WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.160 Everybody's crazy. 2 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:14.520 Things are just out of control and crazy, and I have to go, it may seem like that, but 3 00:00:14.520 --> 00:00:18.120 there are so many good people in America. 4 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:24.440 Hi, I'm Amy Stevens with Empower You. 5 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:32.800 You know, I'm listening to a book by former Congressman Jason Chaffetz. 6 00:00:32.800 --> 00:00:39.040 He actually retired fairly recently, but he was head of the House Oversight and Government 7 00:00:39.040 --> 00:00:40.040 Reform Committee. 8 00:00:40.040 --> 00:00:45.280 So if anybody's had a beat on what's going on in our government and in Congress, it's 9 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.520 certainly Jason Chaffetz. 10 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.760 You'll find him also, I think, on Fox News sometimes as a commentator. 11 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:58.240 But the book that I'm reading is called Puppeteer, the People Who Control the People Who Control 12 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.240 America. 13 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.600 And I'm going to put it up on our site as a recommended reading. 14 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:08.720 I think it so really aptly captures what's going on today with our government. 15 00:01:08.720 --> 00:01:14.720 And the premise really is that behind the scenes, in a way, behind the people who lead 16 00:01:14.720 --> 00:01:20.100 departments really are the bureaucrats and the people called the B-team. 17 00:01:20.100 --> 00:01:21.320 He calls it the B-team. 18 00:01:21.880 --> 00:01:27.960 And it's really kind of funny because he says the B-team are the actual bureaucrats that 19 00:01:27.960 --> 00:01:31.400 you can't fire who run the show. 20 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:37.820 And they tell you, the political boss hired to do a president's agenda, they say, look, 21 00:01:37.820 --> 00:01:40.280 we be here before you. 22 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:42.720 We be here after you. 23 00:01:42.720 --> 00:01:45.220 We be the ones who really set the rules. 24 00:01:45.220 --> 00:01:48.400 And we be the ones who actually really give out your tax dollars. 25 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.160 And that is the absolute truth. 26 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.880 It's what I found when I was in Washington, D.C. at the Administration for Children and 27 00:01:54.880 --> 00:01:55.880 Families. 28 00:01:55.880 --> 00:01:59.600 I would try to find and get things done. 29 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:05.280 And I literally would have, we called at the time, called them careers, careers who would 30 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:10.440 just fold their arms and look at you like, you know, really? 31 00:02:10.440 --> 00:02:13.040 And you really had, it was like playing a chess game. 32 00:02:13.040 --> 00:02:19.040 You had to be really adept and wise at what was going on because people just would flat 33 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:22.640 out say, oh, I'm sorry, I'm not going to do that. 34 00:02:22.640 --> 00:02:26.320 And so you had to really figure out how you were going to get things done. 35 00:02:26.320 --> 00:02:30.360 And Chaffetz, I think, aptly nails that. 36 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:37.040 Pastor Steve has been talking in the Book of Romans about the kingdom of God revolution, 37 00:02:37.040 --> 00:02:41.960 the idea that we have to learn to live with the uncomfortable. 38 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:47.920 And that essentially, that we're now in a post-Christian era, which I would agree with, 39 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:53.640 and that we really today are missionaries back to America. 40 00:02:53.640 --> 00:03:01.200 And when we see swaths of people, you know, rounded up and being sent to trial because 41 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:06.240 they question the results of an election, no different than the losing party for the 42 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:13.760 last 20 years, it's designed to stop people from asking for election integrity. 43 00:03:13.760 --> 00:03:17.280 It's designed to shut you down. 44 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:23.880 It's designed to work on your mind to not even think of questioning an election. 45 00:03:23.880 --> 00:03:25.880 We've always had the ability to question that. 46 00:03:25.880 --> 00:03:32.660 I can remember even back to the year, what, 2000, 2004, there was huge upsets. 47 00:03:32.660 --> 00:03:37.400 But today the message is, you question an election, we're rounding you up. 48 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:43.640 When we see a pro-life sidewalk counselor whose home is busted into in the wee hours 49 00:03:43.640 --> 00:03:50.240 of the morning with his six kids screaming, and he's hauled off and arrested, the idea 50 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:57.080 is to shut you down, really mentally also, sending the message that you shouldn't even 51 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.220 think of engaging in pro-life activities. 52 00:04:00.220 --> 00:04:08.600 When you see laws from back in the Civil War used to prosecute someone who was not even 53 00:04:08.600 --> 00:04:16.839 at a protest rally, but a judge gives him 22 years, you have to go, the whole thing 54 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:23.040 is designed for you to not even engage or think about even a peaceful protest of your 55 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:24.480 government. 56 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:29.680 These things are mentally all designed to wear us down. 57 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:36.440 Eric Metaxas in his book, The Letter to the American Church, so well describes this. 58 00:04:36.440 --> 00:04:40.440 And he describes it, of course, during the days in Germany in World War II. 59 00:04:40.440 --> 00:04:42.440 He would say, well, these things are absurd. 60 00:04:42.440 --> 00:04:47.200 All of us look at the absurdity of these kind of things going on. 61 00:04:47.200 --> 00:04:50.760 And so did the people during World War II within Germany. 62 00:04:50.760 --> 00:04:58.120 They saw the absurd, however, turn into really a death, I would say, things that would bring 63 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.000 death, when the Jews were hauled off. 64 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.440 And people couldn't understand what was going on 65 00:05:03.440 --> 00:05:06.820 until people said, wait, this is so wrong. 66 00:05:06.820 --> 00:05:10.280 We're gonna protect the Jews to their own peril. 67 00:05:10.280 --> 00:05:12.560 That's where all this stuff kind of leads. 68 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.200 If you lose your courage in this hour 69 00:05:16.200 --> 00:05:18.000 and you don't go, wait a minute, 70 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.840 people are trying to discourage me 71 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:23.120 from my freedom of speech, from my freedom. 72 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:24.320 They're trying to discourage me 73 00:05:24.320 --> 00:05:26.560 in all different kinds of ways. 74 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.600 And this is where Steve, Pastor Steve, 75 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:33.720 is really teaching us about learning 76 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:37.880 to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. 77 00:05:37.880 --> 00:05:40.520 Now, what do I mean by that within Romans? 78 00:05:40.520 --> 00:05:44.800 As Pastor Steve's series on Romans really lays out for us, 79 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.920 that we're not called to live in a daze. 80 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:49.560 I've had people say, you know, 81 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:51.480 I've seen a lot of people, they're depressed, 82 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:53.480 they look like they're in a daze. 83 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:55.760 Pastor Jack Hibbs out of California, 84 00:05:55.840 --> 00:05:59.640 he's been doing a teaching on a daze of being deceived. 85 00:05:59.640 --> 00:06:01.400 And really these are the days 86 00:06:01.400 --> 00:06:04.600 in which we really have to pray for discernment. 87 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:08.080 Discernment really is the word of the hour, 88 00:06:08.080 --> 00:06:10.280 how we live, how we function, 89 00:06:10.280 --> 00:06:12.240 whether we become discouraged. 90 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:16.200 And this is where I think Pastor Steve hits it on the head. 91 00:06:16.200 --> 00:06:18.640 We were recently talking and he said, 92 00:06:18.640 --> 00:06:22.520 you know, in Proverbs, we talk about without a vision, 93 00:06:22.520 --> 00:06:26.000 the people perish and that's exactly right. 94 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.240 Particularly, I think in this day, 95 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:29.560 if you're running for office 96 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:31.280 or you're trying to make your point, 97 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:34.840 you have to give people a vision of where they're going to. 98 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:37.960 For example, we want safe schools 99 00:06:37.960 --> 00:06:42.000 or we want wonderful student achievement in our schools. 100 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.320 I talk to a lot of people, 101 00:06:43.320 --> 00:06:45.320 we have a couple people that I know 102 00:06:45.320 --> 00:06:47.040 who are running for school board 103 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:50.360 and they really are trying to put together a vision 104 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:52.160 of where we want to go. 105 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:55.200 Something that encourages and excites people 106 00:06:55.200 --> 00:06:58.240 rather than when we just keep hearing, 107 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.080 oh yeah, you know, people are just trying 108 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:02.360 to take over the schools, this, that. 109 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:03.520 That can be overwhelming 110 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:06.760 and we have an overwhelmed nation right now, 111 00:07:06.760 --> 00:07:10.240 a really tired and I would also say 112 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.880 probably wounded in many ways 113 00:07:11.880 --> 00:07:15.120 and shocked nation as they see the absurdities 114 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:16.640 of things that are going on. 115 00:07:16.640 --> 00:07:19.880 Remembering that it's all designed to depress you. 116 00:07:19.880 --> 00:07:24.040 It's all designed in a way to keep you from engaging. 117 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.560 It's all designed to make you afraid to speak up 118 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.960 or afraid to not participate. 119 00:07:29.960 --> 00:07:32.520 And so those are the things as Steve says 120 00:07:32.520 --> 00:07:33.800 that we have to remember, 121 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.640 that we have to remember where we're going towards. 122 00:07:36.640 --> 00:07:39.520 I prefer to take it one step simpler. 123 00:07:39.520 --> 00:07:42.800 You've heard Steve and me talk about 124 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.160 the big important little things. 125 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:50.280 I'm gonna stay on this bandwagon for quite a while 126 00:07:50.280 --> 00:07:52.400 till I think we all get it. 127 00:07:52.400 --> 00:07:55.000 But what we're really looking at here. 128 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.600 So for example, we're at the beginning of the school year. 129 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:01.440 Can we take five minutes to send our coaches 130 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:02.800 or our teachers a card? 131 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:03.800 Hey, thank you. 132 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:05.320 Thanks for teaching my kid. 133 00:08:05.320 --> 00:08:07.200 Really looking forward to the school year. 134 00:08:07.200 --> 00:08:08.760 Five minutes out of your day. 135 00:08:08.760 --> 00:08:10.240 We can do that. 136 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.440 You have people running for school board 137 00:08:12.440 --> 00:08:15.000 here throughout El Paso County. 138 00:08:15.640 --> 00:08:17.080 If you agree with them, 139 00:08:17.080 --> 00:08:19.880 can we take an hour and hand out their literature 140 00:08:19.880 --> 00:08:21.000 to our neighbors and say, 141 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.520 gosh, I really support this person. 142 00:08:23.520 --> 00:08:24.440 We can do that. 143 00:08:24.440 --> 00:08:27.360 That's a big important little thing. 144 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.160 The other thing, can you take five minutes 145 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:33.400 to really pray with parents for your kids 146 00:08:33.400 --> 00:08:34.960 for the beginning of the school year? 147 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.159 We can do Zoom calls with parents 148 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:39.039 and really cover our children in prayer 149 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.440 or gather here, gather at our church. 150 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.039 We can do those things. 151 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.840 Those are the big, important little things. 152 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.560 I had a girlfriend the other day. 153 00:08:48.560 --> 00:08:49.920 It's so funny. 154 00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:53.000 Liz was, our pastor Liz was talking and saying, 155 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:55.160 hey, can you come on Tuesday night? 156 00:08:55.160 --> 00:08:57.360 She said, oh gosh, I can't. 157 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.120 I can't come Tuesday night. 158 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:00.600 My kids are playing soccer. 159 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.040 I've got two kids and two different soccer things. 160 00:09:04.040 --> 00:09:05.920 And she said, I would love to, 161 00:09:05.920 --> 00:09:07.920 but I can't join the women's meeting on Tuesday night. 162 00:09:07.920 --> 00:09:09.720 She really, actually, I'm proud. 163 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:10.880 She drew a boundary. 164 00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:13.240 She knew where her priorities were. 165 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:16.800 And of course, I don't have that issue right now. 166 00:09:16.800 --> 00:09:18.800 And so I can step up and help in a table 167 00:09:18.800 --> 00:09:20.480 with the women's ministry. 168 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:21.800 But I said to her, you know, 169 00:09:21.800 --> 00:09:24.000 these are the big, important little things. 170 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:25.960 Your kids are gonna remember 171 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:28.320 that you were at their soccer game. 172 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.240 They're gonna remember that you were engaged in their life. 173 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.040 And so as we look at the big, important little things, 174 00:09:35.040 --> 00:09:39.120 every day, every time we do those things, 175 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.960 we are not only building our courage, 176 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:44.600 we're building the courage of those around us. 177 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:46.840 We need to applaud what is right. 178 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:49.320 We need to applaud when people get engaged. 179 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:52.280 But it's not, these are not overwhelming things. 180 00:09:52.280 --> 00:09:54.880 You know, again, I think I said with Steve, 181 00:09:54.880 --> 00:09:59.880 I cannot change what the World Economic Forum is doing. 182 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.120 I can take responsibility for myself. 183 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.560 I can bank where I think I feel safest. 184 00:10:04.560 --> 00:10:06.320 I can do those things that I think 185 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.060 are going to protect myself and my family the best. 186 00:10:09.060 --> 00:10:12.400 Those are the little things that we do every day in our life 187 00:10:12.400 --> 00:10:14.080 to create freedom. 188 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.280 And again, where there is a vision, people perish. 189 00:10:18.280 --> 00:10:22.200 And so it's up to you and to I to actually 190 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.840 be those kind of missionaries in our community 191 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:30.240 as we share hope, we share truth, we share a vision, 192 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:32.400 we share what we believe is going to be the best 193 00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:34.560 thing for El Paso County. 194 00:10:34.560 --> 00:10:37.380 You know, when I talk to people, very often, 195 00:10:37.380 --> 00:10:39.760 it's become kind of almost a cliche. 196 00:10:39.760 --> 00:10:43.440 People go, oh my gosh, everybody's crazy. 197 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.960 Things are just out of control and crazy. 198 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.640 And I have to go, it may seem like that, 199 00:10:50.640 --> 00:10:54.280 but there are so many good people in America. 200 00:10:54.280 --> 00:10:56.880 There are great people in America. 201 00:10:56.880 --> 00:10:58.880 There are giving people in America. 202 00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:00.640 There are patriots in America. 203 00:11:00.640 --> 00:11:03.760 There are people who love freedom just like us 204 00:11:03.760 --> 00:11:04.960 in America. 205 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:09.400 And we cannot believe the old media that 206 00:11:09.400 --> 00:11:13.080 doesn't report on actually anything good, anything right, 207 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:15.120 anything encouraging. 208 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:16.680 But they are there. 209 00:11:16.680 --> 00:11:17.640 They are out there. 210 00:11:17.640 --> 00:11:19.520 They're using alternative media. 211 00:11:19.520 --> 00:11:22.080 They're communicating in ways that you and I 212 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:26.160 can take courage from and that we can actually say, yes, 213 00:11:26.160 --> 00:11:30.040 there are people doing the exact same things as me. 214 00:11:30.040 --> 00:11:32.840 I think one thing for policy engagement 215 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:34.760 that we're going to be doing is we're 216 00:11:34.760 --> 00:11:38.000 going to be posting helpful tools, helpful tools 217 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.360 for family, helpful tools. 218 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:43.360 Entrepreneurs are rising up everywhere. 219 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.400 I don't know if you've heard of Public Square. 220 00:11:46.400 --> 00:11:50.240 They tout themselves as an alternative to Amazon. 221 00:11:50.280 --> 00:11:53.600 They have some great things on their site. 222 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.280 I'm encouraged by that. 223 00:11:55.280 --> 00:11:58.120 There are entrepreneurial opportunities there. 224 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.280 Other things for parents to take a look at, 225 00:12:00.280 --> 00:12:02.920 we're going to be posting as your child starts school. 226 00:12:02.920 --> 00:12:04.880 What are things that we want to be looking for? 227 00:12:04.880 --> 00:12:07.960 We had Debbie Chavez on one of our podcasts 228 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:09.000 to talk about that. 229 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.880 But we have more tools that are coming out. 230 00:12:11.880 --> 00:12:14.400 These are the things we want to avail ourselves of, 231 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:16.800 that which is good, that which is right, 232 00:12:16.800 --> 00:12:20.320 that which is peaceful, that which creates discernment, 233 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.560 that which helps families. 234 00:12:22.560 --> 00:12:25.640 I just heard Dr. James Bradley, if you haven't heard of him, 235 00:12:25.640 --> 00:12:27.240 he's out of King College. 236 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.760 I was at a policy conference the other day. 237 00:12:29.760 --> 00:12:31.080 And it was just fascinating. 238 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:35.280 He said, listen, a father that rough plays with his son 239 00:12:35.280 --> 00:12:40.800 or sons every day, even whether it's 10 minutes, 240 00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:44.960 contributes to their son's emotional intelligence, 241 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.080 to their IQ, to their ability to be stable. 242 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:49.960 That's powerful. 243 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.440 Who would think 10 minutes, minimal, a day 244 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.720 of just roughhousing and having fun, but connecting. 245 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:59.560 You see, we got a lot of great things under the hood. 246 00:12:59.560 --> 00:13:01.520 And I don't want us to get discouraged 247 00:13:01.520 --> 00:13:03.480 by what we see by these things, 248 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:05.760 because really sincerely, 249 00:13:05.760 --> 00:13:10.640 God has so much more good for us than against us. 250 00:13:10.640 --> 00:13:13.000 And we're really called to be that light. 251 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.560 And so as Steve talks about us being missionaries, 252 00:13:16.560 --> 00:13:20.520 missionaries to our own nation, that's where we are now. 253 00:13:20.520 --> 00:13:22.560 And I want us to take courage from that. 254 00:13:22.560 --> 00:13:24.480 I want us to be encouraged 255 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.120 because that's what Empower U is all about. 256 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:29.720 I hope this has been helpful. 257 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:30.800 Look on our site. 258 00:13:30.800 --> 00:13:33.160 We're going to have Jason Chaffetz's book up there. 259 00:13:33.160 --> 00:13:35.240 We're going to have some other tools for you. 260 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:37.320 And again, be strong and courageous. 261 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:39.400 This is the hour to be that.