Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of equipped with Chris Brooks! I'm so thrilled that you've joined us today. Can you do me a favor? Strap on your seat belt. We're going to navigate through the contours of culture, as always, with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But before we do that, let me remind you, this is the day that the Lord has made. He has given it as a gift so that you and I can rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. And with that, I welcome you into what will be a very interactive edition of equip. And I promise you, you're going to want to call in. Let me give you the number 877548 3675. How do we avoid losing our virtues during this election season? That's what I want to talk about today, because I feel like our virtues are under assault in this election season. As the election day approaches, negative campaign ads and toxic rhetoric has unfortunately intensified on all sides, and I think that it's expected to continue to increase in the few days that we have between now and November 5th. But yet, as Christians, we have to ask ourselves, how do we participate in this, uh, electoral process, which, again, if you've been listening to this program, you'll hear me say again and again that we should participate, that you and I, one of the ways that we love our neighbors, one of the ways that we express our influence over the values of our community and our country is through our vote. And I highly encourage you to do that. We need to vote. We need to vote with biblical consciences. that that really understand and grasp the gospel deeply as best that we know how. But yet in the midst of it, we also recognize that we are participating in a fallen and flawed system. We are not in heaven. We are not in a utopia. We are on earth. And as long as you are on Earth, you are dealing with a lot of brokenness and fallenness. And such is the case this week. The ugliness of campaigning and politics reared its ugly head again. Now, I think we all understand the concept of having to vote for people who don't fully match our virtues. I think all of us know what it's like to have to hold your breath in some areas while saying, man, this person's policies or this person's convictions align with mine and key areas. And even though I don't like their Uh, personality or don't like their articulation in these key areas and character matters. I don't want to make it seem like it doesn't, but yet we all know what it's like to say, I gotta vote for somebody that I don't fully align with. But how do you vote for someone who doesn't fully have your virtues without losing your virtues? This week we were confronted with what I would just call two very unwanted questions. Two questions that are so offensive to the mind that they're terrible to ask, let alone even answer. But yet they're on our social media pages. If you go there right now, and I would love for you to chime in right now, the first offensive question that we were confronted with earlier this week is, Are Puerto Ricans garbage? Are Puerto Ricans garbage? It's a question that I thought I'd never ask on this program. But yet, because of the times that we live in because of how toxic and negative this this current political season has gotten. Yet we find ourselves here. But yet there was a second question. It came on the heels of that, and while I was living in the fresh aftermath of anger, outrage, frustration concerning that question Are Puerto Ricans garbage? I was confronted with the second question, and that is, are Trump supporters garbage? Are Trump supporters garbage? And I find that question to be equally as offensive, equally as outrageous, equally as enraging. And yet these two questions have bookend the week so far, and we still have a few days before election. Now, in case you have not heard all of the banter about these two comments, let me give you a little bit of the backstory. Uh, this past weekend, Donald Trump, president former President Donald Trump held a rally, a pretty massive rally at Madison Square Garden. He invited 30 speakers to speak. There was a hours and hours worth of programming there, but one of the speakers captured the headlines and brought himself. I'm sure at this point, unwanted attention. His name is Tony Hinchcliffe. He brought attention to himself because of racist remarks he made. Now Tony Hinchcliffe is a comedian. He has a Netflix special. He's the type of comedian that typically is invited to a roast to mock or make fun of someone, but it's typically the type of roast or event that that person has willfully participated in, maybe even funded themselves. And it's considered to be lighthearted. But yet when you are using racism, using prejudice as a means of communicating at a presidential campaign rally. It takes on a whole new context and no one will convince me otherwise. Any argument that, hey, this is all just fun and laughs and banter, uh, to me doesn't reflect the seriousness of of of a presidential campaign rally, nor does it reflect the seriousness of the comments and the danger that in the way that these types of comments have, uh, in the midst of all of his jokes and I won't repeat them all, because before it was all said and done, he had said lewd comments and about and racist comments about Latinos and Jewish people and blacks. And he was an equal opportunist. And and again, he's a comedian, so he gets a pass. In general. I think context matters here. But yet in the midst of his joking and his minutes of speaking at the campaign rally at Madison Square Garden. He referred to Puerto Rico, the island of Puerto Rico, as a floating island of garbage. Um, this, as you would imagine, evoked anger and outrage and response primarily from Democrats who quickly condemned Tony for what he said and projected all that he said on everybody who was in that building, which I think is unfair to project what this comedian said on everybody who was in that building. I think we all know what it's like to much to our shame, to sit in a room and a lewd joke is made and out of just discomfort or awkwardness. Maybe we stay silent or maybe we even laugh at it. I'm not justifying it, but I think it would be hypocritical to pretend like we've never been there before. But yet the condemnations quickly came, and they should have quickly came. I think it's important for Christians to quickly respond to this type of thing. I think it's important that we say absolutely not that we say this is unacceptable. To think, let alone say it reminds me of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, that silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. So I think it's important that we address these things and not remain silent. And so the condemnations came. And I do want to just acknowledge, and I think this has been overlooked. The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe's joke. As a matter of fact, Danielle Alvarez, a Latino herself said this. The joke does not reflect the views of President Donald Trump or the campaign. She's a senior adviser. She quickly came out and condemned it. Well, on the heels of that, President Joe Biden was invited to speak to a group, and the group was a Hispanic advocacy group. Um, and it it has very strong Latino leadership. They invited him on Tuesday to give a response to, uh, Tony Hinchcliffe's joke and comedy at the Trump rally that was garnering so much attention, so much broad condemnation, which, again, rightfully so, for saying that the Puerto Rico is an island of floating garbage. But but, Donald, but, uh, President Biden's comments didn't make things better. He went on to say that he condemns the speaker's comments. He says that, um, that, uh, what what Tony Hinch, uh, Hinchcliffe said was unconscionable and un-American. He demonized Latinos. There's no place for that. The the Puerto Ricans I know, he went on to say, are good, decent and honorable people. To all of which I want to say amen and amen. But then he went on to say, the only garbage I see are his supporters labeling all of Trump's supporters garbage. Again, a firestorm breaks out about this now, and Republicans primarily begin to immediately condemn President Biden that for doing the very thing that he was criticizing. He was criticizing this comedian for calling a group of people garbage. And then he himself, as a sitting president, calls all the supporters of Donald Trump garbage, which is not only un-American, as he said, but also unconscionable. Now, again, I want to make sure that I'm fair in saying that. The Biden campaign later issued clarification, walked back the comment. Andrew Bates, who is a senior spokesperson for the white House, said that the president was was not referring to people, was not intending to refer to people, but rather the hateful rhetoric that was done at the Madison Square Garden rally as garbage that evening after President Biden made his gaffe, or whatever you want to call it, Kamala Harris came out, distanced herself from the president's statement, and said, I pledge to be a president for all people. I don't affirm those remarks and that was rare. Her and Tim Walz have distanced themselves from the comment because she typically has not distanced herself from President Biden. Now, what does all of this have to do with us? What all of this has to do with us is the fact that we're in a culture that it is becoming increasingly hard for us to be virtuous people. How do we hold on as Christians? Here's my question for you. How do we not get caught up in this and and not lose our virtue? Eight. 7756758775483675. I think the Bible is very clear. Here's what Peter says in second Peter one and five. He says, for this reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue. That we're supposed to add not only to our belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In other words, Christianity is not just a doctrinal system. It is not just a set of presuppositions that we're supposed to add something called character or virtue, a living out of the things that we profess to believe. This is the difference between hypocrisy and integrity. Hypocrisy is the distance between what you profess to believe and how you live. But integrity is consistency in those areas. That's what gives moral virtue or strength for a morally virtuous life. That's what we should be striving for. And there's virtues that are affirmed throughout Scripture. The virtue that I believe is under assault. Whenever you insinuate or even directly say that Puerto Ricans are garbage, is the imago day the virtue that I believe you offend whenever you say, hey, all Trump supporters are garbage is the imago day. De. What is de amigo? De it comes from Genesis 126 and 27, where we read these words that God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? It means that every human being, every creature, every human creature that God has made, every human being bears the image of God. And if we bear the image of God to offend, then to mock, to ridicule, to put down, to belittle a human being is to mock his creator, her creator. It's a direct offense to God. So we can't let go of that virtue. But how do we hold on to it while we have to vote, and we have to participate in this political system in our. We're going to talk about that. I want to hear from you. How can a church avoid losing its virtue? Eight. Seven. Seven. Five. Four. Eight. 36. 75. We'll be right back.

Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of equipped with Chris Brooks! I'm so thrilled that you've joined us today. Can you do me a favor? Strap on your seat belt. We're going to navigate through the contours of culture, as always, with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But before we do that, let me remind you, this is the day that the Lord has made. He has given it as a gift so that you and I can rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. And with that, I welcome you into what will be a very interactive edition of equip. And I promise you, you're going to want to call in. Let me give you the number 877548 3675. How do we avoid losing our virtues during this election season? That's what I want to talk about today, because I feel like our virtues are under assault in this election season. As the election day approaches, negative campaign ads and toxic rhetoric has unfortunately intensified on all sides, and I think that it's expected to continue to increase in the few days that we have between now and November 5th. But yet, as Christians, we have to ask ourselves, how do we participate in this, uh, electoral process, which, again, if you've been listening to this program, you'll hear me say again and again that we should participate, that you and I, one of the ways that we love our neighbors, one of the ways that we express our influence over the values of our community and our country is through our vote. And I highly encourage you to do that. We need to vote. We need to vote with biblical consciences. that that really understand and grasp the gospel deeply as best that we know how. But yet in the midst of it, we also recognize that we are participating in a fallen and flawed system. We are not in heaven. We are not in a utopia. We are on earth. And as long as you are on Earth, you are dealing with a lot of brokenness and fallenness. And such is the case this week. The ugliness of campaigning and politics reared its ugly head again. Now, I think we all understand the concept of having to vote for people who don't fully match our virtues. I think all of us know what it's like to have to hold your breath in some areas while saying, man, this person's policies or this person's convictions align with mine and key areas. And even though I don't like their Uh, personality or don't like their articulation in these key areas and character matters. I don't want to make it seem like it doesn't, but yet we all know what it's like to say, I gotta vote for somebody that I don't fully align with. But how do you vote for someone who doesn't fully have your virtues without losing your virtues? This week we were confronted with what I would just call two very unwanted questions. Two questions that are so offensive to the mind that they're terrible to ask, let alone even answer. But yet they're on our social media pages. If you go there right now, and I would love for you to chime in right now, the first offensive question that we were confronted with earlier this week is, Are Puerto Ricans garbage? Are Puerto Ricans garbage? It's a question that I thought I'd never ask on this program. But yet, because of the times that we live in because of how toxic and negative this this current political season has gotten. Yet we find ourselves here. But yet there was a second question. It came on the heels of that, and while I was living in the fresh aftermath of anger, outrage, frustration concerning that question Are Puerto Ricans garbage? I was confronted with the second question, and that is, are Trump supporters garbage? Are Trump supporters garbage? And I find that question to be equally as offensive, equally as outrageous, equally as enraging. And yet these two questions have bookend the week so far, and we still have a few days before election. Now, in case you have not heard all of the banter about these two comments, let me give you a little bit of the backstory. Uh, this past weekend, Donald Trump, president former President Donald Trump held a rally, a pretty massive rally at Madison Square Garden. He invited 30 speakers to speak. There was a hours and hours worth of programming there, but one of the speakers captured the headlines and brought himself. I'm sure at this point, unwanted attention. His name is Tony Hinchcliffe. He brought attention to himself because of racist remarks he made. Now Tony Hinchcliffe is a comedian. He has a Netflix special. He's the type of comedian that typically is invited to a roast to mock or make fun of someone, but it's typically the type of roast or event that that person has willfully participated in, maybe even funded themselves. And it's considered to be lighthearted. But yet when you are using racism, using prejudice as a means of communicating at a presidential campaign rally. It takes on a whole new context and no one will convince me otherwise. Any argument that, hey, this is all just fun and laughs and banter, uh, to me doesn't reflect the seriousness of of of a presidential campaign rally, nor does it reflect the seriousness of the comments and the danger that in the way that these types of comments have, uh, in the midst of all of his jokes and I won't repeat them all, because before it was all said and done, he had said lewd comments and about and racist comments about Latinos and Jewish people and blacks. And he was an equal opportunist. And and again, he's a comedian, so he gets a pass. In general. I think context matters here. But yet in the midst of his joking and his minutes of speaking at the campaign rally at Madison Square Garden. He referred to Puerto Rico, the island of Puerto Rico, as a floating island of garbage. Um, this, as you would imagine, evoked anger and outrage and response primarily from Democrats who quickly condemned Tony for what he said and projected all that he said on everybody who was in that building, which I think is unfair to project what this comedian said on everybody who was in that building. I think we all know what it's like to much to our shame, to sit in a room and a lewd joke is made and out of just discomfort or awkwardness. Maybe we stay silent or maybe we even laugh at it. I'm not justifying it, but I think it would be hypocritical to pretend like we've never been there before. But yet the condemnations quickly came, and they should have quickly came. I think it's important for Christians to quickly respond to this type of thing. I think it's important that we say absolutely not that we say this is unacceptable. To think, let alone say it reminds me of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, that silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. So I think it's important that we address these things and not remain silent. And so the condemnations came. And I do want to just acknowledge, and I think this has been overlooked. The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe's joke. As a matter of fact, Danielle Alvarez, a Latino herself said this. The joke does not reflect the views of President Donald Trump or the campaign. She's a senior adviser. She quickly came out and condemned it. Well, on the heels of that, President Joe Biden was invited to speak to a group, and the group was a Hispanic advocacy group. Um, and it it has very strong Latino leadership. They invited him on Tuesday to give a response to, uh, Tony Hinchcliffe's joke and comedy at the Trump rally that was garnering so much attention, so much broad condemnation, which, again, rightfully so, for saying that the Puerto Rico is an island of floating garbage. But but, Donald, but, uh, President Biden's comments didn't make things better. He went on to say that he condemns the speaker's comments. He says that, um, that, uh, what what Tony Hinch, uh, Hinchcliffe said was unconscionable and un-American. He demonized Latinos. There's no place for that. The the Puerto Ricans I know, he went on to say, are good, decent and honorable people. To all of which I want to say amen and amen. But then he went on to say, the only garbage I see are his supporters labeling all of Trump's supporters garbage. Again, a firestorm breaks out about this now, and Republicans primarily begin to immediately condemn President Biden that for doing the very thing that he was criticizing. He was criticizing this comedian for calling a group of people garbage. And then he himself, as a sitting president, calls all the supporters of Donald Trump garbage, which is not only un-American, as he said, but also unconscionable. Now, again, I want to make sure that I'm fair in saying that. The Biden campaign later issued clarification, walked back the comment. Andrew Bates, who is a senior spokesperson for the white House, said that the president was was not referring to people, was not intending to refer to people, but rather the hateful rhetoric that was done at the Madison Square Garden rally as garbage that evening after President Biden made his gaffe, or whatever you want to call it, Kamala Harris came out, distanced herself from the president's statement, and said, I pledge to be a president for all people. I don't affirm those remarks and that was rare. Her and Tim Walz have distanced themselves from the comment because she typically has not distanced herself from President Biden. Now, what does all of this have to do with us? What all of this has to do with us is the fact that we're in a culture that it is becoming increasingly hard for us to be virtuous people. How do we hold on as Christians? Here's my question for you. How do we not get caught up in this and and not lose our virtue? Eight. 7756758775483675. I think the Bible is very clear. Here's what Peter says in second Peter one and five. He says, for this reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue. That we're supposed to add not only to our belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In other words, Christianity is not just a doctrinal system. It is not just a set of presuppositions that we're supposed to add something called character or virtue, a living out of the things that we profess to believe. This is the difference between hypocrisy and integrity. Hypocrisy is the distance between what you profess to believe and how you live. But integrity is consistency in those areas. That's what gives moral virtue or strength for a morally virtuous life. That's what we should be striving for. And there's virtues that are affirmed throughout Scripture. The virtue that I believe is under assault. Whenever you insinuate or even directly say that Puerto Ricans are garbage, is the imago day the virtue that I believe you offend whenever you say, hey, all Trump supporters are garbage is the imago day. De. What is de amigo? De it comes from Genesis 126 and 27, where we read these words that God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? It means that every human being, every creature, every human creature that God has made, every human being bears the image of God. And if we bear the image of God to offend, then to mock, to ridicule, to put down, to belittle a human being is to mock his creator, her creator. It's a direct offense to God. So we can't let go of that virtue. But how do we hold on to it while we have to vote, and we have to participate in this political system in our. We're going to talk about that. I want to hear from you. How can a church avoid losing its virtue? Eight. Seven. Seven. Five. Four. Eight. 36. 75. We'll be right back.

Are you looking for a practical way to live.

Are you looking for a practical way to live.

Out your faith? Place for a purpose offers a simple approach to loving your neighbors in real world ways. Chris and Elizabeth McKinney share their personal experiences and biblical insights to help you build meaningful relationships with those living closest to you. Learn how to turn your street into a community of care and connection. Request your copy of place for a purpose today. Call 888644 4144 or visit Equip radio.org. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks phone number 8775675. How do we participate in a culture. In a system. A political moment that is quickly losing virtue, that is quickly becoming virtue less and still maintain ours in a, in a in a culture in which. Comments that are toxic and offensive are being constantly thrown back and forth. Negative attack ads that as soon as you think they are as low as they can go, only go lower. How do we keep from losing our virtue? I'm arguing there's three virtues that we cannot afford to lose. The first virtue is the imago day. This virtue that every person is made in the image of God. We cannot afford to lose that virtue. The imago dei. Secondly, we can't afford to lose the virtue of love for neighbor. The Bible tells me to love my neighbor. And I'm going to tell you before it's all said and done, that every study I'm reading says that you and I, as Americans, are more suspicious of our neighbor, distrusting of our neighbors than any generation in the history of this country. So in a culture that distrusts neighbor, how do we protect our hearts from losing the virtue of loving our neighbor? Because the Bible tells us to do that. And then third, virtue is love for enemy loving our enemies. Do you know that that's a virtue that the Bible obligates you to do that? It's not even optional. You and I are mandated by Scripture that we must love our enemies. That is not a part of our cultural moment. As a matter of fact, I think that virtue is probably the most despised virtue of our cultural moment. That for you to profess, I love the candidate on the other side of the ticket, than what I'm voting for is to be considered an enemy. I don't care what party you're a part of. If you say I'm a Democrat, but I love Donald Trump, and I'm going to faithfully intercede for him and hope for the best for him. And I want him to receive the grace and the mercy that I received in Jesus man. Be ready for the backlash. Or if you're a Trump supporter and you're talking to somebody and you say, man, I love Biden and and Harris and man, I want God's best for them. And I'm praying for them that God's goodness would be their portion, that God would protect their children and their get ready for the backlash, because we are losing these virtues. Now I'm going to go to the phone line. But let me just be clear on the front end. Here's what I'm not looking for. I'm not looking for you to tell me who you're voting for. That's not what this discussion is about. You take that up between you and the Lord, but you make sure you are ready to stand before him and give an account. What I am interested in is how are you as a Christian? How are we as Christians, as as followers of Christ? What can we do to protect our hearts from reflecting the times that we live in? Because we're called to be boldly different, I hope we can all say Amen to that. Let's go to the phone lines. Teresa is listening in Tampa, Florida. Teresa, thank you so much for listening to equip. Thanks for your patience. What's your comment?

Out your faith? Place for a purpose offers a simple approach to loving your neighbors in real world ways. Chris and Elizabeth McKinney share their personal experiences and biblical insights to help you build meaningful relationships with those living closest to you. Learn how to turn your street into a community of care and connection. Request your copy of place for a purpose today. Call 888644 4144 or visit Equip radio.org. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks phone number 8775675. How do we participate in a culture. In a system. A political moment that is quickly losing virtue, that is quickly becoming virtue less and still maintain ours in a, in a in a culture in which. Comments that are toxic and offensive are being constantly thrown back and forth. Negative attack ads that as soon as you think they are as low as they can go, only go lower. How do we keep from losing our virtue? I'm arguing there's three virtues that we cannot afford to lose. The first virtue is the imago day. This virtue that every person is made in the image of God. We cannot afford to lose that virtue. The imago dei. Secondly, we can't afford to lose the virtue of love for neighbor. The Bible tells me to love my neighbor. And I'm going to tell you before it's all said and done, that every study I'm reading says that you and I, as Americans, are more suspicious of our neighbor, distrusting of our neighbors than any generation in the history of this country. So in a culture that distrusts neighbor, how do we protect our hearts from losing the virtue of loving our neighbor? Because the Bible tells us to do that. And then third, virtue is love for enemy loving our enemies. Do you know that that's a virtue that the Bible obligates you to do that? It's not even optional. You and I are mandated by Scripture that we must love our enemies. That is not a part of our cultural moment. As a matter of fact, I think that virtue is probably the most despised virtue of our cultural moment. That for you to profess, I love the candidate on the other side of the ticket, than what I'm voting for is to be considered an enemy. I don't care what party you're a part of. If you say I'm a Democrat, but I love Donald Trump, and I'm going to faithfully intercede for him and hope for the best for him. And I want him to receive the grace and the mercy that I received in Jesus man. Be ready for the backlash. Or if you're a Trump supporter and you're talking to somebody and you say, man, I love Biden and and Harris and man, I want God's best for them. And I'm praying for them that God's goodness would be their portion, that God would protect their children and their get ready for the backlash, because we are losing these virtues. Now I'm going to go to the phone line. But let me just be clear on the front end. Here's what I'm not looking for. I'm not looking for you to tell me who you're voting for. That's not what this discussion is about. You take that up between you and the Lord, but you make sure you are ready to stand before him and give an account. What I am interested in is how are you as a Christian? How are we as Christians, as as followers of Christ? What can we do to protect our hearts from reflecting the times that we live in? Because we're called to be boldly different, I hope we can all say Amen to that. Let's go to the phone lines. Teresa is listening in Tampa, Florida. Teresa, thank you so much for listening to equip. Thanks for your patience. What's your comment?

Good afternoon Chris. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Teresa. I do live in Tampa. I'm a mother of two toddler boys. I am an evangelical Christian. I grew up in the Pentecostal church. I'm also an attorney. I'm a family law attorney, so a lot of the line on the line here. But I just want to say, and I agree with you, I would never dream of telling anyone who to vote for. I just I'm guided by the Holy Spirit. His word is in me and Scripture guides me. And I'm I'm reminded now, I think we're being baited on, you know, by both sides and all the rhetoric to remember to speak the truth in love. That's what the Bible tells us to do. The the Lord's word is very clear. If we have the Holy Spirit, that Holy Spirit guides us to all truth. Um, and and he's always, you know, the Lord talks about the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized, and and he and he guides us to all truth. So if we if we're guided by Scripture, I think that that conviction will lead us to to make the right choices and to speak with love, whatever, wherever we stand in, to make those right decisions and whatever our views are, to speak in love, people are always going to have their views. People are always going to believe that. And we can still have our beliefs and be guided by faith and and what we want without being offensive, without being hurtful, because Jesus was never was never that, you know. And his followers were never about that. He he he spoke with love and in truth. And and that's what we need to find. How how do we do that? And that's how I'm convicted. I believe in, in this country the freedom of religion and the freedom to, you know, the freedom of speech. And so those things are important to me and to my family. Um, and so we just need to remember not to be baited. And James talks about when you speak, you know, the tongue is very powerful. It will poison your whole body. So remember passive, you know, and that's what I think that is the most important thing.

Good afternoon Chris. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Teresa. I do live in Tampa. I'm a mother of two toddler boys. I am an evangelical Christian. I grew up in the Pentecostal church. I'm also an attorney. I'm a family law attorney, so a lot of the line on the line here. But I just want to say, and I agree with you, I would never dream of telling anyone who to vote for. I just I'm guided by the Holy Spirit. His word is in me and Scripture guides me. And I'm I'm reminded now, I think we're being baited on, you know, by both sides and all the rhetoric to remember to speak the truth in love. That's what the Bible tells us to do. The the Lord's word is very clear. If we have the Holy Spirit, that Holy Spirit guides us to all truth. Um, and and he's always, you know, the Lord talks about the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized, and and he and he guides us to all truth. So if we if we're guided by Scripture, I think that that conviction will lead us to to make the right choices and to speak with love, whatever, wherever we stand in, to make those right decisions and whatever our views are, to speak in love, people are always going to have their views. People are always going to believe that. And we can still have our beliefs and be guided by faith and and what we want without being offensive, without being hurtful, because Jesus was never was never that, you know. And his followers were never about that. He he he spoke with love and in truth. And and that's what we need to find. How how do we do that? And that's how I'm convicted. I believe in, in this country the freedom of religion and the freedom to, you know, the freedom of speech. And so those things are important to me and to my family. Um, and so we just need to remember not to be baited. And James talks about when you speak, you know, the tongue is very powerful. It will poison your whole body. So remember passive, you know, and that's what I think that is the most important thing.

Well, let me just start by saying well said, well stated. Love the way you just articulated your heart. I think at the essence of what you just said, Teresa, that's most impactful to me is that you just modeled for us what it means to hold what Jesus says in higher esteem than what any particular candidate or party says, and I think that that's a principle we're going to have to adopt if we're not going to lose our virtue. Hear what Teresa is saying. She referenced, hey, this is what Jesus says. And even when one party or party or the other baits me into wanting to either laugh with their inappropriate comments or affirm hate filled words, or to retaliate in kind, I can't do that because I am bound by a higher statement. I'm bound by the words of Jesus, which is higher than anyone else's words. I also will say this that Teresa calls us in a very important way to make sure we know our values apart from party platform, because what you will notice over time is that party platforms will ebb and flow with the waves and the winds of the current cultural moment. So a party platform and one cycle may affirm certain things that you align with. But then in another cycle they may say, no, we're stepping away from those things because at the end of the day, for most politicians, it's about getting elected, right? And that's the game of politics. But we can't play that game. What we have to know is, apart from party platform, what do I believe? And inasmuch as somebody aligns with what I believe, I can say Amen, I can support them. But in the moment where they don't, I'm not I'm not drifting. I'm not wavering because I know what I believe and I'm standing firm on those beliefs. It requires discernment, certainly humility. But I appreciate Teresa's comments. Thank you Teresa. Let's go to Sandra. Sandra is also listening in Florida. Hey Sandra, thank you for listening. What's your comment?

Well, let me just start by saying well said, well stated. Love the way you just articulated your heart. I think at the essence of what you just said, Teresa, that's most impactful to me is that you just modeled for us what it means to hold what Jesus says in higher esteem than what any particular candidate or party says, and I think that that's a principle we're going to have to adopt if we're not going to lose our virtue. Hear what Teresa is saying. She referenced, hey, this is what Jesus says. And even when one party or party or the other baits me into wanting to either laugh with their inappropriate comments or affirm hate filled words, or to retaliate in kind, I can't do that because I am bound by a higher statement. I'm bound by the words of Jesus, which is higher than anyone else's words. I also will say this that Teresa calls us in a very important way to make sure we know our values apart from party platform, because what you will notice over time is that party platforms will ebb and flow with the waves and the winds of the current cultural moment. So a party platform and one cycle may affirm certain things that you align with. But then in another cycle they may say, no, we're stepping away from those things because at the end of the day, for most politicians, it's about getting elected, right? And that's the game of politics. But we can't play that game. What we have to know is, apart from party platform, what do I believe? And inasmuch as somebody aligns with what I believe, I can say Amen, I can support them. But in the moment where they don't, I'm not I'm not drifting. I'm not wavering because I know what I believe and I'm standing firm on those beliefs. It requires discernment, certainly humility. But I appreciate Teresa's comments. Thank you Teresa. Let's go to Sandra. Sandra is also listening in Florida. Hey Sandra, thank you for listening. What's your comment?

Hi. It's nice to talk with you. I enjoy your show. So, um, and I just, um, as far as my whole thing is prayer, um, and, and following God's word and getting deep into the scriptures and understanding what God wants us to be as his people, he created us. And I believe in sanctity of life. And I know the sides on both sides. Nobody's protecting it 100%. But value wise, I'm looking at who protects it the most because God wants his people, his children, to be protected. Um, I look in Psalms with God is for every nation. God. He's a he's a righteous God. He will stand up for us. Um, he is, um. He's our father. He's our God. He's our comforter. So in this time of of voting, and I know there's some people that are all stressed out about it, but you just dive back into his scriptures and I love Psalms. I those are my that's my go to Who, when I feel like something is going wrong in my life, it's like, oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully a rock of salvation.

Hi. It's nice to talk with you. I enjoy your show. So, um, and I just, um, as far as my whole thing is prayer, um, and, and following God's word and getting deep into the scriptures and understanding what God wants us to be as his people, he created us. And I believe in sanctity of life. And I know the sides on both sides. Nobody's protecting it 100%. But value wise, I'm looking at who protects it the most because God wants his people, his children, to be protected. Um, I look in Psalms with God is for every nation. God. He's a he's a righteous God. He will stand up for us. Um, he is, um. He's our father. He's our God. He's our comforter. So in this time of of voting, and I know there's some people that are all stressed out about it, but you just dive back into his scriptures and I love Psalms. I those are my that's my go to Who, when I feel like something is going wrong in my life, it's like, oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully a rock of salvation.

You know what I love about that, Sandra, is that I got a 14 year old son. And every year we go through different book of the Bible in our devotional time together. This year it's Psalms. So every morning we're studying the Psalms together. So I just want to say amen to what you just said. Teresa. I'm sorry. Sandra said, hey, we got to pray. And I love that she says that because prayer recognizes in humility my need and dependency upon the Lord mean not putting too much confidence in the flesh. Listen to what Timothy tells his son in the ministry. I'm sorry, Paul tells his son in the ministry, Timothy, he says, you then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is yours in Christ Jesus. We gotta be strengthened by a grace that's not ours, but it's Jesus. Jesus is the one who strengthens us. I get that strength through prayer, through His word. I appreciate Sandra's remarks. How do we keep from losing our virtue? I want to hear from you. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks. Hey there, friends, Chris Brooks here. I want to take a moment to invite you to our next Equip Resume webinar coming up on Thursday, November 14th, right after the program. Our nation is facing an unprecedented election this year. As Christians, we also have an unprecedented opportunity to impact our circle of influence. What will that look like in your family, your church, and your community? Join us for a practical, biblical discussion about living beyond politics in a post-election America. We clippers. Look for an email from me with the registration details for this free webinar. Not an equipper and want to attend? Become a monthly partner by calling 888644 4144 and going online to equip radio.org. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. Today we're talking about how do we hold on to our virtues in the political season. That seems to lack much virtue. Uh, yet and still we're called to participate. And I want to encourage you to do so. If you've not registered to vote, do it. If you are registered to vote, do it. Uh, we need to make sure that, um, we're not silent in this moment. We need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to exercise, um, the level of influence, proportionally, that we have been entrusted to or entrusted with. It's it's it's a stewardship, uh, issue. And it's an opportunity for us to love our neighbor. Uh, but I highlighted in the beginning of the program, if you were with us this week, we were confronted with two very unwanted. Wanted and really terrible comments and and questions. One was posed by a comedian who was invited to a rally at Madison Square Garden held by former President Trump. Massive rally, 30 speakers spanning hours. One of the speakers who would have been otherwise forgettable, but because of a series of racist and lewd and incendiary remarks that he made about a whole host of people from blacks to Jews to Latinos, said, in essence, that Puerto Rico was a floating island of garbage. And there's several ways I recognize that that could be interpreted. But many people took that personally. And I understand the the outrage, the anger. But on the heels of that, current President Joe Biden's response was that the only garbage he saw were Trump supporters. Both comments offend the virtue of Imago Dei. We're called to recognize the image of God on all human beings. We're also called to love our neighbors. We're even called as Christians to a higher calling of loving our enemies. So my question to you today is not who you're voting for. I recognize are no perfect people. Whoever you vote for is going to have some level of disalignment. You're not going to find a perfect person who will align with your values. That's for another topic, another day. How do we navigate that dilemma today? My question is, how do we who are participating in this environment? And let me just say real quickly and then I'm going to go to Joanna. So, Joanna, stay on the line. Um, but there's three things that I think make it really hard for us to hold on to our virtues in this political environment. One is the temptation to return evil for evil. I think that that's the temptation. is that. Oh, you hit me. I'm going to hit you back. You go low. I'm going to go lower. That's the current cultural moment. Secondly, I think it's hard for us to hold on to our virtues because of the success of evil doers or the success of people who are casting aside virtues. Like, it's one thing, if you're not successful and you forget about virtues, it's a whole nother thing if you don't act virtuous, but yet you're succeeding at not acting virtuously, then that causes people to step back and say, well, maybe I'm the fool. Maybe I should act in a way that's not virtuous, because look at all the people who are succeeding at not being virtuous. Don't give in to that, friends. Thirdly, our culture, our culture no longer values virtues. It looks at virtues as weakness. So how do we navigate in these current cultural waters? I've been taking your calls. You guys have been giving really insightful comments. I want to go back to the phone line. Joanna, thank you so much for listening. Joanne is in Georgia. I so appreciate you listening. What's your comment?

You know what I love about that, Sandra, is that I got a 14 year old son. And every year we go through different book of the Bible in our devotional time together. This year it's Psalms. So every morning we're studying the Psalms together. So I just want to say amen to what you just said. Teresa. I'm sorry. Sandra said, hey, we got to pray. And I love that she says that because prayer recognizes in humility my need and dependency upon the Lord mean not putting too much confidence in the flesh. Listen to what Timothy tells his son in the ministry. I'm sorry, Paul tells his son in the ministry, Timothy, he says, you then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is yours in Christ Jesus. We gotta be strengthened by a grace that's not ours, but it's Jesus. Jesus is the one who strengthens us. I get that strength through prayer, through His word. I appreciate Sandra's remarks. How do we keep from losing our virtue? I want to hear from you. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks. Hey there, friends, Chris Brooks here. I want to take a moment to invite you to our next Equip Resume webinar coming up on Thursday, November 14th, right after the program. Our nation is facing an unprecedented election this year. As Christians, we also have an unprecedented opportunity to impact our circle of influence. What will that look like in your family, your church, and your community? Join us for a practical, biblical discussion about living beyond politics in a post-election America. We clippers. Look for an email from me with the registration details for this free webinar. Not an equipper and want to attend? Become a monthly partner by calling 888644 4144 and going online to equip radio.org. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. Today we're talking about how do we hold on to our virtues in the political season. That seems to lack much virtue. Uh, yet and still we're called to participate. And I want to encourage you to do so. If you've not registered to vote, do it. If you are registered to vote, do it. Uh, we need to make sure that, um, we're not silent in this moment. We need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to exercise, um, the level of influence, proportionally, that we have been entrusted to or entrusted with. It's it's it's a stewardship, uh, issue. And it's an opportunity for us to love our neighbor. Uh, but I highlighted in the beginning of the program, if you were with us this week, we were confronted with two very unwanted. Wanted and really terrible comments and and questions. One was posed by a comedian who was invited to a rally at Madison Square Garden held by former President Trump. Massive rally, 30 speakers spanning hours. One of the speakers who would have been otherwise forgettable, but because of a series of racist and lewd and incendiary remarks that he made about a whole host of people from blacks to Jews to Latinos, said, in essence, that Puerto Rico was a floating island of garbage. And there's several ways I recognize that that could be interpreted. But many people took that personally. And I understand the the outrage, the anger. But on the heels of that, current President Joe Biden's response was that the only garbage he saw were Trump supporters. Both comments offend the virtue of Imago Dei. We're called to recognize the image of God on all human beings. We're also called to love our neighbors. We're even called as Christians to a higher calling of loving our enemies. So my question to you today is not who you're voting for. I recognize are no perfect people. Whoever you vote for is going to have some level of disalignment. You're not going to find a perfect person who will align with your values. That's for another topic, another day. How do we navigate that dilemma today? My question is, how do we who are participating in this environment? And let me just say real quickly and then I'm going to go to Joanna. So, Joanna, stay on the line. Um, but there's three things that I think make it really hard for us to hold on to our virtues in this political environment. One is the temptation to return evil for evil. I think that that's the temptation. is that. Oh, you hit me. I'm going to hit you back. You go low. I'm going to go lower. That's the current cultural moment. Secondly, I think it's hard for us to hold on to our virtues because of the success of evil doers or the success of people who are casting aside virtues. Like, it's one thing, if you're not successful and you forget about virtues, it's a whole nother thing if you don't act virtuous, but yet you're succeeding at not acting virtuously, then that causes people to step back and say, well, maybe I'm the fool. Maybe I should act in a way that's not virtuous, because look at all the people who are succeeding at not being virtuous. Don't give in to that, friends. Thirdly, our culture, our culture no longer values virtues. It looks at virtues as weakness. So how do we navigate in these current cultural waters? I've been taking your calls. You guys have been giving really insightful comments. I want to go back to the phone line. Joanna, thank you so much for listening. Joanne is in Georgia. I so appreciate you listening. What's your comment?

Hi. Um, first time caller here. So thank you for letting me speak on the show. Yeah, and I appreciate it. So, um, um, I looked up the definition of virtue, okay. And it says it's a moral excellence, goodness, righteousness, conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles, uprightness and rectitude. And so, um, that's part of it. And I'm sure chastity, virginity. There's a lot of things that we can say about virtue. But what I wanted to address today is, um, what has been said about either party and either situation on the right, left, middle, whatever, wants. Which one you want to say? Um, as a person of color and as a person who has been in life a lot, I think that you get what you put out there. And for what happened to, um, the the speech and you said it, um, there was calls on all sides. He did. He was an equal opportunity funny person. Now, this person did not hit with me. To me, he was not funny at all. Um, I listened to the most of it, what was said. And I also listened to a lot of people of color and what they said afterwards, particularly Puerto Ricans. And a lot of them were not offended, and some of them were. It was half and half. Um, when Mr., um, President Biden said, if you don't vote for me because you're not you're not black. I don't know if you said anything about that on your show. I don't know if I listened to that particular thing, but I think if we're going to do this, we're going to do this on all sides. And how the racism and the baiting goes on, supposedly both sides. But this was supposed to be a joke and we are so sensitive and Uber sensitive before, I don't think ten years ago, would that have hit, would that have made a comment? Would that have caused problems? No. But now, because we're so Uber sensitive on every single thing that is now race baiting, that is now, oh, this is so prejudiced. This is so racist. This is so can I.

Hi. Um, first time caller here. So thank you for letting me speak on the show. Yeah, and I appreciate it. So, um, um, I looked up the definition of virtue, okay. And it says it's a moral excellence, goodness, righteousness, conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles, uprightness and rectitude. And so, um, that's part of it. And I'm sure chastity, virginity. There's a lot of things that we can say about virtue. But what I wanted to address today is, um, what has been said about either party and either situation on the right, left, middle, whatever, wants. Which one you want to say? Um, as a person of color and as a person who has been in life a lot, I think that you get what you put out there. And for what happened to, um, the the speech and you said it, um, there was calls on all sides. He did. He was an equal opportunity funny person. Now, this person did not hit with me. To me, he was not funny at all. Um, I listened to the most of it, what was said. And I also listened to a lot of people of color and what they said afterwards, particularly Puerto Ricans. And a lot of them were not offended, and some of them were. It was half and half. Um, when Mr., um, President Biden said, if you don't vote for me because you're not you're not black. I don't know if you said anything about that on your show. I don't know if I listened to that particular thing, but I think if we're going to do this, we're going to do this on all sides. And how the racism and the baiting goes on, supposedly both sides. But this was supposed to be a joke and we are so sensitive and Uber sensitive before, I don't think ten years ago, would that have hit, would that have made a comment? Would that have caused problems? No. But now, because we're so Uber sensitive on every single thing that is now race baiting, that is now, oh, this is so prejudiced. This is so racist. This is so can I.

Can I say one thing? Can I say one thing, one thing, Joanna, about this. And this is where I agree with you. This is where I disagree with you. Um, number one, 100% hold all parties accountable. Biden was just as wrong. I was offended as a black man when he says, hey, if you don't vote for me, you ain't black. Like, who are you to tell me if I'm black or not? Like, you know. So. So yeah, I was offended by that. And I also highlighted, I don't know if you heard at the beginning, but him calling all Trump supporters garbage. It's the same. Let's go lower with each other. One upsmanship and it's foolishness. This is where I disagree with you. Ten years ago, that would have never even been at a presidential rally. It's the setting that matters. It's not the joke. That guy, if he did that on a Netflix special, nobody's talking about it. Nobody even knew who he was before this week. And he'll be forgettable after this week. More than likely with, with with those types of things. And that's been his shtick. He's been doing that type of comedy, I think. And I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. I think it's the fact that our politics have gotten so unvirtuous that we invite those types of speakers to presidential rallies. That's the issue. I don't think that we've become so sensitive about joking, but it feels to me like it's the context and the place that causes the problem. What are your thoughts about that, Joanna?

Can I say one thing? Can I say one thing, one thing, Joanna, about this. And this is where I agree with you. This is where I disagree with you. Um, number one, 100% hold all parties accountable. Biden was just as wrong. I was offended as a black man when he says, hey, if you don't vote for me, you ain't black. Like, who are you to tell me if I'm black or not? Like, you know. So. So yeah, I was offended by that. And I also highlighted, I don't know if you heard at the beginning, but him calling all Trump supporters garbage. It's the same. Let's go lower with each other. One upsmanship and it's foolishness. This is where I disagree with you. Ten years ago, that would have never even been at a presidential rally. It's the setting that matters. It's not the joke. That guy, if he did that on a Netflix special, nobody's talking about it. Nobody even knew who he was before this week. And he'll be forgettable after this week. More than likely with, with with those types of things. And that's been his shtick. He's been doing that type of comedy, I think. And I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. I think it's the fact that our politics have gotten so unvirtuous that we invite those types of speakers to presidential rallies. That's the issue. I don't think that we've become so sensitive about joking, but it feels to me like it's the context and the place that causes the problem. What are your thoughts about that, Joanna?

I still think it's Uber sensitive. Um, sir. Um, and yes, you are correct. The placing the timing of everything, um, has probably caused it to even, like you said, if he was doing it on a special on Netflix, nobody would care. And if this is the kind of jokes that he does on a regular, nobody really cares. But because it was at a conference or a DNC rally, then everybody cares. Because now speech is weaponized for both. Yeah. And I think that we have weaponized hate. We have weaponized race. We have weaponized so many things that now, if I even talk to somebody or you and I talk to somebody, or we have even weaponized Disagreement. I can't disagree with you without it being coming. Hate. I can't disagree with you and have a difference of opinion without me being racist or whatever. And what Biden said. He's been saying a different things about people of color or the other side. And what, um, Trump says he's been saying these little snarky names and these different things like that on both sides.

I still think it's Uber sensitive. Um, sir. Um, and yes, you are correct. The placing the timing of everything, um, has probably caused it to even, like you said, if he was doing it on a special on Netflix, nobody would care. And if this is the kind of jokes that he does on a regular, nobody really cares. But because it was at a conference or a DNC rally, then everybody cares. Because now speech is weaponized for both. Yeah. And I think that we have weaponized hate. We have weaponized race. We have weaponized so many things that now, if I even talk to somebody or you and I talk to somebody, or we have even weaponized Disagreement. I can't disagree with you without it being coming. Hate. I can't disagree with you and have a difference of opinion without me being racist or whatever. And what Biden said. He's been saying a different things about people of color or the other side. And what, um, Trump says he's been saying these little snarky names and these different things like that on both sides.

So let me just say.

So let me just say.

He came on and she said, um, that she's voting for policies and what she believes is what is the lesser evil, if you will. And so, um, based on that, look at what I've had to do, um, is read what's being said, get it transcribed. Because when.

He came on and she said, um, that she's voting for policies and what she believes is what is the lesser evil, if you will. And so, um, based on that, look at what I've had to do, um, is read what's being said, get it transcribed. Because when.

I'm listening.

I'm listening.

Soundbites can be. Yeah, yeah.

Soundbites can be. Yeah, yeah.

No, I, I fully agree with you. Let me just say this, Joanna. Very well stated. Love what you just articulated. And on this show we can disagree and still love each other. So I appreciate you calling. Hopefully you keep listening and that you call in again because I love love your comments. Appreciate Joanna giving us a call 877548 3675. By the way, I think Joanna is right. You got to read things because if all you're doing is looking at soundbites, it's not that editorial stuff doesn't happen in writing, but it certainly happens with our nightly news or our favorite podcast. Whatever you're going to, you're going to get edited versions. So try your best in your quest to get to the truth, to read context as much as possible. Let's go back to the phone lines. A lot of calls. I'm going to try to get to as many as I can. Trey is listening in Lakeland, Florida. Trey, thank you so much for listening. What's your comment?

No, I, I fully agree with you. Let me just say this, Joanna. Very well stated. Love what you just articulated. And on this show we can disagree and still love each other. So I appreciate you calling. Hopefully you keep listening and that you call in again because I love love your comments. Appreciate Joanna giving us a call 877548 3675. By the way, I think Joanna is right. You got to read things because if all you're doing is looking at soundbites, it's not that editorial stuff doesn't happen in writing, but it certainly happens with our nightly news or our favorite podcast. Whatever you're going to, you're going to get edited versions. So try your best in your quest to get to the truth, to read context as much as possible. Let's go back to the phone lines. A lot of calls. I'm going to try to get to as many as I can. Trey is listening in Lakeland, Florida. Trey, thank you so much for listening. What's your comment?

Hey, how are you doing, man? Thanks for having me. Um, I just want to say that we will have to. We need to stay focused on Christ. Um, something that came to my heart, even though it might be a little bit out of context, but I think it can be applied is when Peter took his eyes off Christ and he started sinking. I feel like we could start sinking whenever we get too fixated on this stuff on the outside, but when we stay focused on Christ, we can keep our virtue because he is the whole, you know, epitome of virtue. He is the definition of it. So when we keep our eyes and we stay focused on him, we can be virtuous.

Hey, how are you doing, man? Thanks for having me. Um, I just want to say that we will have to. We need to stay focused on Christ. Um, something that came to my heart, even though it might be a little bit out of context, but I think it can be applied is when Peter took his eyes off Christ and he started sinking. I feel like we could start sinking whenever we get too fixated on this stuff on the outside, but when we stay focused on Christ, we can keep our virtue because he is the whole, you know, epitome of virtue. He is the definition of it. So when we keep our eyes and we stay focused on him, we can be virtuous.

Man, I love what you're saying. I'll be honest with you. I think as a pastor now, I'm a pastor. As a pastor, this is the hardest thing about the ministry moment that we're currently in. There are so many people who want pastors to get so political that we kind of, for a season, set Jesus aside, and let's just focus in on politics. And I think that's a terrible path to go down. We got to fix our eyes on Jesus, in particular in the corporate gathering when we come together as believers. I saw a really popular Christian, uh, post recently that, hey, if your pastor is not telling you who to vote for, he might as well be telling you to support abortion. And and he might as well be not a pastor. And you shouldn't be at that church or whatever. Listen, what you need your pastor to tell you about is who to put your faith and trust in. You need your pastor to remind you that Jesus is coming back again, and to make sure your soul is ready. You need your pastor to preach to you about the Beatitudes. You need your pastor to preach to you. Genesis through revelation. When you come together, the measure of your pastor is not whether or not they're talking to you about partisan politics all the time. The measure of your pastor is, are they talking to you about the gospel? And if they're doing that, they're doing their job. And I love what Trey just said. I don't want to hijack his comment, but I do think it's important that we fix our eyes on Jesus, and we need that constant Reinforcement. Not to say there aren't places and platforms to have these more partisan discussions. We need to talk about issues. We need to make sure that people are being challenged to take what they know to be true, and applying it to how they engage civically and politically. But we need to make sure we're doing those in the right spaces and places all the time, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. Well, when we come back, I want to talk to you about the most dangerous way to respond to all that we talked about today. How do we avoid this? The most dangerous response to everything we talked about. Up next on equip. Here on equip, it's our goal to help listeners like you to understand and apply biblical truth to the issues we encounter in our culture, our community, and our home. But we need your help. Will you join our family of Equippers by making an ongoing monthly donation to equip? When you do, you'll have exclusive access to regular encouragement from me, as well as our equipment, webinars, and other special offers. Become an Equipper today. Call 888644 4144 or visit equip radio.org. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks. Grateful for you tuning in. We are six days away from a pretty important and enormous moment in the history of our nation. Next Tuesday is the election and I hope that you're praying. I hope you're already looking at a sample of your ballot so you can go in and form the first time you see your ballot should not be when you walk into that voting booth. Go online. Type in your district. Look online at a copy of your ballot so you can know what proposals are on there, so you can know what offices are being elected. Let me remind you, even if you find yourself in the unenviable position of saying, I can't vote for either of these candidates, I just want you to remember there is far more on your ballot than just the the president, that office. In many places there are congressmen and women up for vote. Senate seats up for vote. Some on local levels have school board positions up for vote. University trustee positions. These are all important. Some have proposals on their ballot. I know our friends in Florida are in the midst of a pretty intense battle over the sanctity of life. Certainly praying for Florida. So make sure you get in there and make sure you vote. But as you do, hold on to your virtue. Hold on to your virtue. We're going to take one more call. Let's go to Miguel, who's listening in Florida. Hey, Miguel, thank you so much for calling. What's your comment, my friend?

Man, I love what you're saying. I'll be honest with you. I think as a pastor now, I'm a pastor. As a pastor, this is the hardest thing about the ministry moment that we're currently in. There are so many people who want pastors to get so political that we kind of, for a season, set Jesus aside, and let's just focus in on politics. And I think that's a terrible path to go down. We got to fix our eyes on Jesus, in particular in the corporate gathering when we come together as believers. I saw a really popular Christian, uh, post recently that, hey, if your pastor is not telling you who to vote for, he might as well be telling you to support abortion. And and he might as well be not a pastor. And you shouldn't be at that church or whatever. Listen, what you need your pastor to tell you about is who to put your faith and trust in. You need your pastor to remind you that Jesus is coming back again, and to make sure your soul is ready. You need your pastor to preach to you about the Beatitudes. You need your pastor to preach to you. Genesis through revelation. When you come together, the measure of your pastor is not whether or not they're talking to you about partisan politics all the time. The measure of your pastor is, are they talking to you about the gospel? And if they're doing that, they're doing their job. And I love what Trey just said. I don't want to hijack his comment, but I do think it's important that we fix our eyes on Jesus, and we need that constant Reinforcement. Not to say there aren't places and platforms to have these more partisan discussions. We need to talk about issues. We need to make sure that people are being challenged to take what they know to be true, and applying it to how they engage civically and politically. But we need to make sure we're doing those in the right spaces and places all the time, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. Well, when we come back, I want to talk to you about the most dangerous way to respond to all that we talked about today. How do we avoid this? The most dangerous response to everything we talked about. Up next on equip. Here on equip, it's our goal to help listeners like you to understand and apply biblical truth to the issues we encounter in our culture, our community, and our home. But we need your help. Will you join our family of Equippers by making an ongoing monthly donation to equip? When you do, you'll have exclusive access to regular encouragement from me, as well as our equipment, webinars, and other special offers. Become an Equipper today. Call 888644 4144 or visit equip radio.org. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks. Grateful for you tuning in. We are six days away from a pretty important and enormous moment in the history of our nation. Next Tuesday is the election and I hope that you're praying. I hope you're already looking at a sample of your ballot so you can go in and form the first time you see your ballot should not be when you walk into that voting booth. Go online. Type in your district. Look online at a copy of your ballot so you can know what proposals are on there, so you can know what offices are being elected. Let me remind you, even if you find yourself in the unenviable position of saying, I can't vote for either of these candidates, I just want you to remember there is far more on your ballot than just the the president, that office. In many places there are congressmen and women up for vote. Senate seats up for vote. Some on local levels have school board positions up for vote. University trustee positions. These are all important. Some have proposals on their ballot. I know our friends in Florida are in the midst of a pretty intense battle over the sanctity of life. Certainly praying for Florida. So make sure you get in there and make sure you vote. But as you do, hold on to your virtue. Hold on to your virtue. We're going to take one more call. Let's go to Miguel, who's listening in Florida. Hey, Miguel, thank you so much for calling. What's your comment, my friend?

Hi, Chris. May God bless you and keep you and thank you for what you're doing. Um, before I share very quickly what I would like to, I want just to mention that I am a Puerto Rican. I am a veteran, I will speak, thank you. As a Christian.

Hi, Chris. May God bless you and keep you and thank you for what you're doing. Um, before I share very quickly what I would like to, I want just to mention that I am a Puerto Rican. I am a veteran, I will speak, thank you. As a Christian.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You're welcome. Um, I will speak as a as a Christian, mainly because that's what you're looking for. And yes, sir, we must we must realize that this is just a reflection of what has happened with the human race. It's not only in the United States. This is our reality. We knew about this. The Bible speaks about this. That as much as we walk away from God's, uh, word, this is going to happen here and there in every, uh, phase in our life. So saying that, what I mean is that I have ever never voted for one party or the other, because it is impossible that, uh, 100% is good and the other 100% bad. So I voted for Trump in 2016. I voted for Biden in 2020, so I do not identify with neither one. This is what I try to do. I try to get myself informed with what they say they're going to do, because we really only our good faith is only in God. It's the one that will not let us down. They could say anything. They do want to get elected, as you mentioned before. So I have always try to get informed as much as I can. Pray and hope that they do what is right, and we just need to be ready and we need to stand because we know we are. This might sound kind of rough, but we are a minority in the United States is no longer as it was and we knew this was going to happen. So we need to fulfill our responsibility. We need to pray. And just one more thing that I would like to say, because I heard one of your callers, which all of them have been great, um, oversensitive. No, this is not the case. If people really knew, what is their relationship with the USA and Puerto Rico? And that phrase is very bad. Yeah. Uh, you will you will be hurt. Uh, and on the other side, uh, the other one saying the voters or the people that vote for this party are garbage, as you mentioned, they are both wrong. So we just need to stand on the cross. God help us out. Give us the wisdom. Let's keep praying and let's keep reading the Bible and let's move forward. Miguel, first you and keep you.

You're welcome. Um, I will speak as a as a Christian, mainly because that's what you're looking for. And yes, sir, we must we must realize that this is just a reflection of what has happened with the human race. It's not only in the United States. This is our reality. We knew about this. The Bible speaks about this. That as much as we walk away from God's, uh, word, this is going to happen here and there in every, uh, phase in our life. So saying that, what I mean is that I have ever never voted for one party or the other, because it is impossible that, uh, 100% is good and the other 100% bad. So I voted for Trump in 2016. I voted for Biden in 2020, so I do not identify with neither one. This is what I try to do. I try to get myself informed with what they say they're going to do, because we really only our good faith is only in God. It's the one that will not let us down. They could say anything. They do want to get elected, as you mentioned before. So I have always try to get informed as much as I can. Pray and hope that they do what is right, and we just need to be ready and we need to stand because we know we are. This might sound kind of rough, but we are a minority in the United States is no longer as it was and we knew this was going to happen. So we need to fulfill our responsibility. We need to pray. And just one more thing that I would like to say, because I heard one of your callers, which all of them have been great, um, oversensitive. No, this is not the case. If people really knew, what is their relationship with the USA and Puerto Rico? And that phrase is very bad. Yeah. Uh, you will you will be hurt. Uh, and on the other side, uh, the other one saying the voters or the people that vote for this party are garbage, as you mentioned, they are both wrong. So we just need to stand on the cross. God help us out. Give us the wisdom. Let's keep praying and let's keep reading the Bible and let's move forward. Miguel, first you and keep you.

First off, as a veteran, I want to say thank you. Veterans day, not too far away. I want to say thank you for serving my friend, and you bring up something in addition to what you just said, that you've done, that I want to encourage all of us to do, and that is to figure out ways we can serve in our local communities in this country to make a difference. More than just voting, it's rolling up your sleeves. Serve at a pregnancy resource center. Make sure you're serving in local ways. Maybe on your school board. Maybe it's serving as a police officer. Maybe it's like McGill signing up to say I'll serve in the military. Find a way to be more than just someone who complains. Someone who just votes but doesn't do anything. Make a difference by rolling up your sleeves. Friends. The worst thing we can do is to reflect the culture. We're not called to be thermometers. We're called to be thermostats. Thermostats set the temperature. Thermometers reflect the temperature. Let's make sure that we're setting the temperature. We can choose how we respond. That's the quiet revolution. And if we do that, then revival will come one person, one heart at a time, as we point people to our only hope. And that is in Jesus Christ. I can't wait till we're together again next time. Until then, I want to say thank you to everybody who called in and remember. Equipped with Chris Brooks's production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Hey there, friends, Chris Brooks here as we consider the conflict in the Middle East. One of the questions that must be answered is who owns the Land of Israel? Author and professor Doctor Charlie Dyer will join me to give us a historical context on the war in Israel. We'll also take your questions on the next equip. Listen live weekdays at 1:00 eastern Noon Central on the Moody Radio app, or equip radio.org.

First off, as a veteran, I want to say thank you. Veterans day, not too far away. I want to say thank you for serving my friend, and you bring up something in addition to what you just said, that you've done, that I want to encourage all of us to do, and that is to figure out ways we can serve in our local communities in this country to make a difference. More than just voting, it's rolling up your sleeves. Serve at a pregnancy resource center. Make sure you're serving in local ways. Maybe on your school board. Maybe it's serving as a police officer. Maybe it's like McGill signing up to say I'll serve in the military. Find a way to be more than just someone who complains. Someone who just votes but doesn't do anything. Make a difference by rolling up your sleeves. Friends. The worst thing we can do is to reflect the culture. We're not called to be thermometers. We're called to be thermostats. Thermostats set the temperature. Thermometers reflect the temperature. Let's make sure that we're setting the temperature. We can choose how we respond. That's the quiet revolution. And if we do that, then revival will come one person, one heart at a time, as we point people to our only hope. And that is in Jesus Christ. I can't wait till we're together again next time. Until then, I want to say thank you to everybody who called in and remember. Equipped with Chris Brooks's production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Hey there, friends, Chris Brooks here as we consider the conflict in the Middle East. One of the questions that must be answered is who owns the Land of Israel? Author and professor Doctor Charlie Dyer will join me to give us a historical context on the war in Israel. We'll also take your questions on the next equip. Listen live weekdays at 1:00 eastern Noon Central on the Moody Radio app, or equip radio.org.