MikeSlater
Politics • Spirituality/Belief • Culture
Rectitude, Patrick Henry and America.
Politics By Faith, March 21, 2025
March 21, 2025

A word came up a few times on the show today that we must bring back: Rectitude. This was front of mind in our founders and is an essential part of the American Golden Age.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thank you for being here. One hesitation I often have is I don't know what else you listen to of mine that I've or content that I put out. So I have a show on SiriusXM Patreon and a show on San Diego. So I don't know if you're coming from either of those two places and I do different things on each show,

so some things I may repeat on one show, but maybe you don't listen to either of those shows. This is the first time, so I don't want to skip over stuff or rush through something, thinking that you listened to it on SiriusXM. This point I made when you didn't listen,

so I never know what to do. I'm going to err on the side of assuming there's nothing else you listened to. So I want to make sure we're all on the same page so we can get to the unique finale that we have on this show,

which is to look at it always through a biblical lens. So let's do a little catch up here so we're all on the same page, talking about the ending of the Department of Education. And we talked with Linda McMahon on the SiriusXM show today about all that.

It's a wonderful thing. And it's just the very beginning. It actually gets us no step closer to a true revival in education in America, which we need, it doesn't get us any closer itself. It eliminates a major roadblock of the revolution.

But we still have to do it. We still have to do the work now that the department's gone. We played a clip earlier of a young girl, I don't know if she's in college or high school, outside of the Department of Education,

protesting to keep the Department of Education because Trump is abandoning education or some such nonsense and I made the point ask that girl a math question not to be mean but like here she is saying we need to keep the Department of Education because education is so important all right what's 12 times 12 what's a square root what year do we fight the Revolutionary War who was it against like the most

how many states are there I saw a video the other day where they do one of the man on the streets and they asked a kid that's 18 years old, 17, how many states are there? And he got it right. And then they asked him, what is the capital of the country? And he got it right. And then they said, name two countries in Europe.

And he did it. And the people who were doing the interview and his friends were amazed well we got a genius here he knew how many states there were it's a genius these days this is the system we're defending if you ask that girl to do a math problem in her head

i guarantee you how she would react i know exactly how she would react. She would laugh and giggle. This is a tick that a lot of people use. I do too. Slater, what is a hundred times a thousand? Oh yeah I'm just I'm not good at math. You know I don't I don't know. They do like this nervous laugh to try to laugh it away, it's not funny. Our education standards are abysmally low. It is abysmal. And I'm no better. I'm a product of the public education system. Thomas Jefferson, I think of this often, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his nephew

about what books he should read and what he should study in his school. And he said, for the president, I advise you to begin a course of ancient history reading everything in the original and not in translations of course of course you got to read these in Latin and Greek 16 year old you got you got to read these in Latin and Greek first read Goldsmith's history of Greece this will give you a digested view on that field it's 300 pages do you know in school

today no kids have to read books there's no expectation that books need to be read and teachers I gave up on that forever go there like here's a little printout we printed out a chapter or here's a couple paragraphs of this book let's talk about it. Even then, it gets known to them. But like reading a whole book, that's this is just the beginning. Then take up ancient history in the detail. Reading the following books in the following

order. Herodotus, Thucydides, by the way following order. Yesterday we talked about the type of education system we used to have and one of the points was sequential. And here's Thomas Jefferson. Following order. Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophontus Hellenica, Xenophontus Anabasis, Quintus Curtius, Justin. I don't know I've never heard a half of this shall I don't know I'm pronouncing them right. This shall form the first, I was just trying to be confident. This shall form the first stage of your historical reading and it's

all I need to mention to you now. So finish those and then get back to me. The next will be Roman history. From that we'll come down to modern history. In Greek and Latin poetry you will read Virgil, Terence, Horace, Anachron, Theocritus, Homer. Read also Milton's Paradise Lost, Ocean, Pope's works, Swift's works in order to form your style in your own language. In morality read Epictetus, Xenophontus memorabilia, Plato's Socratic dialogues, Cicero's philosophies. That

That used to be the standard. People focus on the fact that 70% of kids can't read grade level. That's bad. But this used to be the standard for everyone else. This is, this is, so think of even the kids who can read, hooray!

What are they reading?

What are we expecting out of them? It's really like the visual is something like a couple hundred years ago our kids could deadlift 400 pounds or 800 pounds and now they can't be expected to bend over and pick up a pencil off the ground.

It's too heavy.

Can't do it.

We expect so little and it's really sad

That's enough education Actually, not what I wanted to talk about. So yesterday right before Donald Trump signed the executive order ending the Department of Education he signed a proclamation honoring the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry give me liberty or give me death that speech took place this Sunday 250 years ago. Let me read this proclamation.

Patrick Henry rose to the pulpit of St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, to speak these immortal words that remain etched upon every heart. I hope they do. We need to re-etch them. If they're not, give me liberty or give me death. By the way, make sure your kids know this story. Share the story with them today. Some members cautioned against such decisive action,

insisting that peaceful reconciliation was still possible. But as Henry listened, he grew more impatient. A Baptist minister who observed the proceedings later recalled that he had an unearthly fire burning in his eye. An unearthly fire! Overcome with righteous indignation, Henry rose from his seat with no notes in hand, boldly beseeching his fellow Virginians, if we wish to be free, we must fight. At a moment when America's fate hung in the balance, Henry's words sparked daring action in the souls of patriots, fortified the cause of

freedom and set America on the path to ultimate triumph over forces of tyranny and oppression. By a narrow margin. I love that part of the story. If it were a movie, made up movie, it would be everyone jumps to their feet, throws their wigs in the air and votes for independence or in this case for a militia. But no, it was still a narrow margin.

The second Virginia Convention passed the resolution to form a militia, the first critical step to independence. Thomas Jefferson said, it is not now easy to say what we should have done without Patrick Henry. He was before us all in maintaining the spirit of the revolution. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the nation's independence on the 4th of July, 2026, we look to Patrick Henry, a son of the frontier, the first and sixth, the governor of Virginia, an unflinching advocate for American independence and a true man of his moment.

Today we invoke his courage, we honor his legacy, and we fearlessly summon the spirit of 1776 to build a future that we will be proud to impart to our children. Like Patrick Henry and the giants of American liberty who came before us, now is our time to ring that great bell of American freedom and to propel our nation into a new and radiant golden age. Beautiful. All right, remember Patrick Henry. I want to tell one more story. Whenever I think of Patrick Henry,

I always think of Nathan Hale. Nathan Hale was a soldier and a spy for the Continental Army in New York City, and he was captured by the British, and he was hung. He was a student at Yale at the time.

There's a statue of Nathan Hale on Yale's campus. It's a very humble, beautiful statue.

And he was a student at the time,

and he got a letter from a friend, and it said, was I in your condition? I think the more extensive service would be my choice. Right, meaning go join the military now, do more. Our holy religion, the honor of our God, a glorious country, and a happy constitution

is what we have to defend. The word constitution wasn't, it was a lowercase c. Let me look up the original dictionary. Constitution the state of being. So a happy state of being. This is why you have to fight.

You have to go fight because of our holy religion, the honor of God, a glorious country, and to be a man.

And he did.

He volunteered. George Washington asked him. Volunteered to go behind enemy lines and he was captured. And the British general officer who was in charge of hanging him wrote in his journal that Nathan Hale behaved with great composure and resolution. And he desired the spectators to be at all times prepared to meet death in whatever shape

it might appear. He said that Hale was calm and bore himself with great dignity in the consciousness of rectitude and high intentions. Rectitude. That's the word we're going to talk about more in a moment. Rectitude.

He asked for writing materials, which I furnished him. He wrote two letters, one to his mother and one to his brother officer. He was shortly after summoned to the gallows. But a few persons were around him, yet his characteristic dying words were remembered he said remember what he said I was a tour guide in college I had to work on thank you very much I know I was super cool in college so this is one of the stops on

the tour and I was always asked people what did he say it's written around the base of the statue but no one could see what did he say and most people said give me liberty or give me death. Most people thought it was Patrick Henry. Some people said, don't shoot till you see the whites of their eyes.

It's a great quote too. Great Revolutionary War quote. Colonel Prescott, love it. Not the one. What we're looking for is, I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

Wonderful line. It was inspired by the play Cato, which was super popular at the time. And the line in that play is, how beautiful is death when earned by virtue? Haven't we just been talking about it?

Isn't that amazing? I know it is true that when you talk about principles and you talk about important things, it all comes together. All week we've been talking about death and dying and how we should view it. And then here comes this quote about Nathan Hale and we were talking about Nathan Hale because we were talking about Patrick Henry. It all comes together.

How beautiful is death when earned by virtue. Who would not want to be that youth? What pity is it that we can die but once to serve our country? And I'll end the historical background with this. This is a poem that was written by one of Nathan Hale's friends. I'll start halfway through. these I wish to draw my breath," he bravely cried, or dare encounter death.

And when a cruel wretch pronounced his doom, he replied, "'Tis well, for all is peace to come."

I love that.

Don't worry, I'm going to die. Don't worry.

I'm going to heaven.

"'The sacred cause for which I drew my sword shall yet prevail, and peace shall be restored. I've served with zeal the land that gave me birth, fulfilled my course, and done my work on earth. Have ever aimed to tread that shining road that leads a mortal to the blessed God. I die resigned, and quit life's empty stage, for brighter worlds my every wish engage. And while my body slumbers in the dust, my soul shall join the assemblies of the just."

Jim in Virginia called in, and he quoted Patrick Henry. He said, I've read 26 Patrick Henry speeches. And he quoted this one.

Patrick Henry said,

Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings, give us that precious jewel and you may take everything else. And then at the end of the speech he said, Guard with jealous intention the public liberty, suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.

I made a point, a quick sidebar,

I made a point on the radio,

speaking back to my elitist days, that if Jim from Virginia, who sounds as yokel as they come on the radio, just a southern hee-haw yokel. By the way, I saw this video the other day of an episode of Hee-Haw called Rendercela.

If you haven't seen it, go look at Rendercela, it's great. But Jim is just as hee-haw as they come, a total country bumpkin in every way. And I just imagine him walking into a Yale University classroom and just how all those students would look at him and they would have no idea that Jim was smarter than all of them.

Wisdom certainly, no question about that. But even in knowledge, just straight knowledge. Because if nothing else, Jim read 26 Patrick Henry speeches. And most young people today don't even know who he is. But Jim mentioned, Jim actually didn't make the quote. Jim, he knew it so deeply he just spoke of it generally.

Like oh, you know, Patrick Henry spoke of liberty as a jewel. And actually went and found the quote. And in that speech that Patrick Henry gave, where he defined liberty as a jewel. He also said this, this was in 1788, so this is after the Revolution, he said, 23 years ago I was supposed a traitor to my country. I was then said to be the bane of sedition because I supported the rights of my country. I may be thought suspicious when I say our privileges and rights are in

danger, but sir, a number of the people of this country are weak enough to think that these are true. Should those accusations fall on me I am contented conscious rectitude is a powerful consolation so they are a hold on I've went have you ever heard the word rectitude maybe I've heard it before I've never thought about it I've used it rectitude what an amazing word and here it is coming up twice in the same day come on Patrick Henry ends that speech with when I thus profess myself

an advocate for the liberty of people I shall be told I'm a designing man like I'm ambitious that I am to be a great man that I'm that I am that I aim to be a demagogue and many similar illiberal insinuations will be thrown out but sir conscious rectitude outweighs those things with me so it's worth saying listen no matter what I'm saying here I'm gonna get criticized but it doesn't bother me. I know I'm right.

I know that what I'm standing for is righteous. I can be falsely accused of all sorts of things and all sorts of motivations by all sorts of people, but I know my motives are pure and I have a conscious rectitude.

Rectitude, what a great word.

Let's chat about it. Webster's Original Dictionary says, "'In morality, rightness of principle or practice. Uprightness of mind. Exact conformity to truth, or to the rules prescribed for moral conduct, either by divine or human laws.

I love this word. We've got to get this word back. Let's bring it back. We're all bringing it back. Rectitude. Rectitude of mind is the disposition to act in conformity to any known standard of right,

truth, or justice. Rectitude of conduct is the actual conformity to such standard. Perfect rectitude belongs only to the Supreme Being. The more nearly the rectitude of men approaches to the standard of the Divine Law, the more exalted and dignified is their character. Want of rectitude is not only sinful but debasing.

There is a sublimity in conscious rectitude, in comparison with which the treasures of earth are not worth naming." Wow that's so good. A sublimity, like a sublimeness, a sublime, a joy, a peace, that's a good one, a peace. There's a piece of sublimity and conscious rectitude that Patrick Henry spoke of. In comparison with which the treasures of earth are not worth naming. Don't even pretend that any other treasure possible could hold a candle at all to rectitude. It's great. I could not find the word rectitude in the Bible or any Bible translations,

but the closest of course is righteousness. Righteousness, moral uprightness, virtue, honor, goodness, integrity, honesty, principle, wholesomeness. I like this scripture from 1st Timothy 5. The Bible says, The aim of our charge is love, that issues from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith. This translation has, of a faith unfamed. If I may read here, and this is convicting, this is very convicting. This is a commentary from W.M. Statham from

mid-1800s. This is about the words here, a good conscience. He said, there may be a worldly conscience. He said, it's a wonderful interesting study this relation of society to sin for there are fashionable vices and respectable sins which are heinous in the sight of God but the conscience if informed by the world is at ease because the spirit of the age the world our current culture does not them. You can think of Pride Month or whatever. There's many many examples.

How important then is it to keep conscience enlightened not by the world but by the Word of God and invigorated by the Holy Ghost. How beautiful is this? Our conscience, our good conscience, our rectitude needs to be enlightened by the Word of God and defined by and invigorated by the Holy Spirit. Statham concludes, it is important to have the Bible in our heads,

but it is most important to have Christ enthroned in the tribunal of conscience within. Wonderful.

I'll end here. Getting rid of the Department of Education is a wonderful thing, been fighting for it for 20 years. But now the true revival begins. Now the true revolution begins. Now it's time to really change our systems. May I recommend the classical Christian model of education. It is a movement that is growing, not rapidly

enough, but it is growing more and more opening up across the country. If there's one near you, I could not recommend it higher because it's the ancient path. It's what's always been done. There's nothing new. There's no new funny business or new theories being explored. It's the way that we used to educate our children for a thousand years, right? It's a classical Christian model of education.

It is informed by God and invigorated by the Holy Spirit, as Statham said. It is about not only knowledge and wisdom, but rectitude. We all must bring back rectitude as a word in our families and our homes and hopefully a word in our nation.

A goal. Moral, rightness in principle and practice, uprightness of mind and exact conformity to truth. That is what we are all about.

Mike Slater dot Locals dot com is the website, transcript and commercial free over on the website Mike Slater dot Locals dot com. website Mike Slater dot Locals dot com.

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Hulk Hogan Was A Christian
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Of all the accolades and titles and fame and praise, Terry Bollea wants to first and foremost be known as a Christian.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. Hulk Hogan has passed away. Real name Terry Bollea. 71, heart attack, we're told. People know his wrestling persona, of course.

Jesse Kelly said, I'm not one of these everything was better back in my day people But I cannot properly describe how much different the 80s were than what we have today It was fun and happy and patriotic and ridiculous and over-the-top It was wonderful and Hulk Hogan was a big part of it and he put a picture of Hulk Hogan in there ring holding this huge American flag my wrestling childhood Was after Hulk Hogan that was more of the Rock era

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Public baptism. You have said the greatest moment of your life.

Yes, without a doubt.

Terry, what did that mean for you?

It broke down that fourth or fifth wall to tell people the truth about my Lord and Savior How you know you should look at things or how you should care for people and not judge people. It set me free It wasn't that perfect vessel that I should be or should have been. Once I was baptized

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would have a harder time than most trying to figure out who they really are, because he was having to live a dual life always. In this interview he says he knew, because he's a good man, so he wanted to give people what they wanted.

So he knew that people wanted the persona, they wanted Hulk. So he'd be walking down the street and the mailman would say, hey Hulk. And he wouldn't be like, hey Jim. He'd say, oh, what's up Hulk, what's up brother?

Like he'd do the thing, because that's what people wanted. But you do that your whole life and it'd be really easy to not know who you are anymore. But after becoming a Christian, he knew what his proper identity was.

Well, the moment I come home, the headband comes off the bald head. And you know, it's just Terry. Dad, father, husband, friend. I have no wrestling pictures in my house. I have no wrestling belts. Just Terry. The problem is the moment I leave the house, the moment I walk out the front door, the world doesn't want Terry.

I can't imagine the ego that would be built up over the decades of being Hulk Hogan, right? That'll mess you up. You go on Madison Square Garden, you have tens of thousands of people cheering for you. That'll really mess you up. So he was all out of whack, but once he became a Christian,

he knew what his true identity was, and he knew what he brought to the table compared to his creator.

So what Terry brings to the table is a meat suit, you know, a meat suit filled with the spirit of Christ, and it's a testing ground for me. I accepted Christ as my savior when I was 14, but I derailed. It wasn't my life. He has given me the opportunity to prove that I'm faithful,

and I'll never make those same mistakes again.

I never heard this story from, about Hulk before, about Terry. It's about his dad and it ties in so perfectly because we seek approval. We're looking for our proper identity and when it's not in Christ we're so lost we don't know what to do. That's why I was lost but then I was found. But also we seek approval and one of the people we seek approval from the most of course is our earthly father and

Terry never got that and that could cause a lot of trauma a lot of wounds and Really hurt Terry until this happened. This is his answer to the question. What's your most memorable moment as a wrestler?

It didn't have anything to do with being in the ring It had to do with after the match at Madison Square Garden, January 23rd, 1984, where I wrestled the Iron Sheik for the WWF title. Iran had 444 American hostages, and they were keeping our Americans in.

The Iron Sheik, he was the actual bodyguard for the Shah of Iran. He was the real deal, and the fans knew it. And I was the all-american character Hulk Hogan. That night I flew my parents up and and you know my dad and I didn't see eye to eye because I was going to University of South Florida here in Tampa and I was majoring in finance and

management. But when I left college and didn't become an accountant or whatever that degree would lead me to, there was a huge divide as far as communication with my dad and I. You know, so it kind of was a void. And so that night after Madison Square Garden, you know, my dad goes, man, you know,

Terry, I'm very proud of you. You made the right decision. I love you so much, I'm so sorry that I tried to make you do something you didn't wanna do. So that was the greatest night for me, for my dad to say that to me. Because I really didn't know if I was right or not,

it's just I was doing what I love doing. And to me that felt right, but then to have my dad confirm it, but I had to be the main event at Madison Square Garden to get him to break. But that was probably the greatest part of my wrestling career to have that moment with him because I really valued what he thought about me.

A lot of people when they're first becoming a Christian are trying to figure out who God is. And that is very much informed by their earthly father. For better or worse, often for worse. But your heavenly father will never let you down. Your heavenly father is absolutely perfect in every way. Where earthly fathers will surely let their children down, your heavenly father never will. I'm reading John Steinbeck's East of Eden right now.

And I just read this last night. It says here when a child first catches adult out, when it first walks into his grave little head, that adults do not have divine intelligence, that their judgments are not always wise. They're thinking true. Their sentence is just.

His world falls into panic, desolation. The gods are fallen and all safety gone. And there's one sure thing about the fall of gods. They do not fall a little. They crash and shatter or sink deeply into green muck. It's a tedious job to build them up again.

They never quite shine. And the child's world is never quite whole again. It's an aching kind of growing. We realize our father is not God. But how wonderful to know that God is God. All powerful, all knowing, and loves you.

All Christians need to go through this process of finding their true identity in Jesus. Galatians 2 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I

get sick and tired of myself. You know, The two people in my head, the ego and the real I am, I mean, I just surrendered. I just said, I can't do it anymore. And I went back to the Bible and I started reading again. And I'm either all the way in or all the way out with whatever I do.

So if you're with me, there's no guesswork. If I'm with my Lord and Savior, I'm all the way in.

What message do you now convey at this stage of your life?

It's a spiritual war in this fallen world. To turn to the truth, seek him and you shall find. To step outside their comfort zone and accept Christ, knowing that he would heal the land and heal this nation and heal the people. It just seems like such an easy choice for everyone. If you'll just surrender, accept him as your savior.

A lot of people are going to be reminiscing and talking about the legacy of Hulk Hogan, but I think Hulk Hogan would want his legacy to be as one of a Christian

and a slave of Christ. I just read this poem yesterday. It's by St. George Tucker.

It's probably written late 1700s. Let me see here. St. George Tucker, born in 1757, died 1827. So we're gonna go late 1800s or late 1700s. Ready for this poem? George Tucker, born in 1757, died 1827. So we're gonna go late 1800s or late 1700s. Ready for this poem? Just read it yesterday. Gosh, this is true for all of us,

but I just think Hulk Hogan, because of his so much strength, right? In what he was doing as a wrestler, and then we all die. It's called Days of My Youth. It says, days of my youth, ye have glided away.

Hairs of my youth, ye are frosted and gray. Eyes of my youth, your keen sight is no more. Cheeks of my youth, ye are furrowed all over. Strength of my youth, all your vigor is gone. Thoughts of my youth, your gay visions are flown. All those good times, strong, vigorous, our youth, it vigor is gone thoughts of my youth your gay visions are flown." All those good times strong vigorous our youth it's all gone her eyes are her

hair, her cheeks, strength all gone right? Days of my youth I wish not your recall hairs of my youth I'm content ye should fall. Eyes of my youth, you much evil have seen. Cheeks of my youth bathed in tears have you been. Thoughts of my youth, you've led me astray. Strength of my youth, why lament your decay?" So this first stanza, it's like, oh, I'm so sad. I hate that my strength and vigor has gone away. Oh, my youth, I hate that it's gone. And the first stanza, it's like, oh, I'm so sad. I hate that my strength and vigor has gone away. I, oh, my youth.

I hate that it's gone. And the second stanza is, oh, but there was so much pain, actually. There's so many days that I don't even want to think about again. So many tears, so many thoughts that I've had that have sent me in a bad direction. I've seen so much evil in my life. And it ends with this stanza, days of my age. All right, so now here we are, older, reflecting on right now. Days of my age, ye will shortly be past. Pains of my age, yet a while ye can last.

Joys of my age, in true wisdom delight. Eyes of my age, be religion your light. Thoughts of my age, dread ye not the cold sod. Means being buried. Don't dread dying. Hopes of my age be fixed on your God. Can I do this last part real quick?

Eyes of my age be religion, your light. Thoughts of my age dread ye not the cold side. Hopes of my age be fixed on your God. Let's take it from Hulk Hogan that the most important thing in life is being a Christian. Mike Slater dot locals dot com for the transcript and no commercials Mike

 

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You've Already Won
Politics By Faith, July 22, 2205

Christian Scottie Scheffler won the British Open last weekend. What Nike did with his win could be a sign of the cultural shift we need in America. But Scottie's boldness led the way.

 

I got back this last weekend from a three hour drive with the family and loved it. It was great. I like car trips because we're all together. I came across this clip recently from this TV show called the middle. I've never heard of the show, never seen the show, am not endorsing the show, I know nothing about it.
But I came across this one scene where the mom and dad, I'm guessing they have older kids who are out of the house now or on the way out, and the dad's reminiscing.
You know when I was happiest? I mean really happy? When I was driving everybody. When they were small, I'd be driving, didn't matter where. It was just me at the wheel and you next to me, those three idiots in the back.
I knew everything was okay. I was driving. And I had it.
I had everybody.
We have a nine hour drive coming up in a couple months with the whole family. Can't wait for it. We spent the night at my house my wife grew up in and we love doing that because it's like 1200 square feet and we all camp out in the living room, big slumber party in the living room. Johnny and I sleep in the lazy boy reclined all the way back.
They've never seen a lazy boy before, I guess. So they're like, what is this? So that's just as good as it gets. Did you see the newest Nike ad? I saw it and I thought it was fake. I didn't confirm that it was true.
And indeed is true. So Scottie Scheffler, he won the British Open in golf and after he won, him and all the big wigs are on the final green and up waddles in the scene his one year old son and then he trips on the little hill, the sloped green, falls down, oh the whole crowd.
Dad goes over and gets him and it was a nice little moment. So Nike took that moment as inspiration and they made a new Nike ad and it's a picture of Scottie kneeling down with his putter in front of him and the baby is crawling towards him reaching out for the club and the ad says in the Nike font it says says, you've already won. This could be a data point of a massive cultural shift that's happening in our country.
And I pray that we keep having in our country. Every Monday on Sirius XM show, we have gratitude Monday. People call in the first segment of the show and say what they're grateful for. And guy called in yesterday said he was excited because he's getting married soon it's awesome and and I asked him first are there no oil the old ball and
chain or none of that none of those jokes because it's a beautiful thing and marriage needs to be celebrated and I asked him why why get married why not just yeah keep shacking up Are you just doing it for tax purposes? What's the reason? He said, Oh no, we're doing it so we can help each other get to heaven. He was getting off the night shift at a chemical plant in Louisiana. The answer he had to that question had more wisdom to it than anyone at Ivy League school or wherever.
So Scotty Scheffler, when he won, he said, the first person I look for is my wife. She's always the first person I want to celebrate with. So just a lot of loving your family. A lot of celebrating families. That's a good thing.
I saw this video, I saw like 10 seconds of this video and what I heard, I was like, oh, that's Ecclesiastes. I didn't know he's a Christian or not, but sure enough, his Instagram handle says Christ follower pro golfer. So he has his priorities, right? Oh, one last thing about Nike ads.
This cultural shift, like people have been posting like old Nike ads, actually old, like 2020, 2021 Nike ads where our culture was really leaning hard into ugliness and it'd be like an obese black woman grinding and be like, get on the floor. Nike. I like what, gross. And here's Scotty Shuffler, him, his baby, you already won, you're like, oh yeah, like that's clearly the direction we need to be going in as a country.
So here is Shuffler, this is before he won. This is a couple of days before in the press conference. It's a few minutes long, but it's worth it all.
You know, I think it's kind of funny. I think, you know, I think I said something after the Byron this year about like, it feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling. And I like to win the Byron Nelson championship at home.
I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf, to have an opportunity to win that tournament. And you win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sisters there, it's such an amazing moment. And then it's like, okay, now what are we gonna eat for dinner, you know? Life goes on.
Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf yet? I mean, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about because it's literally worked my entire life to become good at this sport and to have that kind of sense of accomplishment I think is a pretty cool feeling.
You know, to get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, it's like I'm not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I'm not here to inspire somebody else to be the best player in the world, because what's the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It's fulfilling from a sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.
There's a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and then you get there and all of a sudden, you get to number one in the world, and then they're like, what's the point? And I really do believe that, because what is the point? You're like, why do I wanna win this tournament so bad?
That's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. It's like, showing up at the Masters every year, it's like, why do I wanna win this golf tournament so badly. Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don't know. Because if I win, it's gonna be awesome for about two minutes. And then we're gonna get to the next week and it's gonna be like,
hey, you won two majors this year, how important is it for you to win the FedExCup playoffs? And it's just like, we're back here again, you know? So we really do, we work so hard for such little moments And I'm kind of a sicko. I love putting in the work. I love being able to practice. I love getting out to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just
don't understand the point. Because I don't know if I'm making any sense or not. But am I not? It's just one of those deals. I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It's one of the greatest joys of my life,
but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not. I mean, I love playing golf. I love being able to compete. I love living out my dreams. I love being a father.
I love being able to take care of my son. I love being able to provide for my family out here playing golf. And every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. And when I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. It's just, that's why I talk about family as being my priority,
because it really is. I'm blessed to be able to come out here and play golf. But if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or with my son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living. This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life.
And that's why I wrestle with why is this so important to me because I would much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that's what's more important to me.
But I think that's why I asked the question,
what is losing like for you?
It sucks.
I hate it.
I really do. But that's part of the competition. That is, and I think that's why we try to work so hard to not lose, but golf's a game where you just lose a lot more often than you win. I mean, that's just a simple part of it.
You know, in basketball or football, when there's only two guys out there, you can win a lot more than you lose. But I think I was looking at stats. It was one of the best tennis players. It might've been Federer or Djokovic or somebody.
They only won like 48% of their points or something like that. I mean, playing professional sports is a really weird thing to do. Like, it really is, just because we put in so much effort, we work so hard for something that's so fleeting. I mean, it really is. Like, the feeling of winning just doesn't last that long. You know, when I sit back at the end of the year and, you know,
I kind of try to reflect on things, like having that sense of accomplishment from winning the Masters Tournament, from winning the PGA Championship. I have a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for it, but it's just hard to explain how it doesn't, it just doesn't satisfy, is how I would describe it. It's an unsatisfying venture. And so I guess what I'm trying to say is this is not the place to look for your satisfaction.
This is something that's where you can have a great appreciation for and a great amount of thankfulness for being able to do this. And it's, I mean, like I said, it's literally one of the most fun things that I can do in my entire life.
I love being able to come out here and play golf and compete. But at the end of the day, it's just not what satisfies me. I'm right here, Jamie, where are you?
You're right there. You could sit there and you could sit that chair if you want. Or you want to come in daddy's lap. He says, I want to go in daddy's lap. Jamie, good timing, by the way, but okay. You could sit right there.
Uh, here is a bit of a more explicit explanation of what does satisfy him.
I would say that, I mean, in the simplest of terms, we have a Creator. You know, God created the earth and he sent his Son to save us. I mean, the Lord covered our sins on the cross and victory was secured over death. We will live forever with Christ when we eventually pass on from this earth and Jesus saved us. He died and saved us from our sins. It's really just as simple as that.
So the victory is secure whether or not I win a golf tournament or never be able to play golf again. You know, my identity and victory secure, know that I'm going to spend eternity with Jesus.
You want me to go downstairs?
Okay.
Jamie, can I just make one last point here?
Okay.
Let me take one last point here. Someone posted on this video.
Hello.
So I'm posting on the video, uh, a quote, if you're not good enough without the gold medal, you're never going to be good enough with it. That is from John Candy in the film, Cool Runnings. It's not fulfilling, of course, none of this stuff is fulfilling because what we are all searching for is eternal meaning
and these earthly things will never give that eternal meaning. The only identity that you can have for eternity is in Christ. And I'll leave you with this because Jamie says, I need to go downstairs.
Second Corinthians 5.17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is passed away. Behold, the new has come. Mike Slater dot locals dot com transcript commercial free on the website,
Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Jamie, come here, say hi. He's playing with the printer. Come here. Come say hi, you wonderful boy. Say hi to everybody.

 

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We Don't Want To Live Forever
Politics By Faith, July 21, 2025

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about heaven. With the recent tragedies—devastating floods in Texas, the passing of John MacArthur, and loved ones of friends reaching the end of their lives—it’s only natural to reflect on what comes next. In the midst of it all, I found a poem from the early 1800s that brought me peace and perspective about death. In this episode, I share that poem and explore why we’re not meant to live forever.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. I've been talking a lot about heaven lately and how awesome it's going to be. So I'll start it with the disaster in Texas, the tragedy in Texas. There's been a few people in my life who have another friend or family member who have passed away, all old age, and just the last couple of weeks here, old age where it's a relief for them

and everyone involved, and a celebration. John MacArthur passing away the other day, we're doing a TV special on him this week, so just heaven dying in heaven has been on my mind a lot lately.

I read a poem the other day

and I have nowhere else to put it. I have to tell people this poem. And I, I don't know, I don't want to spend, I kind of pushed the limits on what we do on SiriusXM as it is kind of outside of politics. So I don't know if I can just sit here and read a poem, maybe a little much, but I just want to put it here and I could put some politics into it.

I could also save it until we have another tragedy, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since I first read it and I just want to share it here because it is written by William Augustus Mullenberg. Should I give a little background to this first? So I bought this book, it was published in 1896 or something. It's called An American Anthology, and it's just poems.

It's thick, it's huge, it's like 1,000 pages, it's just a poem. So every day I've just been opening it up to a different one and this one is early in the book by a guy I've never heard of, William Augustus Mullenberg. He was born in 1796 in Philadelphia,

founder of St. Luke's Hospital in New York City, all according to Wikipedia. He's known as the father of church schools in America. The poem is called, I Would Not Live All Way. Let me read these first two lines and then I'll tell you what I did to make it make sense.

I would not live all way, live all way below. Oh no, I'll not linger when bidden to go. The days of our pilgrimage granted us here are enough for life's woes, full enough for its cheer. I had no idea what that meant. I would not live all way?

What does that mean? It means I don't want to live forever. So it's an old timey way of saying, I don't want to live forever. I don't want to live for always. I don't want to live all way.

No, no. I will not stay here when I'm called to go. The days of our pilgrimage granted us here are enough for life's woes, full enough for its cheer? Would I shrink from the path which the prophets of God, apostles and martyrs so joyfully trod? Like a spirit unblessed over the earth, would I roam while brethren and friends are all hastening home?

What am I?

I'm not going to go to heaven when I'm called to go to heaven. Are you kidding me? I'm just going to roam around here on earth forever? When everyone else is going home? Going home to heaven? No way, I'm out of here.

I would not live all way. I ask not to stay. Where storm after storm rises dark over the way. We're seeking for rest, we but hover around Like the patriarch's bird, and no resting is found. Where hope, when she paints her gay bow in the air,

Leaves its brilliance to fade in the night of despair, And joy's fleeting angel never sheds a glad ray, Save the beam of the plumage that bears him away. I would not live all way, thus fettered by sin, temptation without, and corruption within. Man, it's so good.

I don't wanna be here forever, held down by sin, temptation everywhere around me, corruption everywhere within me. In a moment of strength, if I ever sever the chain, scarce the victory is mine before I'm captive again. Oh, it's so good.

If I'm ever strong enough in a moment where I'm not held by sin, scarce the victory is mine before I'm captive again. Oh, I could fight against this sin for just a moment, but the victory is mine for just an instant before I'm captive again. Oh, I could fight against this sin for just a moment. But the victory is mine for just an instant before I'm captive to sin again.

Even the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears and the cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears. The festival trump calls for jubilant songs, but my spirit her own misery prolongs. I would not live all way. No, welcome the tomb.

Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom. Why would you be afraid of dying? Where he deigned to sleep, I'll too bow my head, all peaceful to slumber on that hallowed bed. Then the glorious daybreak to follow that night, the orient gleam of the angels of light, with their clarion call for the sleepers to rise and chant forth their

matins away to the skies, singing, Who, who would live all way, away from his God? That's the best thing about heaven, see? Who would live all the way away from his God, away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, where the rivers of pleasure flow over the bright plains and the noontide of glory eternally reigns? Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, their Savior and brethren transported to greet, while the songs of salvation exultingly roll,

and the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul. Man, that makes me wanna go there so bad. That heavenly music, this is the last stanza, that heavenly music, what is it I hear? The notes of the harpers ring sweet in mine ear. And see, soft unfolding, those portals of gold, the king all arrayed in his beauty behold.

O give me, O give me the wings of a dove, to adore him, be near him, enwrapped with his love. I but wait for the summons. I list for the word. Hallelujah. Amen. Evermore with the Lord." Come on. How good is that? It's like, I don't want to live here forever. You know, there's that tech guy, that billionaire guy who's doing everything he can to try to live forever, eating just the precise amount of every particular food.

And he's monitoring every single aspect of his body that he possibly, he's worshiping the body. I mean, this is all ancient pagan stuff. Worshiping the self, worshiping the body. And here's someone with a proper perspective. It's like, no, I don't wanna be here.

This life, it's got enough woes. I'm ready to go to heaven. There's one way to get there. Acts 4.11, there is salvation in no one else besides Jesus. And there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

There's only one way. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, came down in the flesh to die for your sins, was killed on the cross and then resurrected on the third day. If you believe that, congratulations, that's it.

The five solas. Sola is alone. Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, scripture alone, glory to God alone. And you will know that you are doing those things when this poem speaks to you in a powerful way, because this poem is the opposite of what this

world of what the world is trying to tell you. The world wants you to live for this world, for the moment, and this is all there is and all that matters. When the Bible tells you this is but a fleeting moment, eternity is what we need to set our eyes on. Mike Slater.locals.com,

transcript commercial free on the website. Again, the poem, if you want to read it yourself or share it or have it William Augustus Mullenberg, M-U-H-L-E-N-B-E-R-G William Augustus Mullenberg, I would not live all way. Mullenberg, I would not live all way. Mike Slater dot locals.com.

 

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