on, but who you spend it with, who you're giving it to in return for great products, of course, great products and services, and they're all on the app. Download it, it's free.

0:36:20
Public Square in the App Store, publicsq.com, and if you scroll down, you can see the five values that every business owner has to sign on to in order to be featured in this app. It's nationwide, public, square, free download in the App Store.

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https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20220122_110000_FOX_and_Friends_Saturday/start/5640/end/5700

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Morning Motivation, April 21, 2023

I found a way to easily transcribe the podcasts, so I will post them here first before they go out to iTunes and the rest.

Good morning. Welcome to The Morning Motivation, brought to you by Public Square and Patriot Gold Group. I'm grateful you're here. I was reading a sermon by the great Puritan preacher John Owen in the mid-1600s. I'm so fascinated by this time period, 1600s, early 1700s. We focus a lot on our founding fathers. I think that the Tea Party movement and just conservatism in general has focused a lot on the founding fathers, and that's amazing, but I'm very fascinated by our founding grandfathers or great-grandfathers, the people who created the culture that our founding fathers were raised in.

0:00:44
Isn't that a fascinating era? We got like 1776, like that's great, I love it, I want to know more, I don't know nearly enough. But what about the 1720s? What was going on there? Or the late 1600s? What was going on in America at that time? And you know, we've all heard of the Puritans, but you ...

Morning Motivation, April 21, 2023
Inflation and ANGER

I am angry and frustrated. With our Rulers. For getting us in this terrible economy. It doesn't have to be this way.

How could they never learn from past mistakes! This is ANCIENT history, stop printing money...yet, after COVID, we never printed more. Amazing.

Please leave a 5-star review on Itunes. We have a ton of momentum, this is about to break through! Thank you!

Also, I haven't done any lives anywhere becauase we're hosting a daily TV show "Road to Misterms" on thefirsttv.com, and it's taken all of my extra time. And my wife is giving birth any day now, so...it's been a lot around here. But after the midterms, time will free up.

Inflation and ANGER
Politics by Faith: Parkland and the Death Penalty

I've gone back and forth on the death penalty many times over the years. I've recently come down on the other side.

Should the Parkland murderer have gotten the death penalty or life in prison?

Please leave a review on iTunes! We need to get to 1k :-)
www.thefirsttv.com/mikeslater

Btw, we're getting the momentum we need, more downloads every day, THANK YOU!

Politics by Faith: Parkland and the Death Penalty
September 26, 2025

On Christian Martyrs

Good day Brother Slater,

Semen est sanguis Christianorum.
(The blood of Christians is the seed of the Church)
Tertullian 160-230 AD, Apologeticum, 50
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14520c.htm

V. Pretiósa in conspéctu Dómini.
Precious in the sight of the Lord

R. Mors Sanctórum eius.
Is the death of His Saints.
Psalm 115:15 (116)

List of Christian Martyrs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_martyrs

Your attendance to Christian Martrys, in light of the murder of Charlie Kirk, is timely and kudos for your focus in this most virtuous of Deeds before God.
May God Bless you for your good work to illumine this vital matter for Christian Souls!

And I saw seats. And they sat upon them: and judgment was given unto them. And the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and who had not adored the beast nor his image nor received his character on their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:4

2.—Constancy of the Martyrs
Is...

September 23, 2025

Thanks, Brother Slater, for this edification. Great contemplation exercise to consider how we oft incorporate this attributive defect in our confirmation-biased-weakened Will & Intellect.
Calumny & Detraction.

Pax Christi in regno Christi

post photo preview
September 23, 2025

Pre & Post Americana historical tidbit of the day: Spain’s European Catholic Colonial influence in the Americas

Lost Footnotes in History: Why Texas Was Once Called New Philippines
What do Texans and Filipinos have in common? Spanish colonizers.
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/new-philippines-a00304-20200614

The Legacy of Spanish Texas: Exploration, Missions, and Cultural Impact
Texas State Historical Association
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/spanish-texas

Seeped and Steeped in The Bible
Politics By Faith, October 3, 2025

Our founding fathers and grandfathers knew the Bible deeply in their minds and souls. How can you hear the words of George Washington and Patrick Henry's most famous speech and come to any other conclusion? 

The word of the day is seeped. Seeped. 

Good word, isn't it? To be seeped. The modern dictionary definition, Webster did not have this word in his original 1828 one, is to flow or leak a liquid slowly through porous material or small holes. The idea, though, concept is that something is so deeply permeated into the item. that it is now an integral part of it. Now in this interesting English situation here, where you have the words seep and steep, and they can both do with liquids, so it can get confusing. 

But when you're talking about a deep tradition of something, it's actually the word steep. So something is steeped in tradition, for instance. I like both concepts, right? I feel like the idea of seeping into, And the argument I want to make here is that the Bible, it seeped its way through all the aspects of our culture in America. But I also like the idea of our culture being steeped in the Bible. Let's go with steep for now. 

So I suppose the word of the day is steep, not seep. But this is the idea I want. Either way, this is the idea that I'm looking for. I'm reading this amazing book. I'm going to mention it many more times because I'm only like 25 % done. It's called Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers. 

And I want to read two sections here in particular. The first is about George Washington, and then I want to get to Patrick Henry. George Washington was steeped in the Bible. The Bible seeped into every aspect of his life. But again, we'll go with steep. Listen, so this is, this author went through all these different examples of George Washington using biblical references. 

I didn't even know many of these references originated in the Bible. That's how unsteeped I am and how little it has seeped into the culture that I grew up in and still live in today. So let me read from this. The language of the English Bible so permeated the vernacular that some speakers and writers may not always have been conscious of the fact that a popular phrase or image had biblical origins. In any case, Washington routinely incorporated into his working vocabulary familiar biblical language, such as forbidden fruit, Genesis 3, sweat of the brow, Genesis 3 .19. Fat of the land. 

Genesis 45 .18. George Washington used these words all the time. Stumbling blocks. Leviticus, Ezekiel, Romans, 1st Corinthians. Seven times seven years. Leviticus. 

Thorn in our side. Numbers, Judges, 2nd Corinthians. 

First fruit. 

Deuteronomy, Nehemiah. Sleep with my fathers. Deuteronomy, 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings. Neither sleep nor slumber. Psalm Isaiah. All the days of your life. 

Psalms 23, 27. Like sheep to the slaughter. Psalm 44, Acts 8, Romans 8. Engraved on every man's heart. Jeremiah 17, 31, Romans 2. Separating the wheat from the tares, Matthew 13. 

A millstone hung to your neck, Matthew 18, Mark 9, Luke 17. Wars and rumors of wars, Matthew 24, Mark 9, Luke 17. By the way, every time George Washington wrote about these things, he didn't have to say, good and faithful servant. As it says in Matthew 25, 21, the good and faithful, it just did, everyone knew what he was talking about. Take up my bed and walk, Mark 2, John 5. Widow's might, Mark 12, Luke 21. 

The scales are ready to turn. from the eyes, Act 9, and Throne of Grace, Hebrews 416. Those are maybe half the examples. George Washington was steeped in a biblical culture. I want to quote here Patrick Henry. One of his most famous speeches, one of the most important speeches in the buildup to the American Revolution, was a speech he gave on March 23rd, 1775 at a church in Richmond, Virginia. 

I've read this speech many times. I had no idea all the biblical allusions in it. I'll only cross check one here. But Patrick Henry talks about, the whole point of the speech is peace. There's no peace. That's Jeremiah 6, 14. 

They have healed the wound of my people lightly saying peace, peace when there is no peace. The whole point, I've read this speech a million times. Patrick Henry, that famous line, peace, peace when there is no peace. I didn't know that was Jeremiah 6. Let me quote this speech here. Mr. President, said Patrick Henry, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. 

We are apt to shut our eyes. Proverbs 16, 30, Isaiah 6, 10, 33, 15, 44, 18. Against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. That's actually from the Odyssey. Is this the part of wise men engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be the number of those who having eyes see not and having ears hear not? 

Jeremiah 5, Ezekiel 12, Psalm 115, 135, Isaiah 42. The things which so clearly concern their temporal salvation. For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost. Exodus 6 -9 Job 7, 11. Sorry, Sorry, I chuckle because it's everything. 

Every sentence of this speech is a biblical reference. I am willing to know the whole truth. John 8, 32. To know the worst and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided. Psalm 119. 

And that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know that there had been in the content of the British ministry for the last 10 years to justify those hopes. with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and in this house. Is it not? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition had been lately received? 

Trust it not, sir. It will prove a snare to your feet. Jeremiah 18, 22. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Matthew 26, Luke 22. In vain after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. 

There's no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve and violate these inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not baselessly to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be attained, we must fight. I repeat it, sir, we must fight. An appeal to arms and to God of hosts is all that has left us. Tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? 

Will it be next week or next year? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty And in such a country as that which we possess, Deuteronomy 3 .12, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God, Isaiah 45 .21, who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. 1 Samuel 8, 2 Chronicles 32. 

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone. Ecclesiastes 9, 11. It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. 

Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable, and let it come. I repeat it, sir, let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace, but there is no peace, Jeremiah 6, 14. 

The war has actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears, Acts 7 20, the clash of resounding arms, our brethren already in the field. Why stand here idle? Matthew 26. What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 

Is life so dear? Acts 20 24. Or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take. But as for me, Genesis 17 4 and Joshua 24 15. 

But as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Patrick Henry's give me liberty or give me death speech is just seeped with biblical references, because he himself was steeped in a Bible -based culture. This is my dream. This is what I want. More than anything, my prayer for our country is that we once again can put the Bible in the front as the foremost, most important text, document, and truth, and that the people of this country can steep in it. and it can permeate inside of us, inside of our bones and our mind and our souls, so that it becomes a part of our speech, part of our language again, every aspect of what we do and how we think. 

This is what created our country, the men who built this country and women. were steeped in the Bible. If we want to save our country, we should do the same. More importantly, if we want to save souls, we should do the same. The book again is called Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, Daniel Driesbach. I'm only 25 % of the way through. 

I would love for his sales to just skyrocket and have him be like, what in the world? 

What happened? 

What happened? Why did my book sales do? Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, Daniel Driesbach. It's got like a yellow cover with a red Bible on the front. Mike Slater dot locals . com is my website. 

Transcript commercial free on the website. Mike Slater dot locals .

 

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September 29, 2025
Keep Bad Bunny Out Of Your Home
Politics By Faith, September 29, 2025

Bad Bunny will be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. He's one of the most-streamed artists in America. He's awful and nothing he creates should be allowed in your home or in your kids' brains.

Welcome to politics by faith thanks for being here just want to mention briefly here bad bunny just got news that bad bunny will be performing at the halftime of the super bowl it's noteworthy for a couple reasons first he said he would never perform in america again because of trump and ice he said honestly i can't risk the safety of my fans like that mainland america just doesn't feel necessary to me anymore he's from puerto rico so he says mainland america so he's concerned that ice would be at his concerts which i've never heard of ice ever doing but wouldn't be a bad idea but he's concerned ice is going to be there and round up all of his fans uh but then he said in this commercial i've been thinking about it these days and after talking with my team i think i'll do just one more date in the united states have you heard of bad bunny He is the third, what a ridiculous name by the way, Bad Bunny. He's the third most streamed artist last year behind Taylor Swift and The Weeknd. He was number two the year before that. And in the year 2020, 2021, 2022, he was the most streamed artist in the world. That's crazy. I've never heard a song of his. 

I don't think I have. And there's a lot of people on the internet who are acting like Bad Bunny is satanic. And of course he is. You're either of God or of Satan. John841. Jesus says, you are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father's desires. 

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. And first John 3 10 says, by this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. nor is the one who does not love his brother. You have to cut it all off. 

All of it. 

All the pop music. Be serious. Be serious. Your kids are desperate to be protected from this. Act like it is life or death. Your kid's souls are on the line. 

Why? Hand any of your child's soul over to these people who hate you. Your kids don't know better. You do. Keep them away from this. Give them something else good. 

because this stuff is so wicked. We are so numb, so numb to how off we are. I think this is the biggest, I don't know what else could be worse. I'm open to suggestions, but I think this is the biggest hurdle impediment for people repenting and getting saved is they don't think they're that bad. Like, oh, it's not, yeah, it's not that bad. No, it's really, you're really bad. 

You're in a really, really bad spot. This is all really bad. You're really bad. I'm really bad. We're all really horribly, awfully bad, like indescribably bad. Here's the problem. 

If you were walking down the sidewalk and I handed you a lifeguard buoy, flotation device, you know, like those long red foam things that lifeguards... If you're walking down the street and I handed you that, you would say, uh, okay, uh, I don't, I don't need this. I'm just, I was walking down the sidewalk. What's what's going on. But if you were drowning in the ocean and I threw one, you'd be pretty darn grateful. People are living their lives like they're just walking down the sidewalk. 

And then we throw Jesus at them and they're like, well, I don't, I don't need this. 

I'm fine. 

Everything's good. 

What people need to realize is they're drowning. They're drowning in the ocean. Then and only then will the good news mean anything. I think, this is my experience, is our culture doesn't do anything with the bad news. And if you don't highlight the bad news, if you don't understand the bad news, then the good news doesn't hit you as good. So what's the bad news? 

The bad news is all have sinned. All are sinners by our very nature. Romans 3 .23, there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All. Only by faith are you justified. Justified means as if you have not sinned. 

And grace means you get what you don't deserve. So mercy means you don't get what you deserve. Grace is, you get what you don't deserve. See the difference? So you don't deserve grace, but you get it. Unmerited favor for us all, sinners. 

You deserve hell because of your sins. But by God's grace, you get something you don't deserve. You get heaven. And you don't get God's wrath. Romans 5, verse 1. the opening line, it says, since we have been justified by faith, you have peace with God. 

It's just so interesting. Not peace of God. You don't have the peace of God. You know, people think of, oh, the peace of God. Oh, peace of mind. And that's true. 

That's a thing. Peace of God. That's great. That's not what this is. This is the peace. You get peace with God. 

With God. 

What do you mean? Because the day of wrath, if you're not saved, is not peaceful. All we hear about in our culture, if you ever hear anything about God, is how God is love. And that's totally true. But what is love? When people hear that, oh, God is love means I can do whatever I want. 

No, no, of course not. It's not loving to let your two -year -old run into the middle of the road just because he wants to. Of course not. No parent would do that. And our heavenly father doesn't want us to do that. The equivalent of that. 

It's not love to let people do whatever they want. So you have to define love, but also God is just. Psalm 711, God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day. That's a great word, indignation. So I went to the Noah Webster's dictionary, 1828. It's the best dictionary. 

It's the only dictionary you gotta go to. It's Webster's Dictionary, 1828 . com. And I looked up indignation. Anger or extreme anger. Mingled with contempt, disgust, or abhorrence. 

The anger of a superior. Extreme anger, particularly the wrath of God against sinful men for their ingratitude and rebellion. You know, Webster always went back and gave Bible verses whenever possible to every definition. And he cited 2 Kings 3 .27. Well, what in the world happened there? So here's what it says. 

Then he took his eldest son. This is the king. The king took his eldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great indignation against Israel. " So the king murdered his son to the false god Shemash, the false god of the Moabites. You can imagine God being pretty angry at that. 

But God wasn't just angry one time thousands of years ago. 

He feels indignation every day. 

At who? Us. Romans 118, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Everything in our culture is unrighteous. Nearly every single thing of it. You name it. 

One last bad news, then we'll get to the good news. This is Romans 5, 10. For if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. How much more that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life? You were an enemy of God. You were an enemy of God and Jesus Christ still saved you. 

What did he save you from? What did Jesus save you from? How about that too? So first people think they don't need saving, but then the question is, okay, fine, I do need saving, but from what? We don't make that clear. We don't make it clear that you need to be saved. 

Be like, Oh, I'm just walking down the sidewalk. I don't need a lifeguard buoy. What are you doing here? Okay. People don't know that they need saving. And then once they're like, you know what? 

I'm drowning here. I'm drowning. I need saving. It's like, Oh, really? You're just like sad or depressed or you're feeling away that nets. And that's great. 

Like Jesus. So that's a good, but you know, you need to really understand that you need saving, not from like bad times in your life. Although you do, we all do, but you really need saving from God's wrath. That's what you're being saved from. If you don't know that you're an enemy to God and therefore sentenced to eternal damnation to experience the wrath of God for all of eternity, then I don't know if the good news seems that good. 

What do you fear the most? People fear man. That's not man. 

You need to fear the most. 

Some people say it's Satan. 

I feel Satan. No, you don't. You don't need to fear Satan. God. The greatest enemy is God. Matthew 10, 28. 

Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. And even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are more valuable than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my father who's in heaven. 

But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my father who's in heaven. " You do not want Jesus to deny you before God, because God is the one who in his just and righteous judgment will send you to hell. Our modern culture today has made everyone think that God loves them no matter what. God loves you. God loves you no matter what. Let me quote John MacArthur. 

He says, the truth is this. God is our worst enemy, our ever present deadly danger, our eternal judge and executioner who will destroy both body and soul in hell. This is what is meant by the fear of God, right? What is the fear of God? The fear of God is the beginning of what? Beginning of wisdom. 

The fear of God. When people hear the fear of God, we've been told that it means awe. or reverence like an awe of god oh you have an awe of god and it does it can mean that too to have an on that's good you should have that but it also means fear. The fear of the Lord means fear. Proverbs 14 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. 

What do they mean fear? What does fear mean? It means fear. So you better get right with them. And the way to get right is to have faith in Jesus. And once you do, you are justified and now you will have peace with God. 

I think All Christians should work on having a good 60 second or whatever amount of time, but like pretty quick description of the gospel. And there's a lot of different ways to do it, but however exactly you word it, whatever you're most comfortable with, it has to weave in there that we are sinners, profound sinners, and we can only be saved through Jesus. Jesus died for your sin, the just for the unjust. God imputes, so he places our sinfulness to Jesus. Christ dies, then is raised from the dead. But not only that, the righteousness. 

Christ is given to you. So Jesus takes your sins, you get his righteousness. We're not born better, we're born again. And all of those who come to Jesus, everyone who places their faith in Christ, will be saved and sanctified. So that you're not just saved from the penalty of sin, that'd be one thing, but one day our bodies will be glorified with Jesus and we'll live forever with him in heaven. You cannot inherit the kingdom of God. 

You cannot do it. Jesus did it for you. And because we're saved, now we can go do amazing works. Because you're saved. The works won't save you, but because you are saved, let's get to work. Martin Luther has a famous line, he said, God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does. 

Jesus already accomplished everything necessary for your salvation. You are set free for the need to justify yourself to God to go to heaven. It's done. No matter what you do. And out of gratitude for that reality, Fully recognizing what we deserved and where we were going with, like, the good news is now the greatest thing imaginable. And out of that gratitude, we can work to serve our neighbors. 

Knowing that, knowing the importance of this, the beauty of it, the severity of it, why would we allow any filth into our lives and into our homes and into our kids' hearts? Even if it's a part of the Super Bowl halftime show.  MikeSlater . Locals . com. Transcript commercial free on the website, MikeSlater .

 

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September 25, 2025
It Is Hard To Kick Against The Pricks
Politics By Faith, September 25, 2025

I've never heard this line before in the Bible, but in this time of revival, I pray that more people come to realize it's true.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. I've got a couple of random things I want to share. First of all, I'm reading this book called Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers. Daniel Driesbach, D -R -E -I -S -B -A -C -H. I'm only on page 35, but it is awesome. 

I have so many things underlined here. It's ridiculous. Let me just quote this right here. This is all about how the Bible was used in schools and how it was the most important book in colonial America. It says here, some colonial laws even required households to possess a copy of the Bible. A Connecticut colonial law instructed the selectmen from time to time to make diligent inquiry of all households, how they are furnished with Bibles. 

And if upon such inquiry, any householder be found without one Bible at least, then the selectmen shall warn the said householder forthwith to procure one Bible at least for the use and benefit of their families respectively. Such laws were about promoting moral instruction and literacy among the youth, In addition to nurturing the spiritual improvement of citizens. Isn't that amazing? It was a law that you had to own a Bible in colonial America. And we're told that America is not a Christian country. The biggest, one of the biggest lies we've ever been told is that we are not a Christian nation. 

We're never one. And our founders weren't Christian and all this total absolute abject lie. We need to get back to our founding. We talked on the SiriusXM show today with Frank Turek, Dr. Frank Turek. He wrote a book that someone gave to me, a friend of mine gave to me about 14 years ago. It's called, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. 

And it was the most pivotal book that I ever read towards me becoming a Christian. There are tons of people, tons of influences, tons of other things, but book, this is the one. And Frank Turek also was Charlie Kirk's mentor. He was standing right next to Charlie when he was assassinated. We talked to him today and I'll get the audio and we can put it here in the podcast version as well. 

Just want to mention that. Two books to buy, Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, and Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, Daniel Driesbach. All right, here's the other random thing I wanted to share today. Someone sent me this note, Dave. He said, hey Slater, truly appreciate the way you have navigated our political discourse with frequent references to the great thinkers, including the greatest thinker of all, Jesus Christ. I would like to humbly suggest a song that you could weave into your broadcast or podcast. 

Here we are, Dave. So people will further understand the gravity of the situation facing us, not just today, but in eternity. The song is by Johnny Cash, The Man Comes Around. It certainly helped wake me up years ago. Spread the word, Dave. I've never heard this song before. 

And unfortunately, we can't play it here. It's called Johnny Cash. The man comes around. You should listen to it. It's classic cash and has a line here that really struck me and stood out to me. And I got to listen to it a few more times to see what else stands out. 

But this one in particular, this song is about the second coming of Jesus. He was 70 years old when he recorded it. Here's the stanza. Here are the trumpets. Here are the pipers. One hundred million angels singing. 

Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum. Voices calling, voices crying. Some are born and some are dying. It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come and the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. The virgins are all trimming their wicks. The whirlwind is in the thorn tree. 

Here's the line. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. That line stood out to me because I understood the other biblical references in that stanza, but where did he get that? hard for thee to kick against the pricks. So that one, I had to give that one a search. And sure enough, it's in the Bible. 

Here's the story. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. I like want to make a bumper sticker about this. I love this line. So it's an old Greek proverb. So here's the, you got an old, uh, ox goad, this long stick. 

It was this eight foot long stick with a metal point at the end. And you would poke the ox with it to guide them. And let's get going. And it would also have a flat end on it so that you could use it to push the dirt off the plow if needed. The ox goad is mentioned a couple of times in the Bible. First Judges 3 .31, Shamgar killed 600 Philistines using only an ox goad. 

So it could be a weapon too. Ecclesiastes 12 .11, the words of the wise are like goads and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings. So good things, like a nail firmly hit into what it needs to go. They are given by one shepherd, meaning the words of God pricks the heart of the sinner. Like the sharp end of the goad would prick the ox. And the good shepherd uses the word of God to prick our conscience and drive us to repentance and drive us to Jesus. 

It's what a good shepherd does. It's what all preachers should be doing as well. I will know that we are in a true revival when preachers start preaching on sin. and hell and how you are going there unless you get right with God today. Now some people don't like the ox goad. Frank Turk said today that one of the major reasons why people don't want to become Christian is because it means they'll have to change their life. 

And it was Milton in Paradise Lost. It's describing how Satan fell. It's a beautiful made up story, but it's a beautiful story, poem. And Satan said, it's better to reign in hell than it is to serve in heaven. People really believe that. They'd rather have their life be awful, but at least they're in charge of it. 

At least they're in control. At least I'm the boss of it. even though it's awful by every objective measurement imaginable. But at least I'm the one in charge, rather than be a slave to Jesus. Most people make that choice. So you got Jesus talking to Saul here. 

This is the third mention of goad, sort of. Doesn't use the word, but when an ox is pricked, he doesn't like it. So he'll often kick back at the goad. And this is the translation in the King James Version. Only the King James Version has this exact translation. So here it is. 

So Saul's on the road to Damascus. He's ready to go kill more Christians. Suddenly there shined around him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecuteth. 

It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Quoting Johnny Cash. No, no, the other way around, Johnny Cash. Quoting Jesus. Amazing line. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 

What does that mean? If you're an ox and you're going the wrong way. and the farmer pokes you with the sharp end of an ox goat and you get mad and you kick him back, your foot only gets pierced even more and harder than before. You only suffer even more. If you reject God, you will only suffer even more now in this life and for eternity. Jesus told Paul, it is hard for you. 

to kick against the pricks, the sharp end of the goad. Knock it off. Stop your rebellion against God. Stop your rebellion against me. It is foolish for you. It is as foolish for you to do this as it is for an ox to kick the sharp end of the goad. 

Just let Jesus steer your life. He knows he is the way and he knows the right way. Solomon said stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path. It's Proverbs 15, 10. You're going to get the goad. Proverbs 13, 15 says the way of the unfaithful is hard. 

Jesus said it is hard for you, Paul, to kick against the pricks. 

So stop. 

Just surrender. Surrender. Stop making life so much harder for yourself. Again, Milton, in Paradise Lost, Satan said it's better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. No, no, no. It is way better to be a slave to Jesus. 

Because Jesus said, my yoke, you know what ox used to used to wear, you put two ox next to each other, you put a yoke, wood on top of them to keep them together. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. Stop. kicking against pricks. Slater Radio on Twitter and Instagram, mikeslater . 

locals . com is the website where we have commercial, no commercials, commercial free, and the transcript up on the website, mikeslater .

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