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Keep our kids from being You think about what Jesus said these little ones fall into sin, around your neck and thrown into We can't complain when we're like, oh, these policies are horrible. Well, nobody's running, so we need to encourage people to see this as Christian mission to run for office. One church can make an absolute Welcome to the source cast. My guest today is Michael King, the president of Massachusetts Family Institute. And, um, I first became when we were going through a Covid, uh, when we were getting, because we wanted to stay open. And it really opened my eyes to a lot of things, especially in the realm of politics and in church. And so I asked Michael to come on so we can have this conversation because personally, I'm still wrestling and really trying to make sense of it all and how to go about it as a pastor. And I think a lot of Christians So I thought it would be great around Christians and politics to best steward what God is but also in our nation. So, Michael, I want to thank you for for taking time to be with us today. It's great to be with you, So let's let's start with this, Let's start with what, what is Bible and politics? Yeah, no, that's a great And I think it's a question that lot of Christians deal with. Um, you know, the verse that I James one twenty seven, where religion and says, you know, orphan, religion is to care for from being contaminated or Um, and so I can't think of a better mandate when it comes to our not just calling, but I would say our duty as Christians to be involved in the public square. Um, you know, we've left a vacuum of leadership in government, state government, local government. Um, you know, this is why you conservative towns even in liberal, uh, leadership. It's because we left this vacuum understand, uh, the right Christians engaged in politics. And so, you know, when we think you know, when we think about when Massachusetts was the first redefine marriage, uh, what that closing, uh, ministries like that was doing a lot of adoption Uh, and why did they close? Because now there was a law that was going to, um, you know, make it difficult for them to do their job and perhaps even be sued if they ended up putting a child into a family, you know, where they were being seen as discriminating, let's say, and they couldn't fulfill their mission because, you know, they only wanted to put kids into what was biblical marriage, right? Um, and so when we don't affect good policy, uh, we start affecting the orphan in a negative way. And you could say the same thing things like, for example, you know, the elder, many times our population, right? Or when it comes to polluting our kids, you know, our schools, I mean, we could go on and on about, uh, school committee getting on your local school committee and affecting good policy. Uh, that affects good curriculum that we would agree with in our public schools. So the list goes on, but that's Yeah. I have to say, that was the to convicted me was the kids. You know, when I start to see our school system affecting our love, and they didn't know what to go about it. And it really woke me up to this reality that, man, we need to find a way to engage and also educate our people and how to go about it. And one of the things I think that whole like misunderstanding church and state, right? Yeah. Um, and for those people who what do you say? And how do you help them definition of separation of Yeah. I mean, to be honest with you, I don't think there is a lot of separation between church and state. Um, you know, look, I think if you go to the grocery store, right, and you buy a loaf of bread and you see that that bread has increased in price over the past, you know, year or two years. You know, this is just one going to be affected by your government policies, right? It's going to affect you It's going to affect you, uh, Um, and so I think a lot of buy into this idea that, you Christian faith in our politics as I do. Pastor Marco. That our founders I mean, the way that America was set up. Uh, and, you know, to see I mean, there's been there's been wonderful wins at the Supreme Court and at, uh, district court levels that have given so much, uh, religious liberty and freedom. I mean, there's an organization called First Liberty that says we live in a time in all of our two hundred and fifty years where we have the most religious freedom that we've ever had in our nation. And it's just a matter of taking Um, and so I encourage look, morality is at the base of And it's really just whose morality is going to affect that particular policy. Yeah. And what about, uh, those who not of this world, right? How, how? Because again, there's some of the pushbacks that you hear like, how do you respond to that? Yeah, I mean, I think if I'm if I'm getting at what you're getting at, you know, this idea that we belong to this other kingdom, right? That, um, and so let's just let Uh, it doesn't make a whole lot You know, it's even kind of eschatology, even saying, well, And so let the whole earth, you Um, I think that's a really dangerous way to think about theology when it comes to our involvement with local government. And as you said, I mean, I think part of James one twenty seven religion, this is true religion orphan and the widow, but to polluted, uh, by the culture. Um, goodness. You think about what Jesus said of these little ones fall into tied around your neck and thrown This, this mandate put on not we as citizens as well. When we allow people to get on don't run, uh, you know, we're just in disagreement with Christianity to make all kinds ultimately affect our kids. Yeah, yeah. And, and the other the other division comes into this, right? Yeah. One of the tensions I know I, I that whole twenty twenty ordeal Right? And he actually, I was alarmed everything from from Covid to The Black Lives Matter movement. I mean, it doesn't matter where There was a landmine there Yeah. So how do you, uh, how do you talk to a Christian about navigating through the tension of like, man, doesn't this all bring division? Yeah. I mean, look, there's we live in a fallen world, so we're going to deal with conflict no matter what, right? So, um, you know, I was, I was great podcast and I forget the name is Josh and he's from Lake Oh, yeah. We're big fans here. Okay. And, uh, he had, um, he's got a very popular podcast with young people, as you know, and I don't know, you probably heard the recent podcast he did with, uh, I think it was a Seattle pastor and another pastor, really good friends. And they're talking about this exact subject and saying, basically, pastors need to start talking very explicitly to these issues. Um, you know, and even when you look at the statistics, even if church growth is a concern in these areas, which I can very much understand that being a concern that, um, statistically they're seeing churches grow exponentially when they take a stand. And, uh, you know, as politics and government. So, um, I was really encouraged, I encourage all your listeners to listen to that podcast, uh, because I thought it was just so encouraging. These were guys in their late forties, probably early fifties, you know, kind of been through this whole, you know, Covid thing and, and, and grew up in a church where, you know, ten, twenty years ago, thirty years ago, right? There was all of this fear, if about these issues and now to of pastors saying, look, that And, uh, we need we need to do Yeah. I have to say personally, that to me was the conviction that came over me during that time period because I didn't want to engage. Right? I didn't want to be a part of My thing was, we're here to Preach the gospel. And then how can we do that when they're trying to close down the church? And so I felt strongly that the Lord was was, you know, pushing me, you know, to fight this and to help our church understand that we are again, when the Bible talks about spiritual warfare, this is spiritual warfare at a highest level, right? And who is in control of So for me, I needed that push, you know, because on my own, I don't think I would have done that. I've been talking to our church Right. And that was a massive one that we needed to embrace to, to be able to engage what's really going on. So I know I needed that kick in Yeah, to get into that. And now here we are again. That's why I want to have this there's more to come, right? Yeah. Um, I felt like Covid in a way, a test run of like, okay, what And will the believers really Yeah. To, to what's coming. Um, so, so with that in mind, What, because you guys are in issues in our state. Yeah. Um, what, what would you say right now is the, is the biggest misconceptions around it where like, what are people are seeing? What's the bigger picture? Yeah. I mean, what are we seeing on I mean, you know, I, I go back twenty twenty one. I mean, I always think of your church, uh, because, you know, our line at that time was, you know, you guys had renovated, I think it was a Shaw's supermarket, if I remember correctly, uh, for your church and you know that you had this minimum capacity limit of one hundred people. And I would always make the, I okay, I want to go to Shaw's Okay? There's no minimum capacity But if I want to go to a Shaw's and is now a church, you know, But I want to worship the bread Now I have a minimum capacity It was absolute discrimination. You guys were absolutely right And, you know, New Bedford capitulated pretty quickly, if I remember correctly. Uh, you know, regarding the potential lawsuit, you know, they were going to come up against and, and, you know, look, I think if we, I think we were the only blue state in Covid, uh, to reopen churches in phase one. Uh, we had over five hundred pastors sign a letter to the governor saying that the church is essential. And you remember these conversations is the church essential? Is our marijuana shops Right? Um, and so yeah, I mean, on the front lines now, I mean, so much of what we do is involved with the schools, and I think that really is the right place to focus initially, because it is our children and that is our greatest resource and that is our future. And so, you know, when we look at, you know, towns like Lexington, you know, Massachusetts, that, um, a kindergarten dad wanted to opt out of seventeen books in his kindergarten son's social studies curriculum. We're not even talking sex ed. all of this in social studies. Um, you know, the and eventually the federal judge agreed with us and said, you need to protect parental rights. Now, what if we didn't exist? You know, what? If I always talk about, you know, the example of, uh, George Bailey and It's a Wonderful Life, like, you know, are we going to have Pottersville or are we going to have Bedford Falls? You know, and we're not going to have MFI or churches, you know, And I think all of us want as the kingdom that we want to Right? Um, and so we had another situation in Lexington where we protected another mother, similar situation. You know, again, the school you've got to teach this with at home to your kids. Imagine, you know, that kind of And if we weren't around to And again, these are God given, these are creator given rights. And I think we really have to Um, and we won that case as And I could mention many other But look, I mean, if we weren't there to protect parental rights, ultimately that kid's going to get indoctrinated and most likely fall away from the faith, right? One of the issues that we saw here is parents not even being informed, right. You know, of what's going on, Right. Uh, especially in the, in the Right. Um, and so for those who are not aware of what's going on, can you like fill in a little bit about like this whole, you know, sexual indoctrination that's happening in our schools right now? Yeah. I mean, it's, um, I will say this as just a word of encouragement. I mean, we've been fighting this battle in so many different towns and cities in Massachusetts. You're probably aware of the We've been we've been fighting for the past year in Burlington, Massachusetts. You know, where a year ago, these sixth grade students opted out of a very sexually inappropriate survey, um, and were given the survey, uh, anyway. Right. So we had a investigation done and complaint, you know, formal complaints done. And one of the really wonderful things that came out of that was a dad, a Burlington dad who has about nine kids, and they've all come up through the Burlington school system. He decided that he was going to get on the wellness committee, and his one voice has been so effective regarding. And he's talking about wellness. You know, it's another one of these code names for sex ed. Yeah. Um, you know, his one voice has the Burlington Public Schools Wow. That's a big deal. Yeah, that's a big deal. And they probably won't And that doesn't mean that we're As Christians. We have a very strong conviction about human sexuality when it comes to male and female, and we should be proud of that and not be intimidated by the noise of the left that just wants to call us haters. Because at the end of the day, statistics, all the statistics Marriage. Raising children is the has the Hands down. Um, you know, we shouldn't, we Yeah. But when you say not be I think about the person who is, to pay their bills, right. And just want their kids to go Um, but when you hear these things, sometimes you feel like I'm not equipped to handle these things, right? Where would that person start? Right? What's the bare minimum to begin at understanding like this is what's going on and here's how you can, you can make a difference. Yeah. I mean, this is one of the, the Because so many of our parents three jobs, right? Um, send the kid off to school. You know, you get home, maybe Um, you know, the, the, the economics, uh, you know, are really wreaking havoc, I think on families to to a large extent. And it begs the point, you know, how do you remain vigilant as a parent? You know, so many parents get in touch with us and are just overwhelmed by what they face at the school. And for the most part, we are But at the end of the day, like I think that the if you want to schools, for example, as like hard to, to turn that ship. Right. Um, and change that ship. And there's many, um, people that have researched this and been very thoughtful about this and just feel like our public schools are so captured that even if you're informed, it is just so incredibly difficult to navigate the public school system. Uh, and, you know, have it be a going to, um, you know, I mean, concerning about kids losing Uh, coming out of our high of our colleges. And even you could make the case about some of our Christian colleges, right? So, you know, at the end of the day, that's why we've really pushed for this alternative, this affordable alternative education, uh, K-12 education we refer to as church based learning centers, you know, where we just believe that every church should have a learning center. Uh, you know, these are not These are affordable K-12 alternatives where instead of doing, you know, one day of homeschooling a week, you might do upwards of three, four or five days. But I mean, how many of our I have talked about this too in Have affordable and available during the during the week. How many of our churches have, sitting in our pews that have subject and would love to give Um, you know, look, in America's town, one of the requirements had an established church And it went the same for like You wouldn't have started a Catholic parish unless you had a school. Uh, that was part of that It was always the thinking of our founders and, um, you know, people even one hundred years ago in America that were just like, yes, of course the church is going to teach and educate a core. Of course, the family is going So I just think we need to get It's good, you know, for us strongly that, um, a junior high to focus on. Yeah. We feel like that for our area, to be a major need. And we feel like a mandate to And so we're working on that trying to have a junior high and create an environment where our The way that you just described back to the history, the church you know, everybody. You know, the church was supposed to be the center of society, you know, and unfortunately, that has gone away. Right? But we can reclaim it, right? We discover that reality. Um, what about the next layer of Right? So you, you have that parent, like, what else is there for this, this tension in society? Yeah. I mean, what can Christians do to, to, um, you know, I mean, like I said, there's always going to be tension, you know, and I think it's just a matter of, of to some extent, you know, some people have said managing the tension. I mean, I don't know how much you want to necessarily manage the tension. I think we just, you know, and that podcast I was talking about Point in Texas, you know, where really, I think, appreciated by think especially this younger you know, for so long we've post-modern, relativistic take a stand and the only people you know, the, the, the far spectrum, if you will. Um, but I think people are really yearning for just strong truth. And, um, I think there's a lot of ways that we can engage in that. You know, I think we, we are asking so many people now just to run for school committee, for example. Um, these are very winnable, Uh, even in Massachusetts, um, you know, where you're not only in charge of million dollar budgets, but you are, like I said before, you are affecting the policy and the curriculum and everything that's being, you know, that child is facing in K-12. Um, and it's, you know, I mean, what if, what if every church, you know, were to adopt their local school committee, you know, and that doesn't, that doesn't just mean running for school committee. It means showing up at those, school committee meetings and know, the, the average amount of local elections is probably no Um, I think born, you know, not too far from you born Massachusetts, just had their election yesterday. I want to say less than ten the city of Bourne. Right. So the opportunity is there. And I think, you know, one church, one church can make all the difference. Uh, you know, on a local level. I love that. Um, we had a, we had a maybe someone running for a Right. Um, can you talk about that a Because again, I just want to people to understand like these Yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot of things we Um, you know, we were just talking about the local level, right. So, so, um, school committee, Right. And then when you get to that about state representatives, um, you know, we, we have a We have state state We have state Senate races this Um, in Massachusetts, there are one hundred and sixty state representatives. There are forty state senators. Um, and again, there are many districts, especially in your area in the Bristol County area, Plymouth County area, where, uh, these are very winnable districts. Um, and I think people really have to understand that like, you know, Massachusetts might be blue in the sense of our leadership for sure, but we're not blue in the sense of the people that actually live in Massachusetts. Um, I think were more purple, to And, um, look, I mean, if you Senate, there are forty senators how many of those senators are. You know what we would label The number is probably less than You know, if you look at the one representatives, how many of you know, believe in the You know, religious freedom, like all the things we stand for, probably less than twenty five out of one hundred and sixty. Okay. So, um, there is such a need for And I will, I will say this, that a lot of people think, oh, I could never do that because I have a job and I have this and I have that. Well, Massachusetts and not that I very much agree with this because I agree with how New Hampshire does this, where, you know, they have the largest legislature in the country, and I think they pay their legislators two hundred dollars a year. Right. It's basically a volunteer It's almost a six figure income with incredible benefits to be a state rep. Um, and you're only at the statehouse maybe once or twice a week. Um, you know, some, some state reps have actually said that it's more of a part time position. And there have been state representatives that have actually kept their full time jobs, uh, while they've been state representatives or state senators. So, you know, if money is a hindrance to taking this step, you know, I mean, it costs money to run a race and those kinds of things. Um, but I just want people to know, like, this is actually a pretty well paid position, probably better than most jobs out there. Definitely better than most jobs Um, but just the fact of, um, the big problems in these races go unopposed, even So you might have one hundred you know, let's say forty of Well, in that top forty, you might have, you know, half of those be, uh, opposed and have those unopposed. And those are in the most So we can't complain when we're like, oh, these policies are horrible. Well nobody's running. Uh, so we need to encourage people to see this as a Christian mission to run for office. That's good. Um, with that, we, we, we've had some people who try to step up, right and run and some have been in school committees and, and so on. Um, one of the tensions that I, I see as a pastor is that that tension of the actual realm of politics, right? The, the, the, the mud, right, through all of that stuff. Right. I've seen a lot of Christians Yeah. Through that process. Right. What do you what do you say to those people who want to get in the game? But they're like, man, it's such Yeah. I mean, I think it's just the It is. It is a dirty game. But I think you also look at people of our past. I mean look we're celebrating two hundred and fifty years as a nation. And you look at people like George Washington, for example, right? Just an incredible, incredible Uh, Christian man, you know, that, uh, you know, was very meek in the process, but a strong leader, you know, dealt with. I mean, could you imagine we talk about the, the stuff we deal with today was crazy, but they were trying to form a nation and, you know, get all these people on this incredible, you know, to, to agree on, uh, this American experiment, which I'm sure was an incredible battle. And, um, you know, and, and so we're not going to escape that and we have to go through, I mean, Paul even talks about, you know, that we must in this Christian walk, we must all go through suffering. It is not a choice. Like you will go through some Um, and this is going to be one of those times of suffering, and there's going to be wonderful celebration along the way and great success along the way and great defeat. I mean, there are some people, you know, some experts say if you're going to run for office, be prepared to run three times, right? Because you probably lose the So, you know, we just have to the Christian walk. Mhm. Absolutely. And speaking of that, right. How long how long you been in Yeah. So I have been with MFI since So for ten years. Um, but I have always I mean, before that I was a children's pastor. I was a youth pastor. I was a family ministries And, you know, I just so talking about today where, you twenty fifteen, you know, I just got to do more. Like, we cannot just sit on the their faith in the public just continue to pass policy And just pastors would not say And maybe they just thought thought other people would do it And so to be honest with you, in ministries director, I resigned And because I just was so just want to preach from the be the Paul Revere to encourage involved on this local level. And would you wouldn't you know Two weeks after I resigned, with kids, you know, at home, you I got this job offer to come hey, how would you like to just and, you know, speak of churches Exactly. That's exactly what I wanted to That's awesome. Um, so it's good. So what's what's motivating you What's keeping you in the game? You know what I mean? Just that I do. I just feel like it is a duty doing this kind of work. Um, and we've had a lot of since Covid, I mean, I would say business plan, if you will. Uh, because we got the opportunity to work with pastors like you and churches like you to really, you know, the, I always said, you know, in twenty twenty, we all saw twenty twenty, right? Um, and I, I think that's true know, like you said at the you know, you were, you didn't getting involved, but then you your doors and it was like, too close for comfort. You know, I need to do And, you know, Covid was the pastors and congregations into a up for my religious freedom, it Um, and, you know, because we faced with the abortion issue assisted suicide issue and the I mean, all of that we had faced know, a lot of like, like the doesn't hit everybody. So not everybody is so, you know, maybe involved in it, right? Um, even though it's a, it's a affected everybody, right? It affected everybody's right. Religious liberty for sure. And the other thing about Covid is it all allowed us to see twenty twenty into what was being taught to our kids in the schools. And then parents started to be Uh, so truly, I am very come out of Covid. And I think a lot of people have I think we've had a lot of great legal victories, uh, to protect parental rights and religious freedom. We just launched the help people get inspired to run Um, so I think the future is It's going to take us some time, getting in this fight. Awesome. I wanted to ask you this. I, I was, um, going through my And one of the articles was, uh, enemy is so clever, right? This whole like attack on Yeah, probably. You probably heard of this, Because what he's trying to do words Christian and nationalist. Make it like a dirty word, And obviously, the tension has And a lot of people have a lack using someone versus who is an Right. Um, what do you say to that, When it comes to this like an unholy alliance, right? That Christian nationalism, like Like, what do you say to that? I wish I could remember what, uh, pastor Josh, he, he addressed this in that podcast and I wish I could, I could say what he said because it was so spot on. Um, but, you know, look, the left is really good at using these platitudes, these, um, you know, how they want to, uh, make you look these stereotypes, if you will. And I think the most dangerous thing about these things are not necessarily that the left is saying that we're Christian nationalists. I think it's that we're being changing the way that we might Um, and I just, you know, I get back to even what pastor Josh was saying in that podcast that when you look at the statistics of pastors and churches that are being explicit about truth and speaking to everything in our culture, you're seeing incredible growth in those churches. Yeah. Um, and I just leave that as a like, we cannot be intimidated. We people are now very inspired stand, be people of conviction. And ultimately, we already know look at it from a statistical when we talked about, you know, I mean, by far the statistics say again, a man and woman married together in a healthy marriage. Raising children by far has the wouldn't we want to celebrate? And if it's if it's Christian nationalism to be a strong father figure, then I'm a Christian nationalist. That's okay with me. Yeah, I think I think you said something along the lines of if if you if you mean that I'm a Christian and I love my nation, then I'm a Christian nationalist, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, it's it's so true. And we need to and that's the other thing we've been told, whether it's, you know, Black Lives Matter or in our schools, right? Or, you know, we talk about I mean, how many of our kids They don't know the story of when he was riding on his horse and all of his horses got, you know, shot and his three bullets went through his vest, you know, and, and but the guy still lived and went on to be this amazing president. And I mean, all these figures. But what is George Washington He's known as a slave owner, I mean, that's how he has been, you know, done with this Christian nationalist, you know, strategy. Um, and so this is exactly why taking back these places of local school committees, for the curriculum is getting in and Christian nationalism or, or Christianity in particular. So, um, I think we just need to stand up, be strong, and know that, you know, what, what the creator created is not not just good for us, but it's good for everybody. Absolutely. How do, um, how can people engage with what you guys are doing? How can they stay in the know difference in that realm? Yeah, yeah. There's many ways people can Um, you know, you don't necessarily have to run for office. I mean, we've been talking a lot about, uh, you know, this issue of leadership on a local and state level. I mean, there's so many ways you can get involved there as a volunteer. I mean, look, we're in the midst spring elections and many of our cities, like New Bedford, have And then we have state elections Every two years there's a. For there are elections, right? So get involved in those. And we just launched the Um, anyone can text the the It stands for Massachusetts You can text MFA to our short code eight seven eight nine one and fill out, fill out the volunteer form, you know, get involved or you want to get trained up to be a, you know, the next school committee member in New Bedford or the next school committee member in any town around you or state rep, you know, come to a training, get, get trained up, um, you know, parents, you know, get, get in touch with us, uh, join the Massachusetts Informed Parents page on Facebook, where now there's over eighteen thousand like minded parents across Massachusetts that are sharing what's going on in their schools. And then we're able to say, hey, help for you. So when your parental rights are under attack, we will protect you. And we have national allies like Alliance Defending Freedom and First Liberty and Liberty Council. These are million dollar help you for free. Uh, we're still dealing with When a guy, you know, got fired from his job regarding the Covid shot. Uh, we were protecting him. Uh, so, you know, when I think about what we can do together, it's, you know, fight legally, we can, uh, you know, run for school committee. We can protect parental rights, That's indoctrinating them. We can start, uh, affordable church based learning centers. Um, there's so many ways that we Yeah. And I must say, um, there's been parents and teachers who you guys have helped from our congregation. Yeah. With these different things that So I just want to thank you guys for the work that you've done, because I've personally have seen, you know, the fruits of that. And again, um, Covid to me was Yeah. How much we need to gain, we So that's why I wanted to have want to prayerfully spark those who listen, because we of our congregation to this said, I, I, there's a lot of I'm very optimistic as well that new awakening coming. You know, our, our area is known know, and I really feel like But we need to be engaged and we need to be in the game to see it. And who was it? You know, Pastor Marco that really led the charge back in the revolution. I mean, I think, you know, there It was the it was the Black Robe It was Christians who, you know, Sunday to preach and then, uh, And underneath was this soldier's uniform, and they'd be the ones that were leading their congregation into the Revolutionary War. And look, I mean, I don't miss the fact that back in the revolutionary times, it was only three percent of the colonialists that fought in the revolution. Right? It was not. I mean, and we're dealing with I mean, how many I just talked about the born, um, town election. Less than ten percent of born residents voted in their town election yesterday. Um, so we're facing these same challenges, but I will tell you, churches have influence like yours. Uh, you know, your one church and I, I, I can say this with absolute certainty. Your one church, fully engaged in New Bedford would make the ultimate difference. Uh, you know, especially at that And I think that's the message One church can make an absolute Uh, at that local level to make kids as, as woke as our state know, there's one hundred and twenty five are with us. There's forty state senators, We have so much influence at the That's where we need to start local school committee and Absolutely. Last question for me is when when we say, you know, those that are on our side versus those who are not and as Christians, right. The tension that a lot of times to be winnable people, right? We want to win people for Right. Um, how, how do you engage that reality that yes, these people may oppose the things that we are for, but at the same time, we want to be winnable and hopefully leave an open door for the gospel. Yeah, I think this gets at the whole debate of like the seeker sensitive. I'm sure you've had this debate, sensitive churches, uh, you general, I, I totally appreciate The what's behind wanting to be ultimately help and love people. Nobody misses that fact. And it's wonderful. But having said that, it has the church, I think, because Right. And, you know, when you think of the church, you know, my of the church is really to equip The saints and what are the They're supposed to be the ones doors of our churches and, and, It's not the main duty of the is not for us just to, um, you know it's, it's, we need to can go and get the seekers and church and be discipled. Right. But what's happening is we've so morning that the saint has now you're not going to speak truth, And I think that's what we're I think that's why pastor Josh speak truth and you engage and church, that's when you're growth, because then people are they should have done all along, equipped at church, and then go So good, so good. Would you, uh, would you pray Would you pray for God to give us again this heart and this understanding that it's it's also part of our stewardship, right? Yeah. As God's people to, to engage in these, in these conversations, but also to engage in, um, you know, infiltrating a dark world, you know. So would you pray? Yeah. No, absolutely. Appreciate that. Um, Lord, I just thank you for We could have together this I pray, Lord, that these words would truly be, uh, effective all parts of Massachusetts, all of this world. And that through your spirit, encourage hearts, Lord, that that just, I think to so many Lord, would you encourage our Yes, Lord. Would you give us the victory, not labor in vain, Lord, when And so we just put all the we put in your hands, Lord. And we know that they are the hands, Lord, that we could rely. Where our trust is in you, Lord. Um, and we just, we pray that give us the words to say when Lord, or when we're out that first step. Lord, would you would you create Would you create another And would you in that awakening, we do need to take back these you created, Lord, you created Lord, and and you created it for Uh, to protect people, Lord. To protect the most innocent, And so would you just help understand the, the intent of and what the government can do people, but to, uh, make sure are, are part of our laws, Lord. Um, so raise up, raise up a generation of leaders, Lord, whether they be the next state reps or state senators or school committee members, Lord or, or volunteers. Lord, just even in this time now, Lord of the spring and summer and fall, where we're having elections here in, in Massachusetts. Lord, would you awaken people? Would you would you allow us to have results in the fall, Lord, where not just people that are conservative, Lord, but that people that love you, that are Explicitly Christian Lord would take back places of leadership on a on a local level and a state level. Lord, we thank you for this We thank you for the time that Lord, this this celebration of Lord of a nation that that has Lord, we need to get back. We need to get back to those So just help us to work for the good of the widow, for the good of our families. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Michael, thank you so much for your time and for the work that you're doing. Yeah, no, thanks for having me. It's really wonderful to be with I've always been encouraged by continuing working together. We'll talk soon. All right. Sounds great. God bless you. You too. We good? Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.