The Man in the Arena

[♪ music begins playing ♪ [♪ music continues playing ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ This is the day you have made so I'll rejoice and be glad rejoice and be glad in it ♪ This is where I believe that you are more than enough, more than enough for me You are faithful to your promise, you are strong when I am weak, when I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need The joy of the Lord, the joy of

the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is, and live His name, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength is my strength ♪ ♪ Jesus come one day You are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise You are faithful to your promise, you are strong when I am weak, when I'm standing in your presence I have everything I need The joy of the

Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is, and live His name, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength is my strength is my strength The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength is my strength So let it rise up like a river overflowing overflowing Holy Spirit Holy Spirit let it pour out with no limit overflowing

overflowing Holy Spirit let it rise let it rise up like a river like a river overflowing overflowing Holy Spirit let it pour out with no limit overflowing overflowing Holy Spirit Holy Spirit The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the The joy of the Lord is my strength Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name, all that is, and live His name, oh my soul bless His name all that is

and live His name Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is, and live His name, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength here. Let's do it. Jesus, thank you for coming to our church. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I love you. Thanks. I love you. Have a good day. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And I knew... I know how the story ends. We will be renewed again. You're my Savior, my demand. No more damned, no more condemned. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. We will be renewed again. I know how the story ends. You're my Savior, my demand. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. We will be renewed again. You're my Savior, my demand. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. No more fear in my heart yet. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. We're not fighting a battle. Too long, anyone. But no matter what comes my way.

I will overcome. I don't know what You're doing, but I know what You've done. I'm fighting the battle You've already won. I'm fighting the battle You've already won. God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam. God bless America, my home sweet home. God bless America, my home sweet home. I will overcome. Through Christ alone, I know His power. He is my life, my strength, my song. His form is gold, His solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are still, when strivings cease. I'm comforted by all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand. Through Christ alone, who took on flesh, who fought with God in helpless pain, who has lived a love and righteousness, destroyed by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross that Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin, one Him was made. Here in the land of Christ I live. With Him in the ground, His body laid, and by Him the world by darkness slain. With Him bursting forth, victorious came, the love from the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am His and He is mine, born with the precious blood. ♪ Of Christ ♪ On Christ the solid ♪ Bound I stand ♪ All others found ♪ In sinking sand ♪ All others found ♪ In sinking sand ♪ On Christ the solid ♪ Bound I stand ♪ All others found ♪ In sinking sand ♪ All others found

♪ In sinking sand ♪ No guilt in life ♪ No fear in death ♪ This is the power of Christ ♪ In gain ♪ From life's worst crime ♪ To final breath ♪ Jesus commands my destiny ♪ No power of hell ♪ No sleep of man ♪ Can ever guard me ♪ From His hand ♪ Till He returns ♪ Or calls me home ♪ Here in the power of Christ ♪ I'll stand Lord, we thank You that we can stand on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. And Lord, You have told us that everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them, he will be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house. And it did not fall because it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be compared to a foolish man. And the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house.

And it fell and great was its fall. Lord, we wanna build on the rock. We wanna stand on the rock. We want You to be glorified in our lives, in our church. Lord, use us as salt and light to make a difference in our world, in our nation, in our community for Jesus Christ. For we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. Men, you may be seated. Church, would you give a big first Baptist welcome to Todd Starnes? -♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ My goodness, amen. Praise God for that worship, amen. Wow, praise the Lord. Well, it is an honor to be here with you. And thank you, this is my second time here at First Baptist Texarkana. And I am always overwhelmed by that balcony. My goodness, that's a big one. May I just say, and you guys know this, but how blessed you are to have a pastor like Pastor Jeff and his sweet wife, Debbie. He is a man who stands in the arena and I respect that. And we need more pastors like Pastor Jeff around our great nation. So I drove in from Memphis, Tennessee, which is where my home is. I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee

and came down Interstate 30, right outside of Little Rock. I was a little weary and then all of a sudden I saw this amazing bright yellow orb in the sky. Many of you might think, oh, it was the setting sun. But as I got closer and closer, I realized there was something inside that yellow orb that looked to be like a beaver. And I had no idea they were building a Buc-ee's right outside of Little Rock. So the Baptist beaver, as we call it in Memphis, Tennessee. The pastor took me out to a highfalutin restaurant last night. I just want you to know the pastor does a great job with hospitality, took me to get some barbecue. And I had never been in a barbecue joint that actually had a piano player. And back home in Memphis, our barbecue joints have armed guards. So it was quite enjoyable. And I will say that was the best brisket I have had in a long time. So you guys have some great restaurants here in Texarkana as well. We're gonna have some fun over the next little while. I am not a pastor. So this is sort of the view from the pew today as we celebrate our nation's great birthday. So pastor, if I say something wrong, just you know. throw something at me, but we're gonna have a little bit of fun and wanted to share a little bit of a background if I will and some of you may not know who I

am and want to give you a little bit about my history. I am a what they call a womb to tomb Baptist. I was born at Baptist Hospital of Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in the Southern Baptist Church back when we had church training union if any of y'all remember church training union and of course the old women's missionary union the WMU and we had the dinners on the ground and I love writing about those stories of growing up in a small Southern Baptist Church and in the South grew up right across the state line in a town called South Haven Mississippi and my family where my mom was a hardcore Baptist and I remember one time here's how hardcore she was first of all she was a great cook and every time we had a revival meeting and back in the day we did revival for a full solid week right and mom would be assigned the task of feeding the revival preacher who always reported back afterwards that his doctor had told me at high cholesterol after eating at my mother's table but my mom was a hardcore Southern Baptist we were not allowed to drink grape juice past the expiration date mama was afraid the fermentation might set in so that's how hardcore she was my sweet aunt Lynn she's a Methodist she plays the organ at the United Methodist Church in Coldwater Mississippi aunt Lynn is also in charge of church security she has a bedazzled glock right there on the organ bench she's the only woman in Mississippi who can play Amazing Grace and squeeze off a couple of rounds without missing a beat that's my aunt Lynn the nation got to meet aunt Lynn when I was on Fox News they did a segment on Fox and Friends you might you might be aware of this where they call it cooking with friends and they called me up one day they said Todd we'd love for you to to bring one of your family members to to New York and we're gonna we'll do a meal and we decided we settled on my grandmother's chicken divan recipe now you southern ladies know all about chicken divan and so we brought aunt Lynn up and there we were on national television and they put her in the makeup chair my uncle Jerry came rushing into the green room he said Todd you've got to see this I said what's going on uncle Jerry they said well your aunt Esther Lynn's in that makeup chair and they gave her the smoky eye

she looks just like Paula Deen so uncle Jerry looked like he was 17 years old again he was taking all sorts of pictures of aunt Lynn getting made up there by the way I did have a chance to meet Paula Deen and may I tell you first of all the woman has like a vice grip she gives bear hugs and she smells just like a butter cookie I don't understand why but anyway aunt Lynn was up there and she was making that recipe and she was explaining what all went into the recipe as a Methodist woman and she stopped on national television he said Steve I should probably confess something that a lot of people don't know about the Starnes family and I thought sweet Lord Almighty what is about to happen here and she said Steve she looked directly to the camera and said this recipe calls for a bottle of white wine but it's okay because Meemaw was a Methodist so there you go that's our our dirty secret people always ask me what was it like living in New York City as a Southern Baptist I lived in Brooklyn New York the most liberal part of New York City and I felt to truly understand the American liberal I needed to live in their natural habitat so I lived there I was the only member of the National Rifle Association in our zip code and if you are a member of the NRA you know they give you a black ball cap with gold letters and those gold letters spell out the words NRA I tried not to wear it around the neighborhood too much I didn't want to trigger too many people but one day a hurricane was bearing down on New York City and so I had to go walk to my little neighborhood store to get provisions now I don't know what it's like here in Texarkana but in in New York City they have all these liberal groups and they're asking for money you got Greenpeace and Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign but the PETA people are the most aggressive and I think the reason why is they just don't eat meat and they're always in a bad mood I've got nothing against them but you know it is what it is so anyway I was going to the market and I couldn't find a ball cap to wear so I had to grab that NRA ball cap and as soon as I rounded the sidewalk there and got within a spitting distance of the grocery store all of those folks look at my ball cap and it was like Moses parting the Red Sea they didn't have

anything to do with me so I go in and I get all my provisions I'm from Memphis so I was gonna smoke a pork butt and got some duct tape and for the storm and then came outside and I had the the pork butt under my arm like this and the PETA woman stomps me dead in my tracks, and she pointed this bony little meatless finger at me, and she said, sir, do you love animals? And I said, ma'am, only if they're deep fried, and kept right on walking, so. That's my story about New York City. Oh my goodness. May I just say, on behalf of the nation, thank you, Texas. I understand you guys made a few headlines the other day by putting the Bible back in public schools. What would we do without the great state of Texas? Let me just say, I know there's a lot of controversy about all this, but I just want to help put things in perspective, if I could. Do you realize that for 300 years, before even the founding of our nation, for 300 years, schools in America actually used the Bible as a way to teach children how to read. Did you know that? 300 years. It was, as a matter of fact, Thomas Jefferson, when he was put in charge of the school system in Washington, D.C., allowed the Bible and a hymn book to be used to teach children how to read. So when you put that in perspective, and you realize that up until 1963, when the Supreme Court decided the Bible had no place in our public schools, that things were actually going pretty good in our country. But then in 1963, they kicked the Bible out of public schools, and well, you can see what happened after that. So I just say, it's about time that we bring back the good book into schools, and as Texas goes, I believe so goes the nation. So well done, you. I want to share with you from the Old Testament.

Today we're going to talk about the man in the arena. Teddy Roosevelt's one of my favorite presidents, and of late, he is getting a little bit of attention. They're opening up a brand new Theodore Roosevelt library that's in the Badlands, and Teddy Roosevelt was a fierce character. He was very similar to, really, Donald Trump. As a matter of fact, remember President Trump was catching a lot of fire over the UFC fight night? Do you guys hear that story, where they had fighting at the White House? Well, Teddy Roosevelt actually hosted regular boxing matches inside the White House, and he was the guy fighting. So he would invite military people in, and he would like, you know, they would just knock down drag outs. And when they didn't want to fight, they wrestled. And I'm from Memphis, and we have to call it, we call it wrestling in Memphis. So he would like, wrestle with people right there in the White House. As a matter of fact, many people do not realize this, but Teddy Roosevelt lost his eyesight because he was fighting his military aide. I don't think they had the, you know, they had the briefcase back then with the nukes, but he was wrestling that guy, and the guy punched the president in the eye and blinded the president. But they were still good friends afterwards because, you know, it was a fighting. So again, Teddy Roosevelt, a fascinating character. And yet, he had a great quote about being the man in the arena. You know, far too often, we're worried about what people say about us. We're worried about the people who say, oh, well, that's just a bad idea, or that's a lousy person. And Teddy Roosevelt said, you can't be worrying about people like that. No, what we need to be focused on is the man willing to step into the arena and take on the big issues of the day.

And that's something that I think we have forgotten as a nation over the years. Well, I want to go back to a very familiar passage of Scripture, and we studied this when I was a kid and went through Awana. If you will join with me and turn to the Old Testament book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 3, and you know the story about the three Baptist boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And they were in a bit of a predicament because the king, King Nebuchadnezzar, was telling everybody that they had to bow down and they had to worship that golden statue, that golden image. And yet, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as the Bible tells the story, refused to bow down. As a matter of fact, when they looked out over the vast audience, everyone was bowing down except for those three Baptist fellows. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We know what happened. The king gave them a chance. They said, no, king, we can't do that. They said, I'm going to throw you into a big old smoker. King can't do it, still can't do it. So the king made good on his promise, and he threw those young men into the fiery furnace. But then something very, very interesting happened. interesting happened. You see when they were thrown into the fiery furnace they were fully clothed and the Bible tells us that he had his guards bind up the men so they had they had ropes or they were they couldn't move their their legs or their their arms they were bound up and in verse 24 we find the king jumped up an alarm because he said to his inviters wait a second didn't we just throw three guys bound into the fire well yes of course your majesty they replied to the king king well he exclaimed look I see four men not tied walking around in the fire unharmed and the fourth looks like a son of the gods Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called Shadrach Meshach and Abednego you servants of the Most High God come out

so Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of that fire and the satraps and the prefects and the governors and the king's advisors gathered around they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men not a hair of their head was singed their robes were unaffected there was no smell of fire on them Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed praise be to the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted him they violated the king's command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any other God except their own God let's pray Lord we ask that you bless the reading of your word in this room father we pray that you would stir in the hearts of every person gathered here this morning every person watching or listening and you would move in a mighty way in Jesus name Amen well I have to tell you before we get into the heart of the message about six weeks ago I was going to visit my doctor and I wasn't feeling all that well and the doctor said did a few tests and said I will meet you at the hospital they ran and did a few more tests and they discovered that I had 90% blockage in my main artery they call it the widow maker and it turns out that gravy was not in fact a lubricant to your valves which that's on me that's on me but they they did a mighty job this is my very first speaking engagement since that day it was interesting right before the surgery the nurse came in at Baptist Hospital we've got a great hospital system there and the nurse she had me hooked up to an IV she says I'm about to introduce you to a new friend his name is Benadryl and I felt that go in and before she said Benadryl I felt like I was levitating off the hospital bed and then I heard somebody at the Baptist Hospital singing what I thought was Barry White music and then I realized it was me so but the doctors and nurses there got me all patched up and it's a blessing to be here with you you know our second president John Adams said something like this that our Constitution is wholly inadequate for anyone other than a moral and religious people John Adams said that it's interesting because when you take and what he meant to say was when you take God out of the equation when you take God out of the schools or out of the public marketplace when you take

God out of the way we live our lives you get chaos in the culture and right now we have a lot of chaos in our culture do we not brothers and sisters we do you know our founding fathers knew that the only reason America was going to survive the only way that America could thrive is if our foundation was built as we sang on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness now our founding fathers were not the Billy Grahams of their day but they understood the importance of faith and religion in the public arena one of the founders or one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence a man by the name of Dr. Benjamin Rush Dr. Rush was a devout man of faith he was the physician a very well-educated man and he actually said and wrote a pamphlet into this is the actual title of the of the pamphlet in defense of the use of the Bible as a schoolbook our founding fathers knew what was going on our founding fathers knew that if the people of America were not rooted and grounded in faith that the Republic would not stand all of our founding fathers knew that. So here we are now in a society where we are in some cases the minority. Here in Texarkana, you guys are blessed. You have a thriving church. You have a thriving city. It's not like that in other places of the country. Many pastors and many churches have been silenced. They have not engaged the culture. The Bible says we are to be salt and light, but unfortunately many churches around America are on a sodium-free diet. We've got to engage the culture, and if we don't do it, no one else will. If we don't engage the culture, bad things happen. When you look, and we heard the statistic, very few people are actually going out and voting on Election Day. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for, but I am here to tell you vote for your values. If you want a nation where you can go and practice your faith without fear of persecution, you got to go and vote. If you are a deer hunter and you love the right to bear arms, you need to go and vote. Those are things that you have a responsibility to do as a Christian. And my fellow Baptist, my fellow countrymen, I believe that we as Baptists, we have an extra special obligation, and I want to share why. In the early days of the Revolutionary War, our founding fathers were having a

difficult time finding an army to fight the British. People didn't want to leave their farms, but there was a guy by the name of Oliver Hart who pastored the First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina, and they found out this guy was saying things about the British that was, well, not very polite. He was preaching about freedom and liberty from the Baptist pulpit there in Charleston, South Carolina. People were coming and they were hearing the message and they were being inspired, young men especially, 13, 14, 15 years old, wanting to stand up and fight the British. So our founding fathers sent a delegation to Charleston and they met with this pastor and they said, we're just staggered by your pulpiteering. Would you mind going into the countryside and helping us raise up an army to fight the British? And that's exactly what Pastor Hart did. As a matter of fact, the British so despised that man, they literally chased him out of South Carolina. He ended up in New Jersey, where he planted another Baptist church and kept on preaching the gospel message. I find it very interesting that when it came time to fight for our freedom, the freedom that we enjoy today, our founding fathers came to the Baptist church house first. That's who we are. That is our legacy. I want to tell you about a young man, a teenage boy. I understand we have the young people just coming back from camp and I saw some of them praying here and what a blessing to see young people that are on fire for Jesus Christ, young people that are not ashamed of the gospel message. Richard Furman, 15 years old, he was a child evangelist. The British generals of the time said, and this is, you can Google it, you can look it up on your chat GPT. The British generals of the time said they feared the prayers of that teenage Baptist boy more than they feared the Continental Armies. Richard Furman, perhaps you're familiar with the university named in his honor Furman University, a Baptist school in South Carolina. That is our heritage. You might have heard the name Sybil Ludington. Many people know about Paul Revere. Sybil Ludington, a 16-year-old girl, they found out that the British were about to march on Danbury, Connecticut. There were a lot of Baptists in Danbury, pastor, as we know in our Baptist history. It was storming outside.

The rain was coming down. It was 40 miles from her home to Danbury, but somebody had to, somebody had to warn the town folks that the British were coming. So Sybil got on her horse as a 16-year-old girl and she mounted that horse and rode into the storm for 40 miles, warning every citizen along the way that the British were coming. This is our heritage. This is who we are. In every town in New England, there were groups of young boys, many of them as young as 13 years old. They called themselves the Liberty Boys, and their job was to help round up and fight the British in their communities, to gather supplies, and to make sure that the women folk were taken care of. This is our heritage. This is who we are, and yet the fight goes on. My question this morning, those young men were in the arena. Andrew Jackson, 13 years old, he was captured by the British. Our soon-to-be president, Andrew Jackson. Thirteen years old, he was tortured by the British, but he would not ever surrender. This is our legacy. My question, how many of us are willing to stand in the arena like Andrew Jackson and Richard Furman and Sybil Ludington and Oliver Hart? How many of us are willing to take a stand? I cover these kinds of stories every day on my national radio show. We broadcast noon to three Eastern. We have a lot of fun on that program, a lot of laughter, but we also talk about a lot of issues. Just the other day, I had a fellow on. He owns Carl's Bakery in Granite Falls, Minnesota. It's a family-owned business. He and his wife have nine children, and everybody works in that bakery. Well they decided instead of celebrating gay pride, they were going to celebrate Nuclear Family Month, put out a big announcement, a big banner, and the LGBT activist came after him and his family. We shared his story, and I have to tell you, thousands of our listeners, they sent messages, they ordered baked goods, and they stood alongside this family.

We had him on, the husband who owns Carl's Bakery, we had him on the show, and I said, why did you do this? He says, because somebody needed to take a stand. Somebody needed to say something. That blesses my heart. We saw this happen just a couple of weeks ago with the San Francisco Giants. The baseball players were told they had to celebrate pride. They had to wear the ball caps. And so, at least three, maybe four players, including one who's a devout Christian, wrote a Bible verse from Genesis, telling the true story of that rainbow, and we all know how that turned out. I actually invited the author of the story from a gay sports publication on Newsmax to debate the issue. Unfortunately, he was not up for the conversation, but I can tell you, God blessed those baseball players. I mean, it's one thing for you and me to sit here and say, yeah, I would do that, but for those young men, and again, these are young guys to risk everything, their entire careers to take a stand. They're in the arena. The owner of Carl's Bakery is in the arena. I have to tell you about a story I wrote about many years ago at Fox, this is one of my favorite stories. There's a young man by the name of Roy Costner, and Roy went to, lived in Liberty, South Carolina, and he was the valedictorian of his class, and his father happened to be the youth pastor of the local Baptist church. So Roy got to write out his speech, and he had to turn it in to the school administrators, and he talked about God and Jesus and his church, and he wrote scripture passages, and he showed me a copy of what he got back from the school. It was a speech, and they had redacted, it looked like an NSA document. Everything had been redacted related to God and Jesus.

Roy didn't know what to do, so he went to his dad, because he felt like God had placed on his heart to deliver this speech, so he went to his dad, the youth pastor, and the youth pastor said, son, I think that's a pastor for the senior pastor to answer, and so put it off on the senior pastor. So they prayed about it, and the pastor said, Roy, you have a decision to make. Do you obey God, or do you obey the government, and he told Roy something that made a lot of sense. He said, Roy, whatever you do, you're an ambassador for Jesus, so if you decide to defy your government, you do so in the love of Jesus. Graduation day came in Liberty, South Carolina, and everybody was there. It's a big deal, and there's not a lot going on there in Liberty, but graduation day's huge, and Roy's mom and dad were there, and grandma and grandpa, all the teachers were there, the administrators who censored Roy's speech, and they would not let Roy walk up onto the stage with anything in his hands. As a matter of fact, they put the government-approved speech right there on the podium, but those educators did not count on the power of the Holy Spirit, because Roy Koster, a good Southern Baptist boy, walked up there in his graduation robes, and he stood before the assembled crowd, and he raised that sheet of paper high, tore it in half, and set it aside, and said the following words in defiance of the government, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You see, Roy Koster, a Southern Baptist, entered the arena and took a stand. I want to ask you this morning, who among us is willing to take a stand? Who among us is willing to be that Roy Costner or the owner of Carl's Bakery or a San Francisco Giants athlete? Who among us are willing to say, I am willing to stand and be counted? In the early days of the Vietnam War, there was a man named Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore. Many of you may know the story of what happened in the Lai Drang Valley. It was the early days of the war and Lieutenant Colonel Moore and his men were going in and they thought it was going to be an easy battle. But soon they found themselves surrounded by the enemy.

They were vastly outnumbered. They realized right away that it could be a complete massacre. As a matter of fact, many in the military at the time thought it was going to be the worst moment in American military history. Our men were that outnumbered. There was a young man from United Press International there and he was actually from the great state of Texas and he was there to document what was happening on that day. The bullets were flying and the enemy was advancing and all appeared to be hopeless. That UPI reporter was covering all of it and there was a crusty sergeant major. You might have remembered this from the movie We Were Soldiers. His name was Basil Plumlee. And he was a gruff man and he saw the reporter from UPI and when the bullets were flying he dropped to the dirt and the old crusty sergeant major went over and they gave him a kick with his boot and says, you can't take no pictures from down there, sonny. And then he handed the reporter a rifle so that he could defend his life. And the reporter rejected the weapon. He says, sir, I'm a noncombatant. That old crusty sergeant major looked down at that young boy from Texas and said, son, there ain't no such thing today. History records what happens next. The reporter from UPI put down his pad and his pen and he picked up that weapon and he stood alongside his fellow countrymen on that day. The black man and the white man and the Hispanic man, they stood shoulder to shoulder as Americans and they won the day. And I tell you this, my fellow brothers and sisters, who among us is willing to take a stand because the cultural bullets are flying, the enemies of freedom are advancing, and I believe the time has come for all of us to take a stand. You say, Todd, but I'm not a fighter. Well, there's no such thing today because we are freedom's last line of defense. So I say this, brothers and sisters, my fellow countrymen, do not hide liberty's light under

a bushel. You hold it high. You let the flame of freedom burn bright for all the world to see. I believe it's time for every gun-toting, Bible-clinging, flag-waving patriot to take a thunderous stand for life, for liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And may our prayer be on this day that our nation will always, always, always be one nation under God. So where do we go from here? Well, I want to close with a story. I wrote a devotion book, and it's filled with stories about how God used the most unusual people to advance His work. And isn't that amazing? I mean, on paper, did you ever think that somebody like Donald Trump could be a president of the United States? But God can use anybody, can He? Did you ever think that David and that slingshot would be able to, the Goliath? No, no, on paper it doesn't work. But God, but God. There's a story about Ronald Reagan that I write about. It's a little-known story, and Ronald Reagan was my president. I mean, that was the first guy I got to vote for as a kid. And I mean, I had all the stuff, the swag. You know, it was, I mean, he was the man. A lot of people don't realize that Reagan was a devout believer in Jesus. Karen Tumulty, a Washington Post journalist, had been researching a biopsy. about Nancy Reagan, and she was at the library in California, and she had discovered a letter that had been tucked away. Nobody, it had been overlooked. Nobody knew it was there. It was dated August 2nd, 1982. Dr. Loyal Davis, his father-in-law, was in very bad health. Dr. Davis was a renowned neurosurgeon, and he was literally days away from from death, and President Reagan knew that his

father-in-law was not a believer in Jesus. So on a Saturday afternoon at the White House, the president wrote a lengthy letter to his father-in-law pleading with him to consider surrendering his life to Jesus Christ, and this is what he wrote in the Oval Office. The Apostle John said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Loyal, you and your wife Edith have known a great love more than many have been permitted to know. That love will not end with this life. We've been promised it's only a part of life, and that a greater life, a greater glory awaits us. It awaits you together one day, and all that is required is that you believe and tell God you put yourself in his hands. It's impossible for us to understand the high-pressure situations of our presidents every day they face in the Oval Office. Encountering the magnitude of being the leader of the free world, making life and death decisions every day, it's no wonder that our leaders leave office with gray hair, except for Donald Trump. I didn't write that in here. But the circumstances President Reagan faced as he penned the letter to his father-in-law were quite unique. You see, just 17 months before that letter, he had survived a would-be assassin's bullet. And on the world stage, Reagan was waging a fierce fight against the Soviet Union, a Cold War. In spite of the global calamities, Reagan remained steadfast. He understood that the most pressing matter of the day was the state of his father-in-law's soul. And I thought it quite remarkable that Reagan, writing on White House stationery, did not close the letter with a formal signature. Instead, he just simply signed it, Love, Ronnie. How many times have we found ourselves in the throes of adversity when our circumstances seem hopeless? I wonder if we would have the same state of mind as Ronald Reagan. Even though he struggled through the valleys, the Gipper always remembered the main thing was the main thing. Eleven days after Reagan wrote that letter, his father-in-law breathed his last breath. In later years, Nancy would say that her father did indeed turn to God, and for that, we say blessed assurance. But the most poignant part, I think, of this story is that the most powerful man in the world set aside all of his troubles,

took pen in hand, and set out on an urgent mission to rescue one soul. Brothers and sisters, if we want to change the direction of America, we've got to do it one soul at a time. Many of us think that we have to speak in front of vast crowds and audiences. That's not it. It's about sharing the gospel message. Want to know what makes America great? It's not a politician. It's not a campaign slogan. It's Jesus and following his teachings, following his call on your life. You know, this morning, I'm going to ask you a question. Do you know Jesus? Do you know him as your Lord and as your Savior? Some of you might be saying this morning, you don't know what I've done. Man, I've done a lot of crazy stuff in my life. Yeah, you know what? So have I. Look around this room, I guarantee you there have been a lot of people in this room that did a lot of crazy stuff in their lives. But you know what? We are all sinners saved by grace. Every single one of us. My dad had a battle with the bottle. Jesus saved him. So did my mom. Jesus saved her. I have seen Jesus do amazing things and turn around lives like, well, you just haven't seen. But many of you have. Imagine what would happen if every person in this room went out after this service. and just share Jesus with somebody. Imagine what would happen to Texarkana. Imagine what would happen to Texas. But I'm asking you today in this room, do you know Jesus? All you have to do is ask him into your heart. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We're gonna give you the opportunity to share that good news with the pastors here in just a matter of moments. But I also wanna talk to the saved here, those who have accepted Jesus.

Are you willing to pray for your country? Are you willing to take a stand? Are you willing to do your duty as a Baptist and go and vote on election day to be a good steward, to be an American citizen? Are you willing to be a patriot? Because I can tell you, as Christians, we're doing a pretty lousy job of it. Millions and millions of us do not go and vote on election day. Maybe some of you need to really consider and pray about that. Some of you, God might be calling you to run for office. You need to pray about that. And if God is calling you to do something in your life, brothers and sisters, I would strongly encourage you to do that. I'm not telling you who to vote for. I'm not telling you what political party you need to be a part of. I'm telling you to follow Jesus and the calling on your life. That's what we have to do. He'll handle everything else. At least that's the way it's been in my life. And that's been my observations. Maybe some of you, in the next few moments, might wanna come down front here and pray. Pray for our country. Pray for our leaders.

Pray that God would move in a mighty way, whether it be in your schools, whether it be in your workplace, your city, your community, your state. Pray that God would move. God hears the prayers of righteous men and women. Now we come to the most important question of all. Have you turned from sin and selfishness and given your heart and life to Jesus? Listen, if not, today is the day for you. Just pray this simple prayer from your heart. Lord Jesus, I need you. I know that I'm a sinner and I can't save myself, but I believe, Jesus, that you are God in the flesh. I believe you died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. And right now, I ask you to forgive me and save me, come into my life, change me, make me the person you want me to be. I surrender my life to you and I promise to follow you all the days I have left. Now, if you pray that kind of prayer and mean it, the Lord will come in and your life will never be the same. Listen, I would love to hear from you, so please contact me and share with me what's going on so we can pray for you. And if you are ever in the Texarkana area, we would love for you to visit us live and in person at FBC Texarkana. Listen, you really are important to God

and you're important to us and we're here for you.