I think the most fitting response to this week’s election results is found in Jesus’s words in Matthew 28: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
What’s the connection to the election? First, let’s look at the election numbers.
In the 2018 midterms, white evangelicals made up 26% of the vote. On Tuesday, according to NBC, it was 17%. That’s a decline of nine percentage points.
I’m not a big fan of the elastic term “evangelical,” and tracking only white evangelicals leaves about 40% of my church out of the equation. White evangelicals are one slice of a racially diverse community of people who believe the Bible and allow it to inform their views on moral and spiritual issues that have been deemed political.
However, a decline in the share of voters could reflect lower turnout, a decline in the number of evangelicals relative to the population, or both. As for turnout, we won’t have a reliable number on what percentage of evangelicals actually voted. But some suggest it declined, and that’s a problem. When evangelicals sit out an election, they give up an opportunity to shape its outcome.
So how does all this connect to the words of Jesus?
First, Jesus tells us to make disciples. That should prompt us to ask how faithfully we’ve carried out the Great Commission. We need a renewed emphasis on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, making disciples, and baptizing them. Start with someone you know. Share what Christ has done in your life and invite that person to read Scripture with you.
I’m sure some critics of the church would say, “Focus on evangelism and stay out of politics.” Well, consider the second part of what Jesus said, the Cultural Commission: “Teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” The truth of God and obedience to it is not just a private matter.
Followers of Jesus, equipped and encouraged by pastors, need to share their faith and live it out in a way that impacts the world around them, including government.
My response to the election? Go make disciples for Jesus and teach them to impact the country and the culture with biblical truth.
If you’re looking for a way to put that into practice in your community, visit frc.org/chapters to learn about our Pray Vote Stand chapters.
If you’re discouraged, remember how Jesus began and ended those words. He began by saying that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. And He ended with a promise for us as we go. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This article was originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
Following the 2026 midterm elections, declining evangelical voter participation raises questions about the Church's influence on American culture. Discover why the Great Commission calls Christians to make disciples, share the Gospel, and engage society with biblical truth.
The midterm elections are behind us. Some Americans are encouraged by the results, while others are disappointed, frustrated, or uncertain about what the next few years may bring.
For Christians, however, the most important truth has not changed. Our hope does not come from a politician, a political party, a candidate, or the outcome of an election. Our hope is in Jesus Christ.
Elections can change who holds power. They can affect laws, policies, and the direction of the country. Christians have good reason to pay attention and remain engaged. But no election has the authority to change God’s Word, alter His promises, or remove the assignment He has given His people.
Political movements come and go. Public opinion shifts. Cultural values can change dramatically within a generation. God’s Word remains the same.
That is why Christians need biblical truth deeply rooted within them. When our beliefs depend on the cultural environment around us, an election result can leave us feeling as though everything has changed. When our foundation is Scripture, we can recognize that the most important things have not.
Jesus is still Lord. The Gospel is still true. God is still sovereign. Christians are still called to speak truth, love their neighbors, make disciples, serve others, and live faithfully.
Whatever happened at the ballot box, none of that has changed.
Political disappointment can be real. People invest time, energy, prayer, and concern in issues they believe will affect their families, churches, communities, and country. When the outcome is not what they hoped for, discouragement can follow. But Christians are not called to stay discouraged.
Isaiah 6:8 records the prophet’s response when God asks whom He will send: “Here am I! Send me” (NKJV). That is a useful posture after an election too. Instead of asking only what the government will do next, Christians can ask what God has given us to do next.
That assignment may be large or small. It may involve serving in a church, raising children who know biblical truth, helping a neighbor, speaking up when something is wrong, sharing the Gospel, strengthening a marriage, serving a community, or simply being faithful where God has already placed you.
There is still work to do.
Christians can care about politics without expecting politics to save the country, the culture, or the human heart.
Political leaders can make wise decisions or foolish ones. Governments can protect freedom or restrict it. Policies can have enormous consequences. Those realities are reasons to stay informed and engaged, but they are not reasons to place our ultimate confidence in government.
Psalm 146:3 says, “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help” (NKJV). That warning applies whether your preferred candidates win or lose. A political victory should not produce misplaced confidence, and a political defeat should not produce despair. Our hope was never supposed to rest there.
One of the best responses to an uncertain political future is also one of the simplest: nurture your own walk with Christ.
Spend time in Scripture. Pray. Listen to the Lord. Know what you believe and why you believe it. The more confusing the culture becomes, the more important it is for Christians to be grounded in truth rather than carried along by every new headline or political argument.
That personal relationship with Christ also shapes the way believers engage the world around them. Christians should be known not simply for what they oppose but for the way they represent Jesus through truth, courage, compassion, integrity, and faithfulness.
Philippians 3:20 reminds believers that “our citizenship is in heaven” (NKJV). That does not remove our responsibilities here. It puts them in perspective.
Once an election ends, Christians have another responsibility: pray for the people who have been elected. First Timothy 2:1–2 calls believers to pray for those in authority. Scripture does not limit that command to leaders we supported, leaders from our preferred political party, or leaders who share our faith.
Pray that they will govern wisely. Pray that they will pursue what is right and resist what is wrong. Pray for their decisions, their advisers, their families, and the people affected by their leadership.
And pray for something even greater: that leaders who do not know Christ would come to know Him. A political opponent is not beyond the reach of the Gospel. A leader whose beliefs are far from biblical truth is not beyond God’s ability to change a heart. Christians believe in a God who does what human beings cannot. That should change the way we pray after an election.
No election can give the Church its mission, and no election can take that mission away. Pastors still need to teach the Bible faithfully. Parents still need to disciple their children. Christians still need to share the Gospel, defend truth, care for people in need, support their churches, strengthen their communities, and represent Christ wherever God has placed them.
There is no permission to quit because the political environment becomes difficult. If anything, challenging times make faithful biblical leadership and strong churches even more important.
Real Life Network exists to help believers stay grounded through Bible teaching, trusted news, Christian worldview programming, apologetics, documentaries, and other resources that point people back to truth. The goal is not simply to understand what is happening in the world, but to be equipped to live faithfully within it.
The midterms may have changed the political landscape, but they did not change who sits on the throne.
God was not surprised by the results. Christians therefore do not need to live as though the future has suddenly slipped beyond His control. We can pray for our leaders, stay engaged, stand for truth, and continue doing the work He has placed before us.
Most importantly, we can keep our eyes on Jesus. Political leaders will come and go. Parties will gain and lose power. Another election will arrive before long. But Jesus Christ remains “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, NKJV).
Whatever the political future holds, Christians still have reason to move forward with hope. Our confidence was never supposed to rest in an election result. It rests in the risen Christ, our King and our ultimate hope.
Stay grounded in biblical truth with free Bible teaching, trusted news, current events, and Christian programming on Real Life Network.
The 2026 midterm elections have changed America's political landscape, but they haven't changed God's promises. Read why Christians can move forward in hope, remain grounded in Scripture, pray for leaders, and stay faithful to their calling regardless of election results.
Adapted from my conversation on Rose Unplugged with Derek Maltz, former Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Watch the full episode here: Is China Waging Chemical Warfare on America?
There is something coming for your family. Whether you live in a city or a suburb. Whether your kids are in middle school or college. Whether you think this is someone else's problem — or you've already lived it.
It is the drug crisis pouring across our border. Not one drug. Not one cartel. Not one route. A flood. And it is changing — and ending — American lives every single day.
I want to be clear about something from the start, because the news often focuses on one drug at a time, and that gives us a false sense of the scale of what we're facing.
Yes — fentanyl is the headline. And it should be. It’s the deadliest drug ever to hit this country. It’s synthetic, lab-made, and lethal at just two milligrams — the weight of a few grains of salt.
It's driving the majority of overdose deaths in America. At the peak of this crisis, we were losing more than 70,000 people a year to fentanyl alone. That’s nearly 200 lives every single day.
But fentanyl isn’t coming alone. Methamphetamine, cartel-produced, and ultra-potent, is flooding communities from coast to coast. It's not the meth of 20 years ago. It's cheaper, stronger, and more widely available than ever.
Cocaine trafficking remains massive and increasingly, it's being laced with fentanyl without the user's knowledge.
And now there are emerging threats most Americans have never even heard of: xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer mixed with fentanyl that Narcan can't fully reverse, and nitazenes, a synthetic opioids so powerful they make fentanyl look mild by comparison.
This is not a single-drug crisis. This is a chemical assault on the American people. And it is being orchestrated deliberately by foreign adversaries and transnational criminal networks that don't care how many of us they kill.
Even with a decline of nearly 24% in overdose deaths — and yes, we should acknowledge that progress — we are still talking about roughly 87,000 overdose deaths in a single year. That’s not a statistic. That’s a national emergency.
Drug overdoses remain one of the leading causes of death for American adults. And for every death, there are dozens more lives derailed; families broken, futures stolen, and communities hollowed out.
So where is all of this coming from? Because this is where truth gets complicated and where the political noise gets loudest.
Here is what the evidence shows: The precursor chemicals, the building blocks, are largely manufactured in China. They are shipped to Mexican drug cartels. The cartels synthesize, press, and package the drugs. And then they move them north into the United States.
Now, here is the part that gets lost: the vast majority of these drugs are not being carried across open desert by migrants on foot. They are being driven through legal ports of entry. In passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, and in cargo shipments often by U.S. citizens.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over 19,000 pounds of fentanyl in 2024 alone. And fentanyl now makes up nearly 90% of all opioid seizures at the border.
Which means this is not just a border wall conversation. It is a technology conversation. An intelligence conversation. A cartel conversation. And a China conversation — because none of this happens without China supplying the chemicals.
This is not just about policy. When a nation loses its sense of purpose, when truth becomes relative, and when emptiness fills the space where meaning used to live, people look for escape.
And what is crossing our border right now is not just a drug. It is a counterfeit answer to a real spiritual hunger. One that ends in destruction.
We need stronger enforcement. Absolutely. We need to go after the cartels and hold China accountable. Without question. But we also need something no government can legislate. We need restored families. Engaged parents. Communities that are awake. And young people who know their worth — not from culture, but from their Creator.
Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Xylazine, Cartels, all weapons of destruction. But the scale of this, the sophistication of the networks, the multiple poisons being unleashed on our families — all of it confirms something I believe with everything in me.
This is not just a policy fight. This isn't just a border fight. This is a spiritual battle. And we need to start treating it that way.
In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8, NASB)
Think about that word — devour. Not inconvenience. Not discourage. Devour.
And “be of sober spirit” — not just physically, but clear-minded, alert, and aware. Because the danger isn't always obvious. It doesn't announce itself.
It comes as a pill that looks like medicine. As meth that looks manageable. As cocaine that looks like recreation. As something a friend hands you and says — it's fine.
But Scripture also tells us in John 10:10:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10, NASB)
Steal innocence, and kill potential. Our families or being destroyed. And if we are honest, with every drug coming across that border, that is exactly what we are watching play out.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12, NASB)
Which means this: if we only fight this battle at the surface level and if we only debate policy and argue about which party deserves the credit or the blame, we will always be reacting. And reacting is not the same as overcoming.
Yes, we need stronger enforcement across every drug, every route, every cartel. Yes, we need to hold China accountable for the chemical warfare they are enabling. Yes, we need the technology and the intelligence to stay ahead of networks that never sleep.
But we also need something that no legislation can provide. We need discernment. We need truth spoken in our homes, in our churches, and our schools. We need families and communities that are not just alarmed but awake. We need to fight a spiritual battle on our knees. Collectively.
I want to speak directly to young people for a moment. I don't care what it was called. I don't care how it was offered or who gave it to you. What's being disguised as relief, escape, or just a good time has a body count.
And I want you to know — really know — that your life has value. Not because of what the culture tells you. Not because of what shows up on your screen. But because you were created on purpose, for a purpose.
And there is nothing, no substance, no moment, no amount of pressure from anyone worth trading that for.
To every parent reading this: the time to lean in is now. Not when you find something. Not when the call comes. Now.
Talk to your kids about all of it — not just fentanyl. Talk about the counterfeit pills made to look like medicine. The meth that doesn't look like meth anymore. The pill some other kid promises will help them get through an exam. The powder hidden in something they never even knew to question.
Not out of fear, but out of love. Because silence is not protection anymore. Awareness is.
Romans 12:21 tells us:
Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21, NASB)
That’s not wishful thinking. That is not passive. That is a call to action.
Darkness may be real. The threat may be sophisticated. The enemy may be relentless. But darkness does not win.
Not when truth is spoken. Not when families are engaged. Not when communities stand up and say — not here. Not our children. Not on our watch.
So yes, this is about drugs, fentanyl, meth, and the poisons being trafficked across our border. It’s also about cartels and chemicals and a fight that is far from over.
For More Information check out my guest’s website; Lost Voices of Fentanyl https://lvof.org
America’s drug crisis threatens families and communities. Discover why parents, churches, and communities must respond with awareness, honest conversations, prayer, and hope.
Election Day 2026 is less than two weeks away.
By now, campaigns are entering their final stretch, political advertising is intensifying, and attention is beginning to shift from what might happen on November 3 to what Americans will actually see when 2026 election results begin coming in.
There is still time to prepare.
Before Election Day arrives, finish researching the candidates and measures on your ballot, make sure you understand the issues at stake, and know where to find authoritative election information for your jurisdiction.
Then think ahead to Election Night itself.
Results will begin arriving from across the country at different times, major races may develop quickly, and some contests may remain unresolved well after Election Night ends. Knowing what to expect can help you follow the results without getting lost in the constant stream of numbers, projections, reactions, and commentary.
If there are still names or measures on your ballot that you know little about, now is the time to research them.
National headlines may be dominated by control of Congress and prominent statewide races, but your ballot may also include state legislators, judges, county or city officials, school boards, and ballot initiatives.
Return to the questions that matter:
By this point in the election cycle, voters are surrounded by persuasive messaging. Going back to original sources, public records, full interviews, policy proposals, and reliable reporting can help separate useful information from the final rush of campaign rhetoric.
The national political conversation includes the economy, immigration, healthcare, education, abortion, public safety, foreign policy, government spending, technology, and many other concerns.
But not every office has authority over every issue.
Before November 3, connect the issues you care about with the candidates and offices that can actually influence them.
A congressional candidate and a school board candidate may both talk about education, but their responsibilities are very different. A governor, state legislator, mayor, and U.S. senator can each affect public policy in different ways.
That context can make the difference between simply following political debate and understanding the choices in front of you.
The final days before an election can generate a remarkable amount of information, and not all of it deserves equal trust.
Old videos may resurface without context. Unverified claims can spread quickly on social media. Campaigns may make last-minute accusations against opponents. Commentary can sometimes be mistaken for reporting.
Slow down before accepting or sharing something simply because it confirms what you already believe.
Look for original statements. Read beyond headlines. Compare reporting from credible sources. Pay attention to when information was published and whether new facts have emerged since then.
Christians in particular should value truth more than partisan advantage. Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (NKJV). Election season does not make accuracy less important.
Once voting concludes around the country, election reporting shifts rapidly from campaigns to results.
You will begin seeing vote totals, percentage reporting figures, maps, and race calls. But those numbers require context.
An early lead does not necessarily determine who will ultimately win a race. Different jurisdictions report results at different speeds, and the portions of the vote reported first may not resemble those reported later.
That is one reason reputable election-news organizations do not simply call a race because one candidate happens to be ahead.
The Associated Press, for example, says it declares a winner only when its analysts determine that the trailing candidate no longer has a path to victory. Some races can be called relatively quickly; closely contested races may take days or, occasionally, longer.
So on Election Night 2026, pay attention to more than the percentage of votes counted. Listen for explanations of where reported votes are coming from, how much remains outstanding, and why a race has or has not been called.
Election Night creates an expectation of instant answers, but elections do not always cooperate with television schedules.
Some races will become clear early in the evening. Others may remain uncertain as additional results are reported. Particularly close contests can require more time before a reliable winner can be identified.
That does not necessarily mean anything unusual has happened.
The United States does not have one centralized national vote-counting system. Elections are administered at the state and local level, and reporting practices differ across jurisdictions.
That means patience is sometimes part of following election results responsibly.
A responsible news source should be willing to say “too early to call” rather than turn uncertainty into speculation.
Individual races matter, but Election Night 2026 will also tell a broader story.
As results accumulate, the evening gradually moves from individual contests toward a national picture.
That broader context is one reason thoughtful election coverage matters. Numbers tell you who is ahead. Good reporting also helps explain what those results mean.
Political outcomes matter because government decisions affect real people, families, churches, communities, and institutions.
But Christians can care deeply about elections without treating politics as the source of their hope.
Whatever happens on November 3, God remains sovereign. The Gospel remains true. The responsibility to love your neighbor, speak truth, pray for leaders, serve your community, and faithfully follow Christ does not change when political control changes.
That perspective can be especially valuable on Election Night, when political coverage often encourages viewers to treat every development as an emergency or every victory and defeat as permanent.
Stay informed. Pay attention. Care about what happens. But keep politics in its proper place.
When the results begin coming in on Tuesday, November 3, Real Life Network will bring viewers America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live.
Coverage begins at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT and will include live election results, updates, commentary, conversation, and biblical perspective as major races unfold across the country.
Pastor Jack Hibbs, Daniel Cohen, and other Real Life Network voices will help viewers follow the evening’s developments and consider the larger issues behind the results.
RLN is free to watch, and creating an account ahead of Election Night means you can simply sign in and follow the coverage when November 3 arrives.
The campaigns will soon end. Then America will begin hearing from the voters.
Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates and join Real Life Network live on November 3 for Election Night coverage beginning at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT.
Election Night 2026 is almost here. Learn how to research your ballot, understand incoming results, and follow key races without getting lost in speculation. Plus, discover how to watch Real Life Network's live election coverage on November 3.
The artificial intelligence community just waved goodbye to yet another top safety and regulation official — and he offers a unique angle in his warning to the world.
David Robinson had been leading safety reports for OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Robinson resigned in the first week of October, stating that the industry’s approach to safety has been stemming from a broken culture. He penned the following words in a piece for The Atlantic, which contain more truth than perhaps he even knows: “The future depends on wisdom that Silicon Valley lacks.”
We’ll come back to that.
His departure comes on the heels of several other prominent AI safety researchers abandoning the industry. Their exits have paired with dreadful public warnings about the future of this technology, leaving the American people to grapple with the headlines and the unknown.
Take Jacob Coxon, for example. After leaving Claude developer Anthropic in September, he wrote on X that top tech labs are “gambling with our lives” by racing toward self-improving superintelligence. He went on to reveal that the people building AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
Comforting.
For clarity, the industry term “superintelligence” refers to a hypothetical AI system that developers believe could surpass humans in overall knowledge and capability. This could happen through recursive self-improvement (RSI) in which AI models design and continually improve their own successors.
While the Trump administration has taken to using the term as a reference to AI more broadly, Coxon used it as the industry intends: the potential nightmare of AI evolving beyond our ability to contain.
Let’s go back to David Robinson for a second. Beyond diagnosing the issue of a “lack of wisdom,” he went on in his article to describe the kind of wisdom that is desperately needed — the kind that shows us “how to handle dangerous technology and, more fundamentally … what it means to care for people.”
This kind of wisdom has only one source.
Proverbs 4:7 states, “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, acquire understanding.” The natural question is, how can true wisdom be acquired? Well, it is not gained by happenstance or by any means of passivity.
The word of God teaches that wisdom is found only, “if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure” (Proverbs 2:4).
That same proverb states that when wisdom enters the human heart, it bears fruits of knowledge, discretion, and understanding. Knowledge is pleasant, discretion brings protection, and understanding guards the one who finds it.
If those spearheading AI labs begin searching for wisdom with the same fervency as they do innovation, capital gain, and victory in the arms race, perhaps we might reap the benefits of honing a brilliant technology for human flourishing, rather than threatening it entirely.
In the absence of wisdom, we ought not to expect flourishing. Thus, the need for appropriate guardrails toward that end is becoming increasingly dire.
Whistleblowers coming forward to expose carelessness in the industry is a good thing. Speaking up when danger is on the horizon is profitable. What is not profitable, however, is responding in fear.
The wisest man in history, King Solomon, tells us, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
The pride of man has reared its head through the latest technology and means of production before. As soon as human beings had the chance, they took brick and mortar and built the tower of Babel, aiming to reach as high as heaven to make a name for themselves — not for the God who gave them clay, water, and sun in the first place.
Today, we are seeing the latest expression of that sinful pride: men thinking they can hold infinite knowledge without it destroying them. Casting wisdom aside, they trust in their own minds and technical ability rather than in God.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve fell to the temptation of wanting to be all-knowing, like God. He judged that decision then, and He will not be mocked now (Galatians 6:7).
There is nothing more urgent for the unbeliever than to humble themselves, fall on their knees, and cry out to the Creator for salvation. There is, likewise, nothing more urgent for the believer than to refuse every temptation to fear in these times — to live the joyful, abundant life offered to them in Christ.
It is not a suggestion to be unafraid. It is a commandment given us by God, time and time again throughout the Scriptures.
Do not stifle your witness to the watching world.
The book of Ecclesiastes warns us that there are many dark days in this life under the sun, and that we will encounter circumstances which are difficult, perplexing, and often don’t make sense. Yet, there are a few things that author King Solomon found to be good: “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot” (Ecclesiastes 5:18).
New threats to our livelihood may come at alarming rates, but our responsibility as Christians remains the same: Do not dread the future or fear the potential of “superintelligence.” Rather, “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
So, keep breaking bread with those you love. Keep enjoying the toil and the lot that God has given you with a grateful heart. Regardless of the news cycle, and whatever may come out of Washington and Silicon Valley — rejoice in what you have been given.
Our lives are but a vapor, a mist, Solomon says. The years go by quickly, and soon, we will return to dust.
That need not be depressing — in fact, let it be motivating as you live the most upright, joyous, and noble life possible along the way. Be encouraged, for we have all the instruction we need to please God in every circumstance, including the ones out of our control.
God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” in Revelation 22:13. If God is the Omega just as much as He is the Alpha, what is there to fear?
At the end of all things, just as much as at the beginning — He is there. And He rules and reigns at every point in between.
Human history was born from and ends in perfect wisdom, and God will tie the final bow on our story.
Not Sam Altman, or Dario and Daniela Amodei, or Donald Trump, or Xi Jinping — but Jesus Christ will do it, who is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
This article was written by Erica Mendel and originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
As AI safety researchers warn about the risks of superintelligence, questions about the industry's priorities are growing. Discover why technological advancement must be guided by wisdom, and how Scripture calls Christians to trust God rather than fear the future.
This article is adapted from a recent episode of Rose Unplugged featuring former Congressman Louie Gohmert — a former judge who served 18 years on the House Judiciary Committee.
Every so often, it's worth pausing to step away from the noise and lean into what's real. Right now, that means taking a hard look at two things: judges who think they answer to no one, and a culture that wants to erase the heroes who don't fit the modern mold.
They look unrelated. They're not. They're the same problem wearing two different masks. One is a refusal of accountability. The other is a refusal of honesty.
Scripture doesn't leave the subject of judges to guesswork. In Exodus 18, when Moses is drowning in disputes, his father-in-law Jethro tells him to appoint leaders — “able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain.”
Deuteronomy 16 goes further, instructing judges, “You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial.” That's the standard. Fear God. Reject dishonest gain. No favoritism. No corruption.
Now hold that up against what's happening in our own courts today — judges with undisclosed conflicts of interest, judges reportedly using AI to manufacture case law that doesn't exist, judges quietly reprimanded behind closed doors for conduct that would getanyone else fired.
This isn't a partisan gripe. It's a bench that has drifted from “good behavior” into something Scripture would call exactly what it is — corrupt judgment.
And this is not some abstract, inside-the-Beltway squabble. This is the unelected, unaccountable administrative state in black robes. We're talking about activist judges legislating from the bench, single district judges issuing nationwide injunctions to override the will of the American people and their duly elected president, and a judiciary that has quietly built itself into a fourth, untouchable branch of government.
That should alarm every single one of us, regardless of party, because a Republic where judges answer to nobody isn't a Republic anymore.
Here's what gets missed: accountability for judges isn't a modern political invention. It's baked into the oldest legal tradition we have. In 2 Chronicles 19, King Jehoshaphat appoints judges and warns them plainly, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the Lord.”
A judge was never meant to be untouchable. A judge was meant to answer to a higher standard, precisely because of the power he holds over other people's lives, liberty, and property.
Isaiah 1 doesn't mince words either: “Learn to do good; seek justice.” Judgment is supposed to protect people, not shield the judge from consequence. When a judiciary polices itself for forty-plus years and the abuses keep piling up anyway, that bargain has failed.
Unchecked power, whether it's sitting on a bench or rewriting a history book, doesn't correct itself. That's not cynicism. That's what
Scripture has always told us about the human heart — and it's precisely why the Founders built in checks in the first place. They didn't build three co-equal branches so that one of them could operate with zero checks. And our faith doesn't teach us that any man — king, judge, or committee — gets a permanent pass from scrutiny.
And it's not just the courtroom. We're watching the same instinct — the refusal to be honest and the refusal to be accountable — show up in how the culture treats its own history. Britain is erasing Winston Churchill from its currency because a focus group calls him “divisive.”
This is the same woke revisionism we see here at home — knock down the statue, rename the school, cancel the man.
But there is exactly one perfect man who ever walked the earth, and none of us are Him. Scripture is remarkably unsentimental about its own heroes. It tells you David committed adultery and had a man killed to cover it up — and still calls him a man after God's own heart. It tells you Noah got drunk, Moses disobeyed God at the rock, and Peter denied Christ three times. The Bible doesn't airbrush its heroes. It shows the whole man, flaws and all, because the point was never that these men were flawless.
That's the opposite instinct of what we're watching happen with Churchill. Modern cancel culture wants a spotless résumé or it wants erasure. Scripture never asked us to pretend our heroes were flawless. It asks us to tell the truth about them — the good and the bad — and let the record stand.
A nation that can't hold “Churchill saved civilization” and “Churchill had serious flaws” in the same breath isn't practicing justice. It's practicing amnesia.
So let's be honest about what's at stake here. This isn't about one bad ruling or one bad headline out of London. This is about whether we still believe in a Republic of laws, or whether we've quietly let ourselves drift into rule by unelected robes and unelected editors of history.
Judges answering to no one and a culture rewriting its own history are two sides of the same coin — a slow, quiet abandonment of truth and accountability. That should matter to every conservative, every Christian, every American who still believes truth is truth regardless of what a focus group or a black robe says about it.
If we let the judiciary and the culture police themselves without any accountability to God or to “We the People,” we will wake up one day and not recognize the country our Founders risked everything to build. As citizens, we don't get to sit this one out. This is one to lean into, not scroll past.
I want to say this plainly: men like Louie Gohmert don't get nearly enough credit for the work they do long after the cameras and the Capitol Hill office are gone. Eighteen years on the House Judiciary Committee, a career on the bench himself, and he's still out there walking the halls of Congress, folder in hand, doing the unglamorous, unpaid, unnoticed work of trying to hold power accountable. That's not politics. That's public service in the truest sense of the word, and we don't say thank you for that kind of thing nearly often enough.
Whether it's a judge who thinks he answers to no one, or a culture that thinks history should answer to a marketing survey — the answer is the same. Truth, judged rightly, doesn't need to hide from scrutiny, and it doesn't need to erase the past to feel comfortable. It just needs someone willing to say it plainly.
So keep your faith steady, your focus clear, and keep moving forward — because you are here for such a time as this.
Watch or listen to the full conversation with former Congressman Louie Gohmert on Rose Unplugged: Rogue Judges, Erased History, SCOTUS Graded — Louie Gohmert Holds Nothing Back
What happens when judges escape accountability and historical figures are erased for their flaws? Explore the biblical call for justice, integrity, and historical honesty, and why both judicial oversight and preserving history matter for America's future.
I think the most fitting response to this week’s election results is found in Jesus’s words in Matthew 28: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
What’s the connection to the election? First, let’s look at the election numbers.
In the 2018 midterms, white evangelicals made up 26% of the vote. On Tuesday, according to NBC, it was 17%. That’s a decline of nine percentage points.
I’m not a big fan of the elastic term “evangelical,” and tracking only white evangelicals leaves about 40% of my church out of the equation. White evangelicals are one slice of a racially diverse community of people who believe the Bible and allow it to inform their views on moral and spiritual issues that have been deemed political.
However, a decline in the share of voters could reflect lower turnout, a decline in the number of evangelicals relative to the population, or both. As for turnout, we won’t have a reliable number on what percentage of evangelicals actually voted. But some suggest it declined, and that’s a problem. When evangelicals sit out an election, they give up an opportunity to shape its outcome.
So how does all this connect to the words of Jesus?
First, Jesus tells us to make disciples. That should prompt us to ask how faithfully we’ve carried out the Great Commission. We need a renewed emphasis on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, making disciples, and baptizing them. Start with someone you know. Share what Christ has done in your life and invite that person to read Scripture with you.
I’m sure some critics of the church would say, “Focus on evangelism and stay out of politics.” Well, consider the second part of what Jesus said, the Cultural Commission: “Teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” The truth of God and obedience to it is not just a private matter.
Followers of Jesus, equipped and encouraged by pastors, need to share their faith and live it out in a way that impacts the world around them, including government.
My response to the election? Go make disciples for Jesus and teach them to impact the country and the culture with biblical truth.
If you’re looking for a way to put that into practice in your community, visit frc.org/chapters to learn about our Pray Vote Stand chapters.
If you’re discouraged, remember how Jesus began and ended those words. He began by saying that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. And He ended with a promise for us as we go. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This article was originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
Following the 2026 midterm elections, declining evangelical voter participation raises questions about the Church's influence on American culture. Discover why the Great Commission calls Christians to make disciples, share the Gospel, and engage society with biblical truth.
The midterm elections are behind us. Some Americans are encouraged by the results, while others are disappointed, frustrated, or uncertain about what the next few years may bring.
For Christians, however, the most important truth has not changed. Our hope does not come from a politician, a political party, a candidate, or the outcome of an election. Our hope is in Jesus Christ.
Elections can change who holds power. They can affect laws, policies, and the direction of the country. Christians have good reason to pay attention and remain engaged. But no election has the authority to change God’s Word, alter His promises, or remove the assignment He has given His people.
Political movements come and go. Public opinion shifts. Cultural values can change dramatically within a generation. God’s Word remains the same.
That is why Christians need biblical truth deeply rooted within them. When our beliefs depend on the cultural environment around us, an election result can leave us feeling as though everything has changed. When our foundation is Scripture, we can recognize that the most important things have not.
Jesus is still Lord. The Gospel is still true. God is still sovereign. Christians are still called to speak truth, love their neighbors, make disciples, serve others, and live faithfully.
Whatever happened at the ballot box, none of that has changed.
Political disappointment can be real. People invest time, energy, prayer, and concern in issues they believe will affect their families, churches, communities, and country. When the outcome is not what they hoped for, discouragement can follow. But Christians are not called to stay discouraged.
Isaiah 6:8 records the prophet’s response when God asks whom He will send: “Here am I! Send me” (NKJV). That is a useful posture after an election too. Instead of asking only what the government will do next, Christians can ask what God has given us to do next.
That assignment may be large or small. It may involve serving in a church, raising children who know biblical truth, helping a neighbor, speaking up when something is wrong, sharing the Gospel, strengthening a marriage, serving a community, or simply being faithful where God has already placed you.
There is still work to do.
Christians can care about politics without expecting politics to save the country, the culture, or the human heart.
Political leaders can make wise decisions or foolish ones. Governments can protect freedom or restrict it. Policies can have enormous consequences. Those realities are reasons to stay informed and engaged, but they are not reasons to place our ultimate confidence in government.
Psalm 146:3 says, “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help” (NKJV). That warning applies whether your preferred candidates win or lose. A political victory should not produce misplaced confidence, and a political defeat should not produce despair. Our hope was never supposed to rest there.
One of the best responses to an uncertain political future is also one of the simplest: nurture your own walk with Christ.
Spend time in Scripture. Pray. Listen to the Lord. Know what you believe and why you believe it. The more confusing the culture becomes, the more important it is for Christians to be grounded in truth rather than carried along by every new headline or political argument.
That personal relationship with Christ also shapes the way believers engage the world around them. Christians should be known not simply for what they oppose but for the way they represent Jesus through truth, courage, compassion, integrity, and faithfulness.
Philippians 3:20 reminds believers that “our citizenship is in heaven” (NKJV). That does not remove our responsibilities here. It puts them in perspective.
Once an election ends, Christians have another responsibility: pray for the people who have been elected. First Timothy 2:1–2 calls believers to pray for those in authority. Scripture does not limit that command to leaders we supported, leaders from our preferred political party, or leaders who share our faith.
Pray that they will govern wisely. Pray that they will pursue what is right and resist what is wrong. Pray for their decisions, their advisers, their families, and the people affected by their leadership.
And pray for something even greater: that leaders who do not know Christ would come to know Him. A political opponent is not beyond the reach of the Gospel. A leader whose beliefs are far from biblical truth is not beyond God’s ability to change a heart. Christians believe in a God who does what human beings cannot. That should change the way we pray after an election.
No election can give the Church its mission, and no election can take that mission away. Pastors still need to teach the Bible faithfully. Parents still need to disciple their children. Christians still need to share the Gospel, defend truth, care for people in need, support their churches, strengthen their communities, and represent Christ wherever God has placed them.
There is no permission to quit because the political environment becomes difficult. If anything, challenging times make faithful biblical leadership and strong churches even more important.
Real Life Network exists to help believers stay grounded through Bible teaching, trusted news, Christian worldview programming, apologetics, documentaries, and other resources that point people back to truth. The goal is not simply to understand what is happening in the world, but to be equipped to live faithfully within it.
The midterms may have changed the political landscape, but they did not change who sits on the throne.
God was not surprised by the results. Christians therefore do not need to live as though the future has suddenly slipped beyond His control. We can pray for our leaders, stay engaged, stand for truth, and continue doing the work He has placed before us.
Most importantly, we can keep our eyes on Jesus. Political leaders will come and go. Parties will gain and lose power. Another election will arrive before long. But Jesus Christ remains “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, NKJV).
Whatever the political future holds, Christians still have reason to move forward with hope. Our confidence was never supposed to rest in an election result. It rests in the risen Christ, our King and our ultimate hope.
Stay grounded in biblical truth with free Bible teaching, trusted news, current events, and Christian programming on Real Life Network.
The 2026 midterm elections have changed America's political landscape, but they haven't changed God's promises. Read why Christians can move forward in hope, remain grounded in Scripture, pray for leaders, and stay faithful to their calling regardless of election results.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men.” Thus Benjamin Franklin exhorted the Constitutional Convention to prayer on June 28, 1787. Franklin was no born-again Christian, but even this man of the Enlightenment could recognize from experience the truth that Scripture proclaims from every page. In a chaotic election season, let Christians cling to this truth, lest an unbeliever show more faith in God’s power than we do.
The book of Daniel bears particular relevance to the current situation. It opens with God’s people in Judah sustaining a devastating political defeat. King Jehoiachin surrendered to the besieging Babylonian army, and Judah’s best and brightest were taken away into slavery and exile (2 Kings 24:10-16; Daniel 1:1-3).
Some exiles hoped for speedy deliverance, but soon Jeremiah wrote to inform the exiles that they would remain in Babylon for 70 years, “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. … seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:4-7).
Such a devastating message met with skepticism and doubt. “Really, God? Your people should seek the welfare of their enemies? You have placed us as an oppressed minority in a nation that defies your word! Worse yet, they ridicule your name when they gloat in triumph over us!”
The book of Daniel counters both the doubt of Israel and the gloating of their captors by showing beyond any doubt that the God of Israel is the sovereign ruler of history, and no one can thwart his purposes. The book proves its case with three arguments: God knows the future, God humbles the pride of human rulers, and God saves his people.
First, God knows the future. The book of Daniel is known for its apocalyptic visions, especially its detailed predictions of history through the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek empires (Daniel 8-11), and the strange, fourth beast in Daniel 7. This beast “shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25).
Why would God allow such a blasphemous ruler to “wear out the saints”? As Abraham Lincoln would say, “The Almighty has His own purposes.”
What we can know is the reason why God foretold these events to a prophet: so that God’s people would not become discouraged by bleak circumstances. After the beast rules, Daniel is told, “the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end” (Daniel 7:26). “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18). Sinful human governments have their moment, but God and his people will triumph forever.
In fact, God’s plan for the future is so secure that he can “call his shots” ahead of time, alerting hostile rulers to his future plans, as if daring them to stop him. Thus, God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a vision of “what will be in the latter days” (Daniel 2:28), which none of his advisors could interpret. Daniel interpreted the statue of different metals as different kingdoms of dwindling glory, going all the way down until the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,” which “shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).
Nebuchadnezzar admitted that Daniel’s God was “God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries” (Daniel 2:47), but then he turned around and built an image of solid gold (Daniel 3:1), as if defying the vision. But Nebuchadnezzar died, and his empire perished. And God has built a kingdom under the lordship of Jesus Christ that will never pass away.
It’s almost impossible to imagine such a revelation injected into American discourse today. Suppose that someone claimed: America will fall, China will fall, Russia will fall; the mightiest powers will all pass away, but the church of Jesus Christ will reign triumphant. Now suppose that God mystically revealed this to the most anti-Christian officials of our day, as if daring them: go ahead; try and stop me. Our God is the only one who “changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:21).
Second, God humbles the pride of human rulers. As if the previous revelations were not enough, God gave Nebuchadnezzar another vision with a more personal warning: he would suffer seven years of madness and live like an animal (Daniel 4:13-16).
When Daniel provided the interpretation yet again, he exhorted his master, “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity” (Daniel 4:27). But Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warning, and so the judgment came just as God had foretold — God was once again “calling his shots” (Daniel 4:31).
Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity only returned when he “blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever.” The king finally realized that “his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’ … All his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:34-37).
God taught a similar but more severe lesson to Nebuchadnezzar’s son (or grandson) Belshazzar. Despite knowing the history of chapter 4, Belshazzar drunkenly mocked the God of Israel (Daniel 5:2), a disembodied hand wrote a message of doom on the palace wall (Daniel 5:5), and the king was killed that very night (Daniel 5:30). God is still undefeated in every contest against a king who challenged him.
Third, God saves his people. Even when his people are up against the wall — nay, especially then — God loves to demonstrate his saving power. When Daniel’s three friends refuse to worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, they survive a trip through the fiery furnace that scorched their captors without so much as the smell of smoke (Daniel 3:26-27). How is that possible? Only with God. When Daniel disobeyed an edict to pray to God, he survived a night in a den of hungry lions without so much as a scratch (Daniel 6:22).
Again, this is only possible through divine intervention. And it prompted King Darius to decree that “people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end” (Daniel 6:26).
This suggests an application still relevant for American Christians today. Instead of fretting over election results, let us resolve to keep following God. Love of neighbor should incite us to vote; but after we have done our duty, we can safely put the results in God’s hands. If the results turn out differently than we would wish, we can take comfort in the fact that God knows the future, that he can humble the pride of rulers, and that he can deliver us, too — both now and hereafter.
Daniel learned this as soon as he arrived in Babylon. Instead of succumbing to the enticement of Babylonian pleasures, he “resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank” (Daniel 1:8). His faithfulness to God’s word was put to the test, and he came out so much healthier than his peers that his boss ordered everyone else to follow Daniel’s lifestyle (Daniel 1:15).
God also delivers his servants in the final judgment. When “those who sleep in the dust” awake to everlasting life or everlasting contempt, “your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. … And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:1-3).
We can hope confidently in this because we worship the risen Son of Man, who came and proclaimed a kingdom. As Daniel saw, “to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). Compared to such eternal dominion, what is a single election?
This article was written by Joshua Arnold and originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
What does the book of Daniel teach Christians about elections and political uncertainty? Discover how God's sovereignty over kings and nations, His power to humble rulers, and His faithfulness to His people offer lasting hope beyond election results.
Election Day 2026 is here.
Across the country, Americans are making decisions that will help determine the direction of Congress, state governments, local communities, and public policy for the years ahead. Tonight, attention will turn from campaigns and predictions to 2026 election results as vote totals begin coming in from races nationwide.
But Election Night is about more than watching numbers change on a screen.
The results will reflect months of debate over the economy, immigration, healthcare, education, public safety, abortion, foreign policy, religious liberty, government spending, and other issues that matter deeply to American families and communities.
That makes tonight an important time not only to follow who wins, but to understand what the results mean.
Real Life Network will be covering the evening live with America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live, bringing viewers election results, updates, conversation, and biblical perspective as the national picture develops.
The November 3 election marks the culmination of the 2026 midterm campaign.
There is no presidential election this year, but the results will shape the U.S. House and Senate while also determining governors, state lawmakers, local officials, and ballot measures around the country.
Some of the most closely followed races will have national consequences. Others may never become national headlines but will significantly affect the states and communities where they are being decided.
Throughout the day, campaigns will make their final appeals and news organizations will continue covering developments from around the country. Once results begin arriving tonight, the focus will shift quickly toward which races can be called, which remain uncertain, and what the emerging results may mean for the political landscape.
Election results tell us who received the votes.
Understanding an election requires going further.
As returns come in tonight, pay attention to the issues that shaped individual races. A congressional contest may turn heavily on economic concerns. A governor’s race may center on education, taxes, public safety, or state policy. Ballot measures may reveal how voters in a particular state or community view questions that have also been debated nationally. Those differences are important.
A national map can show which party gained or lost seats, but it cannot fully explain why voters in different parts of the country made the choices they did.
That is why useful live election coverage should provide context alongside results.
Election Night moves quickly, but not every race will produce an immediate answer.
Early vote totals can change considerably as additional results are reported. Different jurisdictions report at different speeds, and the first results available may come from areas that vote differently from those reporting later.
Reputable news organizations therefore do not simply declare whoever is ahead at a particular moment the winner.
The Associated Press, for example, says it calls a race only when its analysts determine that the trailing candidate no longer has a path to victory. Many winners can be identified on Election Night, while particularly close contests may take longer.
That means phrases such as “too early to call” are an important part of responsible election reporting.
Tonight, some races may be decided quickly. Others may remain unresolved long after the evening’s coverage ends.
The campaigns may be ending, but the policy debates will continue long after November 3.
Throughout the 2026 election season, Americans have heard competing arguments about affordability and the economy, immigration and border security, healthcare, education, abortion, public safety, foreign affairs, government spending, technology, and other issues.
Election results can help reveal how those debates played out in particular races and communities.
But a winning candidate does not necessarily mean every voter agreed with every position that candidate held. Elections involve candidates, parties, personalities, local conditions, economic concerns, and many other factors.
For that reason, be cautious about sweeping conclusions drawn from a single race or even one Election Night.
Understanding what voters decided is one question. Understanding why is often much more complicated.
Election nights generate an enormous amount of information.
Results flash across screens. Maps change. Analysts discuss trends. Candidates speak. Social media fills with reactions before many races have even been settled.
Having a reliable place to follow those developments matters.
Real Life Network approaches news and current events through a biblical worldview, helping viewers consider not simply what happened but why the issues behind the headlines matter.
Throughout the year, programs such as RLN News, The Daniel Cohen Show, Rose Unplugged, Cure America, and other RLN programming examine events affecting faith, culture, public life, and the nation.
Tonight, America Speaks ’26 brings that approach directly to Election Night.
Christians have good reason to care about elections.
Government decisions affect families, churches, businesses, schools, communities, religious freedom, public safety, and the lives of our neighbors. But Election Night can also tempt people to treat political victory or defeat as something larger than it is.
No election determines the truth of the Gospel. No political party replaces the Church. No candidate can carry the hope Christians place in Jesus Christ.
That does not make politics unimportant. It puts politics in perspective. Romans 13:1 reminds believers that governing authority ultimately exists under God’s sovereignty. First Timothy 2:1–2 also calls Christians to pray for those in authority. Those responsibilities continue regardless of tonight’s results.
Christians can follow Election Night closely, care deeply about its consequences, celebrate outcomes they support, feel disappointed by others, and still remember that their ultimate allegiance and hope rest somewhere higher than politics.
Tonight, Real Life Network presents America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live, beginning at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT.
Pastor Jack Hibbs, Daniel Cohen, and other Real Life Network voices will follow major races across the country with live election results, updates, commentary, conversation, and biblical perspective as the evening unfolds.
The coverage is free to watch with a Real Life Network account and is available online or through the RLN app on supported devices.
Election Day is here. The campaigning is ending, the results are beginning, and the country will soon have a clearer picture of what comes next.
Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates and join Real Life Network tonight for live Election Night coverage—news you can trust from a biblical worldview.
Election Day 2026 is here! Follow live election results, key races, and the issues shaping America's future with America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live. Join Pastor Jack Hibbs, Daniel Cohen, and Real Life Network tonight for election coverage from a biblical worldview.
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Tomorrow, Americans will once again go to the polls.
Campaigns will end. Ballots will be cast. Representatives will be chosen. And for all the attention elections receive, Election Day also offers an opportunity to remember something bigger than any one race or candidate: the extraordinary responsibility of self-government.
That idea didn’t suddenly appear in 1776. Long before there was a United States of America, people on these shores were wrestling with questions of government, liberty, faith, responsibility, and how a community could order itself for the common good.
Those questions are woven throughout The American Story, the first Real Life Network Original documentary featuring Pastor Jack Hibbs and historian Tim Barton.
In 1620, before the Pilgrims even stepped onto the shores of Plymouth, the men aboard the Mayflower entered into an agreement that became known as the Mayflower Compact. They covenanted together to form what they called a “civil Body Politick” and to establish “just and equal Laws” for the good of the colony.
It was a small beginning. This was not yet the United States, nor was the Compact a blueprint for the Constitution that would come more than a century and a half later. But it reflected an idea that would become deeply important in the American story: people joining together, accepting responsibilities as members of a community, and participating in their own government.
The American Story returns to Plymouth to explore the Pilgrims, their faith, the hardships they endured, and the principles they hoped to pass on to future generations.
As the colonies grew, so did the debate over another principle that would become central to the nation: religious liberty.
In Virginia’s 1776 Declaration of Rights, the section on religion declared that faith could be directed only by “reason and conviction, not by force or violence” and called for people to be free to exercise religion according to conscience.
A decade later, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom declared that no person should be compelled to support a particular religious ministry or suffer because of his religious beliefs.
These were significant ideas in an age when governments had often dictated religious practice.
Religious liberty was not conceived merely as permission to worship privately. The founding generation wrestled seriously with the relationship between faith, conscience, citizenship, and government. Those conversations helped shape the freedoms Americans continue to exercise today.
America’s first president also understood that a free form of government placed responsibilities on the people entrusted with it. In his first inaugural address, George Washington spoke of the relationship between duty, morality, public prosperity, and the preservation of liberty. He described the future of republican government as an experiment entrusted to the American people.
That phrase is worth considering: entrusted to the American people.
Self-government assumes participation. It asks citizens to pay attention, seek wisdom, understand the issues before them, choose representatives, and accept responsibility for the direction of their communities and country.
Voting is one expression of that responsibility, but citizenship does not begin or end at the ballot box. It includes:
That is one reason The American Story arrives at such an interesting moment.
Tim Barton takes viewers to Plymouth, Boston, Lexington, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Valley Forge, and other historic locations to examine the people and convictions behind events many of us have known about since childhood.
Pastor Jack Hibbs then brings those stories into the present, challenging Christians to consider what faithfulness, courage, and responsible citizenship look like in our own generation.
The film doesn’t merely ask us to admire the past. It asks us to remember it. Because before America chooses its next representatives, there is value in remembering the principles, sacrifices, and responsibilities that made representative government possible in the first place.
On Election Day, Americans will make many different choices at the ballot box. But whatever those choices may be, we share an inheritance worth understanding and a responsibility to steward the freedoms we have received.
Before America votes, remember where we began.
Learn more about The American Story and pre-order your copy today.
As Election Day approaches, The American Story, featuring Pastor Jack Hibbs and historian Tim Barton, explores America's founding principles, religious liberty, and the responsibilities of self-government. Discover why understanding our nation's history matters today.
A Pew Research Center survey released earlier this year found that 66% of Americans believe churches and other houses of worship should stay out of political matters rather than address day-to-day social and political questions. Does that mean a pastor should avoid any subject politicians happen to debate?
Consider abortion, marriage, human sexuality, immigration, and justice. These are not merely political issues that divide the parties. They are moral and spiritual issues which Scripture addresses. If pastors were to cut every biblical passage that becomes controversial in Washington, our Bibles would look like Swiss cheese.
Perhaps the deeper question is whether we understand how frequently God’s people were called to bring God’s truth to bear on matters of civil government.
In a 2019 Pew survey of biblical knowledge, 79% correctly identified Moses, 78% David, 69% Abraham, but only 28% Esther.
Pew didn’t ask what those four had in common. Besides being Hebrews, each had a consequential encounter with political power.
Moses stood before Pharaoh and demanded freedom for God’s people. David became Israel’s model king. Abraham dealt with kings and rulers. Esther risked her life by approaching the Persian king to save her people from destruction.
And the list hardly ends there.
Joseph rose to authority in Egypt. Nehemiah served a Persian king before becoming governor of Judah. Prophets such as Nathan, Elijah, and Jeremiah confronted rulers when their actions violated God’s commands.
Then there was Daniel.
Daniel served under pagan kings in Babylon and, later, under Persian rule. Yet his proximity to power never silenced his allegiance to God. When King Belshazzar offered him rewards, Daniel refused them and delivered a message the king did not want to hear: God had weighed his kingdom and found it wanting.
Daniel understood something the church must rediscover: God’s people cannot remain silent on matters God has clearly addressed simply because those matters have been declared political.
This pattern continues in the New Testament. John the Baptist confronted Herod over his marriage. Paul asserted his rights as a Roman citizen and testified before governors and a king. Their witness did not stop at the palace gates.
Certainly, ancient Israel and Rome were not modern America, and Scripture does not offer a party platform or a position on every legislative detail. But it does establish moral truths that apply to nations, to their rulers and citizens alike.
Jesus called His followers the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Neither image suggests withdrawal. Both describe engagement that makes a difference.
So the issue is not whether the church should become political. It is whether Christians will remain biblical when biblical truth has political consequences.
Our calling is neither to become the mouthpiece of a party nor to retreat into silence. It is to stand on God’s word, defend what is right, confront what is wrong, and speak with courage — even when the culture would rather we remain silent.
This article was orginally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
Should pastors stay silent on political issues? Scripture reveals how Moses, Esther, Daniel, and other biblical figures confronted political leaders with God's truth. Discover why Christians are called to speak boldly on moral issues without becoming partisan.
Adapted from my conversation on Rose Unplugged with Derek Maltz, former Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Watch the full episode here: Is China Waging Chemical Warfare on America?
There is something coming for your family. Whether you live in a city or a suburb. Whether your kids are in middle school or college. Whether you think this is someone else's problem — or you've already lived it.
It is the drug crisis pouring across our border. Not one drug. Not one cartel. Not one route. A flood. And it is changing — and ending — American lives every single day.
I want to be clear about something from the start, because the news often focuses on one drug at a time, and that gives us a false sense of the scale of what we're facing.
Yes — fentanyl is the headline. And it should be. It’s the deadliest drug ever to hit this country. It’s synthetic, lab-made, and lethal at just two milligrams — the weight of a few grains of salt.
It's driving the majority of overdose deaths in America. At the peak of this crisis, we were losing more than 70,000 people a year to fentanyl alone. That’s nearly 200 lives every single day.
But fentanyl isn’t coming alone. Methamphetamine, cartel-produced, and ultra-potent, is flooding communities from coast to coast. It's not the meth of 20 years ago. It's cheaper, stronger, and more widely available than ever.
Cocaine trafficking remains massive and increasingly, it's being laced with fentanyl without the user's knowledge.
And now there are emerging threats most Americans have never even heard of: xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer mixed with fentanyl that Narcan can't fully reverse, and nitazenes, a synthetic opioids so powerful they make fentanyl look mild by comparison.
This is not a single-drug crisis. This is a chemical assault on the American people. And it is being orchestrated deliberately by foreign adversaries and transnational criminal networks that don't care how many of us they kill.
Even with a decline of nearly 24% in overdose deaths — and yes, we should acknowledge that progress — we are still talking about roughly 87,000 overdose deaths in a single year. That’s not a statistic. That’s a national emergency.
Drug overdoses remain one of the leading causes of death for American adults. And for every death, there are dozens more lives derailed; families broken, futures stolen, and communities hollowed out.
So where is all of this coming from? Because this is where truth gets complicated and where the political noise gets loudest.
Here is what the evidence shows: The precursor chemicals, the building blocks, are largely manufactured in China. They are shipped to Mexican drug cartels. The cartels synthesize, press, and package the drugs. And then they move them north into the United States.
Now, here is the part that gets lost: the vast majority of these drugs are not being carried across open desert by migrants on foot. They are being driven through legal ports of entry. In passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, and in cargo shipments often by U.S. citizens.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over 19,000 pounds of fentanyl in 2024 alone. And fentanyl now makes up nearly 90% of all opioid seizures at the border.
Which means this is not just a border wall conversation. It is a technology conversation. An intelligence conversation. A cartel conversation. And a China conversation — because none of this happens without China supplying the chemicals.
This is not just about policy. When a nation loses its sense of purpose, when truth becomes relative, and when emptiness fills the space where meaning used to live, people look for escape.
And what is crossing our border right now is not just a drug. It is a counterfeit answer to a real spiritual hunger. One that ends in destruction.
We need stronger enforcement. Absolutely. We need to go after the cartels and hold China accountable. Without question. But we also need something no government can legislate. We need restored families. Engaged parents. Communities that are awake. And young people who know their worth — not from culture, but from their Creator.
Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Xylazine, Cartels, all weapons of destruction. But the scale of this, the sophistication of the networks, the multiple poisons being unleashed on our families — all of it confirms something I believe with everything in me.
This is not just a policy fight. This isn't just a border fight. This is a spiritual battle. And we need to start treating it that way.
In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8, NASB)
Think about that word — devour. Not inconvenience. Not discourage. Devour.
And “be of sober spirit” — not just physically, but clear-minded, alert, and aware. Because the danger isn't always obvious. It doesn't announce itself.
It comes as a pill that looks like medicine. As meth that looks manageable. As cocaine that looks like recreation. As something a friend hands you and says — it's fine.
But Scripture also tells us in John 10:10:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10, NASB)
Steal innocence, and kill potential. Our families or being destroyed. And if we are honest, with every drug coming across that border, that is exactly what we are watching play out.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12, NASB)
Which means this: if we only fight this battle at the surface level and if we only debate policy and argue about which party deserves the credit or the blame, we will always be reacting. And reacting is not the same as overcoming.
Yes, we need stronger enforcement across every drug, every route, every cartel. Yes, we need to hold China accountable for the chemical warfare they are enabling. Yes, we need the technology and the intelligence to stay ahead of networks that never sleep.
But we also need something that no legislation can provide. We need discernment. We need truth spoken in our homes, in our churches, and our schools. We need families and communities that are not just alarmed but awake. We need to fight a spiritual battle on our knees. Collectively.
I want to speak directly to young people for a moment. I don't care what it was called. I don't care how it was offered or who gave it to you. What's being disguised as relief, escape, or just a good time has a body count.
And I want you to know — really know — that your life has value. Not because of what the culture tells you. Not because of what shows up on your screen. But because you were created on purpose, for a purpose.
And there is nothing, no substance, no moment, no amount of pressure from anyone worth trading that for.
To every parent reading this: the time to lean in is now. Not when you find something. Not when the call comes. Now.
Talk to your kids about all of it — not just fentanyl. Talk about the counterfeit pills made to look like medicine. The meth that doesn't look like meth anymore. The pill some other kid promises will help them get through an exam. The powder hidden in something they never even knew to question.
Not out of fear, but out of love. Because silence is not protection anymore. Awareness is.
Romans 12:21 tells us:
Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21, NASB)
That’s not wishful thinking. That is not passive. That is a call to action.
Darkness may be real. The threat may be sophisticated. The enemy may be relentless. But darkness does not win.
Not when truth is spoken. Not when families are engaged. Not when communities stand up and say — not here. Not our children. Not on our watch.
So yes, this is about drugs, fentanyl, meth, and the poisons being trafficked across our border. It’s also about cartels and chemicals and a fight that is far from over.
For More Information check out my guest’s website; Lost Voices of Fentanyl https://lvof.org
America’s drug crisis threatens families and communities. Discover why parents, churches, and communities must respond with awareness, honest conversations, prayer, and hope.
Election Day 2026 is less than two weeks away.
By now, campaigns are entering their final stretch, political advertising is intensifying, and attention is beginning to shift from what might happen on November 3 to what Americans will actually see when 2026 election results begin coming in.
There is still time to prepare.
Before Election Day arrives, finish researching the candidates and measures on your ballot, make sure you understand the issues at stake, and know where to find authoritative election information for your jurisdiction.
Then think ahead to Election Night itself.
Results will begin arriving from across the country at different times, major races may develop quickly, and some contests may remain unresolved well after Election Night ends. Knowing what to expect can help you follow the results without getting lost in the constant stream of numbers, projections, reactions, and commentary.
If there are still names or measures on your ballot that you know little about, now is the time to research them.
National headlines may be dominated by control of Congress and prominent statewide races, but your ballot may also include state legislators, judges, county or city officials, school boards, and ballot initiatives.
Return to the questions that matter:
By this point in the election cycle, voters are surrounded by persuasive messaging. Going back to original sources, public records, full interviews, policy proposals, and reliable reporting can help separate useful information from the final rush of campaign rhetoric.
The national political conversation includes the economy, immigration, healthcare, education, abortion, public safety, foreign policy, government spending, technology, and many other concerns.
But not every office has authority over every issue.
Before November 3, connect the issues you care about with the candidates and offices that can actually influence them.
A congressional candidate and a school board candidate may both talk about education, but their responsibilities are very different. A governor, state legislator, mayor, and U.S. senator can each affect public policy in different ways.
That context can make the difference between simply following political debate and understanding the choices in front of you.
The final days before an election can generate a remarkable amount of information, and not all of it deserves equal trust.
Old videos may resurface without context. Unverified claims can spread quickly on social media. Campaigns may make last-minute accusations against opponents. Commentary can sometimes be mistaken for reporting.
Slow down before accepting or sharing something simply because it confirms what you already believe.
Look for original statements. Read beyond headlines. Compare reporting from credible sources. Pay attention to when information was published and whether new facts have emerged since then.
Christians in particular should value truth more than partisan advantage. Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (NKJV). Election season does not make accuracy less important.
Once voting concludes around the country, election reporting shifts rapidly from campaigns to results.
You will begin seeing vote totals, percentage reporting figures, maps, and race calls. But those numbers require context.
An early lead does not necessarily determine who will ultimately win a race. Different jurisdictions report results at different speeds, and the portions of the vote reported first may not resemble those reported later.
That is one reason reputable election-news organizations do not simply call a race because one candidate happens to be ahead.
The Associated Press, for example, says it declares a winner only when its analysts determine that the trailing candidate no longer has a path to victory. Some races can be called relatively quickly; closely contested races may take days or, occasionally, longer.
So on Election Night 2026, pay attention to more than the percentage of votes counted. Listen for explanations of where reported votes are coming from, how much remains outstanding, and why a race has or has not been called.
Election Night creates an expectation of instant answers, but elections do not always cooperate with television schedules.
Some races will become clear early in the evening. Others may remain uncertain as additional results are reported. Particularly close contests can require more time before a reliable winner can be identified.
That does not necessarily mean anything unusual has happened.
The United States does not have one centralized national vote-counting system. Elections are administered at the state and local level, and reporting practices differ across jurisdictions.
That means patience is sometimes part of following election results responsibly.
A responsible news source should be willing to say “too early to call” rather than turn uncertainty into speculation.
Individual races matter, but Election Night 2026 will also tell a broader story.
As results accumulate, the evening gradually moves from individual contests toward a national picture.
That broader context is one reason thoughtful election coverage matters. Numbers tell you who is ahead. Good reporting also helps explain what those results mean.
Political outcomes matter because government decisions affect real people, families, churches, communities, and institutions.
But Christians can care deeply about elections without treating politics as the source of their hope.
Whatever happens on November 3, God remains sovereign. The Gospel remains true. The responsibility to love your neighbor, speak truth, pray for leaders, serve your community, and faithfully follow Christ does not change when political control changes.
That perspective can be especially valuable on Election Night, when political coverage often encourages viewers to treat every development as an emergency or every victory and defeat as permanent.
Stay informed. Pay attention. Care about what happens. But keep politics in its proper place.
When the results begin coming in on Tuesday, November 3, Real Life Network will bring viewers America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live.
Coverage begins at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT and will include live election results, updates, commentary, conversation, and biblical perspective as major races unfold across the country.
Pastor Jack Hibbs, Daniel Cohen, and other Real Life Network voices will help viewers follow the evening’s developments and consider the larger issues behind the results.
RLN is free to watch, and creating an account ahead of Election Night means you can simply sign in and follow the coverage when November 3 arrives.
The campaigns will soon end. Then America will begin hearing from the voters.
Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates and join Real Life Network live on November 3 for Election Night coverage beginning at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT.
Election Night 2026 is almost here. Learn how to research your ballot, understand incoming results, and follow key races without getting lost in speculation. Plus, discover how to watch Real Life Network's live election coverage on November 3.
The artificial intelligence community just waved goodbye to yet another top safety and regulation official — and he offers a unique angle in his warning to the world.
David Robinson had been leading safety reports for OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Robinson resigned in the first week of October, stating that the industry’s approach to safety has been stemming from a broken culture. He penned the following words in a piece for The Atlantic, which contain more truth than perhaps he even knows: “The future depends on wisdom that Silicon Valley lacks.”
We’ll come back to that.
His departure comes on the heels of several other prominent AI safety researchers abandoning the industry. Their exits have paired with dreadful public warnings about the future of this technology, leaving the American people to grapple with the headlines and the unknown.
Take Jacob Coxon, for example. After leaving Claude developer Anthropic in September, he wrote on X that top tech labs are “gambling with our lives” by racing toward self-improving superintelligence. He went on to reveal that the people building AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
Comforting.
For clarity, the industry term “superintelligence” refers to a hypothetical AI system that developers believe could surpass humans in overall knowledge and capability. This could happen through recursive self-improvement (RSI) in which AI models design and continually improve their own successors.
While the Trump administration has taken to using the term as a reference to AI more broadly, Coxon used it as the industry intends: the potential nightmare of AI evolving beyond our ability to contain.
Let’s go back to David Robinson for a second. Beyond diagnosing the issue of a “lack of wisdom,” he went on in his article to describe the kind of wisdom that is desperately needed — the kind that shows us “how to handle dangerous technology and, more fundamentally … what it means to care for people.”
This kind of wisdom has only one source.
Proverbs 4:7 states, “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, acquire understanding.” The natural question is, how can true wisdom be acquired? Well, it is not gained by happenstance or by any means of passivity.
The word of God teaches that wisdom is found only, “if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure” (Proverbs 2:4).
That same proverb states that when wisdom enters the human heart, it bears fruits of knowledge, discretion, and understanding. Knowledge is pleasant, discretion brings protection, and understanding guards the one who finds it.
If those spearheading AI labs begin searching for wisdom with the same fervency as they do innovation, capital gain, and victory in the arms race, perhaps we might reap the benefits of honing a brilliant technology for human flourishing, rather than threatening it entirely.
In the absence of wisdom, we ought not to expect flourishing. Thus, the need for appropriate guardrails toward that end is becoming increasingly dire.
Whistleblowers coming forward to expose carelessness in the industry is a good thing. Speaking up when danger is on the horizon is profitable. What is not profitable, however, is responding in fear.
The wisest man in history, King Solomon, tells us, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
The pride of man has reared its head through the latest technology and means of production before. As soon as human beings had the chance, they took brick and mortar and built the tower of Babel, aiming to reach as high as heaven to make a name for themselves — not for the God who gave them clay, water, and sun in the first place.
Today, we are seeing the latest expression of that sinful pride: men thinking they can hold infinite knowledge without it destroying them. Casting wisdom aside, they trust in their own minds and technical ability rather than in God.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve fell to the temptation of wanting to be all-knowing, like God. He judged that decision then, and He will not be mocked now (Galatians 6:7).
There is nothing more urgent for the unbeliever than to humble themselves, fall on their knees, and cry out to the Creator for salvation. There is, likewise, nothing more urgent for the believer than to refuse every temptation to fear in these times — to live the joyful, abundant life offered to them in Christ.
It is not a suggestion to be unafraid. It is a commandment given us by God, time and time again throughout the Scriptures.
Do not stifle your witness to the watching world.
The book of Ecclesiastes warns us that there are many dark days in this life under the sun, and that we will encounter circumstances which are difficult, perplexing, and often don’t make sense. Yet, there are a few things that author King Solomon found to be good: “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot” (Ecclesiastes 5:18).
New threats to our livelihood may come at alarming rates, but our responsibility as Christians remains the same: Do not dread the future or fear the potential of “superintelligence.” Rather, “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
So, keep breaking bread with those you love. Keep enjoying the toil and the lot that God has given you with a grateful heart. Regardless of the news cycle, and whatever may come out of Washington and Silicon Valley — rejoice in what you have been given.
Our lives are but a vapor, a mist, Solomon says. The years go by quickly, and soon, we will return to dust.
That need not be depressing — in fact, let it be motivating as you live the most upright, joyous, and noble life possible along the way. Be encouraged, for we have all the instruction we need to please God in every circumstance, including the ones out of our control.
God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” in Revelation 22:13. If God is the Omega just as much as He is the Alpha, what is there to fear?
At the end of all things, just as much as at the beginning — He is there. And He rules and reigns at every point in between.
Human history was born from and ends in perfect wisdom, and God will tie the final bow on our story.
Not Sam Altman, or Dario and Daniela Amodei, or Donald Trump, or Xi Jinping — but Jesus Christ will do it, who is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
This article was written by Erica Mendel and originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
As AI safety researchers warn about the risks of superintelligence, questions about the industry's priorities are growing. Discover why technological advancement must be guided by wisdom, and how Scripture calls Christians to trust God rather than fear the future.
This article is adapted from a recent episode of Rose Unplugged featuring former Congressman Louie Gohmert — a former judge who served 18 years on the House Judiciary Committee.
Every so often, it's worth pausing to step away from the noise and lean into what's real. Right now, that means taking a hard look at two things: judges who think they answer to no one, and a culture that wants to erase the heroes who don't fit the modern mold.
They look unrelated. They're not. They're the same problem wearing two different masks. One is a refusal of accountability. The other is a refusal of honesty.
Scripture doesn't leave the subject of judges to guesswork. In Exodus 18, when Moses is drowning in disputes, his father-in-law Jethro tells him to appoint leaders — “able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain.”
Deuteronomy 16 goes further, instructing judges, “You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial.” That's the standard. Fear God. Reject dishonest gain. No favoritism. No corruption.
Now hold that up against what's happening in our own courts today — judges with undisclosed conflicts of interest, judges reportedly using AI to manufacture case law that doesn't exist, judges quietly reprimanded behind closed doors for conduct that would getanyone else fired.
This isn't a partisan gripe. It's a bench that has drifted from “good behavior” into something Scripture would call exactly what it is — corrupt judgment.
And this is not some abstract, inside-the-Beltway squabble. This is the unelected, unaccountable administrative state in black robes. We're talking about activist judges legislating from the bench, single district judges issuing nationwide injunctions to override the will of the American people and their duly elected president, and a judiciary that has quietly built itself into a fourth, untouchable branch of government.
That should alarm every single one of us, regardless of party, because a Republic where judges answer to nobody isn't a Republic anymore.
Here's what gets missed: accountability for judges isn't a modern political invention. It's baked into the oldest legal tradition we have. In 2 Chronicles 19, King Jehoshaphat appoints judges and warns them plainly, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the Lord.”
A judge was never meant to be untouchable. A judge was meant to answer to a higher standard, precisely because of the power he holds over other people's lives, liberty, and property.
Isaiah 1 doesn't mince words either: “Learn to do good; seek justice.” Judgment is supposed to protect people, not shield the judge from consequence. When a judiciary polices itself for forty-plus years and the abuses keep piling up anyway, that bargain has failed.
Unchecked power, whether it's sitting on a bench or rewriting a history book, doesn't correct itself. That's not cynicism. That's what
Scripture has always told us about the human heart — and it's precisely why the Founders built in checks in the first place. They didn't build three co-equal branches so that one of them could operate with zero checks. And our faith doesn't teach us that any man — king, judge, or committee — gets a permanent pass from scrutiny.
And it's not just the courtroom. We're watching the same instinct — the refusal to be honest and the refusal to be accountable — show up in how the culture treats its own history. Britain is erasing Winston Churchill from its currency because a focus group calls him “divisive.”
This is the same woke revisionism we see here at home — knock down the statue, rename the school, cancel the man.
But there is exactly one perfect man who ever walked the earth, and none of us are Him. Scripture is remarkably unsentimental about its own heroes. It tells you David committed adultery and had a man killed to cover it up — and still calls him a man after God's own heart. It tells you Noah got drunk, Moses disobeyed God at the rock, and Peter denied Christ three times. The Bible doesn't airbrush its heroes. It shows the whole man, flaws and all, because the point was never that these men were flawless.
That's the opposite instinct of what we're watching happen with Churchill. Modern cancel culture wants a spotless résumé or it wants erasure. Scripture never asked us to pretend our heroes were flawless. It asks us to tell the truth about them — the good and the bad — and let the record stand.
A nation that can't hold “Churchill saved civilization” and “Churchill had serious flaws” in the same breath isn't practicing justice. It's practicing amnesia.
So let's be honest about what's at stake here. This isn't about one bad ruling or one bad headline out of London. This is about whether we still believe in a Republic of laws, or whether we've quietly let ourselves drift into rule by unelected robes and unelected editors of history.
Judges answering to no one and a culture rewriting its own history are two sides of the same coin — a slow, quiet abandonment of truth and accountability. That should matter to every conservative, every Christian, every American who still believes truth is truth regardless of what a focus group or a black robe says about it.
If we let the judiciary and the culture police themselves without any accountability to God or to “We the People,” we will wake up one day and not recognize the country our Founders risked everything to build. As citizens, we don't get to sit this one out. This is one to lean into, not scroll past.
I want to say this plainly: men like Louie Gohmert don't get nearly enough credit for the work they do long after the cameras and the Capitol Hill office are gone. Eighteen years on the House Judiciary Committee, a career on the bench himself, and he's still out there walking the halls of Congress, folder in hand, doing the unglamorous, unpaid, unnoticed work of trying to hold power accountable. That's not politics. That's public service in the truest sense of the word, and we don't say thank you for that kind of thing nearly often enough.
Whether it's a judge who thinks he answers to no one, or a culture that thinks history should answer to a marketing survey — the answer is the same. Truth, judged rightly, doesn't need to hide from scrutiny, and it doesn't need to erase the past to feel comfortable. It just needs someone willing to say it plainly.
So keep your faith steady, your focus clear, and keep moving forward — because you are here for such a time as this.
Watch or listen to the full conversation with former Congressman Louie Gohmert on Rose Unplugged: Rogue Judges, Erased History, SCOTUS Graded — Louie Gohmert Holds Nothing Back
What happens when judges escape accountability and historical figures are erased for their flaws? Explore the biblical call for justice, integrity, and historical honesty, and why both judicial oversight and preserving history matter for America's future.
Election Day 2026 is less than a month away, and the political conversation is intensifying.
Campaign ads are multiplying. Candidates are making their closing arguments. Social media is filling with clips, claims, endorsements, and reactions. But understanding the 2026 midterm elections requires looking beyond the daily campaign noise to the issues voters are actually being asked to consider.
Recent polling shows economic concerns, particularly affordability and the cost of living, remain especially prominent. But the November 3 election also comes amid ongoing debates about immigration, healthcare, public safety, education, abortion, foreign policy, government spending, artificial intelligence, and other questions that affect Americans differently depending on where they live.
The challenge is not simply identifying which issues are receiving attention. It is understanding how those issues connect to the candidates, offices, and measures on your own ballot.
Here are some of the major conversations to follow as Election Day 2026 approaches.
Stay informed as November 3 approaches. Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates from Real Life Network and follow RLN for news and coverage leading into Election Day 2026.
For many Americans, the economy remains the most immediate political concern.
Housing costs, grocery prices, energy expenses, healthcare, interest rates, taxes, and job opportunities all affect household budgets. Recent national polling has found that economic issues are among the topics voters most want congressional candidates to address, with affordability receiving particular attention.
But “the economy” can mean many things during an election campaign.
One candidate may emphasize taxes. Another may focus on government spending, tariffs, housing, wages, energy policy, or regulation. State and local candidates may have authority over different economic questions than members of Congress.
As you hear competing claims, ask what specific policy is being proposed, which level of government controls it, what evidence supports the argument, and what tradeoffs may be involved.
Immigration remains an important issue in the 2026 elections, even as voter attention has shifted toward affordability and other economic concerns.
The debate includes border security, deportation and enforcement policies, asylum, legal immigration, the workforce, federal-state responsibilities, and the treatment of people already living in the United States.
Republican and Democratic candidates often approach these questions differently, but positions can also vary considerably within the same party.
Instead of relying only on campaign language, look at what candidates specifically support. Are they addressing border enforcement, legal immigration, employment rules, asylum policy, or some combination? What authority would the office they are seeking actually have over those questions?
Broad slogans can conceal important policy differences.
Healthcare continues to be both a national and household issue.
Voters may hear debates involving insurance premiums, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid, prescription drugs, hospital costs, federal subsidies, and the role of government in healthcare.
Candidates may agree that medical care costs too much while offering very different explanations for why and very different proposals for addressing it.
Healthcare can also intersect with state elections because states make significant decisions involving Medicaid, insurance regulation, public health, and medical policy.
When evaluating campaign claims, look beyond promises to lower costs and ask how a proposed change would work, who would be affected, and how it would be funded.
Public safety is another issue that can look very different depending on the race.
Federal candidates may discuss immigration enforcement, gun laws, federal law enforcement, drug trafficking, or national crime policy. State and local candidates may focus on policing, prosecution, sentencing, homelessness, drug policy, or funding for first responders.
Those distinctions matter. A city council member, county prosecutor, governor, and U.S. senator do not have the same responsibilities. Before evaluating a candidate’s promises about crime or public safety, determine what the office can realistically influence.
Local crime statistics and policies may also provide a more useful picture of conditions in your community than national political rhetoric.
Education remains a significant issue in many state and local elections. Debates can involve academic standards, school funding, parental involvement, curriculum, school choice, teacher recruitment, student achievement, sports policies, religious expression, and the role of state and federal government in education.
For Christian families, these questions can carry particular significance because they touch on parental responsibility, religious liberty, the formation of children, and competing understandings of human identity.
But education policy is highly decentralized. A position debated nationally may actually be decided by a state legislature, governor, local school board, or district administrator. Before assuming a national talking point applies directly to your community, identify who makes the relevant decision.
Abortion remains a significant issue in American elections, particularly because much of the legal and policy debate now takes place at the state level.
Voters may encounter candidates with sharply different positions on abortion restrictions, exceptions, funding, access, parental involvement, and related healthcare questions. Some states may also have ballot measures addressing abortion policy directly.
For Christian voters, questions surrounding unborn life carry deep moral significance. Other voters approach the issue through different legal, medical, or individual-rights frameworks.
Research what candidates and ballot measures would actually change under existing law rather than relying solely on campaign descriptions from either side.
International events are also influencing the 2026 political conversation.
Wars and conflicts abroad, relations with China and other global powers, U.S. military involvement, defense spending, trade, alliances, Israel and the Middle East, and America’s role overseas are all subjects candidates may address.
Foreign policy can also connect directly to domestic concerns. International conflicts may affect energy prices, trade, government spending, military families, and the broader economy.
Members of Congress have meaningful responsibilities involving military authorization, funding, sanctions, and foreign policy oversight, while presidents retain substantial executive authority.
As candidates discuss international events, consider not only the desired outcome but also what powers the office actually possesses.
Artificial intelligence has become a more visible political issue in 2026. Questions include job displacement, privacy, misinformation, data-center construction, energy consumption, regulation, national security, and America’s competitiveness in emerging technologies.
Some communities are encountering these debates locally as new data centers and infrastructure projects raise questions about electricity use, water, zoning, and development.
AI may not rank as highly as the economy or immigration for many voters, but it illustrates why election research should extend beyond the most familiar political topics. New technologies can quickly create policy questions at the federal, state, and local levels.
The issues receiving the most attention nationally will not necessarily be the most important issues on every ballot.
A congressional candidate may be debating foreign policy while your state is considering a major tax measure. A governor’s race may center on education or housing. Your local races may involve public safety, development, school policy, or government spending.
That is why the most useful question as Election Day 2026 approaches is not simply, What issues are dominating the news?
Ask: What decisions will the people and measures on my ballot actually affect?
Then research accordingly.
Read candidates’ own positions, but compare them with voting records, public statements, primary documents, and reliable reporting. Look at arguments from more than one perspective. Distinguish facts from predictions and campaign claims from independent evidence.
For Christians, this is also an opportunity to consider public issues through a biblical worldview while recognizing that applying broad biblical principles to specific policy choices often requires careful thought.
The final weeks before November 3 will bring more campaign claims, breaking news, debates, and political commentary.
Real Life Network offers news and current-events programming designed to help viewers follow important developments through a biblical worldview, including RLN News, The Daniel Cohen Show, Rose Unplugged, Cure America, and other programs addressing faith, culture, and public life.
As Election Day approaches, RLN will also be preparing for America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live, bringing together live election results, updates, and conversation from races across the country.
The goal is not simply to follow who wins and loses. It is to understand the issues shaping those results and why they matter.
Stay informed as November 3 approaches. Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates from Real Life Network and follow RLN for news and coverage leading into Election Day 2026.
With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, voters face important decisions about the economy, immigration, healthcare, education, national security, and more. Explore the key issues shaping November 3 and how to research what matters most on your ballot.
National races dominate election coverage, but some of the decisions that affect your daily life may appear much farther down the ballot.
The 2026 midterm elections on November 3 will determine control of the U.S. House and affect the makeup of the Senate, but voters across the country will also encounter state legislative races, governors’ contests, county and city offices, judges, school boards, and ballot measures.
That is why researching the 2026 ballot should involve more than recognizing a few names from national television.
If you are beginning to ask, “What’s on my ballot in 2026?”, the next step is to understand the different kinds of races and measures you may encounter and know what questions to ask about each one.
Most voters hear far more about Congress than they do about county government, school boards, judges, or local ballot initiatives.
That imbalance can make the bottom half of a ballot feel unfamiliar.
Before Election Day, take time to review the ballot information published for your jurisdiction and identify every race and measure that will require a decision. Instead of trying to research everything at once, make a list and work through it category by category.
Depending on where you live, that list may include:
Some may receive extensive news coverage. Others may receive almost none. Lack of national attention does not make a race unimportant.
Candidate research becomes much more useful when you understand the responsibilities of the position being sought.
A candidate for Congress will deal with very different questions from a city council member. A governor has different authority from a state legislator. School board members, county officials, judges, and local prosecutors each operate within their own responsibilities.
Before comparing candidates, ask:
What authority does this office actually have?
That simple question can cut through a surprising amount of campaign rhetoric.
Candidates sometimes make promises involving issues their office has little power to change. Understanding the role itself helps voters evaluate whether campaign claims are realistic and whether the issues being emphasized actually belong within that office’s responsibilities.
Campaign websites are useful because they tell you what candidates want voters to know about them. They should not be your only source, however.
Compare campaign statements with interviews, public records, reliable local reporting, debate appearances, previous votes when applicable, and other primary-source material.
Useful questions include:
Party affiliation can provide some information about a candidate’s general political alignment, whether Republican, Democrat, independent, or another affiliation. But it does not substitute for researching the individual candidate.
Two candidates from the same party can differ substantially on priorities, policies, governing style, or experience.
Local elections often receive less attention than congressional races, even though state and local officials can make decisions that affect people directly.
State legislators may vote on taxes, education, criminal law, business regulation, healthcare policy, and state spending. Local officials can influence public safety, development, transportation, housing, budgets, and other community priorities.
School boards may make decisions involving curriculum, district policies, budgets, and administration.
That makes local elections in 2026 worth researching with the same seriousness as races that generate national headlines.
Local journalism can be particularly valuable here because local reporters often cover candidate forums, controversies, voting records, and community concerns that never reach national media.
Candidates are not the only part of the November 3 election.
Many voters will also be asked to decide ballot measures involving state or local law. These could include constitutional amendments, taxes, bonds, public spending, criminal justice questions, government structure, education, or other policy matters.
Ballot-measure campaigns often reduce complicated proposals to memorable slogans.
Go deeper.
Read the actual proposal or an official summary. Understand what changes if it passes and what remains in place if it does not. Look at arguments from both supporters and opponents, but also distinguish campaign claims from what the measure itself would legally do.
A useful research checklist is:
What does the measure change?
Who or what would be affected?
What would it cost?
How would it be implemented?
Am I willing to pay increased taxes for this measure?
What are supporters arguing?
What are opponents arguing?
Which claims can be independently verified?
The wording may take a little more time to understand, but that time can be well spent.
By the final weeks of an election, voters can be surrounded by campaign ads, fundraising emails, social posts, endorsements, commentary, and viral videos.
Those sources may contain useful information, but they also have a purpose.
A campaign ad exists to persuade you. So does a political action committee advertisement. An endorsement tells you what another person or organization wants you to conclude.
That does not make those materials worthless. It simply means they should be recognized for what they are.
Whenever possible, compare persuasive claims against original documents, direct quotations, voting records, full interviews, official reports, and reporting from multiple sources.
Proverbs 18:17 says, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him” (NKJV). That principle is especially useful during an election season.
National political conversations can sometimes obscure what an election means closer to home.
A question about education, public safety, taxation, housing, religious liberty, healthcare, or economic policy may look different depending on the state, district, or community involved.
As you research state and local elections, ask how the major issues being discussed connect to the actual offices and measures on your ballot. Which decisions are made federally? Which belong to your state? Which are controlled locally?
Understanding that distinction makes political research more useful and helps prevent national rhetoric from overshadowing the decisions voters are actually being asked to consider.
For Christian voters, becoming informed is part of taking civic responsibility seriously.
That does not require assuming that every believer will make identical political choices. It does mean approaching candidates and policies thoughtfully rather than allowing a party label, celebrity endorsement, social media clip, or campaign advertisement to make the decision for you.
Research what candidates actually believe and have done. Examine policy proposals carefully. Consider how the issues intersect with biblical convictions about human dignity, justice, truth, freedom, family, stewardship, and care for others.
And recognize the difference between biblical principles and political messaging that simply borrows Christian terminology.
Discernment requires more than hearing what you already agree with.
The closer Election Day gets, the louder the political conversation will become.
Researching early gives you time to move at a different pace.
Start with the races and measures that will affect your own community. Understand what each office does. Compare candidates. Examine ballot measures. Check campaign claims against reliable information. Then continue following the larger national stories shaping the 2026 midterms.
Local knowledge and national awareness belong together.
Real Life Network will continue following the news, cultural conversations, and major issues shaping the 2026 elections as November 3 approaches.
Then on Election Night, America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live will bring viewers live results, updates, conversation, and biblical perspective on races and issues from across the country.
Stay informed locally and nationally. Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates from Real Life Network as Election Day 2026 approaches.
Your 2026 ballot includes more than the races making national headlines. Learn how to research candidates, understand local offices, evaluate ballot measures, and approach Election Day with greater knowledge and discernment.
Three years after Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the consequences still reach far beyond that terrible morning. The attack rocked assumptions about Israeli security, began a prolonged hostage crisis, reshaped the Middle East, and contributed to a dramatic rise in antisemitism around the world.
At sunrise on October 7, 2023, Israel was a very different country from the one that would exist by nightfall. Hamas-led attackers breached the border from Gaza, striking Israeli communities, military positions, and the Nova music festival. Approximately 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 251 people were abducted into Gaza.
What happened during those hours was horrific, but the significance of October 7 cannot be measured only by what occurred that day. Three years later, its effects are still being felt across Israel, throughout the Middle East, on American campuses, and in Jewish communities around the world.
October 7 became a dividing line: before and after.
Israel has lived with terrorism and war throughout its modern history, but October 7 exposed vulnerabilities on a scale few Israelis had imagined possible. Communities near Gaza that had lived for years with rocket fire suddenly faced armed attackers inside their neighborhoods. Families hid in safe rooms while gunmen moved nearby, and in some communities, military help took hours to arrive.
The shock went far beyond the immediate loss of life. Israel has long faced the reality of terrorism and hostile forces seeking its destruction, but October 7 demonstrated the extraordinary lengths Hamas was willing to go to target Israeli civilians. The attack permanently changed the country’s understanding of the threats along its borders and intensified the determination to prevent anything like October 7 from happening again.
Among the most enduring images after October 7 were the faces of the hostages. Posters appeared around the world. Families spoke publicly about loved ones ranging from children to elderly grandparents. Israelis gathered in what became known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling for their return.
The hostage crisis lasted two years. Some captives were released through agreements, others were rescued, and some died in captivity or were killed on October 7 and their bodies taken into Gaza. In October 2025, the remaining 20 Israeli hostages known to be alive were released as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Their return closed one chapter of October 7, but it did not erase what captivity had done to the hostages, their families, or Israeli society. The ordeal reinforced something terrorism is designed to accomplish: creating fear and trauma that continue long after an attack ends.
Three years later, October 7 risks becoming a shorthand phrase for a war, a political argument, or a date in a timeline. But before it became any of those things, it was a human tragedy.
The people murdered that day were parents, grandparents, children, soldiers, young adults, foreign workers, and visitors. Some were killed inside their homes. Others were attacked while trying to escape. At the Nova music festival, young people who had gathered for a night of music found themselves running for their lives.
Remembering October 7 means refusing to let those lives disappear inside statistics or political debate. It means remembering the families who still live with empty chairs, the survivors who carry lasting trauma, and the communities that were forever changed in a matter of hours.
Romans 12:15 tells believers to “weep with those who weep.” On this anniversary, remembrance is one way of doing exactly that.
October 7 did not remain a conflict between Israel and Hamas. The war reverberated throughout the region, increasing tensions involving Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran, the Houthis in Yemen, and other armed groups. Governments reconsidered security relationships, diplomatic efforts changed course, and long-standing regional conflicts became increasingly interconnected.
The war also brought terrible loss and destruction to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, a reality that can be acknowledged without minimizing what happened to Israelis on October 7 or excusing the actions of Hamas.
The October 2025 ceasefire stopped the largest phase of fighting between Israel and Hamas and brought the remaining living hostages home, but it did not resolve the deeper questions surrounding Gaza’s future, Israeli security, Hamas, or future peace. Three years after the attack, those questions remain unsettled.
October 7 also changed life for Jewish communities thousands of miles from the Middle East. In the United States, antisemitic harassment, vandalism, threats, and violence rose sharply after the attack and the war that followed.
Jewish Americans who had nothing to do with the decisions of Israel’s government found themselves confronted over events thousands of miles away. Synagogues increased security. Jewish students faced hostility on campuses. Demonstrations sometimes crossed the line from political criticism into explicit anti-Jewish rhetoric or threats.
That distinction matters. In the years since October 7, critics of Israel’s conduct have argued that its military response was disproportionate or caused unacceptable harm to Palestinian civilians. Those policies and military decisions can be debated, and criticism of the Israeli government is not automatically antisemitic. But holding Jewish people collectively responsible for Israel’s response, repeating antisemitic conspiracies, threatening Jewish institutions, or excusing violence against Jews crosses a very different line.
October 7 exposed how quickly an ancient hatred can reappear.
For Christians, the anniversary of October 7 should be more than a marker on the calendar. It is an opportunity to remember those who were murdered, honor the survivors and families still carrying the weight of that day, and stand firmly against the terrorism and antisemitism that helped make such atrocities possible.
The anniversary also calls Christians to resist allowing political arguments to overshadow the human reality of what happened. Terrorism must be condemned for what it is, antisemitism must be rejected wherever it appears, and the suffering of those affected by October 7 should move believers toward compassion rather than political point-scoring.
The anniversary is also a time to pray. Psalm 122:6 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Pray for Israel, for those still living with trauma and loss, for Jewish communities facing antisemitism, for leaders making difficult decisions, and for a lasting peace that protects innocent life and restrains those who seek violence.
Remembering October 7 should move Christians toward truth, compassion, courage, and prayer.
October 7 is moving further into history, but its consequences are still unfolding. Israel continues to confront the threat of terrorism and the challenge of protecting its citizens in an increasingly volatile region. Families are still living with trauma and loss. Jewish communities around the world remain alert to antisemitism that intensified after the attack. And leaders throughout the Middle East continue to confront questions of terrorism, diplomacy, regional stability, and peace.
The attack also changed relationships and assumptions across the region in ways that are still developing. Questions surrounding Hamas, Gaza’s future, Iran and its proxies, Israel’s borders, and the possibility of lasting regional peace remain unresolved.
Three years later, October 7 remains a turning point whose consequences continue to shape Israel and the Middle East. Remembering what happened matters, but so does understanding how that day continues to influence what comes next.
Follow developments in Israel, the Middle East, and around the world through a biblical worldview on The Daniel Cohen Show and RLN News, streaming free on Real Life Network.
Three years after the October 7 attack, its consequences continue to shape Israel, the Middle East, and Jewish communities worldwide. The anniversary is a time to remember the victims, reject antisemitism and terrorism, and pray for lasting peace.
Election Day 2026 is approaching, and much of the attention will naturally fall on the biggest national races, political personalities, and questions about which party will control Congress. But your ballot will likely have much more on it than that.
The 2026 midterm elections on November 3 include races for the U.S. House and Senate alongside elections for governors, state legislators, local officials, judges, and ballot measures across the country. What appears on your ballot will depend on where you live, which is why preparing for Election Day should begin closer to home.
Rather than waiting until the final days of the campaign, now is the time to find out what you will actually be voting on, research the candidates and issues, and understand the decisions facing your community.
Midterm elections take place halfway through a president’s four-year term. There is no presidential race on the ballot, but voters will decide who represents them in Congress and, in many states, choose governors, state lawmakers, and other officials.
Every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is part of the 2026 election cycle, along with roughly one-third of the U.S. Senate. Many states are also holding gubernatorial and state legislative elections.
That means the November 3 election could affect decisions made at nearly every level of government, from Washington, D.C., to your state capitol, county, city, and school district.
National coverage can help explain the larger political picture, but it cannot tell you everything you need to know about your own ballot.
Before researching who or what to support, begin with a simpler question:
What’s on my ballot in 2026?
A sample ballot can show you the races, candidates, and ballot measures that will appear when you vote. Depending on where you live, that could include:
Some of these races may receive very little television or national news coverage even though the people elected will make decisions that directly affect your community.
Your state or local election office is a good starting place for identifying what will appear on your ballot. Once you know the races and measures involved, you can research them one by one rather than trying to absorb everything happening in the 2026 elections at once.
It is easy to know the names of candidates running for Congress or governor while knowing almost nothing about the other contests further down the ballot.
Yet state and local officials make decisions involving education, public safety, taxes, land use, transportation, budgets, business regulations, and many other issues that affect everyday life.
Ballot measures can matter just as much. Depending on your state or community, voters may be asked to decide questions involving taxes, bonds, constitutional amendments, criminal justice, education, election rules, or other public policies.
The wording can sometimes be complicated, so don’t wait until Election Day to read a measure for the first time.
Find out what is on the ballot, read the actual proposal, and look beyond campaign slogans from both supporters and opponents.
Research Candidates Beyond Party Labels
Political affiliation tells you something about a candidate, but it does not tell you everything.
Whether a candidate is Republican, Democrat, independent, or affiliated with another party, look at the person’s record and stated positions. Visit campaign websites, read interviews, examine public statements, and consider reliable reporting about previous votes or public service.
Questions worth researching include:
Campaign advertisements and social media posts are designed to persuade. Research should go further.
Proverbs 18:17 offers a useful principle: “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him” (NKJV). Hearing a claim is only the beginning. Informed citizens take time to examine it.
Candidates often dominate election coverage, but elections are also about policy.
As November 3 approaches, national conversations will continue around issues such as the economy, immigration, public safety, education, foreign policy, religious liberty, government spending, healthcare, energy, and other concerns. State and local races may bring additional issues to the forefront.
The most useful question is not simply, What is everyone talking about? Ask instead: How does this issue connect to the choices on my ballot?
A national debate may have very different implications in a congressional race, a governor’s race, a state legislative contest, or a local ballot measure.
Understanding that connection helps turn election news into useful information rather than another stream of political noise.
For Christians, civic participation provides an opportunity to approach public questions thoughtfully and responsibly.
That does not mean every Christian will reach the same conclusion about every candidate or public policy. It does mean believers can take the responsibility seriously enough to learn what they are voting on, examine competing claims, and consider political questions in light of their biblical convictions.
Being informed also means resisting the temptation to let a viral clip, political personality, favorite commentator, or party label do all the thinking for you.
Ask questions. Check sources. Read more than headlines. Understand both the office and the candidate seeking it. And pray for wisdom.
Election Night will be filled with major congressional contests and closely watched races around the country. Those results matter. But so does the race that may never appear on national television.
The November 3 election is national, state, and local at the same time. Your ballot may include choices that affect who writes federal laws, who leads your state, who represents your community, and what policies take effect where you live.
Preparing now gives you time to understand those decisions before campaign advertising and breaking-news coverage reach their peak.
Find your sample ballot. Make a list of the races and measures you need to investigate. Research candidates from multiple reliable sources. Learn what the offices actually do. Then keep following the broader election picture as November approaches.
As Election Day draws closer, Real Life Network will be following the issues, conversations, and races shaping the country.
Then on Tuesday, November 3, RLN will present America Speaks ’26: Election Night Live, with live election results, updates, commentary, and conversation. Coverage will follow major races both in California and across the country, with biblical perspective from Pastor Jack Hibbs, analysis from Daniel Cohen, and insight from other Real Life Network voices.
Election Night coverage begins at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT and is free to watch with a Real Life Network account.
Stay informed as Election Day approaches. Sign up for America Speaks ’26 updates from Real Life Network and be ready to follow Election Night live on November 3.
Election Day 2026 is about more than the biggest congressional races. From local offices and judges to ballot measures, voters can prepare now by finding their sample ballot, researching candidates and issues, and approaching each decision with discernment.
Adapted from a recent Rose Unplugged podcast conversation with Marc Morano of Climate Depot. Watch the full episode: Here
We are watching something shift that many people were told would never shift. For years, the message was simple, absolute, and repeated everywhere: the science is settled, the timeline is urgent, and the consequences are existential.
Climate change was not presented as one issue among many. It was presented as the issue. The defining crisis of our time. And for a long stretch, questioning that framing was treated not as disagreement, but as denial.
But now, something is happening that is difficult to ignore.
Major political outlets are describing what they call “climate hushing”. It’s a noticeable quieting from Democrats and environmental groups at the very moment we were told urgency should be at its peak. Media voices and political strategists are openly admitting that climate messaging is no longer resonating with voters the way it once did.
And a very uncomfortable conversation is emerging inside mainstream reporting: that some of the most extreme climate scenarios that shaped headlines, policy, and public fear were never truly forecasts at all, but worst-case modeling that was often presented without that distinction being made clear to the public.
Now those same scenarios are being reconsidered. Recalibrated. In some cases, quietly set aside.
At the same time, there is another layer to this story that can’t be ignored. Because while elites debate messaging strategies, ordinary families are dealing with something far more immediate. They are dealing with rising costs, energy insecurity, and food prices, and with the reality that policies sold as “saving the planet” often land first and hardest on working people.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I think a lot of people are just trying to live their lives and make sense of it all. Some climate activists say we’re destroying the planet if we eat meat. Vox, for example, has warned that beef is among the worst foods we consume when it comes to global warming. My only request is this: just do not take my steak away from me while you’re all figuring it out. I. Mean. It.
There’s something very human about that reaction. People can debate models and projections all day long, but at the end of the day, we’re still sitting down at a dinner table trying to live our lives without being told that everything we do is somehow destructive.
That disconnect, between elite narrative and lived experience, is now shaping the political response we’re seeing.
And there’s something even deeper happening underneath all of this. We now have an entire generation that grew up hearing one dominant message: that the world is nearing the edge, that time is running out, and that catastrophic collapse is not just possible but likely, unless radical transformation happens immediately.
Many young people didn’t just hear that message. They internalized it. It shaped anxiety. It shaped worldview. And in some cases, it shaped despair.
Now, slowly, some are beginning to ask a question that’s not political at all, but deeply personal: What if what I was told was only part of the story?
Proverbs 14:15 says, “The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps.”
That verse feels more relevant in a moment like this than it has in a long time. Not as a political statement, but as a reminder that fear, especially sustained fear, has a way of shaping belief faster than discernment can catch up.
Viewed individually, these developments might seem like political adjustments or media recalibrations. But when you step back and place them side by side, a pattern begins to emerge.
Political leaders are pulling back from climate messaging. Media outlets are acknowledging that voters are not responding the way they once expected. The most extreme climate scenarios that shaped years of public discourse are being revised.
Some of the world’s largest economies are resisting sweeping energy transitions. And even long-standing institutions are adjusting scope, timelines, and assumptions that once appeared fixed.
None of this is happening in isolation. It is happening all at once. And what it points to is something deeper than policy disagreement. It points to a growing gap between institutional certainty and public trust.
Now, to be clear: stewardship of the environment is not the issue. Wisdom in caring for creation is not the issue.
The issue has always been how that stewardship is defined, and how it is communicated to the people asked to live under it. Because when fear becomes the primary engine of persuasion, something else begins to erode alongside it, and that is trust. And trust, once fractured, is not easily restored.
As parts of the narrative so many young people were raised on are being revised, softened, or walked back, a difficult question emerges: how does a generation recalibrate when the story they were told about the world begins to change?
Not with anger. Not with cynicism. But with discernment.
Isaiah 40:22 reminds us, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.”
In other words, the world has never been out of control, even when our human interpretation of it has been incomplete.
So maybe what we are witnessing right now isn’t just a political shift or a media correction. Maybe it is a moment of reassessment: of how we weigh models versus reality, urgency versus accuracy, and narrative versus truth.
Because the question underneath all of this is not simply about climate policy. It is about trust. Trust in institutions. Trust in messaging. And ultimately, trust in how we understand the world we are being told to fear, and the world we truly live in.
If there is a path forward, it won’t come from fear alone. It will come from clarity. From honesty. And from the willingness to separate what we were told from what is true.
Keep your faith steady, your focus clear, and keep moving forward, because you are here for such a time as this.
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Climate messaging is changing as political leaders, media outlets, and institutions reconsider past assumptions. The shift raises deeper questions about fear, public trust, discernment, and how Christians should think about environmental stewardship.
News can be useful. It helps us understand what is happening in our communities, our country, and around the world. It can alert us to events that deserve prayer, action, generosity, or thoughtful attention.
But news can also consume attention surprisingly quickly.
Breaking alerts lead to updates. Updates lead to commentary. Commentary leads to another video, article, or social media post. Before long, a few minutes of staying informed can become hours of absorbing conflict, outrage, fear, and speculation.
Christians don’t need to withdraw from what is happening in the world. But neither should the news determine the condition of our hearts.
Here are seven practical ways believers can remain informed without allowing the news cycle to become spiritually overwhelming.
One of the simplest ways to keep news in perspective is to decide which voice gets your attention first.
Opening a news app before getting out of bed can immediately fill your mind with elections, wars, economic concerns, crime, cultural conflict, and international crises. Scripture begins somewhere very different: with God, His character, His promises, and His purposes.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Starting with God’s Word doesn’t make difficult events disappear. It helps place them within a larger biblical framework.
Before asking, What happened overnight? it can be helpful to remember what has not changed. God is still sovereign. His Word is still true. The Gospel is still good news. Christ is still building His Church.
Headlines change by the hour. Those truths do not.
There is no biblical command requiring Christians to know every development immediately. Yet modern media can create a sense that we must continually monitor events or risk falling behind.
That urgency deserves examination.
Being informed means understanding significant events well enough to think, pray, and respond wisely. Being consumed means repeatedly checking for updates even when little has changed and continuing long after the information is useful.
One helpful question is: Am I learning something I need to know, or am I simply feeding my anxiety?
Setting specific times for checking news can help establish boundaries. So can turning off unnecessary alerts or stepping away when a developing story has become repetitive.
You can care deeply about the world without following every headline in real time.
Fast-moving news rewards quick reactions. Christian discernment often requires something slower. Proverbs 18:17 says, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.”
That principle is especially useful in an age of social media clips, partial quotations, dramatic headlines, and rapidly developing stories.
Before sharing or reacting, ask:
Christians should have a particular concern for truth. Passing along something inaccurate simply because it supports our assumptions does not honor that responsibility.
Sometimes wisdom means waiting.
Politics matters because government, law, freedom, justice, family, human dignity, and public policy affect real people. But Christianity cannot be reduced to a political party or ideology.
Believers should evaluate political and cultural questions through Scripture rather than modifying Scripture to fit a preferred political position.
That means Christians may sometimes agree strongly with a political leader, movement, or commentator and at other times need to challenge what that same person says or does.
Biblical conviction should remain the standard.
Programs that approach culture from an explicitly Christian worldview can be useful here. Cure America with Star Parker, The Daniel Cohen Show, Rose Unplugged, Small Talk Big Issues, and The City of God are among the programs available through Real Life Network that engage cultural and public issues from faith-informed perspectives.
The objective isn’t to replace independent thinking. It is to consider events alongside voices that recognize biblical truth as relevant to public life.
News can easily produce frustration. It can also become a prayer list.
First Timothy 2:1–2 instructs believers to offer prayers and intercessions “for kings and all who are in authority.” That command gives Christians something constructive to do with difficult information.
Instead of merely asking, Can you believe this? we can also ask, How should I pray about this?
News naturally emphasizes problems. That is partly because crises, disagreements, disasters, and unexpected developments are newsworthy. But consuming an uninterrupted stream of what is going wrong can distort our perception of what God is doing.
Churches are serving communities. Missionaries are sharing the Gospel. People are coming to Christ. Christians are caring for the poor, helping disaster victims, defending the vulnerable, strengthening families, and serving in places most viewers will never see on the evening news.
Programs such as On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse can provide glimpses of Christians responding to suffering with practical help. Fred Jordan Missions TV highlights faith expressed through compassion and community involvement. Evangelism Explosion International focuses on equipping believers to share Christ with others.
These stories don’t erase bad news.
They remind us that bad news isn’t the whole story.
Perhaps the most important way to remain grounded is to remember where Christian hope ultimately rests.
Governments change. Political movements rise and fall. Economies strengthen and weaken. International alliances shift. Cultural attitudes change.
Jesus Christ does not.
Philippians 3:20 reminds believers, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” That doesn’t make Christians indifferent to earthly events. In fact, biblical faith should encourage believers to care about their neighbors, communities, country, and world.
But it prevents temporary events from carrying eternal weight.
Christians can vote, serve, advocate, give, pray, speak truth, and remain engaged while remembering that no election, institution, economic system, or human leader can carry the hope that belongs to Christ alone.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to understand what is happening in the world.
The challenge is keeping the news in its proper place.
Read Scripture before allowing headlines to establish the tone of your day. Set reasonable limits. Check facts carefully. Evaluate cultural and political questions through a biblical worldview. Pray about what you learn. Look for evidence of God’s work as well as evidence of human brokenness.
Above all, remember that Christians already know the most important news.
Jesus Christ has come. He died for sinners. He rose again. He offers forgiveness and eternal life to those who trust in Him, and He will return.
No breaking-news alert can change that.
Real Life Network offers RLN News along with programs such as The Daniel Cohen Show, Cure America, Rose Unplugged, The City of God, Small Talk Big Issues, and other biblically informed programming to help Christians consider current events without separating the headlines from their faith.
Explore Christian news, cultural commentary, Bible teaching, and more for free on Real Life Network.
The news can inform Christians without consuming them. These seven practical habits can help believers follow current events with biblical discernment, healthy boundaries, prayer, and confidence in the unchanging hope of Christ.
This article is drawn from my current episode of Rose Unplugged, airing now on the Real Life Network, where I had the extraordinary privilege of sitting down with two American heroes who know firsthand what it means to have freedom taken away.
As we observe National POW/MIA Recognition Day, I wanted to bring part of their story beyond the television screen, because their experience is not simply a chapter in American history. It is a reminder of what freedom costs, what courage looks like under unimaginable pressure, and what faith can sustain when almost everything else has been stripped away.
We talk a lot about freedom. We debate it, defend it and sometimes argue over what it means, but if we are honest, most of us rarely stop to think about what freedom actually costs. That is why National POW/MIA Recognition Day matters. It asks us to pause and remember the Americans who were captured, those who never came home, and the families who waited, prayed and carried the uncertainty with them.
Because every once in a while, we have the opportunity to hear from someone who knows exactly what it means when freedom is taken away—not for a day or a year, but for the better part of a decade.
I recently had that opportunity with Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker and Commander Everett Alvarez Jr., two Navy aviators who were shot down over North Vietnam and who together spent over sixteen years as prisoners of war. They were beaten, isolated, interrogated and separated from their families. They were told, again and again, that their country had forgotten them, yet they never allowed their captors to take the most important things from them: their identity, their faith, their loyalty to one another, their honor, and ultimately their love of country.
Commander Everett Alvarez was the first American aviator shot down and captured in North Vietnam. On August 5, 1964, while flying an A-4 Skyhawk from the USS Constellation, his aircraft was hit. He ejected over the water and was captured, with no roadmap and no one who could tell him what the coming years would look like because no American aviator had yet lived through what he was about to experience.
Then, months later, on February 11, 1965, Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker was shot down while flying an F-8 Crusader from the USS Coral Sea. He was forced to eject at extremely low altitude, suffering a broken back in the process, and was eventually captured.
What happened next is almost impossible for those of us living in freedom to comprehend: years of isolation, interrogation, brutal punishment and uncertainty about whether they would ever see their families or their country again. Yet something remarkable happened inside those prison walls. When everything external was stripped away, these men discovered that there were still things their captors could not control, and one of those things was the human mind.
Admiral Shumaker has described designing an entire house in his mind during his years in isolation, brick by brick and room by room. Years later, after returning home, he actually built that house. His captors could control his cell, his movements and his physical circumstances, but they could not enter his mind and take away his ability to create.
Then there was the tap code, perhaps one of the most remarkable examples of human ingenuity and determination to come out of those prison walls. Speaking to another prisoner was forbidden and could bring severe punishment, so Shumaker and Air Force Captain “Smitty” Harris developed a five-by-five grid of the alphabet that allowed prisoners to communicate by tapping letters through the concrete walls. One tap, another tap, another message—a language created in captivity that became a lifeline for men who desperately needed to know they were not alone.
Eventually, their captors discovered the code, and Shumaker and other senior officers were placed in solitary confinement for roughly three years because they were suspected of being leaders of the communication network. But isolating them did not destroy the brotherhood. If anything, their experience demonstrated how powerful that bond had become. Men who had never necessarily known one another before the war were willing to endure punishment rather than betray each other, and they found ways to encourage one another, communicate, pray and remain human in a place designed to strip them of their humanity.
And that brings me to faith, because Scripture is filled with people who discovered that God's presence does not always mean the absence of suffering.
Think about Joseph. His brothers betrayed him, sold him into slavery, and eventually he ended up in an Egyptian prison for something he did not do. Yet Scripture tells us that the Lord was with Joseph even there. Joseph did not know how his story would end, but God did. Years later, Joseph could look back at the people who had intended to harm him and say, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
Or think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They refused to bow to the king's idol and were thrown into the fiery furnace, but God did not keep them from entering the fire; He was with them in it. That distinction matters because sometimes deliverance is not an escape from the trial. Sometimes deliverance is discovering that you are not alone in it.
David understood that when he wrote, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” The promise was not that the valley would disappear. The promise was about who would walk through it with him.
That is what I hear in the stories of these POWs—not despair, but resilience; not surrender, but resistance; and not the absence of suffering, but faith under pressure. Their circumstances forced them back onto something deeper than comfort or convenience, onto the courage, discipline, faith and determination God had placed within them.
And perhaps most remarkably, these men came home.
In January 1973, word began reaching the prisoners that a peace agreement had been signed and that they would finally be going home. Admiral Shumaker was released on February 12, 1973—eight years and one day after he had been shot down. Commander Alvarez came home the same day after 3,113 days in captivity, more than eight and a half years.
But coming home was not simply the end of their story. They had families to reconnect with, lives to rebuild and years to make up for, yet when you listen to these men, what you do not hear is a desire to define themselves by what was done to them. Instead, you hear men who came home with their faith intact, their honor intact and their love of country stronger than ever.
That is a tested love—not a naïve love, but the kind of love that comes from discovering exactly what something costs and being willing to pay the price anyway.
We throw the word hero around a lot these days, and I don't throw it around lightly. But Admiral Shumaker and Commander Alvarez earned it in a place most of us cannot imagine: one tap on a concrete wall, one whispered prayer and one refusal to give their captors what they wanted, repeated day after day and year after year until, finally, they came home.
And Hebrews gives the rest of us a charge that is particularly appropriate today: “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
Remember them—not just on National POW/MIA Recognition Day, but every time you exercise a freedom that they were denied. Remember the families who waited, the years they lost, the men who were captured and the men who never came home. And remember that freedom is not free simply because it is familiar to us.
For many Americans today, freedom is so ordinary that we barely notice it. We wake up, speak our minds, worship, travel, raise our families and go about our lives. We can disagree with our government and with one another, and we can live our faith openly. We can gather with our families without wondering whether someone is coming to take us away. That is an extraordinary gift, and perhaps one of the greatest dangers is that we become so accustomed to it that we forget its cost.
As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, that is something this generation needs to understand. Freedom is not merely an idea; freedom has a price. Some have paid that price with their lives, others with years, some with wounds that could be seen and others with wounds no one could see. Some endured captivity but refused to allow captivity to define them.
Admiral Shumaker and Commander Alvarez remind us what that looks like. They were stripped of almost everything, but they would not surrender everything. They held onto one another, their faith, their identity and their honor, and then they came home.
So today, on National POW/MIA Recognition Day, let's remember the prisoners who endured captivity, the missing whose families still carry the questions and the sacrifices of those who served. Let us also remember what these two men demonstrated so powerfully: you can take a man's freedom without taking his courage; you can take away his comfort without taking away his faith; you can isolate him without making him alone; and you can imprison his body without imprisoning his spirit.
The freedom we enjoy today was not handed to us without a cost. Men like Robert Shumaker and Everett Alvarez paid part of that cost for the rest of us. The least we can do is remember—and perhaps even more importantly, the least we can do is live like we understand what they paid for.
Freedom is a gift, but it is also a responsibility, and it is something worth protecting. As Christians, we understand that God is sovereign even in the darkest circumstances, but we also understand that courage is not passive. We are called to stand firm, to remember those who suffer, to honor those who serve and to be faithful with whatever freedom and responsibility God has entrusted to us.
So on this National POW/MIA Recognition Day, may we never become so comfortable with freedom that we forget its cost, and may we never become so accustomed to our blessings that we forget the men and women who sacrificed so that we could enjoy them.
God bless these men. God bless every American POW and MIA. God bless their families. And God bless the United States of America.
For more content like this, watch Rose Unplugged on Real Life Network.
On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, the stories of Robert Shumaker and Everett Alvarez Jr. remind Americans of the cost of freedom and the courage, faith, ingenuity, and brotherhood that sustained prisoners through years of captivity.
Christianity makes specific claims about God, Jesus, Scripture, morality, and the meaning of life. Apologetics asks whether those claims can stand up to serious questions.
That makes Christian apologetics much more than learning clever responses to skeptics. It is the process of examining what Christianity teaches, why Christians believe it is true, and how those beliefs compare with competing explanations of reality.
First Peter 3:15 calls believers to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” That defense is not meant to be combative. It is meant to be thoughtful, truthful, and grounded in a faith that is willing to be examined.
Here are seven important apologetics conversations that can help Christians better understand the foundations of their faith and become more prepared to talk about them with others.
Christianity begins with a foundational claim: God exists, and He is the Creator of everything.
Apologetics asks whether there are good reasons to believe that claim is true. Christian thinkers often point to the beginning of the universe, the remarkable order and fine-tuning found in creation, the existence of objective moral standards, and the question of why anything exists at all.
These arguments do not attempt to reduce God to a scientific formula. Instead, they challenge the idea that belief in God is irrational or unsupported.
This conversation can be especially important for Christians who have heard that faith and reason are opposites. Examining the evidence can reveal that belief in a Creator rests on substantial philosophical and scientific questions that atheism must also account for.
Christianity also makes a historical claim: God has revealed truth through Scripture.
That raises important questions. Has the Bible been accurately preserved? Are the Gospel accounts historically reliable? Do archaeology and ancient history support or undermine the people, places, and events described in Scripture?
Christian apologetics does not ask believers to simply assume the Bible is trustworthy. It looks at manuscript evidence, textual transmission, historical corroboration, archaeology, eyewitness testimony, and the remarkable preservation of the biblical text.
Because Christianity is rooted in events claimed to have happened in real history, those claims can be investigated.
For many believers, studying this evidence does more than help answer objections. It deepens confidence that the Bible they read today is connected reliably to the texts written in the ancient world.
No Christian truth claim is more important than the resurrection. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14 that “if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” Christianity therefore does not present the resurrection merely as a symbolic story about hope. It presents it as an event in history.
Apologetics examines the facts surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, the empty tomb, the testimony of His followers, the reported appearances after His death, and the dramatic change in disciples who moved from fear and hiding to publicly proclaiming that they had seen the risen Christ.
The central question becomes: What explanation best accounts for the evidence? If Jesus truly rose from the dead, then His claims about Himself, God, salvation, and eternal life deserve to be taken seriously.
Another common claim is that modern science has made Christian belief unnecessary. But Christianity and science are not answering precisely the same questions. Science studies the natural world and how it functions. Christianity makes broader claims about why the universe exists, where its laws come from, why life exists, and whether creation ultimately points beyond itself.
Christian apologetics explores questions such as: Did the universe have a beginning? Why does nature operate according to consistent laws? How did life originate? What explains the extraordinary complexity found in living systems?
These are not questions Christians need to fear.
Apologetics gives individuals an opportunity to examine creation, science, and biblical claims together rather than accepting the assumption that faith and serious inquiry cannot coexist.
Christianity claims that God is both good and powerful. The reality of suffering therefore creates one of the most difficult apologetics questions. If God is good, why does He allow pain, injustice, disease, natural disasters, and death?
This is not merely an abstract philosophical puzzle. For someone who has suffered deeply, the question may be intensely personal.
The Bible does not minimize suffering. Its pages are filled with grief, lament, injustice, persecution, and loss. Christianity teaches that the world is fallen, human beings possess genuine moral agency, evil has real consequences, and God is working toward a final restoration in which suffering and death will not have the last word.
Good apologetics should never treat another person’s pain as an intellectual exercise. But it can show that suffering does not make Christianity incoherent. In fact, Christianity offers a framework for understanding both why the world is broken and why there is reason for hope.
Christianity also makes moral claims. It teaches that some things are truly right or wrong because morality is grounded in the character of God. That raises another important question: Are moral truths objective, or are they simply personal and cultural preferences?
If morality is entirely subjective, then statements such as “torturing innocent people is wrong” ultimately become expressions of opinion rather than statements about reality. Yet people routinely speak as though some actions are genuinely unjust, regardless of what an individual or society happens to approve.
Christian apologetics asks whether that universal moral intuition points beyond humanity to an objective moral lawgiver.
This conversation has significant implications for modern debates involving human dignity, justice, sexuality, family, freedom, and the value of human life. Before debating individual issues, it can be helpful to ask the deeper question: Where does moral authority come from in the first place?
Perhaps one of Christianity’s most challenging claims in modern culture is Jesus’ statement in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
That claim sounds exclusive because it is exclusive. Christianity teaches that reconciliation with God comes through Christ. But apologetics asks an important follow-up question: Is Jesus justified in making that claim?
The answer depends on who Jesus is. If He is simply one religious teacher among many, His words may sound unreasonable. But if He is truly the Son of God who died and rose again, then His claim carries unique authority.
The conversation therefore circles back to the historical case for Jesus Himself.
Christianity does not claim that Christians are morally superior to everyone else. It claims the opposite: Every person needs salvation. The Gospel teaches that God has provided that salvation through Christ and offers it freely to anyone who believes.
These conversations can seem intimidating at first, but apologetics does not require a theology degree.
Real Life Network offers free programs that help people examine Christianity’s major truth claims and think more carefully about difficult questions.
Cross Examined with Frank Turek explores topics such as the existence of God, morality, the resurrection, Scripture, and common objections to Christianity. The Creation Today Show examines questions involving science, creation, and worldview. Other RLN teaching and interview programs address biblical reliability, cultural issues, and the reasons Christians can have confidence in what they believe.
These resources can be useful for personal study, parents and teens, small groups, or anyone who wants to become better prepared for conversations about faith.
Christian apologetics does not promise an instant answer to every question. What it does offer is an invitation to examine Christianity seriously.
If Christian claims about God, Jesus, Scripture, morality, and salvation are true, they should be able to withstand honest investigation. And the more carefully believers understand those claims, the better prepared they become to explain why their hope is grounded in more than sentiment or tradition.
Explore free Christian apologetics and biblical worldview programming anytime on Real Life Network.
Christian apologetics helps believers examine the evidence for Christianity and thoughtfully answer questions about God, Scripture, science, suffering, morality, and the resurrection of Jesus.
Throughout history, people have looked to their leaders for strength, wisdom, and direction. But here's a question worth asking: who do our leaders look to?
Our Founders understood something that seems almost forgotten today. They believed rights came from God, not government. That's why the Declaration of Independence speaks of our Creator. The idea was simple but profound: if our rights come from God, then government cannot legitimately take them away.
For most of American history, if your job title was President of the United States, then securing the free exercise of religion wasn't a side issue — it was part of the job description.
From the very beginning, George Washington understood that. Washington spoke of Divine Providence and believed the success of the nation depended on something higher than human ambition. In 1790, he assured a Hebrew congregation in Newport that the government "gives bigotry no sanction" and "persecution no assistance." He set a tone that religious liberty would not belong to one group but would be protected for all.
John Adams carried that same conviction forward. He warned that nothing was more dangerous than the government meddling with religion. For Adams, liberty and morality were inseparable, and freedom without virtue could not survive.
Thomas Jefferson, who was often misunderstood, insisted that rights come from our Creator, not government. And when he spoke of a "wall of separation between church and state," he was arguing for protection of faith from government interference — not the removal of faith from public life.
James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, went even deeper. He believed conscience itself could not be governed — that no authority on earth had the right to control what a person believes before God.
So, when we talk about religious liberty in America, we're not talking about a modern idea or a political talking point. We're talking about something woven into the foundation of this country. And that thread continues through American history.
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of national crisis, turned repeatedly to prayer and spoke openly of God's sovereignty over the nation. His Second Inaugural Address reads less like a political speech and more like a sermon on accountability before God.
Even later presidents carried this understanding forward. Benjamin Harrison, a devout Presbyterian elder, lived his faith openly and led prayer meetings long before and during his time in leadership. His convictions were part of how he governed and how he lived.
William McKinley, a lifelong Methodist who once considered entering the ministry, leaned heavily on his faith during moments of national decision, including times of war and uncertainty. He understood leadership as stewardship under God.
And Ronald Reagan, in the modern era, put it plainly when he said, "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant, and the rule of law under God is acknowledged." He believed, simply, that without God, democracy cannot endure.
Now, none of these men were perfect. That's not the point. The point is that across centuries, from Washington to Reagan, there has been a consistent recognition: leadership is strongest when it is humbled by something greater than itself.
One worldview says authority begins and ends with man. The other says authority ultimately comes from God. And that difference shapes everything — from how a nation defines freedom, to how it protects conscience, to how it understands human dignity.
That's why the conversation about faith in the public square still matters today. Not because government should replace the church, but because leaders, like the rest of us, are shaped by what they believe about truth, authority, and God. It isn't really about politics. It's about whether faith still has a place in the public square. It's about whether moral truth exists beyond political power. And it's about whether leaders should seek wisdom from sources greater than themselves.
There is one man who quietly stood at the intersection of faith and power for more than half a century. Not a president. Not a politician. But a pastor. And that was Billy Graham.
Graham once said that whether the story of Christ is told in a huge stadium, across the desk of a powerful leader, or shared with a golfing companion, it satisfies a common hunger. He understood something most people in power eventually discover -- fame, authority, and success don't silence spiritual need. They reveal it.
Over the course of American history, that truth played out in remarkable ways. Every U.S. president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama met with Billy Graham while he was alive. Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, when presidents faced crisis, war, scandal, or personal decisions, many of them asked for one thing: prayer and counsel.
It began simply with Harry Truman. In 1950, a congressman called Billy Graham and asked if he'd like to meet the president. Without any briefing on protocol, he agreed and went in with three colleagues to speak with President Truman, who told Graham that he lived by the Sermon on the Mount. Before he left, the two prayed together. Years later, Truman warmly received Graham at his home in Independence, Missouri.
Dwight Eisenhower invited Graham's counsel during moments of military and national tension, once calling him "an ambassador of heaven." Graham later said Eisenhower was the first president who really asked his counsel in depth, when he was sending troops into Little Rock. Just before Eisenhower died, Graham was invited to see him at Walter Reed Hospital. After talking again about assurance of salvation, the two men prayed.
John F. Kennedy spent time with him just before taking office, reflecting on the moral condition of the nation.
And Lyndon Johnson — perhaps one of the presidents closest to him — invited Billy Graham into the White House repeatedly. Graham later recalled that whenever he said, "Let's have a prayer," Johnson would kneel beside him.
Richard Nixon and Billy Graham had known each other since 1950, and over the years they developed a real personal friendship. While Nixon was often seen as private and complicated in public life, Graham experienced something different behind the scenes — he found him warmer and more compassionate than the public image suggested.
Nixon was also shaped by his Quaker background, and in private moments he would often ask Graham to pray with him and read Scripture when they met. But during the final year of his presidency, as Watergate intensified, those meetings stopped. It was later reported that Nixon didn't want Graham drawn into the scandal, or "tarred with Watergate."
Gerald Ford defended their friendship publicly, saying Graham's visits were "get-togethers of old friends" with no political agenda. Jimmy Carter called his reputation "above reproach."
Ronald Reagan credited Billy Graham with deepening his own prayer life, especially after the assassination attempt in 1981, when Graham immediately came to pray with the Reagan family. Reagan said it was through Billy Graham that he found himself praying even more than daily, and that in the position he held, his prayers increasingly were for the wisdom to make decisions that would serve God and be pleasing to Him.
George H.W. Bush said no one could be president without understanding prayer, and credited Graham with helping him understand that truth. Bill Clinton remembered hearing him preach as a boy in Arkansas and later described his ministry as always completely private, always completely genuine. George W. Bush said a private conversation with Billy Graham in Maine planted the spiritual seed that led to his own faith renewal. Barack Obama visited him in North Carolina and prayed with him privately. And even Donald Trump met him during a celebration honoring his ministry legacy.
Different eras. Different politics. Different personalities. But a consistent pattern: when the most powerful leaders in the world needed grounding, many of them turned to a pastor.
Billy Graham never accepted political appointments, even when presidents like Johnson and Nixon offered them. He refused every time — because he understood his role was not to govern, but to point people back to God. And maybe that's why presidents trusted him. He wasn't there to manage policy. He was there to remind them of something higher than policy. Something higher than power. Something higher than themselves.
In a culture where leadership is often measured by influence, Billy Graham quietly reminded us that true leadership is measured by humility. And that raises a question worth sitting with: if some of the most powerful men in the world needed spiritual counsel, what does that say about the rest of us?
Because whether you're in the Oval Office or living an ordinary life, the truth remains the same. We all need wisdom beyond ourselves. We all need grounding beyond politics. And ultimately, we all need a foundation that doesn't shift with the times.
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From America’s Founders to Billy Graham’s counsel to presidents, faith has long shaped the nation’s understanding of leadership, liberty, and authority under God.
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In August 2026, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, removing the state's remaining gestational limits on abortion and giving health care providers broader discretion to perform the procedure later in pregnancy without legal consequence. The room applauded. Hard
to believe, I know. Massachusetts now stands alongside nine other states and the District of Columbia in permitting abortion up to the moment of birth.
Healey framed the law as protection for families facing devastating medical news late in pregnancy, and as a shield against a more restrictive national climate. But protection is not the word for it. What this law actually does is strip away the last legal limit on when a child's life can be ended — clearing the way for abortion up to the very moment of birth. Pro-life advocates have rightly called this what it is: the United States is now one of only a handful of countries on earth with no gestational limit on abortion whatsoever, and laws like this one expose late-term children, who can feel pain, who can survive outside the womb, to the most violent procedures medicine performs.
An entire room stood and applauded that.
There's something our culture rarely talks about, something this signing makes impossible to ignore: the faces we can see. The lives that are here.
I'm talking about the people who survived abortion attempts.
For decades, abortion in America has largely been discussed through politics, court decisions, and ideology. But behind all of that — there are human beings. And some of those human beings survived.
They are alive today. They have names, stories, families, and voices. You can look into their eyes and hear them tell you what happened. And that changes the conversation. Because suddenly abortion isn’t theoretical or abstract. It’s personal.
There are documented cases of babies surviving abortion procedures in the United States. Survivor organizations have worked to bring visibility to those stories. Survivors have spoken publicly about living with physical injuries, emotional trauma, and the lifelong reality of knowing someone once tried to end their life before they were even born.
One of the most well-known survivors is Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline infusion abortion and has spent years speaking publicly about her experience and advocating for the born alive.
And even actor Sylvester Stallone spoke recently about being told by his mother that an attempted abortion failed before he was born. He has stated that his mother told him, "The only reason you're here is because the hanger didn't work.
Think about that for a moment. These are not "hypotheticals." These are people. People who laugh. Who love. Who contribute to the world. People made in the image of God.
And Scripture could not be clearer about the value of life.
Psalm 139 says: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in mymother's womb."
And Jeremiah 1:5 says: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you."
That means human worth is not determined by circumstance. Not by convenience. And not by whether a life was planned, expected, or even wanted by others.
Value comes from God. Because God is the author of life.
And when we hear the stories of abortion survivors, we are forced to confront a reality our culture often tries to avoid: What happens when the child survives? What happens when the life everyone was told would never matter... is standing right in front of us? With a face, a voice, and a testimony?
And maybe that is why these stories are so powerful. Because they remind us that every life carries purpose. Every life — not some, not only the easy or convenient lives. Every life.
Now I also know this conversation touches a deep pain for many people. There are women — and men — who carry grief, regret, and wounds connected to abortion. And the Christian message is not that forgiveness is impossible. It’s the opposite. There is grace through Christ. There is healing through God. And there is most assuredly
redemption at the cross.
But truth still matters. And the truth is that these survivors exist. They are living proof that what is in the womb is not potential life. It is life.
There are moments when we are reminded just how fragile life really is. Hearing the voices of people who survived abortion attempts, looking into the faces of people who were never expected to live — it changes something. It forces us to remember that every single life carries value.
Not because society assigns it value, or because government recognizes it. And not because culture approves of it. But because God created it.
Every life.
And maybe that's the deeper message in all of this. Not just that life should be protected — although it absolutely should. But that life should mean something. That our lives should count for something greater than ourselves.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Think about that. Prepared beforehand. That means your life is not random. It is not accidental. And it is never without purpose. Not the child in the womb, the struggling mother, or the survivor whose story seemed impossible. Not you.
We are told that we were created for good works — that we have nothing to do with — God already prepared those good works for us before we were even born. All we need do is to walk in them.
God wastes nothing.
And the truth is, none of us knows how long we've been given here. But we do get to decide what we do with the time we have.
Will we use our lives to protect what is vulnerable? To stand for truth when it's unpopular? To bring light into places that have grown dark? Will we make our lives count and walk in good works?
Because one day, titles won't matter. Politics won't matter. Fame won't matter. What will matter is whether we lived with courage, loved well, stood firmly in truth, and whether we pointed people toward God.
That is a life that counts.
And maybe the people who survived what should have taken their lives understand that better than most. Because when someone survives what should have taken their life, they tend to understand something very deeply: life is a gift. A sacred gift. And gifts from God are never meant to be wasted.
So wherever you are today — whatever your story may be — remember this: you were created on purpose. By God. For a purpose. Because of that we should commit to live courageously, stand faithfully, and love boldly. And dedicated in love to the One who created you to make your life count.
This subject was explored in depth on an episode of Rose Unplugged on Real Life Network; “Choice is a Person”.
Abortion survivors put a face to the debate over life in the womb, reminding Christians that every human life is created by God with inherent value, dignity, and purpose.
Rounding the corner, I was surprised to see nearly a dozen Fulanis, mainly boys, sitting in a small hallway waiting to speak to us on a warm afternoon in Plateau State, Nigeria. Some smiled, and some just stared at my travel partner and me from Christian Freedom International as we entered the modest office space where we would be interviewing them.
The mainly Muslim Fulani tribe has risen in international awareness in recent years as antagonists in conflicts between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, committing brutal acts of terrorism, violence, and kidnappings of Christians living in villages in Northern Nigeria. I witnessed the widespread scale of these attacks and their effects on Christian communities while visiting Nigeria earlier this year. However, the Fulanis lined up in the hallway were there to tell us a different story of what is happening among some Nigerian Muslims — they are turning to Christ.
Twenty-seven-year-old Mohamed was all smiles as he shared his story. Growing up in a Fulani Muslim family, he attended Islamic school where he was instructed to memorize the Qur’an in Arabic, a language he didn’t know. He asked his father why that was. Then he started to ask more and more questions about Islam, which made his parents suspicious.
So, Mohamed did his own research and continued to ask questions. It was at this time that he happened to become friends with a couple of Christians, who were able to tell him about Christianity. When Mohamed’s parents heard he was interested in Christianity, they gathered people in the community to persuade him to deny his growing conviction that the Christian faith was true. Yet, a woman in the community encouraged Mohamed to meet with her pastor — he did, and immediately gave his life to Christ.
After this, Mohamed’s mother acted very kindly to him and brought him a glass of milk. This was unusual given their strained relationship. Mohamed smelled what he thought to be rat poison in the milk and turned to his mother, asking “Mom, are you trying to kill me?” She denied it. He said, “Okay, well, it will be on your head.” After drinking one sip, Mohamed immediately doubled over and started vomiting. His mother said, “Let your God save you” and left him there.
Yet, Mohamed lived. When his mother came back to find him alive, she was furious and threatened to shoot him. He rose and started to run away just as his brother picked up a gun and tried to shoot him. In our interview, Mohamed lifted his pant leg to show the scar where a bullet had entered his leg as he escaped. Now, he is class president at his Bible school.
We also met 26-year-old Amadu. One night a few years ago, he had a dream of a man in white, but he couldn’t see the man’s face. Amadu prayed as a Muslim that God would show him what this dream meant. The dreams continued, and he couldn’t shake his need to understand them.
A small group of Christians at his work would gather on break to pray together. Searching for peace from his dreams, Amadu began to sit in on these gatherings. His Muslim boss told him to stop. But he needed someone to interpret his dreams, and his new Christian friends suggested he meet with their pastor.
This pastor told him that the man in white in his dreams was Jesus. The pastor said, “He wants to bring you from darkness to light and for you to know him.” Amadu asked, “What do I need to do?” The pastor told him he needed to accept Christ and become a Christian, but he told Amadu to go home and really think about it before making the decision because he knew it would be difficult with Amadu’s family.
A few weeks later, Amadu came back and announced he was ready to become a Christian. So, the pastor led him through the sinner’s prayer. Amadu started attending church, but something inside him told him not to tell his parents. Two months later, his parents began to ask why he wasn’t going to mosque or saying his daily Muslim prayers. Feeling their increasing scrutiny, Amadu made the hard decision to leave his parents’ house and flee to a different town. Amadu told us if his parents learned he became a Christian, “I will be killed.”
Another young man, Jalo, told us that he first became interested in Christianity when he was herding his father’s cattle. He would take the cattle to graze and sometimes go on to Christian farms, where his cattle could eat all the farmer’s crops in a single day. This is devastating to an impoverished farmer.
Yet, time and again, the Christian farmers would call Jalo’s father and say, “It’s okay, we forgive you, but please don’t do this again.” This was weird to Jalo. He thought, what kind of God do they serve that they forgive like this?
One day he asked the father of his Christian friend, “Why do you people always forgive when we do harm to you?” His friend’s father replied simply that Christians forgive. It was at that moment Jalo was sure he wanted to be a Christian. His friend told him to go home and that God would send someone to lead Jalo to Christ.
Jalo continued herding, and while he was sleeping overnight in a field, he began to have dreams. In one dream, a voice asked him, “You can have money, you can have everything. But what do you have if you have no salvation?”
With more determination than ever, Jalo pursued his Christian friend and asked to become a Christian. The friend took him to a pastor who gave Jalo a sober warning about the cost of following Jesus: “You will lose everything. They will persecute you. Christianity won’t give you anything… no money, not a wife. The only help we could maybe give you is send you to a Bible school.”
Jalo knew what it was to suffer; he had seen much suffering in the bush. And he was sure he wanted to follow Jesus.
Today, Mohamed, Amadu, and Jalo are all enrolled in the Bible college at Christian Faith Institute. There they are being discipled in the Bible and equipped to be missionaries and pastors themselves to be a witness for Christ in some very dark places.
I’m deeply grateful to have been able to travel to Nigeria with Christian Freedom International, a humanitarian aid group serving the persecuted church. Not only did I see first-hand the devastating impact of persecution, but I also saw the reasons to hope — that despite the darkness there, God is moving in the lives and hearts of those in the most difficult-to-reach and dangerous places.
Note: Names of those featured in this piece have been changed for their protection.
This article was originally written by Arielle Del Turco and published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
Three Fulani men in Nigeria share how they left Islam to follow Christ despite threats, persecution, and the possibility of losing everything, offering a powerful glimpse of how the gospel is advancing in some of the country’s most dangerous places.
These reflections first aired as part of an episode of Rose Unplugged on Real Life Network.
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how my life and responsibilities have changed. In a good way. A very good way. Maybe it's because I'm a grandmother now. Watching my son and daughter-in- law with their toddler has a way of pulling me backward and forward at the same time. It's made me think about my early days as a mom and the joys and challenges that came with that responsibility. And let's be honest, parenting really is the best job in the world… but it is also a very intense job.
And I've been thinking about the difference — the very real difference — between moms and dads. In fact, this is exactly what they're meant to do — be different. When a man lays his head down on the pillow at night, he's out. Just like that. He sleeps, he gets up, and he goes back out the next day to care for his family in his own steady way.
But when women lay their heads down at night? Our minds are still running. It takes us a while to fall asleep. Because every single day, as a mom, you are carrying around more information than anybody else on the planet. You know exactly where your child is. You know his schedule by heart. You know he has study hall sixth period. You know what he's going to have for lunch — not just today, but tomorrow. You know the school lunch menu better than the cafeteria does.
Moms know how to handle doctor's appointments. We know how to get them seen when they're sick. We know what soothes our children, what worries them, and what they're not saying out loud. Why? Because we're moms. And that's the job. But I also know the men in our audience — they are there, engaged. They work hard. That's why families work best when both roles are honored.When strong families are built intentionally.
And thinking about that strong family unit brought back a memory for me. Years ago, when my son was about five, I wrote a letter to my dad. I don't remember every word, but I remember the heart behind it. Even then, I understood that while Mom was holding the details of our days together, Dad was the foundation.
I remember going fishing with him. I don't remember if we caught a single fish — but I remember the ham and capicola sandwich, and the cold can of Coke we packed for lunch. I remember how excited I was to just have that time alone with him. I remember the sacrifices. I remember the day he had to sell the car he loved when the steel mills began shutting down in Pittsburgh. He owned a design business that had worked with many of them, and when that industry faltered, so did his livelihood.
After he sold the car, I can still see him counting the cash out on the table. I think he sensed how badly we felt watching him give up something he really enjoyed. So, he suddenly tossed the money into the air, just to make us laugh. I was sad for him — but relieved when he did that. He did what he had to do for us. And because he was a resilient man, he redirected, rebuilt, and his business thrived until the day he retired.
Aristotle explained: “A multitude of great events if they turn out well will make life happier … while if they turn out ill, they crush and maim happiness … Yet even in these — nobility shines through, when a man bears with resignation many great misfortunes, not through insensibility to pain but through nobility and greatness of soul.”
I remember hard moments, too. Sitting in the front seat as he drove me to the hospital after I fell down a hill. I was crying, asking if I was going to die. Yeah — I was always dramatic. Dad answered with such calm assurance — even though I could see the worry in his eyes. And that's the thing about fatherhood. So much of its impact is quiet. You don't always see it in the moment — you feel it later, when you realize how much of what steadied you was simply someone showing up day after day.
And there's another memory that shaped me just as deeply. I remember sitting at my mother's bedside as she was dying from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I was the oldest of four — all of us rather young; heck, she was young. Only 48 years old. I told her I was so sorry for all the trouble I caused her as a teenager — and let me tell you, I caused plenty. I was rebellious, strong- headed, and well — a bit wild.
Do you know what she said to me? She said, “Do you think I don't know how teenagers are?” That moment was grace. It was forgiveness without a lecture. It was a salve to my spirit. And what's remarkable is that years later, as I was parenting a teenager myself, I heard her words again — steadying me, softening me, reminding me what love looks like in hard seasons. Because parenting is a long game. I remember when my own five-year-old once said, “I don't like you, Mom,” after I had to discipline him. It hurt. But then I thought about my parents. And I realized something — children don't always understand love in the moment. But they remember it over time.
I remember far more now than I did then. And I honestly believe I wouldn't have the joy, the home, the fulfillment I have today without my parents — and without God's faithfulness woven through it all. That's what I want to dig into here — the mother's heart, the father's role, and the strength of the family unit. There is a poem written by Maureen Hawkins called The Miracle of Life, and there's a line I read while I was pregnant that has never left me: “Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were here an hour, I would die for you. This is the miracle of life.”
It truly is the miracle of life — a truth every mother recognizes, deep in her bones, long before she ever has the words for it. While preparing for my show on parenting, I was reminded of Jochebed — Moses' mother. She's mentioned only briefly in Scripture, yet her obedience and courage changed history. Her love didn't just save a child — it contributed to leading a nation out of slavery.
There was a new king of Egypt who didn't have the relationship with Joseph that the previous king had. As a result, over time the Israelites were no longer favored guests in their land. The Pharaoh began to imagine them as the enemy, and as a people to be feared should they rise or join forces against Egypt. Out of fear and growing hatred of the Israelites, Pharaoh first enslaves them then commands the death of male children. Exodus 1:15-21 reads: “The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.’”
The midwives couldn't bring themselves to obey Pharaoh's command. When they were questioned, they answered with remarkable courage and wisdom. They said in their defense that the Hebrew women gave birth so quickly the babies were already born before the midwives arrived. I love that. Very clever. You must admire their boldness — their cleverness, their reverence for life, and their fear of God. And Scripture tells us that God honored their faithfulness by blessing them with families of their own.
During the time that Jochebed gave birth to her son Moses, Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew boys thrown into the Nile. So, she hid her baby for three months. When she could no longer keep him safe, she did the unthinkable — she placed him in a waterproof basket and set him among the reeds. Can you imagine the heaviness of her heart? Keeping him meant certain danger. Letting him go meant uncertainty. But one choice offered a chance at life. That's what mothers do — risk everything for their children.
God honored that trust. Moses was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter, and through Jochebed's daughter Miriam's quick thinking, Jochebed was chosen to nurse her own son — was even paid to do so. God allowed Moses to be loved by both his biological mother and his adoptive mother. What compassion. What grace. Especially towards Jochebed.
Moses is remembered for leading a nation out of bondage. But behind that story is a mother who trusted God with what she loved most. Jochebed's story is really a story of surrender. Of trusting God to take an impossible situation and turn it into something miraculous. I remember the day Iplaced my fears for my son into God's hands.
I had given my son my very best. I raised him up in the way he should go, I loved him, sacrificed for him. But there comes a moment when we must do what Jochebed did. We must entrust our children to the One who loves them even more than we do. I remember telling God: I love my son so much — but however much I love him I realize that my love cannot possibly compare to the love that you have for him.
Setting our children free to be what God intended them to be is, at some point in their lives, the right thing to do — the only thing to do. Setting our children free to become who God created them to be isn’t easy — but it is right. And like Jochebed, that act of trust becomes part of our own story too.
I began with a quote about a mother's love. But it also echoes the heart of God toward each of us: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart.”
Women — we must trust our child's life to the One who gives life. And that same God still holds our children — and us — in His hands.
For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
Motherhood often means holding tightly while learning to let go. Through personal memories and the biblical account of Jochebed, this reflection explores what it means to trust God with our children and believe He loves them even more than we do.
Speaking to the rise of socialist candidates within the Democratic Party, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) warned that “the barbarians are inside the gate.” He went on to explain, “We are fighting right now in Congress over whether we’re going to maintain our status as a constitutional republic... or go down this dark road of death to communism.”
The Speaker isn’t crying wolf; the threat is real. But the battle to preserve the Republic will not ultimately be won in Congress. There will be legislative fights. There will be elections where your vote could determine the balance of power and whether socialist policies further undermine our freedoms. But if the barbarians are already inside the gate, we need to ask: How did they get in? And how do we get them out?
Congress reflects culture more than it creates it. Laws can restrain evil, but they cannot create virtue. A constitutional republic depends on citizens with the moral character to govern themselves and families that instill virtue in the next generation. Culture is ultimately shaped by what people believe about God, truth, and morality. When those foundations erode, political institutions follow.
To understand how this ideological and spiritual challenge gained traction in America, we have to look beyond politics to the forces that shape a nation’s character.
In his 1983 book “The Gravedigger File,” author and social critic Os Guinness warned that secularization was hollowing out the institution that had long guided Western civilization: the church. As biblical faith weakened, society’s moral foundations weakened, creating a vacuum secular ideologies would inevitably fill.
A little more than a decade later, Judge Robert Bork approached the same crisis from a different direction. In “Slouching Toward Gomorrah,” he argued that America’s moral and cultural foundations were being eroded by radical individualism and radical egalitarianism, weakening the institutions upon which constitutional government depends. Nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan in 1987, Bork was rejected because of his originalist view of the Constitution. Though writing as a constitutional scholar rather than a theologian, he arrived at a remarkably similar conclusion.
After coming to Washington, I hoped to meet Robert Bork. I invited him to lunch, and he graciously accepted. During our conversation, I asked for his prognosis of America’s future.
He replied, “The culture is too far gone for the country to turn around.”
For a moment, I thought there was no hope.
Then he added, “There is one thing that could save the country, a genuine renewal of religion in America. But unfortunately, the church has been, and continues to be, in decline.”
So how did the barbarians get inside the gate? Through the church’s loss of its preserving influence as the salt of the earth. And how do we secure the gate once again?
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt preserves what would otherwise decay. History has confirmed what Christ taught. The decisive battle for America’s future will not ultimately be won in Congress, but in the church as it once again shapes the nation’s moral character. Change the nation’s character, and its politics will follow.
“In God We Trust” cannot remain merely a motto etched in stone. It must once again become the conviction written upon our hearts and reflected in how we live.
This article was originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
House Speaker Mike Johnson warns that socialism is gaining ground in America, but the deeper battle is not political. Discover why the church, not Congress, holds the key to restoring the nation's moral foundation and preserving the constitutional republic.
This piece grew out of a recent episode of Rose Unplugged, where I sat down with decluttering expert Joshua Becker to talk about the surprising overlap between our need for control and the clutter we hold onto. Here's some of what I shared with viewers that day.
This is about relinquishing control to God — and about organizing and uncluttering our homes, our lives, and our faith. It's a subject I explored recently.
Let's start with control:
Last year someone very close to me experienced serious complications after surgery. What should have been a recovery turned into a two-month hospital stay, and ultimately, his passing.
I was carrying the deep sadness of watching someone I loved slowly fade away. There's no way to prepare yourself for that — for sitting next to a hospital bed, hoping for improvement while quietly realizing the outcome may already have been decided.
And naturally, during seasons like that, lessons surface. Growth happens — even when we resist it. Because if I'm being honest with myself — and it took me some time to get there — I realized this wasn't just about grief. It was about control.
As my friend was dying, I was forced to come face-to-face with something I've struggled with my entire life: and that is-- I can't control everything.
But I am a fixer. That's what they called me at home for years. You've got a problem? I can fix it. And most of the time — I did. I was good at it. Not only did I believe I could fix things — my family and friends believed it too.
If friends or family found themselves tangled in circumstances they couldn't sort through — I was there. Not just with a solution, but with a really good solution. I took pride in that.
I think when someone grows up surrounded by a lot of chaos — a lot of distressing moments — that child learns early how to create order wherever they can. As they are growing into an adult that person will find ways to create their own order. Or essentially, control situations because growing up they felt things were so very out of control.
That was me.
But the problem with being a fixer is that it doesn't always leave room for God to do what only He can do.
During my friend's time in the hospital, I learned — painfully — that there were things I simply couldn’t do. I didn't understand what was happening to his body. I couldn't make it better. I couldn't fix it. I had to let go. And I had to let God finish a work He had already begun.
Not everything is up to me. Not everything can be fixed by me. And learning that — really learning it — changed me. And once that truth settled in, I began to look honestly at my own life — and I realized just how many ways I exerted control.
Now understand, my control came from a desire to help. But underneath that help was often an inner turmoil — a constant hum of responsibility. Constantly asking myself, how do I make this better? What else can I do? What am I missing?
But even in the midst of turmoil, God calls us to rest in Him.
There were many times I did. But if I'm honest, there were just as many times I did not. Or I would give a situation to Him — only to take it back. We do that, don't we? Hand it over in prayer, then quietly reclaim it the moment things don't move fast enough or look the way we want them to.
When you really think about it, it's arrogant. How in the world do we convince ourselves that we can control outcomes? Especially as Christians. We should know better.
Proverbs 19:21 reminds us, "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
And here's the part that stopped me cold: God was calling His child — my friend — home. To eternal life with Him. And if I'm being completely honest, I was almost working against that. Think about it. I felt like I needed to be part of the process that saved his earthly body, and yet all the while God was preparing to receive it.
When you sit with that for a moment — you realize that's awfully presumptuous.
During that time of awakening, I was reminded of something Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost for His Highest”. In a July devotion, he talks about what he calls "calculating without God." He references Psalm 37:5: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."
Chambers wrote, "Don't calculate without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the things we have calculated on without taking Him into account… Haul yourself up a hundred and one times a day in order to keep your heart from being troubled, until you get into the habit of putting God first and calculating with Him in view."
That hit me. I decided I needed to stop managing God and start truly trusting Him. Trusting Him entirely. And I couldn’t do that with conditions and backup plans. But with open hands. And an open heart. And that surrender, real surrender, was the hardest lesson of all.
It was a lesson that carried me through the rest of 2025. And it's one I hope to continue deepening as I move forward.
I spent years believing peace came from holding everything together – from tightening my grip. But I've learned that peace isn't found in managing more – It's found in letting go, making room for God and trusting Him with the outcome.
And all of that was on my mind when I interviewed Joshua Becker about a few of his books; “Becoming Minimalist”, “Uncluttered Faith”, and “Clutter Free with Kids”.
Long before "minimalism" became a trend, Christian leaders were preaching the power of decluttering our lives. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, emphasized extreme simplicity and faithful stewardship. In his sermon “The Use of Money”, he urged believers to "gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can," warning that accumulating luxuries was a burden that "chokes" the spiritual life.
Wesley himself lived with very few possessions; he considered it a crucial part of living a holy life and therefore freeing his heart for God's work and for helping others.
And here is a story that really struck home for me about Wesley:
Wesley had just finished hanging and admiring some artwork he had purchased for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a very cold winter day, and he noticed that she had only a thin linen gown to wear for protection against that cold.
He immediately reached into his pocket to give her some money for a coat and realized he had very little left after his purchases. It struck him then that the Lord was not pleased with how he had spent his money. He asked himself: "Will Thy Master say, 'Well done, good and faithful steward?' Thou has adorned thy walls with the money that might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?"
I can’t stop thinking about that. When we engage in excess, there is little left for those in need.
And that raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: are we conducting our lives, our choices, and our spending, in a way that reflects stewardship, or self-indulgence?
This isn't about luxury for luxury's sake. It's about whether our appetites have quietly replaced our accountability. Because every dollar, every resource, every moment we consume beyond what we need is something that can no longer be offered to someone else.
In a culture that celebrates more, faster, bigger; restraint has become radical. But restraint is also where compassion lives. And maybe the measure of a life well lived isn't what we accumulate, but being mindful of making room to give.
I shared initially in that program with Joshua Becker about control and then segued into reducing clutter which, when accumulated, is really a type of control.
And here's the thing — we don't usually call it control. We call it being responsible. Prepared. On top of things. But let's be honest, sometimes it's not organization we're after but reassurance.
Most of us aren't trying to control life because we're bossy or rigid. We're doing it because life feels loud and unpredictable. And when the world feels uncertain, control feels comforting. That's where clutter sneaks in. Because clutter isn't always about having too much stuff. Sometimes it's about holding onto options, just in case. Just so we don't feel caught off guard.
So, we keep the extra bins and the backup supplies. The things we might need someday. Even when what we're really doing is trying to manage our anxiety with labels and shelves.
I do want to point out that order is not the enemy. God is a God of order. But order without trust can leave us exhausted. Because while control promises peace… it never actually delivers it.
Scripture reminds us that peace doesn't come from managing every outcome. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow, not because tomorrow doesn't matter, but because we aren't meant to carry it.
Sometimes the most freeing thing we can do isn't organize more, it's loosening our hold. And maybe the goal isn't a perfectly controlled life, but one where we trust God enough to release what we don't need to carry. One where we make space — not just in our homes, but in our hearts.
For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.
Rose reflects on how grief revealed her struggle with control, leading her to trust God more deeply. Through Scripture, personal loss, and a conversation with Joshua Becker, she explores how letting go of clutter and control creates room for faith, peace, and generosity.
