1 00:00:00,980 --> 00:00:03,113 - Not all religions are equal. 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,623 Not all religions are equal. 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:12,900 In our country today, we think that 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,500 our country's the only one where, you know, 5 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:21,227 various progressive groups and political ideologies 6 00:00:23,928 --> 00:00:28,720 support the idea of reinventing our history, 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,450 and you know, they're doin' it by tearing down monuments 8 00:00:32,450 --> 00:00:36,810 that honor past events and prominent historical figures 9 00:00:38,140 --> 00:00:39,463 from the past. 10 00:00:41,195 --> 00:00:42,240 It seems to be happening a lot 11 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,260 in this country of ours these days. 12 00:00:45,260 --> 00:00:47,259 We read about that all the time, 13 00:00:47,259 --> 00:00:48,559 it's always the big story. 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:54,223 In Canada, where I come from, Lise and I come from, 15 00:00:55,060 --> 00:01:00,010 the movement, or this movement has been going on for years. 16 00:01:00,010 --> 00:01:02,380 We think, oh, it's new. It's not new. 17 00:01:02,380 --> 00:01:06,920 It's been happening for years in Canada. 18 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,210 We just give it a different name in Canada. 19 00:01:09,210 --> 00:01:12,180 All of this has been going on under the banner 20 00:01:12,180 --> 00:01:15,880 of what is quaintly and innocently referred to 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,653 as reasonable accommodation. 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,530 That's the catch word for, you know, all this business. 23 00:01:26,530 --> 00:01:31,530 Same idea, changing history, changing cultural icons, 24 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:33,290 and all that business, 25 00:01:33,290 --> 00:01:37,630 so they call it a reasonable accommodation. 26 00:01:37,630 --> 00:01:40,310 This battle is not focused on the, 27 00:01:40,310 --> 00:01:44,620 in Canada that is, not focused on the past evil of slavery, 28 00:01:44,620 --> 00:01:48,313 because here, you know, this is the focus, 29 00:01:49,891 --> 00:01:53,300 and the impact of this experience on the nation 30 00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:55,560 since there is no history 31 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,003 of institutionalized slavery in Canada. 32 00:01:58,003 --> 00:02:02,330 It's not part of the history of that nation. 33 00:02:02,330 --> 00:02:07,330 No, the field of battle in Canada is immigration policy 34 00:02:07,620 --> 00:02:10,523 and its effect on the nation. 35 00:02:11,430 --> 00:02:16,430 The basic argument is about how much should Canadians, 36 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:20,560 Canadian citizens, how much should Canadian citizens 37 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,760 accommodate newly arrived immigrants 38 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,720 when it comes to culture and religion? 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,230 For example, a man from India 40 00:02:34,230 --> 00:02:38,240 who practiced the Sikh religion, 41 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,563 he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 42 00:02:42,594 --> 00:02:45,270 and he went through the training and all that business, 43 00:02:45,270 --> 00:02:48,550 but when the graduation ceremony came, you know, 44 00:02:48,550 --> 00:02:50,240 at the end of boot camp, you know, 45 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,223 and he was going to be officially a Mountie, 46 00:02:54,420 --> 00:02:58,770 he refused to wear the cover, or the hat, you know, 47 00:02:58,770 --> 00:03:01,480 like they wear, troopers, state troopers 48 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:02,980 wear those kinds hats. 49 00:03:02,980 --> 00:03:05,030 Well, the Mounties in Canada, 50 00:03:05,030 --> 00:03:06,810 they wear the same kind of hats. 51 00:03:06,810 --> 00:03:09,000 Well, this individual, nope, 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,330 said he didn't want to wear that hat, 53 00:03:11,330 --> 00:03:15,453 'cause that was disrespectful to his own culture. 54 00:03:16,490 --> 00:03:19,700 What he wanted to wear was a turban. 55 00:03:19,700 --> 00:03:23,523 He wanted to wear a turban, according to his religion, 56 00:03:24,450 --> 00:03:27,290 not the RCMP, you know, 57 00:03:27,290 --> 00:03:30,420 what, it's 150 200 year old institution. 58 00:03:30,420 --> 00:03:33,720 They've been wearing the same uniform for two centuries, 59 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,020 but no, he didn't want to wear that hat, no, sir. 60 00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:42,020 And so the case went to the Canadian Supreme Court, 61 00:03:42,340 --> 00:03:47,340 and the Indian recruit won the right to wear a turban 62 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,360 as a Mountie, and to wear a turban for his graduation. 63 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,900 The court, the Supreme Court said that this was, listen, 64 00:03:58,900 --> 00:04:02,680 this was a reasonable accommodation 65 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,060 of his culture and his religion. 66 00:04:06,060 --> 00:04:09,220 You get the point, you get the battle? 67 00:04:09,220 --> 00:04:13,160 The battle was, should we accommodate this man 68 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,020 and the fact that he didn't want to wear 69 00:04:15,020 --> 00:04:17,790 the traditional RCMP hat? 70 00:04:17,790 --> 00:04:21,160 He wanted to wear his, was that a reasonable request 71 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:22,880 that he was making? 72 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,920 And the Supreme Court decided, 73 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,030 well, yeah, that's a reasonable thing. 74 00:04:28,030 --> 00:04:30,040 So they made an exception for him, 75 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:35,040 and of course, anyone else who decided to do that. 76 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,790 In another case, just to make sure 77 00:04:37,790 --> 00:04:39,450 you're understanding what's going on here, 78 00:04:39,450 --> 00:04:44,450 in another case, a woman sued the government 79 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,130 for her right to where a burka, in other words, 80 00:04:48,130 --> 00:04:53,130 a full body, full face covering, according to her religion, 81 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,003 when she voted, 82 00:04:57,150 --> 00:05:01,460 'cause the law says, you know, when you go vote in person, 83 00:05:01,460 --> 00:05:05,200 you have to be able to identify yourself. 84 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,670 Her argument was, well that doesn't go with my religion. 85 00:05:09,670 --> 00:05:11,938 My religion says I ought to be wearing 86 00:05:11,938 --> 00:05:16,590 this particular outfit outfit, 87 00:05:16,590 --> 00:05:20,620 and of course, same thing, this thing dragged on. 88 00:05:20,620 --> 00:05:23,590 And I remember it, I was in Canada when this happened. 89 00:05:23,590 --> 00:05:25,430 This thing dragged on in the courts, 90 00:05:25,430 --> 00:05:27,840 so it went all the way to the Supreme Court, 91 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,020 and when the decision came down, they said, you know what? 92 00:05:31,020 --> 00:05:33,930 That's a reasonable accommodation, 93 00:05:33,930 --> 00:05:38,500 and so she was permitted to wear a full burka 94 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:41,630 in order to a go vote. 95 00:05:41,630 --> 00:05:46,630 I see the same kind of thing happening here 96 00:05:47,820 --> 00:05:50,580 in the area of religion. 97 00:05:50,580 --> 00:05:54,540 As people, you know, they sue the government, 98 00:05:54,540 --> 00:05:58,860 or they protest the presence of religious symbols 99 00:05:58,860 --> 00:06:01,640 in schools and in public places 100 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,950 because it offends their personal beliefs 101 00:06:05,950 --> 00:06:08,450 or their lack of belief, 102 00:06:08,450 --> 00:06:10,350 or their misunderstanding 103 00:06:10,350 --> 00:06:15,350 about the separation between church and state. 104 00:06:15,750 --> 00:06:19,893 Of course, the thinking behind all of, 105 00:06:21,270 --> 00:06:25,040 you know, all of these efforts and debates 106 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,370 in both Canada and the United States is the same, 107 00:06:29,370 --> 00:06:32,150 The new argument, which ignores 108 00:06:32,150 --> 00:06:35,850 what the constitution actually says 109 00:06:35,850 --> 00:06:37,700 about the Christian religion 110 00:06:37,700 --> 00:06:40,360 goes something like this. 111 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,983 Since all religions are the same, 112 00:06:44,100 --> 00:06:46,470 and they all have equal value, 113 00:06:46,470 --> 00:06:51,210 then no one religion should receive preferential treatment. 114 00:06:51,210 --> 00:06:55,960 Therefore, all religions should be accommodated 115 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,430 or discarded. 116 00:06:57,430 --> 00:07:01,670 Either way, it makes no difference. 117 00:07:01,670 --> 00:07:05,680 Now, in answer to this type of secular pluralism, 118 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,400 and that's what this is, that's secular pluralism, 119 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,013 in answer to this secular pluralism, 120 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,330 and the argument for it, 121 00:07:16,330 --> 00:07:21,330 we, as Christians, or we, have two responses. 122 00:07:21,580 --> 00:07:24,740 One the politicians use, 123 00:07:24,740 --> 00:07:29,370 and one that is politically incorrect, 124 00:07:29,370 --> 00:07:31,610 but closer to the truth. 125 00:07:31,610 --> 00:07:33,670 So here are the two arguments. 126 00:07:33,670 --> 00:07:38,670 Number one, the first argument is based on history. 127 00:07:39,730 --> 00:07:44,730 In order to keep Judeo-Christian symbols in public places, 128 00:07:45,590 --> 00:07:49,185 things like crucifixes or the 10 Commandments 129 00:07:49,185 --> 00:07:53,360 or nativity scenes at Christmas time, so on and so forth, 130 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,920 the politicians say that these are important symbols 131 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,183 of our history and our culture. 132 00:08:02,030 --> 00:08:05,760 You know, the Judeo-Christian mindset 133 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,560 is an important part of our history, of this nation. 134 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,273 That's why we allow these symbols. 135 00:08:16,580 --> 00:08:19,630 They argue that the United States 136 00:08:19,630 --> 00:08:24,040 was founded on Christian principles based in the Bible, 137 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,140 and these symbols reflect that reality. 138 00:08:28,140 --> 00:08:30,450 Well, this argument still works today, 139 00:08:30,450 --> 00:08:34,590 but as more and more people from other countries, 140 00:08:34,590 --> 00:08:39,590 from other non-Christian countries arrive in this nation, 141 00:08:40,690 --> 00:08:42,900 we have to understand that in the future, 142 00:08:42,900 --> 00:08:47,300 some may use this point to argue for the inclusion 143 00:08:47,300 --> 00:08:51,720 of more Buddhist symbols or more Muslim symbols publicly, 144 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,290 or other types of symbols in public life 145 00:08:54,290 --> 00:08:57,270 that reflect the changing face of America. 146 00:08:57,270 --> 00:08:59,200 If we're saying, hey, we've got a lot of people here 147 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,327 who are Christians, so we should have the crucifixes, 148 00:09:01,327 --> 00:09:03,610 and we should have the nativity scene, 149 00:09:03,610 --> 00:09:04,850 well, you know, in 10 years from now, 150 00:09:04,850 --> 00:09:05,683 people are going to say, 151 00:09:05,683 --> 00:09:07,470 well, listen, you know that we have a lot of people 152 00:09:07,470 --> 00:09:09,570 who are from Muslim countries, 153 00:09:09,570 --> 00:09:13,350 so we should have some Muslim symbols, or Hindu symbols, 154 00:09:13,350 --> 00:09:16,010 because we have a lot more people coming from those nations. 155 00:09:16,010 --> 00:09:18,523 You know, the argument cuts both ways here. 156 00:09:20,650 --> 00:09:24,780 Or, as this nation becomes less religion, 157 00:09:24,780 --> 00:09:27,350 less religious rather, 158 00:09:27,350 --> 00:09:30,150 and as it becomes more secular, 159 00:09:30,150 --> 00:09:33,980 then why don't we just get rid of all religion, 160 00:09:33,980 --> 00:09:35,970 especially Christianity, 161 00:09:35,970 --> 00:09:38,270 because less people believe, 162 00:09:38,270 --> 00:09:41,490 and it's a religion, and here's the new twist, 163 00:09:41,490 --> 00:09:46,490 it's a religion that is guilty of oppression and racism. 164 00:09:46,510 --> 00:09:50,090 That's the new twist in our generation. 165 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:52,380 Christianity never in the past 166 00:09:52,380 --> 00:09:55,350 was accused of being racist and oppressive. 167 00:09:55,350 --> 00:09:57,930 But today, this is the argument. 168 00:09:57,930 --> 00:10:01,010 So that's the first argument that politicians use 169 00:10:01,010 --> 00:10:02,280 to defend, you know, 170 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,580 the use of Christian symbols 171 00:10:04,580 --> 00:10:06,060 and so on and so forth in society. 172 00:10:06,060 --> 00:10:07,260 It's part of our history. 173 00:10:07,260 --> 00:10:08,823 We ought to be able to do it. 174 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:11,523 There is a second argument. 175 00:10:12,420 --> 00:10:15,073 This other argument, 176 00:10:16,940 --> 00:10:20,860 that will never be overcome by debates 177 00:10:20,860 --> 00:10:23,470 or immigration or law, 178 00:10:23,470 --> 00:10:28,300 is very powerful, but it is politically incorrect, 179 00:10:28,300 --> 00:10:32,670 so very few politicians ever use it. 180 00:10:32,670 --> 00:10:36,574 But I'm not a politician, so I want to use it. 181 00:10:36,574 --> 00:10:37,498 - [Audience Member] Amen. 182 00:10:37,498 --> 00:10:40,110 - This second argument is that Christianity 183 00:10:40,110 --> 00:10:45,110 as a religious system is superior to other religions. 184 00:10:46,780 --> 00:10:50,400 That's why we have it, that's why we use it. 185 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,570 In other words, not all religions are equal, 186 00:10:54,570 --> 00:10:57,870 and of all the religions throughout history, 187 00:10:57,870 --> 00:11:02,870 Christianity is by far the very best of religions 188 00:11:04,620 --> 00:11:07,880 when examined objectively, 189 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,880 side by side next to other religions. 190 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:17,960 This is why we should keep and promote its symbols, 191 00:11:18,310 --> 00:11:23,310 especially in our government and schools and public places. 192 00:11:24,530 --> 00:11:26,790 Of course, this view doesn't promote 193 00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:29,030 reasonable accommodation, 194 00:11:29,030 --> 00:11:32,740 or easy relationships with non-Christians 195 00:11:32,740 --> 00:11:34,950 or social progressives. 196 00:11:34,950 --> 00:11:38,180 But Jesus said that he didn't come to earth 197 00:11:38,180 --> 00:11:43,090 in order to bring peace and safety between men, 198 00:11:43,090 --> 00:11:46,990 but rather he came to bring a sword. 199 00:11:46,990 --> 00:11:50,647 He said, "For I came to set a man against his father 200 00:11:50,647 --> 00:11:52,817 "and a daughter against her mother, 201 00:11:52,817 --> 00:11:55,657 "and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 202 00:11:55,657 --> 00:12:00,587 "and a man's enemies will be the members of his household." 203 00:12:01,460 --> 00:12:06,460 If Jesus said that division in one's own home and family 204 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,260 would occur over belief in him, 205 00:12:10,260 --> 00:12:14,253 imagine what would happen in society in general. 206 00:12:15,410 --> 00:12:17,593 You know, Christians, we're, you know, 207 00:12:18,610 --> 00:12:21,610 in this generation, brothers and sisters, you know, 208 00:12:21,610 --> 00:12:23,960 the idea is we got to get along, you know, 209 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,153 we got to go along to get along. 210 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:30,200 That's okay if you're a politician, you know, 211 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,363 you got to go along to get along. 212 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,580 That has never been the way 213 00:12:36,580 --> 00:12:39,403 that we approach our faith. 214 00:12:41,030 --> 00:12:43,170 Whoever heard of that nonsense? 215 00:12:43,170 --> 00:12:46,793 We all, we've got to go along with the world, 216 00:12:46,793 --> 00:12:48,870 and so on and so forth, in order to get along, 217 00:12:48,870 --> 00:12:51,533 and we mustn't rock the boat. 218 00:12:56,420 --> 00:13:01,420 Reasonable accommodation is the world's way 219 00:13:01,450 --> 00:13:06,360 of reconciling different cultures and different religions. 220 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,990 It is the world's way of stripping away 221 00:13:09,990 --> 00:13:12,350 any differences between us, 222 00:13:12,350 --> 00:13:16,900 and neutralizing religious power and zeal. 223 00:13:16,900 --> 00:13:20,450 Let's face it, if all religions are the same, 224 00:13:20,450 --> 00:13:23,260 then none have real value, 225 00:13:23,260 --> 00:13:25,343 and that includes Christianity. 226 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,070 What they don't realize is that it is Christianity 227 00:13:30,070 --> 00:13:33,480 that has made this country what it is, 228 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:38,220 and reducing its influenced by making it equal to all others 229 00:13:38,220 --> 00:13:42,293 will eventually lead to the ruin of this nation. 230 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:49,000 You see, people from non-Christian countries 231 00:13:49,470 --> 00:13:53,630 come here from all over the world 232 00:13:53,630 --> 00:13:57,950 to share in the advantages of this nation, 233 00:13:57,950 --> 00:14:02,800 but they don't realize, many times, that it is Christianity 234 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,200 that has given this country its greatness. 235 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:11,200 Not Islam, not Hinduism, not Buddhism, not atheism, 236 00:14:12,140 --> 00:14:16,850 not ruralism, not secularism, not progressivism. 237 00:14:16,850 --> 00:14:21,850 All of those isms has not been the source 238 00:14:21,950 --> 00:14:24,163 of the greatness of America. 239 00:14:25,580 --> 00:14:28,440 They may be trying to change it, 240 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:32,830 but they are not the source of its greatness. 241 00:14:32,830 --> 00:14:37,830 You know, even the idea of tolerance and accommodation, 242 00:14:40,770 --> 00:14:44,960 the idea of fairness and hospitality to strangers, 243 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,770 all of these come from the Judeo-Christian heritage 244 00:14:48,770 --> 00:14:51,270 that built this country. 245 00:14:51,270 --> 00:14:54,700 You ever noticed that there are not too many people 246 00:14:54,700 --> 00:14:57,363 trying to emigrate to Iran? 247 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,310 How long do you think the line is 248 00:15:01,310 --> 00:15:06,240 at the embassy of Afghanistan 249 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,433 for people to go and live there? 250 00:15:09,740 --> 00:15:12,830 Anybody ready to switch your American passport 251 00:15:12,830 --> 00:15:15,053 for a Somalian passport? 252 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:18,280 Anybody want to go live in China? 253 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,100 Anybody want to go live in Tibet? 254 00:15:20,100 --> 00:15:22,840 How about India? How about Pakistan? 255 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,963 No big lineups at these embassies. 256 00:15:27,110 --> 00:15:32,110 I'm not being mean, I'm just stating a fact. 257 00:15:34,490 --> 00:15:37,990 What I'm saying is that when we compare religions, 258 00:15:37,990 --> 00:15:41,480 we see that some are just better. 259 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:46,410 They're more positively productive than other religions, 260 00:15:46,410 --> 00:15:51,023 and of all of these, Christianity scores the highest. 261 00:15:52,070 --> 00:15:57,070 We need to know this, and we need to know why this is true, 262 00:15:57,210 --> 00:15:59,900 and so this evening I'd like to give you 263 00:15:59,900 --> 00:16:04,900 three historical reasons why Christianity is superior. 264 00:16:08,050 --> 00:16:09,270 I mean, you can, you know, 265 00:16:09,270 --> 00:16:12,890 you can brag and blow all you want, but you have to have, 266 00:16:12,890 --> 00:16:14,350 you have to back it up. 267 00:16:14,350 --> 00:16:17,100 So let's back it up, shall we? 268 00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:20,080 Three ways that Christianity 269 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,090 has provided a better social foundation 270 00:16:24,090 --> 00:16:26,340 than any other religion. 271 00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:30,900 Now, in his book, "What's So Great About Christianity," 272 00:16:30,900 --> 00:16:35,710 author, Dinesh D'Souza reviews how Christianity 273 00:16:35,710 --> 00:16:40,710 provided the basis for what is best in Western civilization. 274 00:16:42,010 --> 00:16:45,190 He mentions three areas where Christianity 275 00:16:45,190 --> 00:16:48,100 has been responsible for the advancement 276 00:16:48,100 --> 00:16:52,523 of society for the better throughout history. 277 00:16:53,650 --> 00:16:58,170 First, he mentions betterment 278 00:16:58,170 --> 00:17:01,280 in the area of science. 279 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,030 You know, one of the main attacks against Christianity 280 00:17:04,030 --> 00:17:07,210 all the time is that it's anti-science, it's myth. 281 00:17:07,210 --> 00:17:09,150 You know, you people believe in myths, 282 00:17:09,150 --> 00:17:11,740 you believe in fairy tales. 283 00:17:11,740 --> 00:17:14,960 But the opposite is what is true. 284 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,000 The greatest breakthroughs in science 285 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,000 came about because of Christian basic concepts. 286 00:17:24,150 --> 00:17:27,050 His point is that Christians were the first 287 00:17:27,050 --> 00:17:30,680 to envision the universe as following laws 288 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,453 that reflected the rationality of God, the Creator. 289 00:17:35,310 --> 00:17:38,820 These thinkers reasoned that these laws 290 00:17:38,820 --> 00:17:40,530 were accessible to man, 291 00:17:40,530 --> 00:17:43,860 because man is created in the image of God, 292 00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:48,690 and shares in that spark of divine reason. 293 00:17:48,690 --> 00:17:53,690 The first universities, the first research establishments, 294 00:17:54,420 --> 00:17:58,280 were started and sponsored by Christian churches 295 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,290 for this reason. 296 00:18:00,290 --> 00:18:03,400 In other words, because Christians believed 297 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,070 in an intelligent God who created the universe 298 00:18:07,070 --> 00:18:11,720 and blessed man with knowledge and the ability to reason, 299 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:16,420 they set about by faith to decode 300 00:18:16,420 --> 00:18:19,620 and discover what God had created. 301 00:18:19,620 --> 00:18:22,470 In other words, believers in God realized 302 00:18:22,470 --> 00:18:25,900 that what God had made was discoverable. 303 00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:29,710 It had laws. It had things that you could discover 304 00:18:29,710 --> 00:18:33,020 and use with clarity. 305 00:18:33,020 --> 00:18:36,050 The greatest scientists in the West 306 00:18:36,050 --> 00:18:39,000 who are responsible for the greatest discoveries 307 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,670 from Copernicus and Kepler, Galileo to Pasteur, 308 00:18:43,670 --> 00:18:45,733 Mendel and Lamaitre, 309 00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:51,580 all of these were Christian scientists, Christian thinkers. 310 00:18:52,660 --> 00:18:57,660 Even the head of the Human Genome Project, Francis Collins, 311 00:18:58,140 --> 00:19:02,920 who led the team that mapped out the entire human DNA, 312 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,940 some say the greatest feat of modern science, 313 00:19:06,940 --> 00:19:10,563 he himself is a devout Christian. 314 00:19:11,610 --> 00:19:16,343 Another area that Christianity has served society, 315 00:19:18,740 --> 00:19:21,890 and that is in the area of social justice. 316 00:19:21,890 --> 00:19:24,520 Isn't that kind of ironic? 317 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,080 Today, you know, in the name of social justice, 318 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,620 people are going about trying to tear down 319 00:19:30,620 --> 00:19:35,130 all the symbols of our past in the name of social justice. 320 00:19:35,130 --> 00:19:38,640 In the name of social justice, people are going around, 321 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,650 burning down cities, 322 00:19:41,650 --> 00:19:44,460 trying to destroy the established order, 323 00:19:44,460 --> 00:19:47,660 all in the name of social justice. 324 00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:51,350 But true social justice is what has come 325 00:19:51,350 --> 00:19:54,240 from Christian thinkers. 326 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:59,240 The preciousness and equal worth of every human life, 327 00:19:59,510 --> 00:20:01,643 that's a Christian idea. 328 00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:06,360 I mean, because we are created in the image of God, 329 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:11,200 we are all equally valuable to God and society. 330 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,820 Where do you think that idea comes from? 331 00:20:14,820 --> 00:20:17,990 You know, the Greeks and the Romans, 332 00:20:17,990 --> 00:20:22,030 they had no such notions in their societies, 333 00:20:22,030 --> 00:20:26,240 which were built on slavery and conquest. 334 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,540 Although Christianity tolerated slavery 335 00:20:29,540 --> 00:20:32,270 as a social evil at first, 336 00:20:32,270 --> 00:20:35,410 it was through the efforts of Christians 337 00:20:35,410 --> 00:20:40,130 that modern slavery was abolished in the West. 338 00:20:40,130 --> 00:20:43,970 It continues to exist today and it flourishes, 339 00:20:43,970 --> 00:20:48,970 however, it does so in non-Christian countries. 340 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,470 Add to this the concepts of caring for the poor 341 00:20:53,470 --> 00:20:55,720 and the aged and the orphaned 342 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,530 and widowed and people who are handicapped, 343 00:20:58,530 --> 00:21:01,330 all Christian ideas. 344 00:21:01,330 --> 00:21:05,210 These ideas grew out of Christianity's teaching 345 00:21:05,210 --> 00:21:09,770 to love your neighbor as yourself and to forgive your enemy. 346 00:21:09,770 --> 00:21:12,800 Who's got that concept in their religion, 347 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,210 that we're supposed to forgive our enemies? 348 00:21:15,210 --> 00:21:18,993 Which religion has got that as a banner? 349 00:21:20,510 --> 00:21:23,380 The benevolence work of Christian churches 350 00:21:23,380 --> 00:21:27,780 was the forerunner of all government social services 351 00:21:27,780 --> 00:21:30,970 and programs of the modern era. 352 00:21:30,970 --> 00:21:33,520 Growing up Catholic in Quebec, you know, 353 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,800 in the '50s, in the 50s, 354 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,370 all hospitals, all of them, 355 00:21:38,370 --> 00:21:41,090 had been built by the Catholic Church. 356 00:21:41,090 --> 00:21:44,870 All the orphanages had been built by the Catholic Church, 357 00:21:44,870 --> 00:21:49,040 all the soup kitchens, all the, you know, 358 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:50,960 the care of widows and all that. 359 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,510 That was all the Catholic Church. 360 00:21:53,510 --> 00:21:56,130 The government wasn't doing any of those things, 361 00:21:56,130 --> 00:21:59,073 not back in the '40s and '50s. 362 00:22:00,060 --> 00:22:02,660 The Church, when I mean the Church, 363 00:22:02,660 --> 00:22:06,990 Christian ideals is what moved people to begin 364 00:22:06,990 --> 00:22:11,750 helping the less fortunate in society. Why? 365 00:22:11,750 --> 00:22:15,613 Because that's what their beliefs taught them to do. 366 00:22:16,750 --> 00:22:21,140 Until Christianity came along, 367 00:22:21,140 --> 00:22:26,010 the weak and the poor were enslaved, not cared for, 368 00:22:26,010 --> 00:22:30,420 and the sick and the orphaned, they were just left to die. 369 00:22:30,420 --> 00:22:33,470 You had several children, you had three children, 370 00:22:33,470 --> 00:22:35,960 then you, your fourth child was a girl. 371 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,650 Oh, what do we do with those? 372 00:22:38,650 --> 00:22:40,593 Well, we leave them out in the field. 373 00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:44,040 In those days they didn't know what you were going to have 374 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:44,873 ahead of time. 375 00:22:44,873 --> 00:22:46,780 You know, back in the first century, 376 00:22:46,780 --> 00:22:48,920 you didn't know until the child was born. 377 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:50,963 A girl? Yeah, no, we just. 378 00:22:53,270 --> 00:22:56,850 One of the features of early Christianity 379 00:22:56,850 --> 00:23:00,900 that brought it to the attention of that society 380 00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:04,100 was the fact that they would find these babies 381 00:23:04,100 --> 00:23:05,760 who were just left to die, 382 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:07,830 and they would quote adopt. 383 00:23:07,830 --> 00:23:12,830 Today, adoption means, you know, $35,000, a lot of meetings, 384 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:14,720 and so on and so forth, 385 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,150 but back in the first century, you found an abandoned child, 386 00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:21,200 you took it into your home. Why? 387 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,350 Because that child was made in the image of God. 388 00:23:24,350 --> 00:23:26,170 And where did you learn that? 389 00:23:26,170 --> 00:23:29,113 Well, you learned that from your Christian faith. 390 00:23:30,570 --> 00:23:34,847 And then Christianity was also the basis for, 391 00:23:36,948 --> 00:23:40,100 here we go, better, the basis for human rights laws. 392 00:23:40,100 --> 00:23:42,430 Again, people marching in the, 393 00:23:42,430 --> 00:23:45,610 I've never understood how human rights was, 394 00:23:45,610 --> 00:23:48,840 is established by burning down somebody's business, 395 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,253 but you know, who am I to judge? 396 00:23:54,190 --> 00:23:57,150 The modern notion of human rights, 397 00:23:57,150 --> 00:24:00,240 the right to freedom of conscience, 398 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,420 the right to own property, 399 00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:07,930 the right to marry who you want to marry, 400 00:24:07,930 --> 00:24:12,200 the right to be treated equally before the law, 401 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,970 these and other notions enshrined 402 00:24:14,970 --> 00:24:18,570 in many Western nations' bill of human rights 403 00:24:18,570 --> 00:24:20,730 or human rights declarations, 404 00:24:20,730 --> 00:24:24,303 are all based on the teachings of Christianity. 405 00:24:25,990 --> 00:24:30,300 The premise is that all human life has equal dignity, 406 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:33,340 because it is created in the image of God, 407 00:24:33,340 --> 00:24:36,883 and all will be judged by God's Word. 408 00:24:37,970 --> 00:24:41,770 Some religions have some of these ideas, 409 00:24:41,770 --> 00:24:46,000 but Christianity was the first to present these ideas 410 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,000 in their fullness. 411 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,040 Of course, many religions don't have these ideas, 412 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,040 and the nations where they exist 413 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:59,040 have societies that are repressed with much suffering. 414 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,160 I, you know, you know this, 415 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:08,160 but I've been to Haiti, you know, not as a tourist, 416 00:25:09,124 --> 00:25:13,500 but I've been there to preach and to travel around, 417 00:25:13,500 --> 00:25:18,160 and visit villages and so on and so forth, 418 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,616 with Jean El Mirar, missionary. 419 00:25:21,616 --> 00:25:24,023 He drove me around, I was there for 10 days, 420 00:25:24,930 --> 00:25:29,140 and I witnessed firsthand 421 00:25:31,910 --> 00:25:36,540 a society that had consumed paganism 422 00:25:36,540 --> 00:25:41,070 in the name of voodooism for 200 years. 423 00:25:41,070 --> 00:25:46,070 I observed firsthand the society 424 00:25:46,260 --> 00:25:50,440 that that concept of religion produced 425 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:52,450 over a couple of centuries, 426 00:25:52,450 --> 00:25:55,937 and when I would ask John El Mirar, 427 00:25:55,937 --> 00:25:58,467 "It's so hopeless, there's such poverty 428 00:25:58,467 --> 00:26:00,017 "there's such corruption. 429 00:26:00,017 --> 00:26:01,407 "It's just, it's hopeless. 430 00:26:01,407 --> 00:26:05,240 "How do you, you know, how do you do it?" 431 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,800 He said, "The," you know, here we say it, 432 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,220 you know, well, our only hope is Jesus, 433 00:26:10,220 --> 00:26:12,080 while we're living in our 434 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:17,080 several hundred thousand dollar valued homes, you know, 435 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:18,637 but over there, he said, 436 00:26:18,637 --> 00:26:23,637 "The only hope this nation has is Jesus." 437 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,417 He says, "I'm preaching the gospel. 438 00:26:25,417 --> 00:26:27,867 "We're establishing schools where these children 439 00:26:27,867 --> 00:26:29,957 "are going to learn Christianity, 440 00:26:29,957 --> 00:26:32,817 "because I know that after I die 441 00:26:32,817 --> 00:26:35,137 "and after the people that I've taught die, 442 00:26:35,137 --> 00:26:38,283 "finally, Christianity will take hold, 443 00:26:39,357 --> 00:26:42,307 "and this nation will have a chance. 444 00:26:42,307 --> 00:26:43,847 "But not before." 445 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,750 Now I could go on and give you other reasons 446 00:26:47,750 --> 00:26:51,510 why Christianity is not just another religion, 447 00:26:51,510 --> 00:26:56,123 why it is not equal to others, but better than others. 448 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,480 Just a couple of quick facts. 449 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,610 The fact that it has better system of revelation 450 00:27:02,610 --> 00:27:06,860 contained in the Bible, and access to God's Word. 451 00:27:06,860 --> 00:27:08,673 No other religion has that. 452 00:27:11,660 --> 00:27:14,080 The fact that it's, there we go, 453 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,950 the fact that its leader and principal teacher 454 00:27:16,950 --> 00:27:19,940 is God himself in the form of Jesus, 455 00:27:19,940 --> 00:27:23,030 proven divine by his resurrection, 456 00:27:23,030 --> 00:27:26,950 no other religion has a resurrected leader. 457 00:27:26,950 --> 00:27:28,820 You want to go visit the, 458 00:27:28,820 --> 00:27:32,050 every time you want to go visit the leader 459 00:27:32,050 --> 00:27:34,390 or the founder of another religion, 460 00:27:34,390 --> 00:27:36,763 you've got to go to a cemetery. 461 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,810 Christianity is the only religion whose leader, 462 00:27:42,810 --> 00:27:45,650 from not just generation to generation, 463 00:27:45,650 --> 00:27:47,540 but from century to century, 464 00:27:47,540 --> 00:27:52,233 is the same living person: Jesus Christ. 465 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:58,720 The fact that the method that Christianity offers 466 00:27:59,150 --> 00:28:02,350 to save man from death and condemnation 467 00:28:02,350 --> 00:28:04,620 is far, far superior 468 00:28:04,620 --> 00:28:08,640 than any other concept in any religion or philosophy. 469 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,560 I've said this before, do we not realize 470 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,673 that every other religion that exists today, 471 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:22,000 their method of salvation is based on law? 472 00:28:22,150 --> 00:28:23,290 You've got to do something. 473 00:28:23,290 --> 00:28:27,180 Name the religion, and I'll tell you what you got to do 474 00:28:27,180 --> 00:28:32,180 in order to be whatever it is that they see as being saved. 475 00:28:32,420 --> 00:28:36,130 But in every other religion except Christianity, 476 00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:38,313 you got to do something. 477 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,120 Only Christianity is the religion where God in heaven 478 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:49,120 reaches down and finds you and brings you up to his level. 479 00:28:49,980 --> 00:28:54,273 Every other religion, you've got to climb your way up. 480 00:28:56,930 --> 00:29:01,930 How about the fact that the promises made to Christians 481 00:29:02,970 --> 00:29:06,960 are more valuable and worthy of our devotion 482 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:11,550 than anything else that anyone has or will ever offer, 483 00:29:11,550 --> 00:29:14,153 now or in the future? 484 00:29:15,660 --> 00:29:18,060 Some religions, your salvation 485 00:29:18,060 --> 00:29:20,090 is that you disappear, period. 486 00:29:20,090 --> 00:29:24,530 You're absorbed into the great being, 487 00:29:24,530 --> 00:29:29,530 but the you, you know, your conscious self, it disappears. 488 00:29:30,580 --> 00:29:32,340 It's extinguished. It's gone. 489 00:29:32,340 --> 00:29:34,563 It's absorbed into the greater. 490 00:29:35,940 --> 00:29:40,300 In Christianity, you remain who you are, 491 00:29:40,300 --> 00:29:43,630 except you're exalted, except you're glorified, 492 00:29:43,630 --> 00:29:45,160 but you know who you are. 493 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,653 You have consciousness of self. 494 00:29:49,810 --> 00:29:51,520 I mean, I could talk about these, 495 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,430 but you've already heard some of these arguments 496 00:29:55,430 --> 00:29:58,890 in sermons and lessons here and in other places, 497 00:29:58,890 --> 00:30:01,290 so I'll stick to the three basic reasons 498 00:30:01,290 --> 00:30:03,830 given by author Dinesh, D'Souza, 499 00:30:03,830 --> 00:30:07,120 arguing that Christianity has provided 500 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,750 a better social foundation to Western civilization 501 00:30:10,750 --> 00:30:12,140 than any other religion, 502 00:30:12,140 --> 00:30:14,300 very quickly as a review. 503 00:30:14,300 --> 00:30:19,160 A theological foundation that encouraged reasonable inquiry 504 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,140 as the method to discover the vastness 505 00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:24,453 and the beauty of God's creation. 506 00:30:26,460 --> 00:30:30,790 We have the best theological foundation, 507 00:30:30,790 --> 00:30:33,550 to know not only about God, 508 00:30:33,550 --> 00:30:35,663 but to know about what God has done. 509 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:42,840 Secondly, a basis of social consciousness 510 00:30:45,380 --> 00:30:48,280 that promoted defense and assistance 511 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:53,280 to the weak and poor based on the Christian virtue of love. 512 00:30:53,930 --> 00:30:58,930 Has any other religion developed the concept of love 513 00:30:59,030 --> 00:31:03,763 to a higher, more exalted form than the Christian religion? 514 00:31:05,780 --> 00:31:10,490 And then of course, a framework of social justice 515 00:31:10,490 --> 00:31:14,810 that evolved into human rights laws supported by the notion 516 00:31:14,810 --> 00:31:18,490 that all were equally valuable before God, 517 00:31:18,490 --> 00:31:23,490 and should be valuable in society in the same way. 518 00:31:23,780 --> 00:31:26,950 This is how Christianity was instrumental 519 00:31:26,950 --> 00:31:29,260 in establishing the Western society. 520 00:31:29,260 --> 00:31:31,000 We live, brothers and sisters, 521 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,830 people of different colors, you know. 522 00:31:33,830 --> 00:31:38,803 You can't legislate anybody to love somebody else. 523 00:31:42,090 --> 00:31:46,610 You can't make a law that will make a human being 524 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:51,083 want to love another human being. 525 00:31:52,610 --> 00:31:57,040 There's no law that Congress or Senate can produce 526 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:01,290 that will make a black person love a white person, 527 00:32:01,290 --> 00:32:04,460 or a white person love a brown person, 528 00:32:04,460 --> 00:32:07,530 or a brown person love a red person. 529 00:32:07,530 --> 00:32:11,300 There's no law that you can put on the books 530 00:32:11,300 --> 00:32:14,870 that will make somebody want to do that. 531 00:32:14,870 --> 00:32:19,040 Only the gospel can do that. Why? 532 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,790 Because through the gospel, God gives each individual, 533 00:32:22,790 --> 00:32:24,680 black, white, red, whatever, 534 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,620 each individual receives the Holy Spirit of God, 535 00:32:28,620 --> 00:32:31,500 and it's the Holy Spirit of God 536 00:32:31,500 --> 00:32:36,500 that enables us to want to love our neighbor. 537 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,210 That can't be legislated. 538 00:32:40,210 --> 00:32:43,343 It can only be given by God. 539 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,580 No other religion has done these things for our country, 540 00:32:48,580 --> 00:32:51,810 and no other religion has enabled another nation 541 00:32:51,810 --> 00:32:54,650 to accomplish as much to the betterment 542 00:32:54,650 --> 00:32:56,570 of its people anywhere else. 543 00:32:56,570 --> 00:32:59,330 That's why not all religions are equal 544 00:32:59,330 --> 00:33:01,130 when measured carefully, 545 00:33:01,130 --> 00:33:04,780 so they don't produce the same results. 546 00:33:04,780 --> 00:33:08,460 So when people want to come to the United States, 547 00:33:08,460 --> 00:33:12,170 what they really want is not just a better life. 548 00:33:12,170 --> 00:33:14,980 They want the life that Christianity 549 00:33:14,980 --> 00:33:17,420 has produced in this nation, 550 00:33:17,420 --> 00:33:19,920 whether they realize that or not. 551 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,560 As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for Christianity, 552 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:27,770 there would be no concept of freedom of religion, 553 00:33:27,770 --> 00:33:32,260 which non-Christian immigrants feel so strongly about. 554 00:33:32,260 --> 00:33:36,980 It's Christianity that has provided that freedom 555 00:33:36,980 --> 00:33:41,510 so that everyone can worship in good conscience. 556 00:33:41,510 --> 00:33:43,620 So what's my point here? 557 00:33:43,620 --> 00:33:47,020 I'm not denouncing other religions. 558 00:33:47,020 --> 00:33:49,620 I'm not criticizing the government. 559 00:33:49,620 --> 00:33:52,990 I'm not even saying that we shouldn't welcome immigrants. 560 00:33:52,990 --> 00:33:55,370 I'm an immigrant. 561 00:33:55,370 --> 00:33:58,140 After all, we're all immigrants, 562 00:33:58,140 --> 00:34:01,640 some just arrived earlier than others. 563 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:06,640 I'm saying that what has made the United States great 564 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:11,060 is in large part due to its Christian heritage 565 00:34:11,060 --> 00:34:12,810 and foundation. 566 00:34:12,810 --> 00:34:17,810 If we remove this foundation to make this a secular country, 567 00:34:19,460 --> 00:34:22,440 or we reduce Christianity to the level 568 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:24,060 of every other religion, 569 00:34:24,060 --> 00:34:29,060 you will remove what made this nation what is, 570 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,880 and it will cease to be. 571 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,730 Brothers and sisters, you can't have a Christian nation 572 00:34:36,730 --> 00:34:39,190 by ripping out the Christian foundation 573 00:34:39,190 --> 00:34:41,383 upon which it stands. 574 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:47,560 That's Satan, that's his work. 575 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:54,300 They all want to stay in power, 576 00:34:54,300 --> 00:34:58,580 and they'll do what it takes to win votes. 577 00:34:58,580 --> 00:35:03,580 I mean, even disengaging us from the Christian heritage 578 00:35:03,980 --> 00:35:07,483 that made us who we are as a nation. 579 00:35:08,750 --> 00:35:10,580 As a Christian, however, 580 00:35:10,580 --> 00:35:12,723 there are some things that I can do. 581 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,410 There are some things that I must do. 582 00:35:17,410 --> 00:35:20,403 First of all, I must not be ashamed. 583 00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:26,510 Romans 1:16, Paul says, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel." 584 00:35:26,510 --> 00:35:31,470 We need to stop having an inferiority complex 585 00:35:31,470 --> 00:35:33,930 concerning our faith. 586 00:35:33,930 --> 00:35:37,540 Peter said that Christ is the only name under heaven 587 00:35:37,540 --> 00:35:41,740 by which men can be saved, Acts chapter four, verse 12. 588 00:35:41,740 --> 00:35:44,680 We need to become confident and bold, 589 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,550 in not only declaring that we are Christians, 590 00:35:47,550 --> 00:35:51,283 but also encouraging others to believe as well. 591 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,030 We have something to offer. 592 00:35:54,030 --> 00:35:57,400 We have the very best thing to offer, actually, 593 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,500 and that is eternal life to Jesus Christ. 594 00:36:00,500 --> 00:36:02,560 Nobody else has this. 595 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,563 Who else is offering that except Christians? 596 00:36:07,450 --> 00:36:10,150 And so let's not be ashamed. 597 00:36:10,150 --> 00:36:14,123 I don't apologize to anybody for being a Christian. 598 00:36:15,043 --> 00:36:16,047 - [Audience Member] Amen. 599 00:36:16,047 --> 00:36:17,210 - I got no excuse to make to you. 600 00:36:17,210 --> 00:36:20,383 I don't mean you, I mean, I'm talking to the world. 601 00:36:20,383 --> 00:36:21,810 I have no excuse to make to the world 602 00:36:21,810 --> 00:36:23,713 because I believe in Jesus. 603 00:36:25,670 --> 00:36:30,670 Secondly, we must not give a poor example. 604 00:36:32,070 --> 00:36:36,060 One thing I admire about Muslim women 605 00:36:36,060 --> 00:36:38,790 is their desire to give a good example 606 00:36:38,790 --> 00:36:42,600 as far as dress and conduct is concerned. 607 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:47,600 I don't think you'll see a woman wearing a hijab, you know, 608 00:36:47,620 --> 00:36:50,653 rocking out in some nightclub 'til 2 a.m. 609 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,653 It's not an image that you would imagine. 610 00:36:56,420 --> 00:37:01,420 But I know of some Christian young women who do that, 611 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:04,593 even in this congregation. 612 00:37:06,620 --> 00:37:10,450 I admire, you know, Sikh, the men with the turban, 613 00:37:10,450 --> 00:37:14,040 they wear a sword and so on and so forth, 614 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:15,430 that's the Sikh religion. 615 00:37:15,430 --> 00:37:20,430 I admire Sikh men's commitment to their religious heritage 616 00:37:22,100 --> 00:37:24,010 by wearing a turban, 617 00:37:24,010 --> 00:37:27,310 and allowing their hair to grow long underneath it. 618 00:37:27,310 --> 00:37:29,623 It's inconvenient, it's hot, 619 00:37:31,620 --> 00:37:34,720 but I've never witnessed a Sikh man 620 00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:38,473 guzzling a beer and dragging on a smoke on his porch. 621 00:37:39,590 --> 00:37:41,083 I've never seen that. 622 00:37:42,780 --> 00:37:43,770 This is not to say 623 00:37:43,770 --> 00:37:46,840 that I agree with their religion. I don't. 624 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:51,840 But isn't it curious that people who follow lesser religions 625 00:37:51,930 --> 00:37:55,300 manage to give a better witness for their faith 626 00:37:55,300 --> 00:37:58,320 than many Christians do for a religion 627 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,793 that promises so much more. 628 00:38:03,870 --> 00:38:06,640 Many don't believe in Christ or his power 629 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:08,890 because of the weak or inconsistent 630 00:38:08,890 --> 00:38:11,173 example of his followers. 631 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:16,830 God allowed foreign nations and foreign religions 632 00:38:16,830 --> 00:38:21,670 to take over Israel when she became sinful and unspiritual. 633 00:38:21,670 --> 00:38:25,290 There's no reason he wouldn't let that happen here as well. 634 00:38:25,290 --> 00:38:28,720 You'll wonder sometime, what's going on with this nation? 635 00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:30,620 You think God has nothing to do 636 00:38:30,620 --> 00:38:32,383 with what's been going on here? 637 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:40,080 If the Christians don't live wholly committed lives, 638 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:42,763 then who will speak for Christ? 639 00:38:43,910 --> 00:38:46,570 Surely not the government, 640 00:38:46,570 --> 00:38:50,280 surely not the academics in our university. 641 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:53,810 I mean, recently Harvard University has invested 642 00:38:53,810 --> 00:38:57,290 a million dollars for research 643 00:38:57,290 --> 00:39:00,653 to disprove the existence of God. 644 00:39:02,125 --> 00:39:03,175 Can you imagine that? 645 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:08,440 And surely not the hundreds of thousands of non-Christians 646 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:12,183 who arrive here from foreign lands every single year. 647 00:39:13,550 --> 00:39:17,910 Instead of being afraid of them or despising their religion, 648 00:39:17,910 --> 00:39:21,370 we should be winning them to Christ with our love 649 00:39:21,370 --> 00:39:23,543 and with our good example. 650 00:39:24,940 --> 00:39:29,940 So we must not be ashamed, we must give a good example, 651 00:39:30,470 --> 00:39:34,320 and of course we must stand firm. 652 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,510 If anything I've said here this evening 653 00:39:36,510 --> 00:39:40,330 has something to do with what all of us are experiencing 654 00:39:40,330 --> 00:39:42,390 in our society today, 655 00:39:42,390 --> 00:39:44,760 this third point is it. 656 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,253 We must stand firm. 657 00:39:48,550 --> 00:39:53,037 Peter says, "Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, 658 00:39:53,037 --> 00:39:56,227 "for so I regard him, I have written to you briefly, 659 00:39:56,227 --> 00:39:58,247 "exhorting and testifying 660 00:39:58,247 --> 00:40:01,167 "that this is the true grace of God. 661 00:40:01,167 --> 00:40:04,670 "Stand firm in it." 662 00:40:04,670 --> 00:40:07,830 You know, some people say to me, "What are we're going to do?" 663 00:40:07,830 --> 00:40:11,053 Stand firm. That's doing something. 664 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:15,780 Peter was writing to Christians who were living 665 00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:19,020 at a time of persecution and disbelief 666 00:40:19,020 --> 00:40:22,170 and wickedness and social immorality. 667 00:40:22,170 --> 00:40:23,980 I don't know, that sounds familiar. 668 00:40:23,980 --> 00:40:26,793 I can apply those words to our life today. 669 00:40:29,660 --> 00:40:32,560 We could also add social unrest, 670 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,793 we could also add social insecurity. 671 00:40:38,340 --> 00:40:39,937 Note that he doesn't say, 672 00:40:39,937 --> 00:40:43,767 "So therefore, I want you to go and march in the street," 673 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:49,997 or "Go start a revolution," 674 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:52,937 or "attack the government." 675 00:40:54,290 --> 00:40:59,290 No. He says, "Stand firm in the grace of God." 676 00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:05,220 Our task is not to eliminate evil or disbelief 677 00:41:05,220 --> 00:41:07,460 or other religions. 678 00:41:07,460 --> 00:41:11,543 Our task is to stand firm, to be steady, 679 00:41:12,580 --> 00:41:17,580 to not be moved in our own faith. 680 00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:23,620 God is in control, God will preserve, 681 00:41:23,620 --> 00:41:27,063 God will save us if we do. 682 00:41:28,350 --> 00:41:31,510 There's been a lot of talk about church, you know, 683 00:41:31,510 --> 00:41:33,500 that we've had to shut down for months, 684 00:41:33,500 --> 00:41:36,210 and we've had an irregular schedule, and you know, 685 00:41:36,210 --> 00:41:39,500 social distance and canceled Sunday School, 686 00:41:39,500 --> 00:41:42,390 and there's been talk of man, you know, 687 00:41:42,390 --> 00:41:44,570 I don't know if the church is going to survive, 688 00:41:44,570 --> 00:41:48,270 and how are we going to do it and so on and so forth. 689 00:41:48,270 --> 00:41:52,123 Brothers and sisters, the Church doesn't belong to us. 690 00:41:54,550 --> 00:41:57,168 The Church belongs to Christ. 691 00:41:57,168 --> 00:41:58,750 - [Audience Member] Amen. 692 00:41:58,750 --> 00:42:03,240 - If he chooses for us to stand, we will stand. 693 00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:05,070 We will survive. 694 00:42:05,070 --> 00:42:07,880 Everything around us can burn to the ground, 695 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,833 but if he chooses to do so, he will make a stand. 696 00:42:13,180 --> 00:42:15,993 But we have to choose to stand firm. 697 00:42:18,070 --> 00:42:20,310 If five people, only five people 698 00:42:20,310 --> 00:42:22,890 showed up tonight for services, 699 00:42:22,890 --> 00:42:24,933 they would have gotten this sermon. 700 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:30,210 If 5,000 people showed up for services, 701 00:42:30,210 --> 00:42:32,453 they would've gotten this sermon. 702 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:38,653 No matter what happens, I know what my job is. 703 00:42:39,750 --> 00:42:41,890 Sometimes it's a little easier to do, 704 00:42:41,890 --> 00:42:44,610 sometimes it's more difficult to do, 705 00:42:44,610 --> 00:42:47,720 but I know what my job is. 706 00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:52,720 Do you? Do you know what your job is as a Christian? 707 00:42:55,390 --> 00:42:59,057 Peter says it: "Stand firm," 708 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,960 and today in our generation, in our lives, 709 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,540 this is where we stand firm, here, 710 00:43:06,540 --> 00:43:09,560 where we're not responsible for China. 711 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,210 We're not responsible for Europe or for Africa, 712 00:43:12,210 --> 00:43:14,570 not even the entire U.S.A., 713 00:43:14,570 --> 00:43:16,660 or all of Oklahoma City. 714 00:43:16,660 --> 00:43:19,030 We're responsible for this place, right here. 715 00:43:19,030 --> 00:43:22,010 This is where we stand firm. 716 00:43:22,010 --> 00:43:24,480 We stand firm in our worship to the Lord. 717 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:26,640 We stand firm in our service. 718 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:30,950 We stand firm in our holy living as a witness of our faith, 719 00:43:30,950 --> 00:43:34,333 to those immediately around us. 720 00:43:35,390 --> 00:43:39,290 The Muslims or Hindus or even the atheists 721 00:43:39,290 --> 00:43:43,450 in other countries may not be influenced by us, 722 00:43:43,450 --> 00:43:46,620 but the people who live in Choctaw will, 723 00:43:46,620 --> 00:43:48,740 and the disbelievers in Harrah, 724 00:43:48,740 --> 00:43:52,110 and those who are in Midwest cities, they will, 725 00:43:52,110 --> 00:43:55,660 if we stand firm in our faith right here 726 00:43:55,660 --> 00:43:57,843 where God has planted us. 727 00:43:58,740 --> 00:44:03,360 It begins and it ends right here. 728 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:07,300 The life and the growth and the effect of this congregation 729 00:44:07,300 --> 00:44:09,780 is the witness to our community, 730 00:44:09,780 --> 00:44:12,970 that Christianity is not just another religion, 731 00:44:12,970 --> 00:44:16,587 but as Paul says, "It is the power of God 732 00:44:16,587 --> 00:44:20,597 "for all those who believe." 733 00:44:21,450 --> 00:44:26,450 And so as I said to you previously, what am I to do Lord? 734 00:44:26,950 --> 00:44:29,893 The world, you know, is falling apart. 735 00:44:31,170 --> 00:44:35,660 The answer is, stand firm my son, 736 00:44:35,660 --> 00:44:38,350 stand firm, you young man, 737 00:44:38,350 --> 00:44:41,640 stand firm, you older sister, 738 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:44,300 stand firm, you young woman, 739 00:44:44,300 --> 00:44:46,580 stand firm, young Christian, 740 00:44:46,580 --> 00:44:51,580 stand firm, 50, 60, 70 year Christian, 741 00:44:51,930 --> 00:44:55,433 stand firm. That's our job. 742 00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:58,203 Let's make sure that we do that. 743 00:44:59,090 --> 00:45:04,090 If you need to take a position and take a position I mean, 744 00:45:04,410 --> 00:45:07,090 if you need to confess that you believe 745 00:45:07,090 --> 00:45:09,410 that Jesus is the Son of God, 746 00:45:09,410 --> 00:45:13,640 and you're ready to turn your life around, to repent, 747 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:16,260 and you're ready to be buried with him 748 00:45:16,260 --> 00:45:19,140 in the waters of baptism, well then, 749 00:45:19,140 --> 00:45:23,310 we encourage you to do that tonight. 750 00:45:23,310 --> 00:45:26,740 And the rest of us, if we need help and prayer 751 00:45:26,740 --> 00:45:30,230 to stand firm, then our elders are here 752 00:45:30,230 --> 00:45:33,510 to pray with you and to encourage you in the Spirit 753 00:45:33,510 --> 00:45:35,760 so that you might stand firm 754 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:38,860 against the slings and arrows of the evil one 755 00:45:38,860 --> 00:45:41,690 and all the machinations going on 756 00:45:41,690 --> 00:45:44,323 in government and society today. 757 00:45:45,170 --> 00:45:48,060 If you remember nothing else that I've said tonight, 758 00:45:48,060 --> 00:45:51,780 remember, my job is to stand firm. 759 00:45:51,780 --> 00:45:54,863 Shall we stand and sing now the song of invitation.