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May 30, 2024 · 49 minutes

Pastor Joseph Parker, host of The Hour of Intercession, steps into “The Corner” to discuss The Ten Commandments Challenge.

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Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Matthew 23:27-28. One word characterizes 21st Century America: lawlessness. 15:00 - 31:00. Pastor Joseph Parker, host of The Hour of Intercession, steps into “The Corner” to discuss The Ten Commandments Challenge. 31:00 - 48:00. Pastor Parker shares wisdom he’s acquired during his more than 47 years of pastoral ministry.

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Transcript

8,439 words, in two-minute parts. Made by machine, so a few words may be off.

0:0048:47

  1. 0:00

    Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite. Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media. And the philosophies of this world. God has called you and me to be his ambassador. Even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment. And now the Hamilton Corner. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner on this Thursday evening. Where? A watershed moment. Maybe not a watershed moment. The first time in history, former president has been convicted of a crime by a jury in New York City. Abraham Hamilton, third is my name. You're listening to the Hamilton Corner. Mr. Bobby, I know size right across from me. Produce extraordinaire, the real Jay Mac is in the screening room and we are ready to get rolling with today's program. You heard me right. The jury in New York convicted former president Trump of all 34 accounts of what was alleged by Alvin Bragg, Alvin Bragg's district attorney's office, providing those who really despise Mr. Trump with the opportunity to describe him going forward as a convicted felon. This is, and I'm discussing this now, and I'm gonna get to the word of God in this segment as well because by God's grace we're playing to have a guest on the program, but I feel compelled to address this right now. many people are asking and wondering what happens next.

  2. 2:02

    The sentencing hearing date has been set for July 11th. As I said yesterday, if Mr. Trump was convicted, I would encourage him to immediately file an emergency appeal directly to the Supreme Court. Similar to what was done when the US Supreme Court interceded in the Bush v. Gore matter, many of you may recall that the case was actually being litigated in the state court system, yet the US Supreme Court interceded to supplant the state court proceedings and to make a fundamental foundational and final determination at the US Supreme Court level. I think the same thing is necessary here. I would advise the Trump team to find file concurrent appeals through the state system and the US Supreme Court system and making the case to the US Supreme Court as to why the emergency appeal is lodged there. Going forward, I would anticipate Mr. Trump will file his appeal and will post an appeal bond. So he won't be incarcerated anytime now, but the facts are that in order to stay out of jail, and again, saying stay out of jail, it will be interesting to see a court attempt to incarcerate a first-time offender criminal record for a non-violent offense, but a is wacky New York who knows what they will do just as it has never been done as far as I'm aware to have a judge offer jury instructions that gives the jury a choice of crimes to pick whichever one you decide and all of you all of the jurors you can pick different crimes and will treat it as if it's unanimous verdict. That is something that I had not seen in my experience. So we are an unprecedented territory with everything in this case. But the posting of an appeal bond would require additional funds, most likely, from Mr.

  3. 4:10

    Trump in order to remain out of jail during the pendency of whatever appeals will come. I do expect that he will prevail on appeal. But you know, as well as I know, the goal here wasn't really about trying to make it stick. the goal here was to be able to slap him with the moniker of convicted felon in order to influence the outcome of this fall's election. I have More to say on this, but it won't be right now a lot of things Will happen that's a good question. I don't know if they pulled the jury The carries asking I'm not sure I don't know if they did that I I suspect Larry Mershan just was as get on out of here folks. But I don't know the answer to that question as we sit here. But to the word of God, let us go to the word of God. Mark chapter 23 verses. I'm sorry, Matthew. Thank you. Matthew chapter 23 verses 27 through 28 is where I'm going to go. Because really there's one word that characterizes where we are in our nation. And I've said to you before, I can't help but remember the details in 2 Kings 17 that the Lord went through to show why the northern kingdom of Israel was ultimately exiled and decimated by the Assyrian Empire. A lot of, a lot has been written and a lot of conversation has been had concerning the Southern Kingdom of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar, but the Lord laid out a robust case against the northern Kingdom of Israel in 2nd Kings 17. And we are, I feel like we're living in that, you know, you wonder where I have wondered, man, how did these things happen? What was life like on the ground when these things were happening? When Isaiah pended Isaiah 59, the truth is falling in the street and uprightness cannot enter because lawlessness is the byproduct of truth being rejected.

  4. 6:11

    Guys, we are living. We're living in these times. So the scripture today is Matthew 23, Matthew chapter 23, verses 27 through 28. And this is what the word of God says. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs or whitewashed sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, But within are full of dead men's bone and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. The one word that can describe our nation is lawlessness. When I say lawlessness, I'm talking about rebelling against the law of God. Lawlessness, lawlessness. I've explained before you go back and I continue to go back to Isaiah 59 when the Prophet Isaiah detailed the process for lawlessness becoming standardized. Let me go there. I'm going to go there now. Isaiah 59 to cross reference with this passage in Matthew 23. Matthew 23, Jesus is directly confronting the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy and lawlessness unsurprisingly, these are people that are supposed to be advocates for and presenters of the law of God, yet they had become white war supplicers. And Isaiah 59, the prophet Isaiah said this, verse 14, justice is turned back. Righteousness stands far away. Why? For truth has fallen in the streets truth has fallen in the public square.

  5. 8:16

    As a consequence, uprightness cannot enter. Following truth fall in the street, as it goes on to explain in verse 15, truth is lacking. All right, so you have the first instance, truth is simply rejected, leading to it falling in the streets. Then, because of that initial rejection societally, truth is completely abandoned. You've heard me describe that we've entered the post-truth culture. This is this is own this is the only way you into a place where people say who said you're having a little boy You even have folks that are saying guys and this this is this is not a joke When I say this it sounds absurd for me to say this, but this is not a joke There are people in our society right now that would say what audacity you have to assume that this little baby is a boy Or a girl they haven't even grown enough for you to be for them to be able to determine who they are is it You have the phrase being said, well, this is the term to use. Gender I was assigned at birth. I mean, that's not who I am, that's just what they assigned me. Like guys, that's evidence of truth falling in the streets. You have this is, again, not a joke. You have people who profess to be so-called transgender, would say it is heterosexual since gender privilege for a man to prefer a woman who is a woman biologically. Guys, I'm not kidding. I am not kidding. I've read the maxims. I've seen the videos. I've seen the purported philosophical and academic treatises on these things. That is straight lunacy. But this is where we are. Because this is the downstream consequence of truth falling in the streets.

  6. 10:17

    I just read a doctor in Wyoming, Not New York, not in Wyoming, who was appointed by a Republican governor to a board, but because he had the audacity to say that mutilating children and giving them sterilization drugs as developing children is child abuse, the Republican governor had him removed from the medical board. These are the downstream consequences. So truth is lacking, verse 15. And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The scripture is literally explaining that the downstream consequences when truth has fallen in the streets because it has been rejected. Truth has been rejected. So the downstream consequences are lawlessness becomes normalized. Then those would be advocates, excuse me, advocates for an adherence to righteousness become a prey because of their righteous stances. This is what the word of God told us was coming. Call me a weatherman, folks, because we are here. This day represents a day to where what has been happening in various sectors, segments, in corners of American society has now been elevated to the place. And again, the prosecution was with sham, all these things happen to run up. But now you have a formal juridical declaration in this area. It's one thing to have legislation as a bill. It's another thing when the bill passes and becomes law. It's one thing to have conversations about persecuting one's political enemies for political purposes. It's another thing to have a jury render a lawless conviction but passing it off as if it is lawful. It is not lost on me that this happens simultaneously. Look at these trajectories where you have one of the largest Protestant denominations in America, the United Methodist, who have declared themselves to be apostate in celebrating their apostasy.

  7. 12:21

    They're dancing, you know, they're playing second of music, say-a-la, break good times. Millions of people were formerly affiliated with the domination left of the domination. They don't care. Why? Because their commitment is ideological. Their commitment is philosophical. Their commitment is spiritual and is demonic at its root. Now, I'm not saying any of these things to provoke any type of trepidation, not in the least bit, but that we could have a sober understanding of the times we are in. This is why I have been encouraging you several ways, live locally. This is why I've been encouraging you not to take your comfort, your comfort and confidence by things that are percolating in the national media, but to make sure you are anchored in your commitment to the King of Glory. Because Rocky roads are before us. I'm not saying it is scare anybody. This is the this type of of tumult is what Members of our eternal family have lived through through previous generations And this is our opportunity to stand as salt and light in the face of rank and overt hostility to all that is good all that is right all that is true and all that is pure There have been indications of these things throughout time and in different places all over the country But what has been presented kind of in a piecemeal intermittent fashion has now been elevated to the level of national standardization. It also shouldn't be lost on us. This is happening at the exact same time where the Biden administration has committed themselves to marching through all iterations of federal government to enshrine sexual rebellion as law. Land all this out, brothers and sisters, strap on your seat belts, put on your hard hats, strap on your work boots if you hadn't put them on now, there's a reason when the full armor of God is described in Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. In all of the pieces of the armor, they're all forward-facing. Notice, there are never any description of what's in the back. That's the two reasons. One is drawing from the the first century Roman soldiers military armament, but secondarily because the Lord has called His bride to advance. Who are a forward-facing, advancing bride And Jesus said the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against His church.

  8. 14:53

    Let's be about our Father's business. This June marks two years since the overturn of Roe vs. Wade. But did you know that the number of abortions actually increased the following year? In 2023, the amount of abortions reached its highest level since 2012. Preborn continues to stand strong for women in crisis. Preborn is a ministry of compassion that showers women and babies with God's love, providing free ultrasound some mothers to introduce them to the precious life growing inside them. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, she is twice as likely to choose life. $28 sponsors one ultrasound and $140 helps rescue five babies. Your generous tax deductible donation will also help to provide women who choose life with assistance for up to two years. So please give your best gift to donate dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby that's pound 250 baby or visit preborn.com slash aFR that's preborn.com slash aFR. Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton corner on American family radio. Come back to the Hamilton corner Abraham Hamilton the third here. I'm grateful to be with you on this day. And I'm just telling the truth, telling the truth. I'm excited to have with me in studio, in studio Pastor Joseph Parker. He serves as the Director of Outreach for the American Family Association, Director of Outreach and Intercession in particular. And he is host of the Hour of Intercession that can be heard right here on American Family Radio. He's married to his lovely wife, is the birdie Parker. They have six children, three grandchildren. a graduate of Bellhaven University with a degree in Bible and Christian education. He served as a pastor over the most of the last 47 years.

  9. 16:57

    You hear me right? 47 years. And he serves as a trained presenter for walk through the Bible for their Old Testament Live seminar. He's the author of several books, one is titled The Intercession Chronicles, the other is titled The Pastors Notes, God calls the church to stand boldly for life. He also serves as the board chairman for the Pregnancy Care and Hope Center, which is a mobile medical pregnancy ministry that serves the Mississippi Delta. In addition to all of that, he currently serves the Bethlehem AME Church as its pastor in Winona, Mississippi. Pastor Joseph Parker, thank you for joining me here on the Hamilton Corner. A, but I appreciate the chance to be with you today. Oh, it is certainly, certainly certainly my pleasure. And I'm excited to talk about this project that is going to begin this next month. So June 1st is Saturday. June 1st. June 1st it goes from June 1st to June 30th and it is the Ten Commandments Challenge. What is the Ten Commandments Challenge? Okay. Well, Ten Commandments, the full name of the Ten Commandments Project, Speech Challenge and I would mention it's a project we've actually had the privilege of doing over a period of years actually and it's sort of grown and morphed into a bigger and a more exciting project. It's exciting to me because we see, when we see the results in the lives of the children who participate. This particular part of the project is where we're asking each participant to write a speech or have someone to help them write a speech on this specific topic. Now, in years gone by, we'd select one of the commandments and they would do the speech. This year, the topic is, why are the 10 commandments important? And we suggest that it be three to five minutes, but we take a speech of any link to be quite honest. And we invite them, use your cell phone or any other means to record it. you would upload it at afr.net forward slash 10 commandments. Again, that's a Fr.net forward slash 10 commandments. And the project officially gets underway June the 1st and the speech, the deadline is June the 30th.

  10. 18:59

    And so we're looking forward to having a good, a good turnout in terms of participation as we have in the years gone by as well. And you know, it's a discipleship project. And one of the things I would really emphasize is that, amongst other things, we hope that it will encourage parents to really take discipleship so much more seriously, because one of the realities in our culture is lots of believers that love Jesus don't take discipleship serious like they should. It is a galling phenomenon. I mean, I've been talking before you came in to the studio about us entering into an era where really lawlessness characterizes our society. You know, one of the commandments is when it's a bear false witness. You know, and then today you have the announcement of the verdict in Mr. former President Trump's trial in New York where you have people who are unbothered really by lying and bearing false witnesses long as it accomplishes their objective. Well, if we had a conviction about the Lord, a reverence for him, that would change our perspective there, but when you consider the notion that, as you mentioned, many Christians, professing Christians, who genuinely love the Lord, but they don't take discipleship seriously enough, why do you think that is? Well, you know, you think of this that to be quite honest, it boils down to, and this, as aggravaging as it may sound, it's disobedience. neglecting to do very simple things God has called us to do but that neglect translates in all sorts of tragedy in our culture and our world. The fact is, I think of for example, the Ten Commandments is a wonderful curriculum God has given us in the word of God to preach and teach from, to help us understand God's standards across the board. And they reflect, and you know what's kind of tragic to me, Abe, is that how many people seem to think of the, they say, they may say about the Ten Commandments, but that's Old Testament, well that's a foolish thing to say yes it's old it comes that emanates from the Old Testament but it's the moral law of God which does not change.

  11. 21:08

    And so it's important to understand that just as relevant today as they ever were and it's important to understand that some of the biggest challenges in our culture today are directly addressed by the Ten Commandments. You shall not murder. We live in a culture that for the last 50 years said it's okay to murder babies. Clearly violating what God is clearly told us don't murder. And also, old and New Testament, if you wanna get on God's bad side, you mess with the poor, the helpless, the have-nots, those that cannot defend themselves. How much more helpless can you get than an innocent baby? But to target that and to think that, you know, old Testament we think of this, exit is one, Pharaoh targeted, you know, killed the baby boys. And Matthew chapter two, killed the baby boys, We have leaders in our government today thinking killing children in the womb is okay. What a tragedy that through all these centuries, we still have leaders that think it's okay to murder certain individuals. And you're absolutely right about that. And it's not even limited to leaders. As of 2019, the most pernicious usage of determination of unborn babies lives has been through the usage of abortion pills. You know, and you have people loudly proclaiming many of them are women, but you also have many men who, who agree that the innocent can be killed, should be killed and celebrated as a civil right. Think about that. We talk about lawlessness, not only violating God's law, but replacing it and saying, no, not only will we violate God's law that says you shouldn't murder, but we will murder and declare it as a civil right because this segment of human being is unworthy of living, which has been the same description of all manner tragedy and travesty on a massive scale around human history. That's evidence of the lawlessness that we're talking about. Exactly. And again, so much goes back to the fact that the bottom line in life and in the world needs to be the word of God. And again, you shall not murder is very simple and straightforward. There are no exceptions. Yet sadly, we have people that think, well, if you change the name and make it sound pretty, you call it reproductive rights or civil rights or whatever you want to call it, murder is murder no matter what you call it. And it's always wrong.

  12. 23:24

    Mm, absolutely right. So we're describing the Ten Commandments Speech Project, where as you've mentioned, that children ages seven to 17 are invited to write a speech, and then record that speech, the goal, the target time that we're looking for is between three and five minutes long, because they will upload that video, they'll upload the video of them reciting their speech, the children reciting their speech to AFR's website, right? Exactly. What is the website that people will be able to go to to get this information as well as to upload their videos to between June 1st and June 30th, 2024. Again, it's aFR.net forward slash 10 commandments. Again, that's aFR.net forward slash 10 commandments. And I would mention to a other parts of the project too, is such that we incur another side of it, apart from the speech challenge, is like if a young person simply memorizes the 10 commandments and recites them to the dad or mom, that our mom can call and just like just earlier today, we got a phone call and a child has recited them. So all we need from them is a size and a mailing address and we can drop the t-shirt with the 10 commandments on, you know, in the mail. And of course, for those that can see it, it has the 10 commandments on the back, beautiful t-shirt. Yeah, you can hold it up right there for this camera right here. 10 commandments on the back and it has scripture on the front, beautiful witnessing tool as well because you talk about conversation starters, you know, folks in that instead of looking at the tabloids in Walmart, you can read the 10 command. You say that one more time? Say that one more time? Instead of looking at the tabloids in the supermarket line, you can read the word of God. Amen. Yeah. Amen. And I think of too, along with that too, there is, along with them being able to win a t-shirt as well, part of what we do is we encourage the young people to ask their pastors for the opportunity to share their speech in church. Now, to be honest, a down to the years, most kids haven't done that. I wish they would.

  13. 25:24

    And one of the reasons being is because I believe the church tremendously needs to put our children to work. And I think of this now, to be honest, let me, I'm gonna step on some toes here though, but the reality is this. Sometimes churches are too caught up in their church services that they're not willing to do wise, productive things in the way of discipleship. For me, if I had a young person said, pastor, can I share my speech during Sunday morning of service? I'd put kids up to 52 Sundays out of a year. But sometimes you have formats they say, well that doesn't quite fit our church service. What a tragedy. Because the fact is this is not about what people think is nice and sweet and cut. This is about discipleship, helping kids to have the Word of God planted in their hearts, in their minds, and keep this in mind. How many times will a person sitting in the congregation remember a little bit more about a teeny-roll who got up and shared a speech. They might remember that better than they remember the pastor's song on a given Sunday, and it may impact them more, but also any young person that sees somebody their age get up in front of them, it will impact them and they'll get everybody, they'll get all the young people's attention, but they'll get the adults' attention as well. And the adults will listen to what that child has to say. So putting our kids to work is much more important than I think many times we need to realize. and you know, able to be quite honest, sometimes we can make idols out of church service formats. That's, again, it's about discipleship. It's about carrying out the great commission. So, it's important for us to think about why do we do what we do? So, I would say this year, I hope we have a lot more kids that aren't brave enough to say pastor. Can I do this? And pastors that I think I would say are wise enough to say sure you can. We'll figure it out a way for you to come up and share your speech. You know, I've been saying for quite some time that we we have to have a recalibration of our expectation of younger people to reject what is common based on anecdotal experience as well as what is common in the world and recalibrate our minds and our expectations to what the word of God says.

  14. 27:30

    Because we have examples in scripture I've talked on this show before in Daniel 1, him and his friends were described as children in Daniel 1. They were only boys in chapter 1. When you get to chapter 2 going forward, you don't have any more boys in the book of Daniel in terms of Daniel and his friends, but the Hebrew word there, she led, indicating that there was somewhere between the ages of 12 and 15 years old, and when they arrived in Babylon, and of them, the Lord recorded that they were, understood science, they were wise, they had all manner of learning, they had descriptions about them that we don't normally attribute to young people. You have the Apostle Paul when encouraging Timothy when he says, let no one look down on you for your youthfulness now. I don't think he was a child or a teenager at that time, but he's describing usefulness, but then saying, you be an example to the body and speech and in purity and in whole, and so that we have to have a biblical recalibration of our expectation of young people, which would also mean we have to have a recalibration of what we expect of ourselves concerning our investment in young people's lives. Many people have made room for foolishness and immaturity and tomfoolery to be the abiding characteristics of usefulness when it doesn't have to be. You know, while I have children, I want them to enjoy their adolescence. My job is their father is to prepare them for adulthood. And that preparation doesn't wait until they're adults. That's what I'm supposed to be doing right now. And so pouring into discipleship in this fashion is not just a good idea. It's actually been commanded of us by Jesus. The Great Commission, go into all the world and make disciples and you start at home. You start with yourself and then husbands and wives disciple each other and parents, disciple their children. And you know, the devil wants us to see that as a burden. But one of the greatest joys of your life, can and should be helping your child to come to know Jesus and teaching your child to walk with Jesus as well. Yeah. There's great joy in doing that. Absolutely. And our society is the product by and large of much of the professing church failing to, refusing to or neglecting to make disciples of our own homes.

  15. 29:36

    A lot of these adults that are running them up, doing these things, they all grew up at somebody's own. That's right. They all grew up in somebody's family and they didn't just arrive where they are. And I say oftentimes, you know, people like to point the finger at young people, young people are doing this, young people doing that. I'm saying, well, is that not also pointing to their parents because these young people didn't just arrive, they didn't, they wouldn't beam you up Scotty, they didn't show up here, you know, through Star Trek's light beam, you know, they wasn't Nanu, Nanu, Morgan, Mindy in their way here. They came from somewhere. So how they got here, this has been the product where we have gotten to in our nation, we didn't just get her overnight, has been the product of individual steps taken over time that includes often the neglect and the refusal to obey the Lord in his commission that he said we are to make disciple. So true, so true. You know Abe in the word of God probably one of the best known stories in all of the Bible is the story of David and Goliath and it's a powerful account in 1 Samuel chapter 17 that probably lots of people are familiar with the basics of it. But you know, one of the wonderful things about God's word is there's stories within the stories of the stories of the Word of God. God not only tells us the basic account of what happens in His word, but He has insights and truths to teach us in the details of the stories as well. And clearly when you look at David, David probably very much a teenager. Yet you see the King totally afraid to step out and challenge the Goliath. the soldiers, well equipped, well trained, all of them afraid. And it takes a young man, not even in the army, that steps out in faith and puts his faith to work. He's an example to his whole nation and the world of what it means to trust God. And you know, God used that one young man to turn that whole situation around and put the enemy to flight. And God could do the same thing today. Putting children to work for his kingdom is an important thing for the church. Would you one more time give the details in the website for the 10 Commandments Challenge because we're getting close to the break. How much time we have before we get to the break?

  16. 31:38

    Okay, we're getting close to the break, but when we get to the other side of the break, I want to glean wisdom from you. As I mentioned, you've been in pastoral ministry for most of 47 years. And so I just would like to get some wisdom from you that you've garnered over the course of those years. And then, well, and before we get to that, I also wanna ask you, you have been, as long as I have known you a passionate and consistent advocate for the sanctity of human life. I wanna ask you why must we continue to advocate for life in this fashion? Why is that important to continue to do even as Roe versus Wade has been overturned and Planned Parenthood versus Casey has been overturned? Why is it important to continue to fight that fight? You are listening to the Hamilton Corner. My guest is Pastor Joseph Parker, host of the Hour of Intercession, also the Director of Outreach and Intercession for the American Family Association. We are talking about the 10 Commandment Challenge that begins June 1st, that will continue through June 30th. You can go to afr.net slash 10 Commandments to get more information about it. And when we come back, you get more of Pastor Joseph Parker's soothing voice, which is quite different from my own. You don't wanna miss the rest of this show. The Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Minute Common Terrets are available at afr.net. back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton, III here. My guest is Pastor Joseph Parker, host of the Hour of Intercession right here on the American Family Radio Network. Pastor Parker, one of the things that you have done and that you continue to do is to pray the Ten Commandments. And I wanted to invite you to take a few moments here to do that and really to provide an example to the audience as to how they can do the same thing.

  17. 33:41

    Using the word of God prayer obviously is powerful, but you'd get no more powerful than actually praying the Lord's word in prayer. And so I wanted to invite you to take a few moments to do that here on the air. Okay, okay, thank you. And our encouragement to you is as I pray, that of course you may already know how to easily adapt to do that, but praying the 10 commandments every day with your family is a very wise and a very fruitful thing for us all to do. Let's take time to do that now. Lord, thank you for us as the church. And thank you for us as a nation. Help us as the church and as a nation to put you first. Help us to make no grieving images. Help us, Lord, to not take your name in vain. Help us, Lord, to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Help us, Lord, to honor our fathers and our mothers. Help us to not murder. Help us to not commit adultery. Help us to not steal. Help us to tell the truth. Help us to not covet in Jesus' name. We do pray. Amen. Amen. wise to pray that every single day, because every day it does have an impact on our world. It absolutely does. It absolutely does. In one of those commandments we've been talking about, quite a bit, six commandments you've shall not murder. As I mentioned before, going to the break, ever since I've known you, you've been a passionate and consistent advocate for the sanctity of human life and the necessity of the church being actively engaged in advocating for the establishment of a robust culture of life in our nation, what keeps you going in this fight and why is it so important to continue to present this as a front burner issue? Well, I would say part of it is because, you know, Abe, I think it's so important for us to understand that God really means what he says. Yet so too often, I think, in our world and in our culture, we too often, I think, will take the word of God as if God is suggesting things rather than really meaning what he says. When God says you shall not murder, he means you're wrong, you should never take innocent life.

  18. 35:45

    And so that's old and New Testament. And the reality is we're so laid back in our culture about that. Again, for 50 years, we allowed it and still to a great extent, it's still allowed to kill babies in the womb. And so the fact is God never has liked it and he still doesn't. And the fact is, there's a lot of blood on our hands as a nation. And again, that too, again, there will come a time of recompense for that as well. So it's important to understand we're responsible for our actions. Makes me think about Thomas Jefferson's quote, which is actually emblazoned on his memorial in Washington, D.C. when he says that I shudder to think that God is just and his justice will not wait always. that is reality. And so as we mentioned though, Roe versus Wade has been overturned now and Planned Parenthood, Casey's been overturned. You have states that are feverishly attempting to go even further than Roe and Casey, states like Michigan, states like New York, states like Arizona is placing on the ballot now. And so this is happening in across the country while the issue has rightly and constitutionally been returned to the states. There are lots of people in the states that are basically saying, give us Barabbas in terms of their posture on the issue of life, what role should the church play, not only in states that are favorable to a sanctity of life disposition, but even those who are in blue states, so to speak, that are hostile to the sanctity of human life, what role should the church play? Well, you know, Abe, I really think it would be wise for every congregation or nation to take time to pray and say, Lord, show us what you want us to do to help stand for life and against abortion. and I'm guessing maybe some churches will be afraid to pray that because they know God's gonna tell them to do something. And the fact is there's something we all can do. Again, I'm of this opinion that I believe it's wise for, again, each church to pray and ask the Lord for that. And in many cases, I think the Lord would tell them, find your local pregnancy clinic and put them in your budget, send volunteers, check with them, hey, can we bring diapers, can we bring whatever, allow yourself to become a servant to your local pregnancy clinic for this reason, they're on the front lines. And I think of this in having recent meetings with the staff of our pregnancy ministry that's at work in the Mississippi Delta. To be honest Abe, I think of this one of the things that I really desire is that we have more people that are serious intercessors to pray because I think of this, our staff are made up of some precious young women, but they find themselves teary-eyed at how many abortion minded women they're seeing. And now, yes, it's against the law in Mississippi, however, tragically because of the reality of chemical abortion, women in all states can still sadly get abortions. And even high school girls can easily get abortion pills. So it's not hard. And our culture's made it easy for them to get them. And so the fact is there are many abortion minded women. And now I think of this recently, I shared of a one young woman who She came on the bus and they did the ultrasound and she really clearly wanted to keep her baby But then she asked her boyfriend to come on and look and he looked it he was holding there another child They had and he obviously loved that one But after he saw the ultrasound his response was we've already decided and she was gonna do exactly what he said And that's something that a lot of people don't realize many a young woman And she will do what either a boyfriend or a husband or sometimes a parent says.

  19. 39:14

    And many times they say, we can't afford it and they decide, let's get rid of it. What a tragedy. What a tragedy. So the need for the church to boldly speak the truth in love because a time and time again, I think about tragic, tragic it is that sometimes you have people that they are passionate. We can't keep this baby. We can't afford it. But when something happens and the abortion doesn't happen and the baby is born, nobody He falls in love with the baby more than granddaddy or grandma. And many times they're ashamed at the thought of having wanted to abort their beautiful granddaughter or grandson and they figure it out. With God's help, sure they can come up with a way to take care of the child. And so the need is for us to preach and teach the truth and live the truth as well in the church. When you refer to chemical abortions, I think most people understand this. You're talking about using the the the Mafrepid stone and might surprise all pills that are ingested. the abortion pills, the two pills that are used to provoke the basically the murder of the child at early stages of pregnancy. You mentioned the ministry that you serve as chairman of the board for pregnancy care and Hope Center in the Mississippi Delta area. Would you explain to the audience what it is that the pregnancy care and Hope Center does and the mobile ministry that you have? Well, that's a part of a miraculous journey the Lord has had us on. a few years back after having pastured for a number of years in the Mississippi Delta, I saw a need for an additional practicing ministry, to be honest, initially planned to help somebody else do it because I thought when I'm a pastor, I don't do that kind of thing, but I'll still help. And it was discussion, but nothing happening and at a certain point, really clearly heard the Lord say, you do it. And again, really wasn't looking to hear that, but once we got clarity, that's what he wanted us to do. We embarked upon what I would call a miraculous journey because the Lord had us put together 501c3, bring together board, and started raising the money for the medical clinic, and the Lord raised $191,000, and we bought the mobile pregnancy ministry, and a year ago, this past October, my wife and I drove that unit back to Mississippi, and it's now the ministry's up and running in Greenwood, Mississippi, as we expand our goal is to eventually expand further west to cover Mississippi Valley State University, which is in the Delta.

  20. 41:35

    One of the few universities in Mississippi that does not have one in its immediate community, and eventually expand on to Greenville, Mississippi, which is the largest city in the Delta, which does not have any other pregnancy ministry as well. So it's up and running, and they're getting busier and busier, but the need is to help the church catch the vision though, because to be real honest, as a relative of mine who's in the medical field, She warned me before we really got started. He good. She said, Joe, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. You don't know the kind of money you're dealing with. Well, I didn't do this because I just had a whim of an idea. This is what the Lord told us to do, but God has provided, but we're still inviting the church to come alongside because the mission field is huge and the needs are huge too. But so the need is for more churches to come alongside and help with the vision. How can people keep up with pregnancy care Hope Center and to think that the work that you're doing. Yeah. Well, our website is deltaPCHC.org. Again, that's deltaPCHC.org and you can find out information about the ministry, find out the mission and the work and if you'd like to contribute, we invite you to do that. We always need intercessors because a lot of warfare is going on around pregnancy clinics all over the nation to be quite honest though. But again, the website, deltaPCHC.org. One of the things I wanted to circle back to, because when we were talking about the things that the churches can do and families can do, I also think we need to give more prominent place in our local assemblies for adoption. You know, one of the things that believers should understand better than anybody else is the reality of adoption. We as believers, we are all adopted into the beloved family of God. That's what scripture teaches us and making a more prominent place in our hearts first and foremost and secondarily even in a biblical teaching of the necessity of, you know, as James said, pure religion under file, you know, caring, you know, for widows and for orphans, being able to affirmatively represent to your local pregnancy resource center that our local assembly, we have X amount of families that are open and ready to adopt. We're willing to aid them in going through the process, is getting the homeless that he's done, even putting the resources together because we understand the centrality of parents pouring into children to God's plan for multi-generational witness.

  21. 44:00

    And so I think that's something that the body of Christ can do as well. One last question that I wanna ask, and I'm saying last because of the time, this clock is ever so disrespectful. 47 years of pastoral ministry. What are the top one or two things you could share with the audience that you've learned over that journey. I know because I've talked to you off air about some of the things you've learned, but what would you wanna share on air, considering a long time, you probably wanna know some people saying, no way he's been in ministry that long. You know, look old enough to have that amount of time in the ministry. But what would you say? Well, I started preaching when I was two, he said. Not quite, not quite. You know, one thing A-B-I would say as odd as it may sound, I think it's really important for us in pastoral ministry to preach and teach in such a way that we're ready to be fired because the fact is it's important to preach and teach courageously. The temptation to pull back and be light because of the reaction of people is always there. It's always there. And the reality is that's the easy way out. But if we preach and teach as we should, I believe there will be instances where we will get fired. And to be quite honest in 47 years, I have been fired a few times. Too many times. But, and I don't regret what I did. I regret the way people responded. I think of over the years, one of the issues I've dealt with is when you have people, they say they love Jesus come to church, but they're co-happening. They're not married. They're shacking up. They're shacking up. Exactly. And the reality is, again, there are so many couples in our culture. They'll come to church every Sunday. But they're not married. We'll see the thing is, some people say, well, that's just a piece of paper. That's a big lie. Covenant is very important to God from Genesis to Revelation. And God wants him to be married in biblical covenant.

  22. 46:02

    And that's very important. And I can tell you some stories of how, because that sometimes it turns out wonderful. And sometimes it turns out it's a big storm. But the key is be willing to in love to tell people the truth because I recall one instance where a young couple, they've been living together 20 years. And children, you say a young couple living together 20 years. I don't know how young you could be if you've been living together for 20 years. Well, relatively young. But the fact is they had several children to get, just had never gotten married. And so just at the right time, just lovingly said, hey, why not get married? And by the grace of God, they decided, we'll do it. We'll do it. And they had a beautiful wedding. And it was a great witness for their children and the community as well. I remember when we had the wedding during service. One of the sisters said, I've been praying for this for years. And the young lady, even though she'd been living together with this gentleman for 20 years, she just cried as if she was a brand new virgin bride. She was so happy. But I wish I could tell you, it always turned out that way. Some other situations didn't turn out so nice. But the key is, it's my job to in love speak the truth. And so that's the job for us as pastors. Speak the love and the truth in love. And that's what helps them change his people's and lives. Amen. I mean, as a shepherd, you have care for the souls of the sheep who the Lord entrusts your care. If people persist and sin unrepentantly, there are eternal consequences to pay. for that. So love compels you to speak the truth, that instance. And the Meritor Union is the only human relationship and institution that God allows to be descriptive in his word of Christ's relationship to his bride. It's a big deal to God. It should be a big deal to us. Pastor Joseph Parker, thank you so much for sharing that. Speaking the truth in love is what we must do. And folks, today is another day and opportunity for us to do that. As you've heard me say numerous times, if you will have breath in your lungs, inhaling and exhaling our Lord's oxygen, He has purpose for you.

  23. 48:09

    May you be found as I'm endeavoring to do, as Pastor Parker is endeavoring to do, to keep our hands to the plow to faithfully serve our King until He returns or until He calls us home. This day is no different than the previous day. The Lord has planted us for this time. Let's be about our King's business. We are commissioned to be as ambassadors. Darkness is not an affirmative force. simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.

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