MikeSlater
Politics • Spirituality/Belief • Culture
Bombing Iran and The East Room Address
Politics By Faith, June 23, 2025
June 23, 2025

There was a seemingly awkward, but also powerful, moment during Trump's address to the nation the night our military bombed Iranian nuclear sites. Hopefully, it's a sign of more to come.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thank you for being here. What a weekend it was with what happened in Iran. I think we're all up on what happened on Sirius XM show. We made many points, but the one that I'd just like to echo here is the incredible precision of the entire operation. 125 different aircraft. We talked to a former Air Force Brigadier General who talked about, he used to ride or fly the tankers, these huge giant refueling gas stations in the air.

And he talked about how during this operation, these tankers had to take off and meet at a precise location in the air over the ocean without radio, no radio communication because that could be intercepted. So no radio communication meeting

at a precise specific location to refuel the B-2 bombers over an 18 hour flight. By the way, once you get reconnected, miraculously, so you gotta meet at the right place, then connect, fly for 45 minutes, takes 45 minutes to refuel. It's an 18 hour trip, there, 18 hours there,

then 18 hours back, are you kidding me? He said you have to refuel about three or four times each direction. And all of that has to work perfectly. And if it doesn't, then the whole operation is at risk. And there's countless things like that that had to work.

Thousands of people, and all had to be kept quiet. There were no leaks in the Department of Defense. But all this had to be secret and kept quiet to the thousands of people who are aware of what was happening, right? People in the military who are part of it, just incredible. Just absolutely remarkable in every way.

And we did a lot and we'll do more tomorrow on speak softly, carry a big stick, peace through strength. I made the argument that I think Trump reveled this opportunity to use the big stick in a way with limited risk because of what Israel's done to take out Iran's air defenses

and also Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, which surround Israel, soften the target. So easy in, relatively, easier in. And also an opportunity for Trump to show what we're still capable of. Trump can't make threats

and never follow through on them, right? Trump can't say, oh, you have 90 days or else, or 60 days, or two weeks, or else, or else, or else. Eventually there has to be an or else. And this was a safe, pretty universally agreed upon, appropriate or else. Take out Iran's nuclear capabilities. As you saw

there were no, no one came to Iran's defense. Maybe sort of Russia but not even really. So this seems to be an overall win. So far we're still pretty early. As I'm recording this now, there was just a bunch of missiles that were fired from Iran to Qatar.

New York Times initially reported that Qatar was given advanced warning of these missiles that were coming from Iran. And Qatar's Iran's friend, they're friendly with each other. And this is all in an effort to attack our base in Qatar they didn't so what

was this this is a way to save face Iran had to do something for their people to show that they're they're fighting back it seems so far to be very similar what they did after President Trump ordered the attack on Soleimani who was the head of Iran's, one of their aspects of their military, the IRGC. And Soleimani was a big time military general guy and he stepped foot in Iraq and we've been wanting to take him out for a long time and Trump made the call and killed him. Well, Iran had to do something to back, right? Here's Trump talking

about that in 2020. I had Iran in check. Do you know, we hit them very hard for something that they did and they had to hit back. They feel they have to do that. And I understand that. Do you know, they called me to tell me we're going to hit a certain location, but we're not going to hit it. It's going to be outside of the parameters. Iran called me. Iran called me, called for me. And they let us know. And we had 16 missiles went off.

I believe it was 16. Six or seven failed in the air.

When was this?

This was prior to the attack on a fort that we had where they hit back. Do you remember when they sent 18 missiles or 16 missiles? Five failed. They let us know, don't move. We're going to have to hit you back. Psychologically, we have to do that because we hit them on something. You remember, they sent 16 or 18

missiles and we knew they weren't going to hit inside the fort. And the media was going, and now I reveal it, the media was going wild because they say it's strange. They're very accurate missiles. How come they all missed? Nobody was killed. If you remember with all of those missiles, nobody was killed. Now they had to do it because they have people and they have to show strength. So they aimed the missiles, but they said, please don't attack us. We're not going to hit you. That was respect. We had respect.

That seems to be the same thing that Iran did today in response to what we did to them on Saturday. I have a simple point that I'd like to make today, a biblical point in this podcast, Politics by Faith, where we thump the Bible. This is the last line of Trump's address to the nation in the East Wing or East Room of the White House. Did you see it live? It was Saturday night, 10 p.m. Eastern. And we heard before then that Trump was gonna give an address to the nation.

My first thought was it was gonna be an Oval Office address but it was in the East Room. And their symbolism to the East Room, this is for big events, big occurrences, it has a vibe more of a momentous thing just happened. It's still ongoing enough that I have to stay standing

and I'm just coming here quick to tell y'all that this happened. So you know that it's legit, it's for real, but I gotta go get back to work. It's a different vibe than the Oval Office address, which is more of a fireside chat,

kind of longer term thing that may be occurring, but it's a long term game. Anyway, East Room Address, but something I've never seen before in an East Room Address. Real quick, W gave one of these when we captured Saddam Hussein,

Obama gave one when we killed Bin Laden, right? So it's of that caliber of thing. But I've never seen a president come out flanked by any other people. And President Trump, and I would love to know who came up with this idea, obviously Trump approved it,

but who came up with the idea in the first place? Trump came out with, from our left to right, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Pete Hexeth. Vice President, Secretary of State, Defense Secretary, never seen that before. Wonderful show of strength, I approve, I think it's great. And then Trump gave us just a few minute address and he ended with this.

And I wanna just thank everybody and in particular, God, I wanna just say we love you God and we love our great military, protect them. God bless the Middle East, God bless we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel and God bless America.

Thank you very much.

I want to thank God. A friend of mine at church made this point to me in the hallway when we were walking in together. Donald Trump there, that was a bit awkward and it made me think of when I first became a Christian. And I went a while without praying out loud around people. I was very nervous.

Didn't know what to say, how to say it. And my friends and my men's group challenged me, like, do it now. So I go, oh, okay. And it comes out a little, little awkward. That's what that was.

Powerful still, the fact that the President of the United States would end his speech like that never heard that either. But all the more beautiful with three believers standing behind

him.

This is the point that my friend made, that the three behind him aren't just a wonderful vice president, secretary of state, and defense secretary. And by the way, if there's any question about Pete Hexeth being up for the job as a Fox News host and now he's running the Pentagon,

that should be put to red bed forever. Marco Rubio's been crushing it like I've never seen a cabinet member crush it and JD Vance is fantastic. So he's behind wonderfully skilled and capable people at their jobs but he's also standing next to three very strong believers and that's powerful and should be noted. Thought of three scriptures on this point. Matthew 5, 16, this is popular scripture in American history. This is the shining city on a

hill scripture, right? You're the light of the world. A city that's set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your, and here's the line that we don't often quote, let your light, so your light, your light, so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. I believe these three men, it seems likely,

I don't know, I've never been there around their meetings, but it seems likely that these three men are letting a light shine before everyone else around them and people are seeing good works and thereby glorifying Father in heaven, our Father in heaven. Charles Spurgeon said, Christ never contemplated the production of secret Christians, Christians whose virtues would never be displayed. Pilgrims who

would travel to heaven by night and never be seen by their fellow pilgrims or anyone else. Now let your light shine. You are the light of the world. Also Titus 2.7, in everything, in all things, show yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned. That no one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." You're such a man of integrity, what can anyone even, they can't even make up a lie about you.

Everyone knows it's not true. You're setting an example by doing what is good in all things. Last one, 2 Timothy 4, take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you." Who are the people who are around you? Who are you around where you are integrity and preaching the gospel? I'm not and we've done episode or two on this before that I do

not agree with the expression like what is it's it's like preach the gospel to those around you and if necessary if necessary use words like no no like use your words it is your integrity your actions and you're preaching the gospel who is around you where you can do those things and be a part of God's plan to save souls. Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Transcript commercial free on the website.

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

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Affair At Coldplay Concert
Politics By Faith, July 18, 2025

 Have you seen the video of the CEO and HR Chief having an affair at the Coldplay concert? It's something to see sin, which they thought was in the darkness, exposed to the light so quickly. May this be a lesson for everyone: God is greater than a kiss cam.

Welcome to Politics by Faith, thank you for being here. Have you seen the video going around of what happened at the Coldplay concert? So someone was taking a video from somewhere in the stadium in Boston while the Kiss Cam was going around. Because it was a Kiss Cam. So the camera at the concert was going around and putting it on the big screen, people in

the audience. And the band was commenting on it and the camera focuses on a happy couple and the man is in the back they're both standing and the man is in the back and he's holding this woman in his arms they're both facing the stage and they're looking around they're having a grand time laughing big smiles euphoria euphoria and then when they both at the exact same time realize that they're on the big screen,

she covers her face and turns around and the man falls down to the ground.

Oh, look at these two.

All right, come on, you're okay.

Uh-oh, what?

Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy.

He was right on the first one. It was an affair. Now, very embarrassing, pretty funny seeing him get caught. But, if I may, I haven't heard anyone talk about their families. Now I don't know their situations exactly, but they were apparently both married. Oh, by the way, that's the CEO of a company,

some like tech startup company. That's the CEO and apparently that's the HR director. Apparently they were both married. I haven't heard anyone talk about the pain, as we laugh, but the pain that's being felt by their spouses.

And we have kids as well, and I don't know, again, the exact details, but that's all really sad. Now here is the apology that was written by the CEO. Listen to this. He said, I want to by the CEO. Listen to this. He said, I want to acknowledge the moment. This is so passive and not repentant.

I want to acknowledge the moment that's been circulating online and the disappointment it's caused. What was supposed to be a night of music and joy. No, it was supposed to be a night of you cheating on your wife. Was turned into a deeply personal mistake. Nope. The mistake happened way, way, way before the concert playing

out on a very public stage. It's the kiss cams fault. I want to sincerely apologize to my wife, my family, and the team at the company works for you deserve better for me as a partner, a father, and a leader, this is not who I want to be or how I want to represent the company. Again, he's really conflating the company and his family as one.

I'm taking time to reflect, to take accountability, and to figure out the next steps personally and professionally. I ask for privacy as I navigate that process. I also want to express how troubling it is that what should have been a private moment became public without my consent. Oh, no more kiss cams for anyone now?

Private moment. It wasn't a private moment. You were literally in public with someone who's not your wife. It was definitely not a private moment. And without your consent, when you you buy those tickets there's fine print on the back of those tickets that says you can be on you can be photographed i respect artists and

entertainers but i hope we can all think more deeply about the impact of turning someone else's life into a spectacle doesn't no one the camera guy didn't know you were cheating on your wife he's like oh there's a happy couple. Let's all like, right. As a friend once sang, lights will guide you home and ignite your bones and I will try to fix you. He quoted Coldplay in the,

like the lamest lyrics ever too. All right, so that's pathetic. I wanna give a moment to their spouses and kids. I Don't care about these two people's embarrassment they deserve the shame But I also want to steal a point from Daryl Harrison He wrote notice how happy they are in their sin because it's like three seconds before they realize they're on the camera

Notice how happy they are in their sin all it's like three seconds before they realize they're on the camera. Notice how happy they are in their sin, all smiles and hugs until they realize their sin has been exposed. They knew inherently that they were wrong. No one needed to tell them their own conscience having already convicted them. Hence why they instinctively and immediately attempted to hide themselves in shame. He's quoting Romans 2 15 in the front end there. Romans 2 15 says, they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day. When according to

my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, our conscience, it's written on our hearts. It's fascinating how we have a conscience and those two knew that what they were doing was wrong and sinful. Well, who are you to say they were saying, look how they reacted. They knew it was wrong.

We all do when it's exposed. I'll give an example from the other day, my shame. My patience is low with the kids. It was near the end of the day. And I spoke rudely, quickly, rudely to I think Jack and as soon as I did, you know, I was like, I don't know, Jack, it's inside somewhere, man.

You know, something like that. And as soon as I said it, I turned around and my neighbor was right next door, like three feet away from me, gardening at their house. Super embarrassing. And I should have acted like other people were watching, but that's not even it. I should have acted like God is always watching because he is, but we think we can hide.

Adam and Eve in the garden, of course, it's how ridiculous when they sinned and they first experienced shame, they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden. You can't hide from God. Achan, a famous one, right? He took some plunder from a victory and then hid it in his tent thinking he could get away

with it. God sees everything. And God would have seen their adultery their affair even if there was no kiss scam. You see how belief in God can kind of keep people in line too? We've lost that in our culture. That's why this guy blames the kiss scam not himself. John 3 19 Jesus says and this is the judgment the light has come

into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. These people loved the darkness. They loved the darkness of inside that stadium, away from their family, away from their spouses and kids. They thought it was a dark place,

but then the light shone on them. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. This is all in the Bible. Luke 12, 2 says, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not

be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light and what you've whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. What are you hiding? Stop trying to hide. It's exhausting.

And it doesn't work anyway. This one's maybe the most on the nose. This is Job 24. The murderer rises before his light. The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, no eye will see me.

Let's wait for the Coldilight saying no I will see me

let's wait for the Coldplay concert no one will see us there earlier in the chapter it says those there are those who rebel against the light who are not acquainted with its ways and do not stay in its paths. It's our job to not rebel against the light you can't win. Stay in its path. Don't write anything you wouldn't publish on Facebook for everyone to see. Don't do anything you wouldn't want your neighbors and friends to see that you wouldn't shout from the rooftops.

But more importantly, again, than other people and their shame, God is omniscient. No sin is hidden from him. I could end on that note, which is true, but I just want to add a note of good news too, although I think that's all good as well, but no sin is too great. That Jesus's death did not pay the price for it. Colossians 2 13 says, and you who were dead in your trespasses, God made alive together

with him. You were dead. Now you're made alive together with him. Having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. The Greek word here for all means each, every, any, the whole, everything, all things.

Jesus has you covered. But you have to repent first and bring it all to the light. Mike Slater dot locals dot com. I could end with a Coldplay line right here, but that would be lame. Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Transcript commercial free on the website.

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

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Our Founders Knew The Truth
Politics By Faith, July 167, 2025

I came across a speech from a friend to our founding fathers. If we had a kernel of this truth and wisdom, we never would have gotten so lost. But, to be found, we just need to get back to this truth.

I'm from Politics by Faith, thanks for being here. I'll tell the story of why I'm sharing this today here. I love learning about our founding fathers. I love learning about our founding grandfathers. Because we have to be connected to who they were and why they built this country. We need to get that connection to our past back.

It'll help us with our lives today and making better decisions for our future. We need to have a connection to our heritage. So I bought this book called an American Anthology. It's a real thick book of poems. Books like a hundred years old. And I opened it up and I came across a section of poems written by Timothy Dwight.

I only know the name Timothy Dwight because a dorm building at Yale is named Timothy Dwight. There's some, there's like 10 dorm buildings or something. And I went four years at this place, and no one ever asked who any of these people were. The dorm building I was in, they call them residential colleges,

was Jonathan Edwards College. I wasn't a Christian then. I had no idea that Jonathan Edwards, who he was, I had no idea who he was. I had no idea he was the greatest theologian ever in American history.

No clue.

How pathetic. in American history? No clue. How pathetic. So Timothy Dwight, never even thought to question who this guy was. And I came across in this poetry book. So I looked him up. He was a poet. He was also the eighth president of Yale. He gave the valedictorian address on July 25th, 1776. The 25th of July, so a couple of weeks after we declared independence, quite a momentous time in our history. So I just want to go over the speech and if nothing else, if nothing else, and there are

other things, but if nothing else, it's encouraging and undeniable that we were a Christian country and we were founded as a Christian country. Stunningly obvious, perfectly obvious, and anyone who says otherwise just has not read any of our founding documents. So it starts off with this valedictorian address talking about how beautiful this country is, how blessed we are with natural

resources, the best climate in the world, the best soil. It's everything's so good. Things just grow on its own, plentiful and excellent in every way. He says, our plants and flowers for health and pleasure appear to have been scattered by the same benevolent hand, which called forth the luxuriance of Eden. And this is great. All these beautiful things he says are showered in profusion

on this, the favorite land of heaven. All these biblical references always put into our founding fathers and grandfathers writings. He goes on, he talks about how we have the best lakes, the best rivers for navigation and trade. This is actually a really big deal.

We overlooked this, how important our rivers are, navigable rivers. Thomas Sowell makes the argument that the reason why Africa is so backwards and always has been so backwards is they don't have any navigable rivers. So you can't travel far. You can't connect with people. You can't trade. And that's why there's so many languages in Africa because everyone remains so isolated because there's so many languages in Africa, because everyone remains so isolated because there's so much, so many waterfalls. So you can't go far until there's a big giant waterfall. So you can't travel very far, but we have navigable rivers in America. And then he goes

on after talking about the beauty, he talks about how our founding culture sets us up for success. He talks about Mexico and how they're under control of Spain. He said, if we may believe their own historians, they are, this country are peopled with as vicious, luxurious, mean-spirited and contemptible a race of beings as any that ever blackened the pages of infamy.

Generally descended from the refuse of mankind, situated in a hot, wealthy and plentiful country and educated from their infancy under the most shocking of all governments, the tyranny of servants invested with unlimited power and sent to make their own fortunes by squeezing their subjects." We've always been better than Mexico is what I get out of that. We also have great unity here. He said, I proceed then to observe that this

continent is inhabited by a people who have the same religion, the same manners, the same interests, the same language, and the same essential forms and principles of civil government. This is an event which since the building of Babel till the present time the Sun never saw. That a vast continent containing near 3,000 millions of acres of valuable land should be inhabited by a people in all respects one, isn't that amazing? In all respects one,

is indeed a novelty on earth. Differences in religion always produce persecutions of bloodshed. Differences of manners, as we are naturally and fondly attached to our own, cannot but occasion coldness, contempt, and ill will. Contending interests ever exist with disputes and end in war. Without sameness in language,

it could be impossible to preserve that easiness of communication, that facility and dispatch in the management of business, which the extensive concerns of a great empire indispensably require." Here he is in 1776 talking about how we are all

united, we share one culture, and because of that he says we will thrive like no other nation has in world history. But, but, but we're told and we've been told my entire life that multiculturalism was our strength. Here we have Timothy Dwight at the very beginning of our country just a couple weeks old. Since independence we declared independence. Saying our unity, our sameness is what makes us strong. And now we're told no it's Somalia that makes us strong. But here's the part of the speech that I wanted to share that

makes it relevant to politics by faith. He says allow me to proceed one step further from every deduction of reason as well as from innumerable declarations of inspired truth. We have the best foundation to believe that this continent will be the principal seat of that new, that peculiar kingdom, which shall be given to the saints of the most high. We're going to be a Christian nation. He said that kingdom was also to be the last, the greatest, the happiest of all dominions. To these characters, no other country where it's the least appearance of agreement.

No other country in the world has ever been closer to biblical truth than ours. He said, this is emphatically that uttermost part of the earth. Like we, we're that people whose songs and happiness so often inspired Isaiah with raptures. This with peculiar propriety is that wilderness which shall rejoice and blossom as a rose and to which shall be given the glory of Lebanon, the

excellency of Carmel and Sharon. Here shall a king reign in righteousness, whose kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and whose dominion shall not be destroyed." The king is Jesus, the King of kings. That's who he's talking about here. So the biblical reference here is Isaiah 35. Let me read the whole thing. Let me start at verse 1. The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with

joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. What's happening in Isaiah 34 and 35 is it's a contrast between divine judgment and chapters 34 are quite striking and then 35, what I just read there, is the restoration. So Isaiah 34 is God's judgment against the nations. Isaiah 35 is the restoration. And what Timothy Dwight is talking about is how America is, is with our

righteousness is closer to Isaiah 35 than any nation has ever been before. With a transformation of the land. That's what he starts off with. How beautiful and amazing our land is with the rejoicing of our people, with the holiness of our people and with the strength. And again, ultimately here, restoration for our actions ought all to be inspired and directed

by a comprehensive regard to the scene of glory which is hastening to a completion with a rapidity suited to its importance." He's saying the coming of Christ is near. Jesus is coming back and everything we do, he says, has to be inspired by that truth. All right, let me back it up here. I had a lot of different... God was working a lot of different ways to save me. A lot of different people and places and things happened.

One of them was moving to Tennessee and I met a lot of people there. And I was on the radio and I was learning a lot about America for really the first time. My first radio show. We did a lot with our founding fathers. And I kept reading what these really smart guys were writing about. And I was like, man they're writing a lot about the Bible. I need to know more about this thing. I didn't know more about the Bible. Our

founding fathers so deeply profoundly believed. I mean here's the president of Yale University in 1776 just a a couple weeks after we declared our independence, talking about the king of kings, referencing Isaiah 34 and 35 casually, and everyone in the audience knew exactly what he was talking about.

Talking about how everything we do has to be inspired by the truth that Jesus is coming back. Just think where we would be as a country today if we kept even even a remnant of this just the smallest little kernel of this in our country. I'll end with one more point. This is how he ends his valedictorian address. He talks about lawyers and doctors and different

professions and he ends with pastors. But I just want to charge all of us with this. When you remember that you live amongst the most free, enlightened, and virtuous people on earth, when you remember that your labors may contribute to the hastening of that glorious period when the nations shall be spiritually born in a day, with what seal? With what diligence? With what transport must you be inspired? What pains will you spare to clear yourselves from ridiculous and disagreeable

defects? And to accomplish yourselves in learning and eloquence? With what fervor will you check the career of iniquity, break the dreams of sloth. Stop being so lazy. Pour balm into the wounded spirit and increase the angelic raptures of piety. Be these your views, these your motives, this the scope of all your wishes. Proceed with alacrity to execute the exalted design. Alacrity if I remember is clarity.

Oh no, brisk, cheerful readiness. What a great word. What a great word. Where was this? Proceed with alacrity, with cheerfulness, to execute the exalted design.

Spare no labor, no prayer, to furnish yourselves with every human and every divine accomplishment. Leave nothing undone which ought to be done. Do nothing which ought to be done. Do nothing which ought to be omitted. Let the transitory vanities, the visionary enjoyments of time, fleet by you unnoticed. Don't mess, don't get distracted. Point all your

views to the elevated scenes of an immortal existence. Set your sights on things above and remember that this life is but the dawn of your being. Oh, it's just a little glimmer, just a little split second. Encounter troubles with magnanimity. Enjoy prosperity with moderation. Exert every faculty, employ every moment to advance the glory of your maker and the sum

of human happiness. With such citizens, with such clergy, with such a laity as is above described in prospect, we can scarce forbear to address the enraptured hymn of Isaiah to our country and sing, arise, shine, for thy light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Nations shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy

rising." That's Isaiah 60. That's how he ends it right there. That's his final word Isaiah 61. This is when light came out of the darkness and God tells us to arise and shine. There is no earthly light. All the light comes from God and all the glory goes to the Lord. And our founding fathers knew it. And if we want to save this country, then we got to know it too. And if we want to save this country, then we got to know it too.

MikeSlater.Locals.com. Transcript is free on the website. MikeSlater.Locals.com.

 

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John MacArthur: Be Bold. Preach The Truth
Politics By Faith, July 15, 2025

Pastor John MacArthur passed away at the age of 86. There is much to learn from the life of John, but one biblical truth stands out.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here.

We're talking about heaven lately. I've been thinking a lot about heaven lately. It started with the Texas flooding last week. So I've just been thinking about it a lot. Heaven sounds awesome. Going to hell sounds terrible.

But going to heaven sounds amazing. Start off with that because John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, passed away yesterday. He was 86. We, of course, everyone, you listening here, we can all have discrements on theology and a couple of issues here and there, but what I most admire about pastor MacArthur was his and there. But what I most admire about Pastor MacArthur

was his boldness. He never let the world get to him in his life or his preaching. He got up and spoke boldly and presented the gospel and dedicated his life to saving souls and speaking the truth, God's word.

Grace to you, which is like a ministry wrote, our hearts are heavy yet rejoicing as we share the news that our beloved pastor and teacher John MacArthur has entered into the presence of the savior. This evening, his faith became sight. He faithfully endured until his race was run. I mean, like that that's perfect. I love that. I love thinking of it that way, the biblical way. And then they said 2 Timothy 4, 1 through 8. I feel like we should read it. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,

and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. Remember we did a segment once on exhort. It's a funny word. Exhort means to encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise, to incite by words or advice, to animate or urge by arguments to a good deed or to a laudable conduct or course of action. Acts 27, 22 says, I exhort you to be of good cheer.

All right, back to second activity. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of the evangelist,

fulfill your ministry. For I am ready, being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I've kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award on me reward to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his

appearing." How great is that paragraph? Also John MacArthur should be remembered as a preacher, a leader of a church who stood up for the church during COVID in Los Angeles of all places and refused to shut down, never shut down. If I remember the story correctly, people stayed away for like a week or two and then he never told anyone to stay away,

and people just kept showing up to the actual church building, and he never turned anyone away because you can't turn people away from church, and they got sued by the county, and then they won the lawsuit that the church did,

or they settled, I think they won, and the county had to pay their legal fees, which is a great example testimony of stand up for the truth. So many people were cowards throughout that time. And oh no, the county is coming.

MacArthur's like, whatever. God told me that we have to have church on Sunday. So we're having church on Sunday. That's the end of that question. Bigger picture outside of COVID too, there's also something about being in LA,

his church, the cultural center of America, usually for worse these days, but to have a church in the belly of the beast is important. It allowed him to go on Larry King Live. He was on a panel with a young Gavin Newsom decades ago, and just to speak the truth on national TV

and still never watered down anything. One sermon that stood out to me that I think is very relevant to today is he gave a sermon on the LA riots, May 3rd, 1992. And the reason I want to share this part of the sermon is because I was thinking of what I learned the most from John MacArthur. I mentioned speaking boldly. He opened my eyes to a lot of the problems with the

mega churches today about how it's all about fun and not the gospel. But if I had to pick one theological concept that I learned most from him, it is sin. So this sermon was about the LA riots in 92. He says, what I want to talk about today. So he talks about about the LA riots in 92. He says what I want to talk about today, so he talks about all these things that he could talk about. So in the midst of these riots in LA he's like oh we could talk about this, we could talk about poverty, we could talk about crime, we could talk about police, we

could talk about all these different things. But he says what I want to talk about today is the root of all these problems. And it's a very simple word with three letters called sin. And that's the perspective that I think is most needed for us. Perhaps the most devastating description of humanity is given in Romans chapter 3. And I want you to open your Bible to Romans 3 and I want to read you God's own description of man. There are people who continue to tell us that man is basically good. This

person who deep down inside is noble and honorable. And that of course is the absolute opposite of the truth. In Romans chapter three, verse 10, we read concerning man, a series of quotes out of the old Testament that Paul puts together here. They run like this, speaking of man and humanity in general, there is none righteous, not even one. I share this because this is the most important theological thing that I learned from John MacArthur.

There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There's not even one.

Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. Their poison of asps or snakes is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." I wish we could just lay that on the desk of every psychologist. That is the clearest, most

concise, and direct description of man given in the Bible. Man is corrupt. Man is depraved. His heart, said the Prophet Jeremiah, is deceitful and desperately wicked. Isaiah said that the best that he has is filthy rags. There's something deep within man that is so corrupt and so wicked and so wretchful, so evil, so brutal, so devastating that if left unchecked or if given an opportunity to express itself it will bring about devastation.

The problem in our city is not lack of jobs. The problem in our city is not lack of opportunity or lack of education. The problem in our city is not lack of opportunity or lack of education. The problem in our city is not too much possessions, materialism. These are only symptoms of a problem. The problem in our city is the problem of the wretchedness of the human heart. And nobody escapes that. It knows no race, it knows no color, it knows no location.

It is pervasive. Sin is the degenerative and damning power in the human stream that pollutes every man and every woman and every woman in every part of life. This is why it's so important, this is me talking now, this is why it is so important

that we reintroduce the Bible and biblical truth to the world and to our society and culture because things go wrong in our world today and everyone's frantically looking for answers. Why did this school shooting happen? Why did this terrible thing happen?

Why did that bad thing happen? What is this? What is the blah, blah, blah, blah, sin. They have no answers. No one has any answers. And then when they kind of come up with something,

they're like, let's pass a bill. It's like, no, you're missing it entirely. So I Henry David Thoreau said there are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to everyone who strikes the root. The Bible strikes the root. We look today at the problems in the world. Like, oh, it's caused by poverty or the school to prison pipeline,

or, you know, this policy. No, no, it's sin. Now there are two God ordained institutions to deal with the sin of the human heart. You have the family. The family is here to raise children properly. And then the government, which is there to protect people and punish crime.

And then the church exists to work as well on a social level, but the church is here to be a part of changing hearts, like the real problem. If the problem is the human heart, well, how do we fix the human heart? God told the story, you can drive all through LA, all different parts, rich parts,

the poorest parts, doesn't matter. And there's churches all over that have little or no impact in the community. And why do they have little or no impact in the community? Because they're not helping transform people's hearts. He said, my grief is for the lost people

who have no hope of changing their insides any more than the leopard can change its spots. And my grief is for the churches that have prostituted themselves away from a saving message to some other kind of social orientation that can't do anything in the long run. I wanted to share that point here because that for

me and people listen to John MacArthur for a while I went to his church and everyone's was church of course but I'm sure there's other he moved other people in other ways but for me that's the legacy of John MacArthur that early in my Christian walk he made it very clear, the Bible, what the Bible says about sin and depravity, the depth of depravity. How man is like snake venom, sores, oozing, pus and gangrene and dogs vomit and scum and filthiness of a boiling pot and the fallen man is a maggot that feeds

on filth and dead bodies and David said that he was a worm. It's all in there, but no one wants to make it clear because it's not nice. Who wants to hear that? I just said the word pus and vomit and menstrual cloth. I think I even skipped over that one because I didn't even like here I am talking about boldness and I didn't even want to mention Isaiah 322.

Jonathan Edwards says, they are they people are like a filthy worm that never feeds so sweetly as when feeding on a carcass, or never has its nature so suited as when crawling in the most abominable filth. Do you have a pretty clear picture on sin? No, we don't, we're not even close.

We're still not even close. These are just words. These are just words. We need to truly, deeply know how fallen we are. No modern ear wants to hear it. And even if you made it 11 minutes into this podcast,

I'm grateful you have. Even we don't want to fully accept it. And here I've been talking for 11 minutes and I don't even fully believe it to the way that it needs to be believed. But this is all good.

We need to hear this. Because if we don't hear it, I think this is one of the biggest lies of the devil. If we don't need this, if we don't hear it, and if we don't think we need to be saved, then we won't need a savior.

But if you know how deeply depraved you are, then you realize you need a savior. I'm lost. I need saving. I need a savior. I have a savior. Thank you, Jesus. My humble ode to John MacArthur. Be bold in preaching the truth. Mike Slater dot Locals dot com. Mike Slater dot Locals dot com.

 

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