A listener brought up this wonderful scene of accountability from George Bailey. Also, how can we "Take heed" and not be choked out by the "cares of the world" in this busy season?

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. You hear Jack playing the piano? Probably just singing his Christmas carols, playing his Christmas songs on the piano. I don't want to tell him to stop. Anytime he's playing the piano, I'm like, knock off that racket. 

I want to thank Daniel for calling in today and for giving a shout out to the podcast. Daniel, it was worth playing your phone call again here for the podcast audience. I love the movie. It's a wonderful life. Talk about it all the time on the radio. And Daniel wanted to comment on one of the scenes. 

Here it is. Oh, I should say this was a part of our gratitude Monday segment where people call in and say things they're grateful for. And we had a gentleman call in just before Daniel here whose father had the fifth stroke just the other day. And his mom has Alzheimer's and they're both in the hospital, but the whole family, his whole family's back. And they've had moments, distraction -free, where they've been able to just be together. And even in the midst of this horrible time, they're able to have these moments of joy. 

And it was a really beautiful phone call. And then we went to Daniel. 

Hey, Slater, I'm doing great. Boy, that's a tough call. tough one to follow. We're just thinking of Mark and everything he's going through, so say a little prayer for him if you're listening. But then again, this might be actually something perfect to follow up with this. So you were talking last week about It's a Wonderful Life, the movie, and you talked about that on your Politics by Faith podcast. 

I'm very thankful for that. for that movie. Oh, I only watched it on Christmas Eve. I know you said you watched it a couple of times before. I only watched it on Christmas Eve. I only watched the black and white version. 

So I'm old school like that. But you mentioned all these examples in the movie about George, George Bailey, and he's a good man taking a stand against things like trying to destroy his town, and he's just doing the right thing. And all the examples through Georges, and like I said, you brought up a couple of examples. And you said the best line, and it is a great line, by Big Brother George, the richest man in town. When you started playing that, I was blowing leaves this weekend, and you started playing that, and I knew I was going to tear up, and sure enough, I do. 

I always do. Watched it for 30 years, and I still do that. But the most interesting line to me, I wanted to find out, see if you thought this was interesting, because it's insightful. It actually kind of tells you who George is, and just in a way that, you know, Mark's sharing his story about his parents told us who he is. It's when George has lost the $8 ,000, or Uncle Billy lost the $8 ,000, and he's sitting there with Potter, desperate, at the end of his rope, and Potter's sort of toying with him, and Potter says, George, and I looked up the script just so I could get it right, so he says, George, could it possibly be there's a slight discrepancy in the books? And George, again, at the end of his rope says, no, sir, there's nothing wrong with the books. 

I've just misplaced $8 ,000. I can't find it anywhere. And George Potter looks up and says, you misplaced $8 ,000 because he knew Uncle Billy misplaced it because Uncle Billy misplaced that $8 ,000 with Potter there in the bank. But George takes the blame. George says it was me. And it shows you what kind of a man he is in the movie. 

all the sacrifices you mentioned, you know, the way he took care of his mother, the way he, you know, gave back to the town, the way he didn't leave, the way he showed grace to everybody. And there and there, that best of desperation Christmas Eve. I've always thought it was interesting how Potter looks up and sort of, and he says it quietly, says, you misplaced $8 ,000. In other words, it really hit him that George has taken the blame, and he knows it's not George's fault. And he sees a little glimpse, like it hits him how good of a man George is. 

And I've often wondered, had there been a sequel to It's a Wonderful Life where you got to look ahead past, you know, you know, to my big brother George versus Man of the Town, everything saved, happy ending. I always wonder what Potter, how he was affected by that, or if he was, or like, how did that change him? Did that impact him? And so I just I'm very thankful for that movie because it shows you what kind of an impact we can all make just by doing those little, those little things the right way. And when no one's looking, like Mark's doing with his parents. And just very thankful for that, thankful for the movie and your observations and these times on Monday where we all get to share that. 

Here is the scene in question. I'm in trouble, Mr. Potter. I need help. Through some sort of an accident, my company shortened their accounts. The bank examiner got there today. I've got to raise $8 ,000 immediately. 

Oh, that's what the reporters wanted to talk to you about. The reporters? 

Yes, they called me up from your building and loan. Oh, there's a man over there from the DA's office, too. 

He's looking for you. 

Please help me, Mr. Boyd. 

Won't you please? Can't you see what it means to my family? I'll pay any sort of a bonus on the loan, any interest. If you still want the building and loan, I'm... 

George, could it possibly be there's a slight discrepancy in the books? 

No, sir, there's nothing wrong with the books. I've just misplaced $8 ,000. I can't find it anywhere. 

a wonderful scene, Daniel. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. I was reading this morning, Luke 21. Maybe we can make this both fit together. Jesus is telling people about the last days and he ends with, therefore, this is how you should live. This is Luke 21, 34. 

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life. and that day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. " So many words we could focus on here. I always love when there's something like take heed. 

It's always a good word to focus on, but I want to focus instead, maybe this ties into the Christmas season as well, the cares of this life. Same word as Matthew, about the parable of the sower. As for those for the seeds that were sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. Choke the word and it proves unfruitful. Same in 1 Peter 5, 7. Cast all your anxieties, there it is on him, for God cares for you. 

He cares for you. The Greek word here means to draw in different directions, to pull apart. Isn't that an amazing word for anxiety, for cares, for worries, to be pulled apart. That's what anxiety is, right? You're pulled in all these different directions. There's another connotation to the old English word meant to strangle. 

So pulled apart, you're strangled, but that's what worry does to our life. It strangles us. The cares of the world, they strangle us. Let me quote the American hero. Dictionary. It's Middle Eastern descendant, Wurian, keeps this sense and developed the new sense of to grasp by the throat with the teeth and lacerate or to kill or injure by biting and shaking. 

That's what worry meant. It's what it meant to be worried. This is the way wolves or dogs might attack sheep, for example. In the 16th century, worry began to be used in the sense to harass. as by rough treatment or attack. It is, worry is an attack from the devil. 

To assault verbally. In the 17th century, the word took on the sense of to bother, distress, or persecute. And it was a small step from this sense to the main modern sense, to cause, to feel anxious or distressed, and to feel troubled or uneasy. First recorded in the 19th century. George lived an upright life. He served others. 

Found an amazing woman, by the way. We had another caller later in the show. Turned out to be That radio show's turning a bit into the, uh, it's a wonderful life show, but that's okay. Someone called in and said, Hey, Mary deserves a lot more love. It was her idea to spend the $2 ,000 from their honeymoon to save the bank during the bank run. It was her idea. 

She only, she not only didn't complain about George choosing the bank over their honeymoon, it was her idea to spend the money to save the bank. And then she went off and put together a little bit of honeymoon in that old rundown house. It was her idea to spend that money to save the bank. And it was her idea, while George was about to jump off a bridge, to go and get the whole town together to help her husband get that $8 ,000 back. Mary's the star of the show. In these busy Christmas days, take heat. 

Don't worry. Watch and pray that every day you are counted worthy. Stand before the Son of Man and go watch It's a Wonderful Life. Mike Slater dot locals and read your Bible. Mike Slater dot locals dot com for the transcript and commercial free. Mike Slater dot locals. .com.

Even if you've seen it 100 times or if you've only seen bits and pieces, watch all of It's A Wonderful Life this weekend. And don't wait until Christmas to watch it. Let it inform your entire Christmas season starting now.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. This is my annual reminder to watch It's a Wonderful Life, the movie. Go watch it right now, this weekend. Don't wait till Christmas. You don't have to watch it on Christmas Eve. 

I feel like you miss it. You miss the whole month. You should watch it now so it informs the whole month of Christmas, not after Christmas. And then you forget about it by the new year. I watched it last year for the very first time. It's my favorite movie. 

Now, if you asked me two years ago, have I ever seen It's a Wonderful Life? I would have said, yeah, like twice. Most of it, probably, I've seen bits and pieces, so yeah, I get the gist of it. Belle, Angel Wings, I get it, yeah. That was two years ago. Last year was the first year my wife and I sat down and watched the whole thing. 

I loved every second of it. So we just watched it again the other day with the kids this time, and it's amazing. The whole movie is perfect. Now, if you're gonna watch it with your kids, a warning, there's a lot of drinking in it, and there's a couple sexually inappropriate kind of things, but it's like 1940, so it's okay. There's a scene where Violet is wearing a dress and all the men are oogling. And they say, nice dress. 

And she says, oh, this old thing, I only wear it when I don't care how I look. And then she walks away. She's like, all right, like we can handle this. Whatever Frank Capra in 1946 thought was risque, I think we can handle in the twenty twenty five. So don't let that stop you. Interesting. 

It's a wonderful life fact when it came out in nineteen forty. So actually, let me go back. It started with this guy wrote the story and he tried to pitch it to the thirties and he tried to pitch to a bunch of magazines and they wouldn't take it. So he sent it out to friends in a Christmas card. And somehow it made it to Frank Capra. Frank Capra loved the story. 

They bought it, made the movie, flopped, lost $500 ,000. The reason it became a Christmas classic is because in 1974, the production company made some clerical mistake or something, and the movie ended up in the public domain. They lost the copyright to it. So the TV stations could air it without paying any royalties. So they just played it over and over and over again. 

It's just to fill time. And that's how it became a tradition. That's how people saw it and loved it. And now they keep playing it, right? Isn't that amazing? The total fluke that we even know it exists. 

The author of the original, say, book, it's not even a book. I bought the book. It's by Philip Van Doren Stern. He wrote this, uh, he wrote the Christmas card. So I bought it and it's all right. It's like, fine. 

There's a couple points that he makes that are in the movie, but the movie is way better. I've never said that before. I mean, usually it's the book that's way better, right? In this case, the movies are way better, but he just sent out this Christmas card to friends and family and somehow it made it away. It's unbelievable. I love everything about the movie. 

Next time I watch it, hopefully this weekend again, I want to write down more of my favorite parts and favorite lines. I love how it starts off with people praying for George, the story of sacrifice. George wants to do all these things. He wants to travel the world. He wants to go hit it big. He wants to go on a honeymoon with his wife and he always sacrifices for other people. 

And his wife serves him in that last point of sacrifice. Love, love that story. Love that storyline. This is the best line in the movie. Think right here. 

Right in the middle of it. Soon as I got Mary's telegram, good idea, Ernie, a toast to my big brother, George, the richest man in town. 

Come on. There's so many great lines. I love that relationship between the brothers throughout the movie as well. That line always does it to me. One line came up during the show the other day. Why did it come up? 

Oh, darn it. Why did it come up? It was the line where George crashes his car into a tree and the owner of the house comes out. Do you remember what he says? The owner of the house? He said, my great grandpa planted that tree. 

Took a nick out of the tree. This part's actually in the Christmas card. My great -grandpa planted that tree. That amazing, that incredible connection to the land, to the town, to his home, that still this guy's living in the same house where his great -grandpa planted the tree in the front yard. Doesn't that speak to something so beautiful? Of course, the story of good man taking a heroic stand against forces trying to destroy the town. 

The last two times I've seen it, that theme always stands out to me, this beauty and importance of a town, a story of community where everyone knows everyone. Everyone knows Bert the policeman, Ernie the taxi driver, Sesame Street said, that's just a coincidence. I don't know how that could possibly be. How could that be a coincidence? The movie came first, by the way, and Sesame Street came after. You're going to call the two main characters Bert and Ernie and not be a reference to, and the good guys win and the good guys win with the help of the people. 

It's all the great things. On my SiriusXM show, I'll go into more detail about the town and the importance of towns. But this is a religious, I shouldn't say religious. I don't like saying religious because religious is like, Oh, we allow all the great faiths of history to be... No, it's a great... body. 

So let me bring in some scripture here because all good stories have a Christian roots in them. The one scene when Potter, the evil Potter, thinks he finally can beat George Bailey. Well, he realized he can't beat him, so he's going to join him or really get George to join him. So he's going to offer him a huge paycheck. Also, there's one line when George, when Potter is talking to Bailey, he says, oh, Bailey, you only make this much a month. And after you pay to provide for your mother, you only end up with this much for your wife and kids. 

And I love that little note there because then when George Bailey goes back, you know, as if he never existed, he goes to his mom's house and his mom is running a boarding house and she looks terrible versus that lovely scene when mom is bright eyed and thriving. And she tells George to go, go find that girl. Go, go meet Mary, go see Mary. And they, they kiss each other. They love each other so deeply. But then when George doesn't exist, no one's there to take care of her. 

And it's just that one little line that informs us that he's in fact doing that. So he gets enamored with the money. George does. It's a lot about falls off his chair. He says, well, let me, let me give it a day to think it over. Talk it over with the wife. 

Oh, sure, sure, sure. 

Go talk it over with the missus. I'll work on the papers. You let me know tomorrow. I sure will. Mr. Potter holds out his hands. And the second they shake hands, second, George Bailey feels the coldness and he's about to do business with the devil. 

He wipes, wipes his hand, like wipes the grime. off of his hand on his coat. Can't believe I even... considered it for a second. And then he told him off. Reminded me of Psalm 52. 

Psalm 52 is David writing about a story that happened in 1 Samuel 21. The very short of that story is Doeg, who was Saul's chief herdsman, told King Saul that David visited some priests. And then Doeg falsely accused the priests of helping David against Saul. So Saul ordered the priests to be executed, and Doeg is the one who carried it out. Killed 85 priests, along with other women and children too, but 85 priests. So that's Doeg. 

And here's David talking about him. Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor working deceitfully as his potter as well. You love evil more than good. lying rather than speaking righteousness. 

You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy you forever. He shall take you away and pluck you out of your dwelling place and uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. Doeg, God took him out, right? Shall laugh at him saying, here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself. 

in his wickedness. That's Potter, isn't it? Strengthening himself in his wickedness, surrounding himself with as much wealth as he can possibly accumulate from the people. And then when he's in charge of the town, it becomes a den of gambling and prostitution and sin. But with George Bailey, salt and light, he brings a purity and a goodness to all around him and to his town. We are called to be these people. 

We are called to be George Bailey's. We are called, whatever business you work at, responsibilities you have, maybe business you own, I believe you're called to be Bailey building and loan as much as you can to your customers and to your employees. Well, I've been saying recently that as John Adams said, that our constitution was only made for a moral and religious people. I believe capitalism is only made for a moral and religious people too. We are called to be George Bailey. We're called to be and run our businesses like Bailey building and loan. 

And of course, more than George Bailey, we're called to be like Jesus. We talked today to the CEO of Trail Life USA. The Secretary of War has officially cut off the military from all connection with scouting America. It used to be called the Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts are no longer for boys. They've completely abandoned everything that made them amazing for 114 years. 

And they're a total disgrace. Trail Life USA has risen from the ashes. And it's a proudly Christian scouting organization. TrailLifeUSA . com. We talked to their CEO. 

He was wonderful. Talked to him this morning. The motto of Trail Life USA is walk worthy. That nice walk worthy. Where's that come from? Colossians 110. 

That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work. and increasing in the knowledge of God. May we dedicate ourselves this month, it's Christmas month and forever, but this Christmas month to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him. If Mr. Potter can give us a visual of what not to be, and if George Bailey can give us a little artistic visual of who to be more like, that's just great, as long as it's pointing us closer to Jesus. mikeslater . locals . 

com transcript commercial free on the website. Go watch the movie right now. Go go watch it. mikeslater .

Abraham Davenport was a member of the founding generation. When everyone around him thought Jesus was coming back, and I mean thought he was coming back that second, Davenport didn't change a thing. We should have a similar posture.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. I read 1 Peter 4 this morning, underlined a bunch. I was going to go over a bunch of different things here, but I can't really make it past this one sentence. 1 Peter 4, 7, but the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. 

That's the ESV. I almost always quote ESV, but I do want to give NASB here. The end of all things is near. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. sound judgment, sober spirit, serious prayers, watchful of your prayers. John Calvin said it ought to be the chief concern of the believer to fix his mind constantly on Christ's second advent, his second coming. 

We should be thinking, we should be fixing our minds constantly on the second coming of Jesus. This is Christmas, so it's all about the first coming. That's great, but the second coming is quite important as well. Remember, Joy to the World is actually about the second coming, it's not really a Christmas song. So I was doing some research on that sentence because that stuck out to me so much. In my research, I came across this poem about a particular day in New England. 

Let me quote here from the newspaper in 1780. It says here, the Northern states wrapped in a dense black atmosphere for 15 hours. Again, this is 1780, the day of judgment supposed to have come. Cessation of labor. People stopped working. Religious devotions resorted to. 

The herds retire to their stalls, the fowls to their roosts, and the birds sing their evening songs at noonday. clips there was, it was crazy. All the crickets came out. Science at loss to account for the mysterious phenomenon. One of nature's marvels. Redness of the sun and moon. 

Approach of a thick vapor. Loud pearls of thunder. Sudden and strange darkness. Alarm of the inhabitants. End of the world looked for. Dismay at the brute creation. 

An intensely deep gloom. This is the newspaper in 1780. Difficulty in attending to business. lights burning in the houses, vast extent of the occurrence, condition of the barometer, change in the color of objects, quick motion of the clouds, birds suffocate and die, the sun's disk seen in some places, oily deposits on the waters, impenetrable darkness at night, incidents and anecdotes, ignorant whims and conjectures, an unsolved mystery. " That was in 1780. So this poem was written by James Whittier about Abraham Davenport. Abraham Davenport was the grandson of the founder of the New Haven colony, and he was a state rep. And I just want to read through the poem here that can give us some insight into how we should be acting every day. In light of 1 Peter 4, 7, the end of all things is at hand. Here is the poem. In the old days, a custom laid aside with britches and cocked hats. It's like the founders, their tricorn hats. The people sent their wisest men to make the public laws. And so from a brown homestead, where the sound drinks the small tribute of the Mayanas, waved over the woods by ripawoms, so in Connecticut, and hallowed by pure lives and tranquil deaths, Stamford sent up to the councils of the state wisdom and grace in Abraham Davenport." It's the people put forward 

Davenport and all his wisdom and grace. "'Twas on the May day of the far old year 1780 that there fell over the bloom and sweet life of the spring, over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon, a horror of great darkness, like the night and day of which the Norrland sagas tell, the twilight of the gods." It's " It's a reference to Norse mythology, end of the world. It was bad out there. The low -hung sky was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs the crater sides from the red hell below, like a volcano. Birds ceased to sing and all the barnyard fowls roosted. The cattle at the pasture bars lowed and looked homeward. 

Bats on leathern wings flitted abroad. The sounds of labor died. So everyone stopped working. Men prayed. Women wept. All ears grew. 

Think about the state of people. where it goes dark for a while and everyone freaks out and starts praying and thinks it's the end of the world and that it's not the end of the world, second coming. I wanted to say like there's something like this that happened if people would think it was aliens or people's instinct would be like a nuclear attack or war or something like that. I wonder how many people would think second coming. That's what happened in 1780. Men prayed, women wept, all ears grew sharp to hear the doom blast of the trumpet shatter the black sky. 

That trumpet would be 1 Corinthians 15 -52, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. So people were waiting to hear that doom blast, that the dreadful face of Christ might look down from the rent clouds, not as he looked, a little guest at Bethany, but stern as justice and an exorable law. Meanwhile, in the old state house, dim as ghosts, sat the lawgivers of Connecticut, trembling beneath their legislative robes. The state reps are freaking out. 

They're dim as ghosts, right? It is the Lord's great day. Let us adjourn. It's second coming. We're done. 

Bang the gavel. 

Let's get out of here. Some said, And then, as if with one accord, all eyes were turned to Abraham Davenport. He rose, slow, cleaving with a steady voice the intolerable hush. Here's what he said. This well may be the day of judgment which the world awaits, but be it so or not, I only know my present duty and my Lord's command to occupy till he come. So at the post where he has set me in his providence, I choose for one. 

to meet him face to face. No faithless servant frightened from my task, but ready when the Lord of the harvest calls. And therefore, with all reverence, I would say, let God do his work and we will see to ours. Bring in the candles. And they brought them in. Then by the flaring lights, the speaker read, albeit with husky voice and shaking hands, an act to amend, an act to regulate the shad and all why fisheries. 

So just take a dumb bill about fish. Whereupon wisely and well spake Abraham Davenport straight to the question. With no figures of speech, save the ten Arab signals, yet not without the shrewd dry humor now. to the man. So it's just like logical, no -nonsense, right to the point, but also witty and thoughtful. His awestruck colleagues listening while, by the way, the world's coming to an end. 

His awestruck colleagues listening all the while between the pauses of his argument to hear the thunder of the wrath of God break from the hollow trumpet of the cloud. And there he stands in memory to this day, erect, self -poised, a rugged face, half seen against the background of unnatural dark, a witness to the ages as they pass that simple duty hath no place to fear. JFK would sometimes use this story, this poem, as in his campaigns. He would say, I hope in a dark and uncertain period of our own country that we too may bring candles to help light our country's way and not hide, not be afraid. But I love his argument. He says, God put me here to do this work. 

I'm going to keep doing it. When he's, if he's coming down, this is, I want him to see me doing this, what he put me here to do, which of course means if you're not doing what God is calling you to do, we better get doing it. The end of things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers and everything else. The sound judgment of first Peter four, seven, sound judgment, sober spirit, sound judgment is really interesting word. It means the Greek word here. 

It means saved mind. This word is used six times in the new Testament. Mark 5 15, I'll just give a couple. Mark 5 15, and they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon possessed, sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind. There it is. Luke 8 35, and the people went out to see what had happened. 

And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out. sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. If you're in your right mind, you would be at the feet of Jesus. Romans 12, for though the grace given to me, I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Sober judgment, a saved mind. It means you're sane, you're clear thinking, you have self -control. 

A self -control against earthly passions, earthly pleasures. William Barclay made a whole list of how Greeks, like ancient Greeks, used this word in a secular way. So Plato defined this word as the mastery over pleasure and desire. Aristotle said it's the power by which the pleasure of the body are used as law commands. Pythagoras said it is the foundation on which the soul rests. Euripides said that it is the fairest gift of God. 

This other Greek philosopher said it is the safeguard of the most excellent habits of life. So the idea is that someone with a sane mind is someone who knows and loves Jesus and therefore has serious prayers. You are serious about your prayers. You're watchful in your prayers. You have sound judgment and a sober spirit for the purpose of prayer and in doing what you're supposed to be doing all the time. And so Confident in that, that even when it looks like the world around you is coming to an end, when everyone else around you thinks the world is coming to an end, at this very moment, like it's pitch black outside in the middle of the day, the world's coming to an end, this is the second coming, even then, you'll say, well, I just need to keep doing what I'm doing. 

Let's be sane minded, save my life. Let's be doing what God would want us to be doing when he does come, because it's going to happen in a flash. Matthew 25, 27, as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the son of man. To drive it home one last time, if you're doing right now what you're not supposed to be doing, you better stop. The second coming could be right now. The end of all things is at hand. 

Mike Slater . locals . com for the transcript and commercial free. Mike Slater .