Erick Stakelbeck & Kirk Cameron: Having Courage to Stand for the Truth | Praise on TBN

Erick Stakelbeck hosts a State of the Nation panel with Kirk Cameron, discussing our duty as Christians to take a stand for our religious freedom, and to live courageously everyday to spark change in our communities.

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2024, contentious understatement. Presidential election is upon us.
Uh, as we move forward, think the operative words have been the 3 F’s faith, family, freedom.
I don’t think this is a, hey, Black Hawk down, hunkered down, on Russia look bad.
Get us out of here before all hell breaks lose.
I think this is apply the gospel to every place the has touched.
Let’s transform it from the inside out starting with the heart of believers from my house all the way up to the White House and let’s see what the gospel can do.
Our first topic here in this overtime session guys will be the assault on religious freedom.
On the commission you focused on this, obviously.
And around the world, clearly, whether it’s China, totalitarian regimes around the world, you’ve been sounding the alarm for years, But here in the United States as well, maybe it’s not the physical persecution that we see in a place like China, but more and more Christians feel, and I believe rightly so that their rights and their freedom of speech and their freedom to express biblical viewpoints is being infringed upon what’s your take.
Look. When when I was on the on the commission, I traveled all around the world to the worst places to be a Christian or a religious person at all.
What whatever they’re real religion. And I was struck by one thing.
These people would say to me dozens of times. It didn’t start this way here.
It didn’t start with being put in jail or my life being threatened or in any of these things.
It didn’t start with with martyrdom. It started with my kids being treated differently in school.
It started with being slightly treated differently at work. It started with marginalization.
These, you know, peep people mocking you because of your beliefs and it was it was acceptable and okay.
And so, you know, I I don’t like to compare the United States of America to what’s happening in Nigeria or in communist China or Iran, but but we would be vigilant to recognize every single warning sign because our founders put religious freedom in the first clause of the first sentence of the first amendment for a reason It is the first freedom.
This is the only country in human history where you can believe and be free or not believe at all and be free and I’m afraid to say they’re blinking red lights in the United States of America, and we need to be vigilant about it.
You’re all students of history. Kirk, you’ve done great work on this topic, bringing the message of the founders to a wide audience today in 2024, Do you think some of this assault on religious freedom and the fact that it’s even happening, do you think some of that is result of historical ignorance I hate to say it by many Americans today.
Absolutely. Sammy hit the nail right on the head when he was talking about this is not just a bad of battle of ideas.
This is a battle of religions of secular totalitarian Marxist religion. Our founders understood that.
Um, you the the idea of of religion is inextricable from the form of government that you have.
You you even secular governments are based on a particular form of religion. Listen to this from Noah Webster.
He gave us Webster’s dictionary. Noah Webster was known as the father of American Education, one of the founders, He said every civil government is based on some religion or philosophy of life.
Education in that nation propagates the religion of the nation In America, that foundational religion was Christianity, and it was sewn into the hearts of Americans in the home and in public and private school for centuries, our growth, our prosperity, was the result of a biblical way of life, and our continued freedom and success depends on teaching our children the principles of Christianity.
So this is not a matter of just, um, censoring religion This is a a different big bad religion called totalitarianism, secular humanism that seeks to place and you serve the power of god from the church and from the family and, b, the lawgiver, the judge, and the king of all things.
So it’s not censoring religion. It’s swapping Christianity out for a new religion that will kill Christianity and everything else.
Great, great point. Pastor Sam, it seems that secular progressivism, Marxism, Leftism, it’s a religion of sorts for them.
They’ve abandoned the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
They’ve embraced this secular humanist worldview, and that makes people of faith a great danger to them.
Two words, American Exceptionalism, controversial words. The fact that we think we’re exceptional, right? We actually are.
Because we’re the first ones to ever introduce. To human civilization, the idea of the following hierarchical structure.
God over man. Yep. Man over government. That’s the pecking order.
And the new religion is government is god. Government grows, pushes man and god out of the way.
It’s all Daniel chapter 3 all over again. Worship the statue of nebuchadnezzar. Government government is my shepherd.
Uncle Sam is my shepherd. I shall not want. It’s government dependency and perpetuity, multi generational on steroids.
That’s what it is. It’s religion. It’s not about taking away religion. It’s not atheism.
How many atheists are in America?
It’s about replacing the god of Abraham Isaac Jacob and Joseph, Matthew Mark, Luke and John, with government Gato Gato Roman, by the way, uncle Sam.
Great uncle, but some uncles are freaky. And they did some stupid things.
And uncle Sam may be our uncle, but he will never be our heavenly father.
Yeah. Hey, man. It’s Sage. Look, there’s we’ve discussed this.
And by the way, folks, again, TBN app, if you missed the first 60 minutes of our great conversation, just go to the TBN app, check it out state of the nation 2024 and sage during that first 60 minutes, You talked about the price that many of us have paid in you leaving ESPN, of course, uh, over expressing conservative beliefs that you’re higher ups didn’t like.
There’s a price to pay, but at the end of the day, it’s worth it when you stand for the truth, including standing for your beliefs in god.
And listen, again, I I understand the fear.
You know, I haven’t traveled to countries and had wonderful conversations in-depth important conversations with government officials.
I haven’t done those things. And I’m, you know, I’m a sports caster and a mom, and
then That’s why Johnny Moore is here. Talk to John
and there you go.
That’s as close as you.
But I I I do know, I guess, in such a different level, right?
Um, the importance of drawing that line. And everybody has a different line where they say, okay.
Now you’ve crossed it. And now enough is enough.
And what what is enough to me, That line was crossed a long time ago, um, not just personally and professionally, but I mean, as a country and as a a red blooded American, who just wants to see everyone win, um, it’s all about the fear.
And sometimes it’s as simple as the fear of having a conversation And I remember I know being so scared.
And and Nick Sabin, the now former Alabama coach, how weird is that?
Hard to believe.
How has he gone? Uh, we’re not gonna talk about sports now. That’s later. You and
me. Camera.
The key to greatness, the key to success get comfortable being uncomfortable. Yeah. How we’ve all been very uncomfortable Right?
But every time you push through that, you’re like, I’m still standing. I’m okay.
So to me, it is in these little ways to have to have these conversations with your neighbors, with your friends, with your family members, right?
And, oh, by the way, people get upset when, okay, fine. You preach to your god. I don’t believe that.
I have to respect that. I I feel for them, and it saddens me.
I have to respect that. But, okay, let’s have the conversation as to why. Right?
I can learn something about their why as well.
And then you still have to find a way to come together, even if you think differently, have that uncomfortable conversation to come together for what?
For the greater good of all of us, for me, it’s gonna be faith based.
For that person that might not be, that doesn’t mean that we can’t still be on the same team.
So I’m trying to make it more simple,
like,
because I don’t have the brains that you guys have.
It’s just, okay, how can I get and I I’m not
we’re all sitting here, Sage,
wishing you? You’re doing pretty darn good. I have exactly. You’re doing pretty darn good,
Sage. I just mean the simple the simple part of it because some of it overwhelms me.
Some of the stuff that you the discussions you’ve had, I mean, I’m in awe of it, but on the on that everyday level at the grocery store, when I say thank you.
Have a good good day god bless you. Like, I mean that as I’m saying goodbye to a stranger.
Right?
Those little things I think that we can do even if we’re not traveling the world and talking
That’s America or Alicia used to be,
but this time, we we had a shared story in America until, like, 10 years ago or 15, 20 years ago.
It’s it’s started a a generation to go declining, but, you know, what’s amazing is when when when Kirk and others, you know, tell these amazing stories of early American history.
You know, one of the parts that’s really interesting about early American history is these guys disagreed with each other all the time.
They argued passionately about things. I mean, when when Thomas Jefferson became president, it’s an amazing amazing story.
John Adams said it was the end of America. Okay. It was the end of America.
In fact, John Adams put a bunch of judges on the court before Thomas Jefferson became president in order to protect American American Values, John Adams Boycotted Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration because he had such disdain for some of the things that Thomas Jefferson believed.
But if you would have asked John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, about what we’re talking about right now, even though they had a personality conflict and all of these other things, they would have agreed on everything that we’re saying here now because they had a shared story.
And and, unfortunately, we haven’t passed that shared story along.
And and when you don’t, you know, when you’re scared, And the Bible I mean, the Bible has hope for us and all of these things.
Yeah. And
it says god isn’t giving us a spirit of fear. We know that part. Mhmm.
But the rest of the verse is really important too.
He’s given us spirit of fear, but he’s given us power. We should be confident. He’s given us love.
We care for one another even while we’re courageous. And he’s given us a sound mind.
We know what we believe, and it all all comes together.
I I resonate with what you’re saying Sage is what can I as an everyday dad do as a grandfather, as a husband?
You know, I I can’t help, but but think as I’m reading through my Bible, which is where we all need to be looking all the time, by the way, to understand that there is a giant that is bigger than China.
That that’s what David knew that the rest of the Israelite army forgot was that Goliath wasn’t the giant.
There was a giant behind him that was much bigger and much more powerful.
And if I can honor god in the little things in the way that I speak with my wife and with my children, if I can make the most of the day that I have today while I have breath in my lungs to do what I can where god’s put me.
And then trust god that he’s working all things together for good, I read in the Bible that that’s when crazy stuff happened is when little little guys, nobody’s from nowhere with not much to offer, but a heart fully surrendered and dependent upon god, he moves on their behalf because he has so much skin in the game.
He he shed the blood of his own son and raised him from the dead.
And then I believe, like, Sammy says, he says, go into all the world and disciple all nations teaching them to obey all that I’ve commanded, and I will be with you to the end of the age.
I don’t think this is a Hey. Black Hawk down hunkered down. China and Russia look bad.
Get us out of here before all hell breaks lose.
I think this is apply the gospel to every place the curse has touched.
Let’s transform it from the inside out starting with the heart of believers from my house all the way up to the White House and let’s see what the gospel can do.
And and that’s my point.
And here’s the beautiful thing about this.
Like, while we’re sitting here and, you know, having this conversation, there are more believers followers of Jesus Christ, who whose faith cost them something in China, then there are members of the communist party.
Okay? In in Iran, there are over 50,000 little home churches meeting and people everyday people because this is the fastest growing in the world in Iraq.
Growing interest in the world. And you’re wrong. This this
won’t be
able to hear that enough.
This is the story.
Right untold story. Got
if if you’re sitting here, like, watching us, like, listening to this conversation and you think you’re the least likely person, to change the world, to be the spark to start the revival.
And some, you know, TPN is all over the world.
The internet is an every single home you’re in a country where you don’t know another Christian.
You may be the very person that god wants to use to to take on to take on that goliath.
Amen. And, folks, more where this came from.
Now in case you missed our 60 minute special, TBN Townhall State of Nation 2024, you can check it out right now on the TBN app, we discussed gender madness, cancel culture, Israel, revival, lots of good stuff.
Check it out. On the TBN app, but this is over time, additional time with our pan panelists, pastor Sam Rodriguez, Kirk Cameron, Johnnie Moore and Sage Steele.
2024, contentious understatement. Presidential election is upon us.
Uh, as we move forward, I think the operative words have been the 3 f’s faith, family, freedom.
Kirk, start with you, looking ahead 2024. What does this nation need to do?
Turning back to god, of course, what are some other steps you’d like to
I’d like to appeal to some middle earth wisdom, uh, from token, uh, out of the mouth of Gandalf, the gray.
Yeah. He said, Other evils there are that shall come for even Sauron himself is but a servant or an emissary.
But our task is not to master all the tides of the world.
But to do what is in us, for the years wherein we have been set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know so that those who live after will have clean earth to till.
That’s what we’re doing. While we’re on the stage of the world and have breath in our lungs, let’s rip up the evil that we can in our sphere of influence and plant seeds of truth, beauty, and goodness for our kids.
Yeah. Amen and sage. We have been a minute left.
You’ve you’ve memorized all of that.
Oh, I love it, Laura. You’re a turkey nerd.
I’m a lord of the rings there.
I love the epic battles between good and evil. That’s lord of
the rings.
Hey, we’ve got, like, 30 seconds sage. Um, you know, Frodo actually from the fellowship of the ring.
Said to Gandalf, basically, now you gotta be going. Why why why was I born at this time?
And Gandalf basically says, I’m paraphrasing. You were born for such a time as this, basically, not in those words.
Um, Sage, you’ve been an Esther. We’ve been comparing you for for speaking out.
Optimism in the short time we have left in 2024.
I’m so optimistic. I we have to be. If you have god in your heart, how can you not be?
That’s my responsibility as a mother, as a person, as someone with a platform for today, who knows if it’s taken away tomorrow.
I do believe in just those little things.
And, um, leading with kindness and remembering that everybody is going through something.
Everybody has a story in fear and a pain and a why.
And I try to get to those because I I it makes me better to understand that even if we’re so completely different, and I mean it every day, a smile.
That’s why we’ll not wear a mask again. You know, no matter what, those smiles matter, those words matter.
The lady at Walmart, the cashier, who’s miserable and mean, you still say, I like your, find a way to be kind.
And that’s something that all of us can do. We have no excuses.
We must or else we will regret it. It is close. And I don’t think it’s too late.
2024, to me, this is this is the biggest turning
point that
I’ve seen, and it’s now our number We have to. I’m I’m scared if we don’t.
Sage, this is it. And this is it for our overtime. This is overtime. This is double overtime.
Because I think we really need we have a mighty woman of god, 3 mighty men of god here.
I think if I may be so bold, we should close in prayer folk I can’t think of a better person to do it than pastor Sami Rodriguez.
Pastor Sam, if you don’t mind, could you close this awesome panel in prayer?
Have a lead father for such a time as this? Here we are.
To be light in the midst of darkness. Thank you for the promise of John chapter 1 verse 5.
That light shines into darkness. And that darkness will never ever overcome them. Help us.
All of us embrace the biblically substantiated truth.
That when our integrity is greater than our influence, nothing can stop us.
When our hunger for righteousness is greater than our fear of criticism, nothing can stop us.
Show us your glory as we shine in your name. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.