Ryan Helfenbein (2:45)

I was diagnosed, all I wanted to

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (2:47)

do was get back to work.

Ryan Helfenbein (2:49)

I wanted to get back to that trajectory that I was on prior to the cancer. I always felt like I had value. I had a place on the team to just be treated with dignity. It means everything. Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place

Cancer Survivor / Advocate (3:10)

for healing, learn more and sign the

Ryan Helfenbein (3:12)

pledge@workingwithcancerpledge.com It's Sunday, March 22, 2026. Welcome to Real America's Voice News. This is Sunday, the Road Forward. Three weeks into Operation Epic Fury and the military campaign has been a tremendous success for the United States, striking well over 7,000 military targets and decimating the Iranian navy. But a new challenge emerges in the Strait of Hormuz. This is not the biggest test for the American military, but it is a test for America's allies to see whether or not they will protect their own economic interests in the region rather than benefiting from the United States and Israel for the security and safe transport of 20% of the world's petroleum. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical choke point for shipping and energy exports where European and Asian nations all rely on the same energy from that region, but have so far done nothing to protect their own economic interest or to secure the straight Something to pray for this Sunday morning as we approach Easter in less than two weeks. Our scripture reading comes from Isaiah 53 verse 5, which says, but he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. That is of course referring to Jesus Christ 800 years before his crucifixion. As always, we want to be an encouragement to our listeners to hold fast to the Word of God in these uncertain times. I'm Ryan Helfenbein. I'll be filling in for Dr. Tim Clinton today.

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (5:08)

Fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when

Heidi St. John (5:18)

I stand in your love.

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For more encouragement and to stay connected, follow Dr. Tim Klin on Facebook, Instagram and Echo. We love being a part of your life.

Ryan Helfenbein (5:45)

Joining us now is Heidi St. John. She is a best selling author, podcaster, speaker, mom to Seven children and many grandchildren. She's a strong and fearless voice for the family and righteousness in our culture. Heidi, thank you for joining Sunday, the Road Forward. Great to see you again.

Heidi St. John (6:01)

Hey, it's good to be with you. Thanks for having me.

Ryan Helfenbein (6:04)

Well, I. You are familiar with many, many things that are going on, not only in the church, but in the culture at large and abroad. Breaking story this week. It went viral. It went all around the world, certainly on social media. And that was a resignation of Joe Kent. Not a quiet resignation, mind you, but one that included a letter, a letter in protest over actions in Operation Epic Fury. He resigns in protest, many lauding praise on his military service record. He is a veteran, combat veteran, served multiple tours, had a wife killed in action, Green Beret. Tell us, give us some background on his story. What is going on here?

Heidi St. John (6:47)

Well, first of all, I think it's really important to say, and everybody is saying it, I thank him for his service to our country. That said, when a person serves our country in any branch of the military, it does not make them impervious to criticism. It does not mean that they are a good and moral person just because they serve in the military. And I, I think it's really important to say that out front. He has a very compelling story. His story is a huge reason why President Trump gave him the honor of making him the director of the center for Counterterrorism directly under Tulsi Gabbard. He got that job because of his story, full stop. I know Joe Kent because I ran against him in 2022 for a seat in Washington state's 3rd congressional district. I met Joe in 2020. He reached out to me and said, hey, I heard that you're thinking about running for Congress. I like to meet with you. And I was like, sure, no problem. So we met for coffee. I was instantly charmed. He's a charmer. He bought me coffee, for goodness sake. And what girl doesn't like that, right? He bought me coffee. He said, I'm thinking about running for Congress. And so, of course, I started asking him all kinds of questions. How long have you been a Republican? He said, I've been a lifelong. I'm a lifelong Republican. I'm a lifelong conservative. He said. He gave me a story, told me I'd been there. And, man, I was just like, wow, thank you for your service. This is an amazing story. I really appreciate it. And I was actually at that point, very early in 2020, thinking about not getting into the race because I thought, well, this guy can do it. I've got, you know, a full time job. He didn't have a job. Apparently I had a job. I was doing just fine. But I really felt like I needed to jump into the race, throw my hat into the ring. I introduced Joe to several people in the area. As someone who was also running, I figured this was going to be a race with a little bit of friendly fire. I had no idea what I was getting into. And about three or four months into it, I started hearing Joe saying really weird things out on the campaign trail. They weren't the policy positions of someone who I would consider to be a staunch conservative. He was talking about taxing, raising our taxes, like socialist viewpoints. In a lot of ways, his viewpoints on the public school were alarming to me. There were a lot of things he was saying that I was like, shoot, why is this guy? Is he really conservative? And yet I stood on a stage with him in front of lots and lots of people when someone said to him, him, tell me about your voting record. And he said repeatedly, I'm a lifelong conservative. Well, go forward a few months, we find out he's not a lifelong conservative who's actually a registered Democrat in Portland, Oregon, which is why no one in Washington State's third Congressional District had ever heard of him or knew him. He wasn't from Washington state. That was red flag number one. Red flag number two was that he was telling people he was a lifelong conservative, which is a bold based lie. He was not a lifelong conservative. He was a registered Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton and voted for Bernie Sanders. When I discovered that he voted Bernie Sanders, I began to raise all kinds of alarms. Why would this guy vote for Bernie Sanders? He's clearly not a Republican, which explains a lot of his policy positions out on the road. He knows an awful lot about the military industrial complex. He was saying the right things when it came to foreign policy, which, by the way, he's now backpedaled on because he was not telling the truth about how he felt about the war. And so in which, unfortunately, President Trump is learning the hard way. So when the Kent campaign discovered that his voting record had been outed, they created a narrative around it. And the narrative was that he was trying to help President Trump, that he was voting for Hillary Clinton in the primary in order to help President Trump, which, I'm sorry, Ryan, what true, dedicated conservative do you know who would ever in a million years vote for somebody as wildly evil as Hillary Clinton or as completely socialist as Bernie? Bernie Sanders, even if they thought it would help the other guy. It clearly wasn't going to help the other guy. The narrative was garbage. And the more I found out about this guy, the more I realized, okay, he's not telling the truth. I began to try and warn the voters in Washington State, this guy is not a. He's not a Republican. He's not a conservative. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. But because of his military service and because of his heartbreaking story, and it is a heartbreaking story in the loss of his wife, Shannon, in the service of our country. She was killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Syria. Because of that story, people were blinded to the truth and they did not do their homework. This is what happens when we do not vet our candidates. Can you imagine for just a moment the damage he's doing to President Trump right now is incalculable, but can you imagine the damage he'd be doing to the American people had we given him a seat in Congress? Would he be voting with the Republicans? Would he be voting for the SAVE Act? Would he be voting with Republicans who sent him there? President Trump made Joe Kent by endorsing him in his run for Congress not once, but twice. He endorsed him in the first run. I lost Joe by just a little bit in the primary, and then he ran again, and President Trump endorsed again. Both times he was not able to pull it off. And so, out of respect, I think, and kindness and a respect for his service, because President Trump really does have a big heart and he does love our military, he gave Joe Kentucky the incredible honor of promoting him and giving him the job of the director of the center for Counterterrorism. And while we are being attacked on American soil by terrorists, Joe Kent was plotting against the president and planning to leave in the most spectacular way possible. If he was a man of honor, he would have quietly resigned. He would have said to the president, listen, I can't do the job. Which he can't do the job. He's weighing over his skis. But whatever. He leaves in spectacular fashion and detonates a bomb politically on his way out the door. Shame on Joe Kent. It's embarrassing, it's shameful, and I hope the people of Washington State and around the United States who supported him are finally waking up.

Ryan Helfenbein (12:45)

You know, I think it's important to point out this is a great analysis, everything that you have said. I don't know anyone else that is really tackling this story the way you are right now. And. And I think it's important for people to understand the. The vast majority of men and women who serve this country in uniform, they serve honorably, with distinction. We're so.

Heidi St. John (13:08)

They love the country.

Ryan Helfenbein (13:09)

Yes, they love the country. But there are. We know this would not be the first time that people have hidden behind their military service record and they use it actually, and as a form of betrayal. There have been. There have been other political figures in the past that have done the same exact thing that they hide behind that. And I would say this is not unique. You know, in the church, there have been men have claimed to be pastors who turned out to be predators. There have been missionaries who have done the same thing. And so it is not unique to suddenly use that as some kind of a shield or some kind of covering in order to do other kinds of things. And I think that's really, really important for people to understand. And we shouldn't grimace at the fact that. That in this case, it seems as though that's what he's done. I think. I think that's important.

Heidi St. John (14:01)

Yeah. It's sad, but the reality is that there are bad actors in every sphere of influence. We grimace every time we find out that a pastor is cheating on his wife with the secretary. We grimace every time we hear about a fertility doctor who has taken advantage of and abused one of his patients. This happens in every sphere of influence. But for some reason, military service, we can't touch that. We're not allowed to touch it. We gotta stop doing that because it's hurting us. And so, you know, we've said repeatedly, I mean, you should read the comments online, people saying to me, you can't touch Jo Kent. His wife died. How would you feel after 12 tours in Iraq or 11 tours or whatever it was. Listen, that's not the point. That has nothing to do with what he just did to the President of the United States, who honored him with a position that he did not earn and did not deserve. And on his way out the door, rather than say, thank you, Mr. President, for placing your trust in me, thank you for endorsing me twice as I ran for Congress, twice in Washington State, instead of saying, thank you, he was a turncoat on President Trump. Shame on him.

Ryan Helfenbein (15:01)

You. You said it so well. And I'm going to bring this point back up because you said it earlier. He was literally on Sean Ryan's podcast not too long ago, sounding the alarm on Iran, the danger that Iran had posed to the United States, even wanting to kill our president, funding these terrorist proxy networks. That's exactly the role he was supposed to serve as the director of Counter Terrorism. And yet we are having terrorist attacks on our own soil. And while many of them might be foiled, the question, of course, that folks might raise is how effective was he at his job?

Heidi St. John (15:37)

Well, you'd think if he was doing his job, we wouldn't have had the three or four recents that we just had. But instead of focusing on counterterrorism, apparently he was focused on plotting against the President and when to make his spectacular departure from the administration. I think it's interesting that President Trump the night that this had happened, so this would have been, you know, several hours. Cuz of course, Joe made his explosive announcement in the morning when he knew it would hit all the morning news shows. But President Trump reposted a tweet that Joe Kent put out on January 8th of 2020. This is when I met Joe, by the way. So this took me way back and I was like, this is exactly what he said to me. He tagged the president. Real Donald Trump. We should not sit and wait for the next attack. This is Joe Kent telling the President, let's not wait. Let's preemptively go in and take him out while we have the chance, which is what the President has done. And now all of a sudden Joe Kent's like, don't do that. They're not a threat to. What planet are you living on? They're not a threat to America. The ayatollahs who teach three year olds to chant death to America. The people who are plotting to to kill Americans with a nuclear weapon. So Joe Kent says, Donald Trump, we should not sit and wait for the next attack. Wipe Iran's ballistic capability out and get our troops out of Iraq. They are only targets now. What happened, Ryan, the grift is real. When someone does not have a voting, a solid voting record of supporting conservative ideas and Republican values, why in heaven's name are we letting these people run to represent us in Congress or city council or anywhere else? There are wolves in the hen house. We got to do a better job.

Ryan Helfenbein (17:19)

We do. And it starts with vetting. And I appreciate so much you coming on, Heidi, to break it all down for us. Super, super important story. It is the story of the week. Appreciate your comments this morning. Thank you for joining Sunday the Road Forward.

Heidi St. John (17:34)

Thanks for having me.

Dr. Tim Clinton (17:36)

Do people ever come to you asking for help? Maybe hope?

Dr. Jay Strack (17:39)

How about prayer?

Dr. Tim Clinton (17:41)

Do you ever wish you understood the issues better that people are wrestling with? Or how about how to use the Bible more effectively in caring for people if so, I'd love to get a copy of our Caring Council Bible in Your Hands, featuring 116 topics written by some of the world's best mental health and ministry experts. I think you'll love it. Topics like discouragement, abuse, depression, divorce anxiety, abortion and more. So you can learn more about these issues and how to use the Bible more effectively how to share passages of Scripture with others, maybe even yourself as you're sitting down over a cup of coffee. You know what I love most about this Bible is that it's so easy to use. You can find right up front an index with subjects, key passages of Scripture, personality profiles and so much more to go to so you can use the Bible more effectively in caring for other people. The Caring Council Bible right now is retailing for $85. We're going to make it available to you for just 49.99 plus shipping. I think you're going to love it. Hey, for more information about how you can get this Bible right now, go to careandcouncil.com that's careandcouncil.com support for the

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Martha Stewart (19:59)

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Ryan Helfenbein (21:12)

People at work supported me while I was going through treatment.

Martha Stewart (21:15)

By not treating me like somebody who

Ryan Helfenbein (21:17)

was going through treatment. Treatment sucks. Cancer sucks.

Cancer Survivor / Advocate (21:22)

Being engaged with work really helped to oh, I just knew I was going to beat this thing.

Ryan Helfenbein (21:28)

Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place for healing.

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Learn more and sign the pledge@workingwithcancerpledge.com joining

Ryan Helfenbein (21:43)

us now is Samuel Rodriguez. He is the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the world's largest Hispanic Christian organization, and the lead pastor at New Season Church in Sacramento, California. Pastor Sam, thanks for joining us. Great to see you.

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (21:59)

Thank you for having me. Honored to be with you.

Ryan Helfenbein (22:01)

Well, you are out there preaching the gospel. You're a disciple maker and you know, Easter is just two weeks away. I wanted to just start out on on Sunday morning. What are you going to preach on two weeks from now?

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (22:18)

The finished work of Christ, my friend. This terminology, this phraseology engaged by the Apostle Paul, the finished work of Christ, what Christ did on the CR Cross and be at the conduit of his resurrection. Truly it is finished what he completed, that act of redemption, paying the price for you and I to have access to the fullness of all that God ordained for us. I love that. Isn't it beautiful? You could preach the entire Easter sermon from the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 4:16. Immediately because of what Christ paid on the cross, you and I immediately upon acceptance, receive mercy and grace. So I'll be preaching upon the finished work of Christ.

Ryan Helfenbein (22:59)

Okay, Sunday morning. Somebody could be watching right now. I'm going to tee this up right now. Pastor, what is the gospel? Just real simple. What is the gospel?

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (23:09)

The good news. I'm in California, so I say it's the greatest News of all it really is. What's the great news? That you and I, we are sinners. And without some sort of mediation, without intervention, you and I were destined to hell. There is a heaven and there is a hell. There is light and there is darkness, there is order and there is chaos. We understand that we're born, born with an intrinsic sort of spiritual DNA. If not to seek for that which is valid, that which is full of truth, what is the gospel? The gospel is the way. It's John 14:6. Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life. And it's real simple. If you confess and believe not in some sort of mantra, but with legitimacy of heart, if you confess and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he died on the cross to forgive all of your sins, that he resurrected from the dead, then I have news for you, my friend. Friend, you are saved. You're saved from eternal condemnation. You're saved from separation from God. You are saved.

Ryan Helfenbein (24:06)

Amen. I no one can preach a better gospel. There's only one gospel. And I think that's so important. I think that's so important. I love what you say, the finished work of Christ. Because there's nothing left to be done except to believe, to call upon the name of the Lord and to believe. And so right now it's Sunday morning and I think one of the most important things for people of faith, they're, they're asking this question, they're looking at what's happening right now in the Middle East. And what's interesting, Pastor, is that for, for such a long time evangelical voters have been unquestionable stalwarts and defenders when it comes to being pro Israel, pro Israeli policy, not allowing the government of Israel necessarily to co opt the government of the United States, but certainly recognizing we are a partner, that we're an ally, that we're a friend, that the greatest bulwark for Western civilization when it comes to a stabilizing force, when it comes to a peacekeeping force in the Middle east, when it comes to the promotion of freedom, human rights, the dignity of everyone created in the image of God, certainly Israel is a leading force, a leading nation in the Middle east and has been a long time friend of the United States. It's very interesting that more recently there has been this rise of anti Semitism. It doesn't look like this is organic at all. We're seeing many people promoting what I call the hermeneutic of suspicion, which is basically question everything and, and, and, and, and to, I think to the Detriment of the truth to the detriment of facts. And I'm. I'm going to go ahead and name names. Candace Owens is one of them, Nick Fuentes is another, and. And even Tucker Carlson. What's going on from your vantage point as a pastor?

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (26:09)

Listen, I am not a conspiracy theorist at all. I actually came to the realization of my relationship with God through my education, primarily meaning. I'm a Lehigh University grad. I'm a faith and science guy. You may want to call me an evangelical Trekkey. Before Trekkies, before Star Trek went. Awoke. So that. That's me. I'm a math and science guy now. So I am both. Yeah, I. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, but a little bit of Thomas is still in me where I have to go, like. So I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. However, this, my friend, cannot be organic. Absolutely not. There is some prefabricated element. There is a. If not at least from the pit of hell. Right. There is a satanic scheme to divide, to cause a chasm, strife and discord in the evangelical community. Community. That community has been more solid in the past 10 years than ever before. 81% supporting life, religious liberty, biblical justice, no to socialism, Marxism, wokeism, cancel culture. Yes to parental rights, and yes to protecting Israel from all vestiges of anti. Semitism. Yes, we're there and all of a sudden, boom. A crack. And that crack is not necessarily driven by policy. It is not. You can see it, you can smell it. It's off the rails. Let me use a strong seminary phrase to express it. It's cuckoo for Cocoa Puff. Yeah, it really is, and you know it. I recently had an opportunity to speak to a number of Jewish leaders at Jacob Javits center and one of the largest gatherings of Jewish leaders. And we talked about this. We talked about this. Again, I love what you stated. It's not about blank endorsement of policies coming from Israel regarding whatever initiative they may or may not be undertaking. It's about our commitment. And by the way, it extends beyond Genesis 12:3. Yes, that's beautiful. Commitment is there, but. And it is a great commitment. It's explicit. You bless it, you'll be blessed.

Ryan Helfenbein (28:03)

You curse me, right?

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (28:05)

May not go well for you, amigo, but it goes all the way through. And it's not some sort of driven, eschatological, dispensationalist, myopic interpretation of the end times. Stop it. It's a biblical mandate, my friend, and it's a moral mandate. So we're sticking By Israel I am. And I'm going to fight against every vestige of anti Semitism or every fiber and fabric of my beat.

Ryan Helfenbein (28:28)

That's right. Amen. You know, I, I've heard it expressed this way. The modern state of Israel, certainly a miracle, but it is also a vessel. It's a vessel for the biblical Israel of promise. And so the modern state of Israel is, is, can't be found in scripture, but the biblical Israel of promise is contained inside of it. And so one of the things that we recognize in modern times is the formulation of that state in 1948, eight bringing all and gathering all the Jewish people back to their homeland. And, and there are many living here in the United States. The biblical Israel of promise is inside of the modern state. And that's what evangelicals recognize when they just read the Bible plainly. It's so evident, so obvious. Talk about Operation Epic Fury for just a moment because we're about three weeks into this operation. Seven thousand targets have been hit by God's grace. There hasn't been many casualties of war, but there have been American lives that have been lost. We, we are so thankful for their sacrifice. But it looks as as though it is an overwhelming showing of military success right now in this phase. We're looking, the President is looking for international buy in. But what from your perspective, Master, some are questioning, should we have gone in? Did we have to go in? Was this necessary? We've been at war with Iran since 1979.

Bishop Kelvin Cabarrus (30:03)

Right.

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (30:03)

So we, I digress for a moment here. I referenced Thomas Aquinas, but I referenced St. Augustine. Let's talk about justified war. It is that theological premise laid out by these great scholars throughout the course of Christianity of is war justified? And the answer was us on it. Yes, it is with specific conditions. If you are threatened, if your family is threatened, if your children and your children's children are threatened, then you have the biblically substantiated, right? According to this great theologians who translated scripture from Genesis to Revelation and said absolutely, absolutely. Is this justifiable? 47 years. You referenced it. 1979, 47 years of Iran doing what?

Cancer Survivor / Advocate (30:46)

What?

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (30:46)

Of bombing embassies, of bombing the USS Cole, of killing US servicemen and women in different parts of the world. Not just that, but engaging their proxies in what? Funding terrorist attacks, not just in the US again, but around the world. So Iran declared a war on us in 1979, the moment he took over the embassy. And Jimmy Carter, as you well know, attempted to do something. It failed miserably. And then the rest is history. So it's a 47 year war and finally we have a President that has a wherewithal, the fortitude, the acumen, the courage to say this ends here. So is it justifiable? Yeah, they've come after us for 47 years. It's been justifiable for 47 years. So I am glad that President Trump had the courage to actually work with Benjamin Netanyahu to initiate this and hopefully and purple it will end soon.

Ryan Helfenbein (31:39)

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. So so we have a common kinship, we love Jesus and we're also fellow Trekkies. So Sammy Rodriguez Pastor, thank you so much for joining Sunday the Road Forward. Great to see you.

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (31:54)

Thank you for having me.

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For more encouragement and to stay connected, follow Dr. Tim Clinton on Facebook, Instagram and X. We love being a part of your life.

Ryan Reynolds / Samuel Rodriguez (32:07)

Foreign.

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The Investing platform for those who take it seriously On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductors conductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's that's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures Ever wonder

Martha Stewart (33:15)

how to make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret Getting ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens Countertop prep paper Just lightly wet the counter beforehand so the paper grips and stays in place. Then lay down the Reynolds Kitchen's countertop prep paper so drips and spills stay on the paper, not all over your kitchen counter. You can roll out dough, prep a party spread or cook alongside family when you're done. Cleanup is as simple as lifting the paper and revealing that clean counter underneath teeth. Effortless. You can use it for cooking and baking prep and even crafting, especially when you need extra working space. Because when the mess is already handled, you can focus on what matters, the food, the people and the moment. It may look effortless, but now you know, it's Reynolds Kitchens countertop prep paper. Take a tip from me. Wet it, set it, prep it, done. Make it easy. Make it with Reynolds Kitchen's countertop prep paper, available now in the Reynolds wrap aisle in Walmart.

Cancer Survivor / Advocate (34:25)

I need to be healthy every day to survive it and go through the next chemo round and the next chemo round. So it's important that work was part of that to keep my mind busy for eight, nine hours. And then I had to go back and face the reality. I had a goal and the goal is to survive.

Ryan Helfenbein (34:41)

Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place

Cancer Survivor / Advocate (34:50)

for healing, learn more and sign the pledge at working with cancer pledge.com joining

Ryan Helfenbein (34:55)

us now is Bishop Kelvin Cabarrus, currently serving as lead pastor of New Life Church International in Plant City, Florida. He is a member of the National Faith Advisory Board and a strong voice on righteousness and culture. Bishop, thank you for joining us. Great to see you.

Bishop Kelvin Cabarrus (35:12)

You, great seeing you. Thank you for having me.

Ryan Helfenbein (35:15)

Well, you just recently, just a few weeks ago, you were at the Oval Office. And I wanted just for you to talk about what the time was like with President Trump. I know you've been there many times, you've had many conversations with our president, but just what that experience was like, where his heart is right now, what and I think this is important, too, for our viewers. How can we be praying for our president right now with all the things that are going on in the world, especially right now with Israel and Iran? How can we be be prayerful and supportive as we watch these things unfold in the drama of politics and leadership?

Bishop Kelvin Cabarrus (35:59)

Well, I am have been blessed in my lifetime to have met three US Presidents. But what makes this connection and access to President Trump, Trump so unique and so blessed is the fact that he invites the faith and has invited the faith community and pastors in, in a way that he calls us his pastors. And what made this White House visit so unique was the fact that he was in THE SITUATION room. We're in the midst of a Middle Eastern conflict, but yet when he walked into his office and we walked in the office and he saw us, us, you can tell he felt a sigh of relief to see that there were people, his leaders, his pastors, his prayer warriors standing around him that he could feel some level of confidence and solace that we were in that room. And his response was a big smile, a big welcome, and he just went in and engaging us and one by one, listening to everything that we had to say from God to speak to his heart, heart and to encourage him in that moment. And, and for that, that was humbling for me, but yet it was a great opportunity that God gave as a God moment to be a voice for him to speak into the life of the most powerful man in the world.

Ryan Helfenbein (37:16)

I. I'm looking at what's happening right now. No one, you know, no one is unaware of Operation Epic Fury. United States and Israel right now, it seems like we're kind of going this alone, at least so far. Are presidents talking to other nations, talking to NATO, trying to get them mobilized and involved. But right now, when it comes to support for Israel, you. You do have that mighty evangelical voting block. But it seems as though there are these disaffected types and even these diabolical types that are scheming messages and ways to really crack that unified movement. Over 87% of evangelicals voted for this current president, voted for his leadership, supporting these policies, but also recognizing we have real threats in the world, and that doesn't change whether it's in the Western hemisphere or the Eastern Hemisphere. Um, and we recognize that in proximity, these threats are much, much closer than some might recognize at first glance. Hezbollah was being trained in Venezuela. These were terrorist proxy networks that were being funded by Iran. So Iran is not just there in the Middle East. They're close to us. And some have even said, and it's scary to think some sleeper cells might be here in North America, might be here within the United States that came under Joe Biden's watch when they had the open border scandal. But how do you view all of this, Pastor? And you know, through the paradigm of Scripture. But also recognizing that we need to be politically wise and astute to how we might be steered against things that we have had settled and understood for well over 2,000 years.

Bishop Kelvin Cabarrus (39:17)

Well, first, as I look back in church history and just understanding and knowing it, the church has always had at conflicting historical context issues that come up that creates a divide from taking us from the universal church to becoming Protestants and the reformers, et cetera. However, I'm seeing the same today, that because of the propaganda, we are allowing podcasters and voices of those who have no theological training or understanding to dictate to us what we are to believe and what we are to preach from our platforms. And unfortunately, some of our evangelical voices are giving in to this foolery. And I think it's important today that the real prophets, those who will preach the truth and rightly divide it, stand up and highlight the fact that the Israel of today is the Israel of the scripture. There's no replacement theology that will dictate and tell us that we to divide ourselves from Israel and not support and pray and bless Israel. The word of God said, if we bless it, God will bless us us. If we curse it, God will curse us. And that's what people need to realize today. And I think that's important along with that and having a political understanding and view of what's happening in the Middle East. If we let's look at, let's put theology aside and let's look at the historical context of the conflict that is always going on in the Middle East. And how many presidents have not had the courage to stand up to Hamas, to stand up to face this enemy me. But many of them funded it and helped support it against the will of Americans. But we have a president now that has emboldened himself in the courageous authority of God to stand up and say, enough is enough. We're not having it. We're putting an end to this. But I realize also that when you come against an opponent like what we're facing with Hamas and Iran, you realize that there are enemies in America. That's what happened to us. It was September 11th. There were those who posed themselves in our country as friends, just waiting on an opportunity to find our vulnerability and our weakness to invade us. But I think that we've learned a lesson from September 11th and we won't be caught off guard with that again. But I believe we still need to stand and be on guard. We need to be discerning. We need to be watchful. We need to be prayerful and praying for our leaders to lead us to make those right decisions to deal with the enemy that we face today. Today.

Ryan Helfenbein (41:36)

Bishop Kelvin, thank you so much for joining Sunday the Road Forward. No one could have said it better this morning. We thank you so much for your comments.

Bishop Kelvin Cabarrus (41:44)

Thank you so much.

Dr. Tim Clinton (41:45)

Do people ever come to you asking for help? Maybe hope?

Dr. Jay Strack (41:49)

How about prayer?

Dr. Tim Clinton (41:51)

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Martha Stewart (44:09)

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Cancer Survivor / Advocate (44:51)

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Ryan Helfenbein (45:07)

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Cancer Survivor / Advocate (45:15)

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Ryan Helfenbein (45:18)

pledge@workingwithcancerpledge.com Joining us now is Dr. Jay Strack. He is the president and founder of Student Leadership University, the premier global leadership training program for today's generation. He has a brand new center at Liberty University that he's being a part of, which is the center for Israel. We're going to talk about it on this program. Dr. J. It is always, always great to see you. Welcome to Sunday the Road Forward, man.

Dr. Jay Strack (45:47)

Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Ryan. It's always a joy to be with you because you put on your helmet and shoulder pads every day and you're out there trying to tackle some of the great issues of the day, whether it's training young men and women to be able to give their all and put a dent in the universe for the Lord. Lord, or whether we're defending the faith or whether it's a new initiative. So it's never boring being around you.

Ryan Helfenbein (46:18)

Well, I, I'm so grateful for you. And I just want to tell you, you know, you're a part of the National Faith Advisory Board. You're, you're also a part of this new center for Israel at Liberty University. Dr. Troy Temple, who's heading this up, you had just been on campus with the Israeli ambassador to the United States. I'm not talking about Ambassador Huckabee. I'm talking about Ambassador, Ambassador Leiter, who is just here talk about that experience. And for Liberty. This is nothing new, of course, going all the way back to Dr. Jerry Falwell in 1971, founding Liberty University. Israel has always been a friend of Liberty University, but now there is a Center for Israel. Talk about that experience.

Dr. Jay Strack (47:05)

Well, it's almost surreal. It was Jerry Falwell, early in my ministry that I heard thundering about God will bless those that bless Israel, curse those that curses. And as a young guy from the Jesus movement, not much of a church background, you know, My family was like a bowl of of granola growing up and so I was new to all things and I got an opportunity to meet Jerry Falwell when I still had hair to my shoulders. And he invited me at an early age to sit in on a meeting with about nine of the leading back in the day of the fundamentalist, that title and that kind of, you know, kind of a designation. Southern Baptist soon got excited about inerrancy and we began to be tried to be fundamental us of the faith, you know. And so Dr. Falwell was the first one that challenged me to be a make my life really count and challenged me to be a friend of Israel. And even though he was very conservative and I was kind of this weird guy with long hair with the Jesus movement background, Dr. Falwell spent hours and hours and hours with me me and so gave me quite a few opportunities and stretched me so he was one of the very first. I'd been privileged to go to Israel as a 19 year old pastor and people say I've been 105 times now. The trip we just took with the thousand pastors was my 105th trip. But. But who's counting? Except for my wife who's going to that you've been 105. But anyway, so I got put in this wonderful position but the first time I went it changed my life. First time I went to Israel. So my love for Israel is not political although I know what a great ally and what they mean to the world and all that's being demonstrated I think every hour on the news the role Israel's playing in helping bring peace to the planet, number one. But number two for me, I was dyslexic as a kid and I loved the Bible. The only problem about the Bible, greatest book ever written, but there's no pictures. Well, I went to Israel, I began to see the picture. So for me going to Israel was a, was a life changer. And through the years, having been all those times and been going for 50 years, 50 plus years now, I know it's hard to believe when you look at but Israel is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. So I grew up with deep appreciation, got to be exposed to people like Dr. Falwell. So now to come full circle and to be asked to be a part of this historic thing and I must say, Ryan, I must say say knowing Israel's awareness of liberty through the years as one of America's great universities and is one of the great voices for obviously the, the Bible and obviously the name of Jesus, but Israel's known Liberty University as a friend to Israel. Israel. So I was privileged, once we got back from that trip to Israel with a thousand pastors, we were asked to bring a handful of people to meet with the Prime Minister in Palm beach, down near Mar a Lago. And the Lord just said, you know, you ought to invite some of the key people from Liberty to be at that meeting. And so it's just amazing how the Lord's just kind of put, put all those things together. And then to watch Liberty University take the initiative and invite Ambassador Leiter and what a message he brought to the students there at Durham Chapel. And then the night before, he spoke very candidly to a banquet of a couple hundred leaders on campus, as you know, and to hear his story, you know, he lost his son. Son who, you know, if you live in Israel, your sons and daughters sign up for service.

Ryan Helfenbein (51:45)

That's right.

Dr. Jay Strack (51:46)

And his son was a member of the idf, was also a medical doctor and was going in on, you know, going home from home looking for the hostages and trying to be there to rescue some of the hostages that have been taken by Hamas. And he lost his son. And so here's a man who just recently lost his son and now has been asked to serve as Ambassador to the United States, one of the, the greatest ally that Israel has in the world. So very important position. And so getting to spend some real time with Ambassador Leiter through these last couple months and then especially hearing Ink was a pretty, a amazing program and to see how fast this dream and idea and the vision on Liberty's part to do something no other university, secular or Christian has ever done.

Ryan Helfenbein (52:45)

We just have a few more moments, but I wanted to bring this up because I know this is, I knew Charlie Kirk and, and, and, and many, many of our friends who knew Charlie Kirk knew that he was actually in fact a supporter of Israel and that his experience, heart shaping and life changing for him. He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister to, to Benjamin Netanyahu before his death. And he said, Listen, Mr. Prime Minister, I support Israel, but how, how do we do a better job? Maybe we could do a better job of communicating that support to the next generation, inspiring this next generation, getting them to have a greater understanding. And I think that that's, I think that's the challenge right now. When you think about biblical illiteracy being where it is. Most people are not attuned to the Bible stories or where they are. The Bible wasn't written in Kansas. It was written in Israel, and that those are the pictures. So just, just a few more minutes. But just, just real quickly, why is it so important that we inspire and we connect these truths and these principles to that next generation?

Dr. Jay Strack (53:59)

Well, we know we can't count on the media, we can't count on popular culture to communicate. But then again, I don't believe we ever should be counting on them to shape a worldview. And that has been commissioned to us through the ages from Mount Sinai on down. And of course, the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commission. And when you look at those, the, the, the ministry and the message that we are to have a great love for our Jewish brothers and sisters. And we also have a, I think a real call in our life in America to be one of the great defenders of Israel. It's the only democracy in the Middle east. And they have shown their desire and willingness and ability to have peace, you know, with about seven or eight now Arab nations. And of course, President Trump should get a lot of credit for that. He's kind of led in the Abrahamic Accords and that's led to a lot of steps. But right now, Israel has recognized that and they've known of liberty through the generations. So for them to know liberty is serious about having a center for Israeli studies, a center for to really learn and study and understand and not only the calling on Israel, but the character of Israel and the mission of Israel. And Israel's a democracy and they need the friends and they need the United States. And I think we're seeing we need them. So it's a natural that they and by the way, Menachem Begin, first prime minister that met with Jerry Falwell. And now to see Dr. Jonathan Falwell, the Chancellor. And now to see, see your president, Dr. Costin, a military man. Right. And who is with labored for peace. And then going down the order of, you know, Dr. Hicks and Troy Temple and this guy Ryan, I mean, it's just amazing. But this is one of the most exciting things. And for me to have the privilege to be a part of that, I mean, man, it make a Baptist almost rage. Raise both hands.

Ryan Helfenbein (56:16)

Well, we're out of time. Dr. J. Strack is always a privilege. We appreciate so much how you are serving our country in various capacities as a Christian leader. Many people don't recognize or probably know, but you're on the National Faith Advisory. You're in the Oval Office. You're in the year of the President. You're praying for the president. Thank you for all that you're doing leading out in front and also reaching that next generation through student Leadership University. We thank you for joining us. Under the Road for. Great to see you.

Dr. Jay Strack (56:49)

Always a pleasure.

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Ryan Helfenbein (59:05)

Hey, thank you for watching Sunday. The Road Forward. Charles Spurgeon once said, by perseverance, the snail reached the ark. Victory doesn't come through quick advancement. It comes through slow, mundane and faithful plotting. The road is long. The burden can sometimes be great, but we should never quit. And as we approach Easter, remember that the greatest battle has already been won at Calvary. Jesus said it is finished. He died and he bled for you. Trust in his finished work at the cross. Until next time.

Dr. Jay Strack (59:45)

Time.

Ryan Helfenbein (59:46)

God bless you.

Martha Stewart (59:57)

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Cancer Survivor / Advocate (61:11)

I need to be healthy every day to survive it and go through the next chemo round and the next chemo round. So it's important that work was part of that to keep my mind busy for eight, nine hours. And then I had to go back and face the reality. I had a goal and the goal is to survive.

Ryan Helfenbein (61:27)

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Cancer Survivor / Advocate (61:35)

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