Be Strong and Courageous, Bunni Pounds' Story

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,960
Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast where you'll always hear a good story to inspire

2
00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:10,160
and encourage you in your walk with the Lord. I am interviewing Bunny Pounds today from the NRB,

3
00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,840
so if you hear some background noise, that's what all the excitement is about. I'm your host,

4
00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,000
Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America and international, author and

5
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:23,840
traveler on this journey with Jesus. I would love to hear from you. Let me know what you like about

6
00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:28,960
this podcast, how you first learned about it, who has been your favorite guest, and anything else

7
00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:35,120
you'd like to share with me. Just email me at hergodstory@somebodycares.org. My guest,

8
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:40,320
Bunni Pounds, is a vivacious and accomplished woman of God who currently is serving as the president

9
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,680
and founder of Christians Engaged. She was a political consultant for 16 years running

10
00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:51,280
campaigns for various members of Congress, and then she ran for Congress herself. Though she came

11
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:58,080
up short, God has been using her in Christian ministry and political experience to lead Christians

12
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,880
Engaged, an organization that encourages people across the U.S. to take a pledge to vote,

13
00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:10,080
pray, and engage. A prolific writer, her most recent book is entitled Jesus in Politics,

14
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,840
which may seem like an oxymoron to some of us, but Bunny graduated from Christ for the Nations

15
00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:22,000
and the Dallas Baptist University and above all loves Jesus and loves sharing the gospel with

16
00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,880
anyone who'll listen from the halls of Congress to her own hometown. Bunni and her husband Tim

17
00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,680
have two grown sons and two precious grandchildren. Welcome, Bunni. Oh, it's great to be with you,

18
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:39,440
Jodie. Bunni, for over 20 years, you have worked in the tough and tumble world of politics,

19
00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:45,280
which corrupts and crushes so many people. I know the only way you've been able to stand in the midst

20
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,000
of it all is because your faith is grounded in Jesus Christ, so let's explore that first.

21
00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,360
Tell us a little bit about your early years and how you fell in love with Jesus. My dad was a

22
00:01:55,360 --> 00:02:03,040
pastor growing up. I grew up in a kind of mainstream denomination called Seventh-day Adventist. I was

23
00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,960
a Seventh-day Adventist growing up, and so we'd have these long revelation seminars, and my dad

24
00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:15,200
remembers me sitting on the front row of the pew for three weeks every night taking notes vigorously

25
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:23,360
about end-time prophecy, Daniel, revelation, etc. So I always had a passion for studying, reading. I

26
00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:29,920
loved reading books. I would go up in my tree in my backyard and read Little House on the Prairie

27
00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:37,440
or whatever I could get up my hands on, but when I was 13 years old, I had a youth leader that took

28
00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:43,200
me to a Christian music concert. It was a man named Carmen. Some of your listeners might remember

29
00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:49,120
Carmen. He had a song that got pretty famous called The Champion, and it was the Radically

30
00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:57,280
Saved Tour at Dallas Convention Center. It was the first time that I'd ever been around a Christian

31
00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:06,000
that was not an Adventist. It sounds crazy. I grew up very separate in Christian schools, Adventist

32
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:13,040
schools, Adventist churches, and there was this whole auditorium of Christians that didn't worship

33
00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:19,440
on Sabbath that looked differently than I had different expressions, and I was just mesmerized

34
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:26,400
by it. Oh, there's Christians that love Jesus outside of my specific denomination, and I'll

35
00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:33,200
never forget Jesus just capturing my heart, really hearing the gospel for the first time through Carmen's

36
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:39,760
song The Champion, and just tears running down my face because I knew I was a sinner. I knew I needed

37
00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:47,760
a Savior, and I knew I needed God in my life in a significant way. So even though I didn't go forward,

38
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,160
I was too embarrassed to go forward because I was the pastor's kid, right? I know that that was my

39
00:03:53,200 --> 00:04:02,560
born-again experience, and then a year later met a young man at an Adventist camp that taught me

40
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,760
about the Holy Spirit. He was also an Adventist, but his dad had got filled with the Holy Spirit

41
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:14,160
like my dad had. Anyway, I experienced the Holy Spirit in a whole other way and really became a

42
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,800
radical evangelist in my public school. I went to public school for the first time and kind of took

43
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:24,400
my public school by storm. Yeah, so it sounds like that experience with the Holy Spirit really helped

44
00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:29,360
ground you in your faith, but what are some of the other key things that in that young life really

45
00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,520
formed your faith so it could withstand the pressures that were coming later in your life?

46
00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:40,560
Yeah, well I had incredible mentors growing up. I wandered into a church with my dad. We had moved

47
00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:45,840
to Dallas-Fort Worth. It was a church called Restoration Church, and James Robinson and Betty

48
00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:53,280
Robinson of Life Outreach went to that church. But my youth pastor was a man named Mark Jobe. Mark and

49
00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:59,920
Sandy Jobe, Carrie Jobe is now their daughter, is pretty famous in the worship world around the world

50
00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:05,760
singing Revelation song and other songs. But Mark and Sandy really took me into their life.

51
00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:14,080
We had a pretty large youth group in that charismatic church, so they had like 10 or 12 of us

52
00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,800
that they kind of picked and they saw leadership calls on our life. They kind of brought us into

53
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:24,800
their home, taught us how to be a leader, how to pastor people. Mark took us on counseling calls

54
00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:32,880
with them. I mean really as a 14, 15, 16 year old just really invested in the call of God in many of

55
00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:38,320
our lives. And it's fun because a lot of those young leaders were either in full-time ministry

56
00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,800
or running companies or in major leadership roles even to this day 30 years later.

57
00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:49,200
That was a huge step of faith for them to do that with young people your age. But it really is

58
00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:55,040
important to sow into young people when they come to Christ to let them experience the fullness of

59
00:05:55,040 --> 00:06:01,520
what God can do, the power of his life-changing work in others because that really keeps them from

60
00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:08,000
straying in the years to come. So many young people I think leave their faith when they get to

61
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,160
college and the pressures of college come. So boy that's something that could be restored

62
00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,560
well and I had our discipleship today. Exactly, I have great spiritual mothers and fathers that

63
00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:23,920
spent time with me, taught me here's how we read the Bible, here's how you meditate on the word,

64
00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:28,720
here's how you spend time with Jesus. Beyond doing something in a religious rote way,

65
00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:35,280
here's how you actually interact with the Lord, here's how you don't let people squelch your

66
00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:40,560
passion. I was real passionate, I was the one that was leading the Bible study at the public school,

67
00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:47,920
planning the prayer meetings, see you at the poll. I was in theater and I taught,

68
00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:56,560
it was constantly evangelizing all my theater friends. So having adults in my life that would

69
00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:03,440
say, wow, Bunny, keep going, don't stop being bold, keep stepping out with the gospel and teaching

70
00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:10,800
me how to fine tune, sharing my own story, sharing my faith, I think really prepared me for

71
00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:19,120
life ahead. That reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13, you talked the love passage. One of the things

72
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:25,440
it says in there is love always trusts. And I recently was thinking about that, you know,

73
00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:33,040
God is love and God trusts us in amazing ways. Even as a young believer, young in age, God is

74
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:41,680
God trusted you with evangelizing in your high school. And he brought adults around you and

75
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:47,040
instilled trust in them too, to love you in a way that allowed you to really be a light to so many.

76
00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:52,400
Yeah. And God trusts us in incredible ways beyond what we would trust ourselves with, I think,

77
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:58,720
oftentimes. Well, and I had a scholarship to University of North Texas, I was planning on

78
00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:04,240
going into a coed dorm and I was going to evangelize all the music and theater people. That was my whole

79
00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:10,480
goal. I wrote a play, I was like really active in a Christian theater in Dallas, Fort Worth called

80
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:16,080
Cornerstone Productions. So I had this whole idea of where I was going. And then all of a sudden,

81
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:21,200
one summer after I graduated from high school, I mean, I could not stop reading the Bible,

82
00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:26,160
I couldn't stop crying over the Bible. I was going to constant Bible studies, just getting

83
00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:32,480
wrecked by God. And he was trying to break me of my pride, really. There was, you know, even at a

84
00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:39,040
young age, I started realizing I was different, right? I had some gifts that maybe other people

85
00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:46,560
didn't have. And he was trying to break me from that. And so I ended up abandoning my path to the

86
00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:52,080
University of North Texas and heading to a little unknown Bible school called Christ for the Nations

87
00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:58,640
back then in the early 90s and really discovered Jesus in a whole new way in a two-year Bible

88
00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,920
school that I never really saw coming, right? Yeah. And so your first job actually was working

89
00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:10,400
for a ministry. How did that happen? And what did you glean from those years? Yeah. Well, my first

90
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:15,600
job actually was Chick-fil-A, but we won't talk that about cleaning out the drains at Chick-fil-A

91
00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:20,880
and making lemonade every day. But yeah, my significant first job was working for James

92
00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:27,760
Robinson's ministry, Life Outreach International. It was during the Rwandan War in the early 90s. So

93
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:33,680
James and Betty had stepped in doing a lot of humanitarian aid, feeding children around

94
00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:41,680
Mozambique, Rwanda, working with children that had been affected by the Chernobyl.

95
00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:49,920
So yeah, I spent my whole two years in Bible school. I would go to school from eight to 12,

96
00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:54,960
and then I would drive to Ulysses and answer the phones for the ministry from nine to five. And

97
00:09:54,960 --> 00:10:00,560
then after I graduated, I became the night supervisor of the prayer ministry. And I also

98
00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:07,920
did some prayer ministry and helping the ministry with 700 Club, too. CBN would have these special

99
00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:13,360
telethons and they would hire Bible school students. So I spent a lot of time. The beauty of that,

100
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,280
Jody, is that where I was receiving a lot of times when you're in a Bible school setting,

101
00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,680
you're constantly receiving the word, you're receiving all this good stuff, but you're not

102
00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:29,920
really channeling that out. And that can be detrimental to your spiritual health. I constantly

103
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,720
had people to talk to every day that I could pour out what I learned that day, which I think made

104
00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:41,040
me actually process the Word of God faster and really develop me as a leader and minister even

105
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:46,880
more. Absolutely. Absolutely. So I know that during that time, God really gave you a heart for

106
00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,240
missions as well. And you were all about going to the mission field. Yeah. But God redirected your

107
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:58,800
steps. How did he do that? Yeah, I went to Guatemala. I spent six months in Guatemala

108
00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:05,120
thinking I was going to go down there full time. I had my pastor, Pastor Bob Nichols at Calvary

109
00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:10,560
Cathedral was going to license me in the ministry and send me out. And I was joining up with YWAM,

110
00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:17,120
Youth with a Mission. And then all of a sudden, my husband, my soon to be husband, my best friend at

111
00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:23,120
the time, decided to propose one night. He took me to the state fair. We'd never been on a date.

112
00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:28,960
I didn't consider it a date. We were been best friends for about three years. And yeah, he just

113
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,720
said, I don't want to hold your hand. I don't want to kiss you. I just want to marry you. And I'm like,

114
00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:39,600
what is happening right now with my life? So ended up knowing that two is better than one,

115
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:45,600
that God was putting us together. And so stayed in the United States. And then, you know,

116
00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,640
I got really involved. He had a pest control company, we built a pest control company to

117
00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:56,640
almost a million dollars. We had 15 employees. So we're, you know, being entrepreneurs,

118
00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:03,920
having little babies, and giving great checks to foreign missions, which was very fulfilling for

119
00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,000
me. I kind of told the Lord, if I'm going to stay in America, you better give me lots of money to

120
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:15,120
give away for the gospel. But there was something in my heart that was just not completely fulfilled.

121
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:23,120
And I was looking for my own mission here. And that happened just starting to listen to talk radio

122
00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:28,720
to a woman named Laura Ingram on talk radio, she kept talking about the pro life issues,

123
00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:33,600
she kept talking about human trafficking issues, different issues. And I was thinking, man, there's

124
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:40,720
lots of issues in the nation, that even as a young mom running a business, that I, if I'm going to be

125
00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:47,520
here, there are issues in this country that need my help. Yeah. So you were still raising young

126
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:54,080
children. But then you really felt called to be a voice of biblical truth in the nation, starting

127
00:12:54,080 --> 00:13:01,520
with pro life issue. Yeah. You know, in our republic, anybody really can get involved, which

128
00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,920
doesn't require additional training, but you want it to be better equipped, so you would be effective.

129
00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:10,960
What did you do about that? And how did you do it? We had been in a church previously in Fort Worth,

130
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:16,480
where they had actually unincorporated their church to teach people about political activity,

131
00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:22,800
which was very interesting. So the former pastor called me up and said, hey, we're having this

132
00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:29,280
seminar teaching people how to go into, you know, affect the platform of the political parties,

133
00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:36,960
et cetera. And so I went, it was a Saturday seminar, like 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. And they taught us how to,

134
00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:43,600
at the end of the primary elections, there's precinct conventions and what, what the, how the

135
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,920
platforms of the democratic and republican platforms have been changed over the years,

136
00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:53,440
specifically the republican platform by Christians being involved from Pat Robertson running for

137
00:13:53,440 --> 00:14:00,800
president in the 80s on. So they taught me how to do that. And so I went to my precinct meeting that

138
00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:06,000
night after the primary and nobody showed up. So I'm like, well, I know how to fill out the paperwork

139
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:12,080
now. And I voted myself in as a senatorial convention delegate and as a state convention

140
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:17,760
delegate and voted in my resolution that I wanted passed. And I'm like, hey, this is not that hard.

141
00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:26,960
So kind of went through that process, went to San Antonio. That was 20, 2004. So it was right when

142
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:32,880
President George W. Bush was running for reelection that year. And I testified in front of a platform

143
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:38,800
committee on a school choice issue and just got hooked that I could have a voice. I could shift

144
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:45,440
even a platform plank in the party platform. I'm like, man, we really have a lot more power than we

145
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:50,800
think. I came home and asked my husband, I said, I really would love to go finish my bachelor's. I'd

146
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:56,880
actually wanted to be a full college graduate my whole adult life, but I just, I didn't want to just

147
00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:01,920
go to college just for the sake of going to college. Right. So, I mean, I had two kids at that point.

148
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:07,200
So he said, okay, I'll let you take an American government class and a constitution class. And

149
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:12,640
that turned into three and a half years of night school, graduated magna cum laude when I was 32

150
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:19,280
with a degree in political science. That's amazing. And landed a job with a U.S. congressman right off

151
00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,680
the bat, which was awesome. Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, God opened an amazing door for you as

152
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:28,080
soon as you graduated. I mean, you still have children at home, but what did he show you while

153
00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:34,320
you were serving for this congress? It's amazing that we have so much more ability to get involved

154
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:41,440
in the, in the forming of our government policies than we realize by getting involved early on

155
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:47,280
in the election process. So, you know, what did you learn more working for the congressman? Well,

156
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:53,360
I got really blessed in that I, the final semester I was at DBU, they didn't have enough credits for

157
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:58,800
me to graduate unless I became an intern. I was like, I'm a 32 year old mom. I don't have time to

158
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:04,960
be an intern. But I did Monday and Wednesdays. I went in for four hours. Another homeschooling mom

159
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,880
took my kids. You know, I say this affectionately, I fell in love with congressman Jeff Hensley and

160
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:15,120
his wife, Melissa. They were just amazing people. The congressman had been raised Baptist, went to

161
00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:24,640
an Episcopal church when he served in Congress, but just had a real humble spirit, really knew policy,

162
00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:30,720
really understood the Bible. And I interviewed him like he interviewed me, frankly, I wanted to

163
00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:36,640
make sure that he was with me on the life issue on Israel, on fiscal conservatism, different things.

164
00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:42,320
And we just were like a match made in heaven. So I started running his campaign, I didn't know

165
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:49,440
anything. But he kind of trained me up. And for 10 years, I ran his campaign, did all his fundraising,

166
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:55,760
we raised more money than any member of Congress in Texas, consistently for 10 years. And he went

167
00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:02,400
into he went from being almost a nobody, like a freshman sophomore, kind of rebel rouser to being

168
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:08,560
in leadership, fourth in leadership in the US House Conference Chairman, and then became financial

169
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:15,840
services chairman. And what I learned was the value of loyalty, the value of, you know, strategic

170
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:23,760
conversations that we would have in the car or, you know, on the phone, and the value of what Jodi

171
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:29,600
mundane work sometimes, what we think is not significant, but if we're faithful in being

172
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:35,840
faithful project managers, faithful in our job, that that actually leads to influence that leads

173
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:41,040
to open doors to speak into people's lives and hearts. If we're consistent, we're operating

174
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:48,960
with integrity. So I he says now he had hundreds of staff during his congressional career, but I

175
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:54,640
got to speak in his retirement party. And he says I'm one of his greatest trophies, right to see

176
00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:00,240
what God's done in my life since that point, but then went on to start my own consulting firm.

177
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:05,920
And in four years or three years, we had 32 clients and nine people in my office and really

178
00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:13,520
helped the conservative movement overall. So bunny, I've heard that you say that you

179
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:19,680
feel like you were called to disciple nations, or particularly this nation. Like it says in Matthew

180
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:24,320
28, we need to realize that was your call, because you were just serving day by day, you know, trying

181
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,520
to influence the pro-life issue, trying to influence, you know, different issues that God

182
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,280
put on your heart. But discipling a nation, that's a totally different thing. That seems like a big

183
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:39,120
job. When did God put that on your heart? And how are you going about doing that? In my younger years,

184
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:44,400
I got touched really by God in these little tiny Bible studies or these little gatherings of

185
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:52,000
believers. And I think God marked me with the idea that he loves to meet his people in a what looks

186
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:57,040
like an insignificant way, right? We look sometimes at the big megachurch gatherings and the big

187
00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:03,440
programs and the big conferences is that when that's when God moves. For me, God moved in the

188
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:10,880
simple living rooms of friends, right? And so my husband and I, even, you know, 15 years into our

189
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:18,240
marriage, started a gathering in our home just around prayer, worship and food, frankly, I just

190
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:24,320
cook, bring everybody over. And we had all these backslidden friends or friends that I went to

191
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:29,040
Christ for the Nations with that were not serving God or we just start gathering them all to our

192
00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:34,400
house. And that five years later turned into a full house church movement of three different

193
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:40,400
churches and three different locations. But a lot of times we underestimate the power of a simple

194
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:48,080
conversation, Jody, simple teaching and breaking open the word with each other, simply praying with

195
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:53,200
somebody and administering to them. A lot of these things seem to be abandoned in the modern church

196
00:19:53,200 --> 00:20:00,480
right now. And so when I talk about discipling the nation, it's not, you know, yes, I'm doing media,

197
00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:06,160
yes, I'm doing all this stuff now. But what I really cherish is the one on one conversation,

198
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:10,960
like right now with you, where, you know, we're breaking bread, kind of, we don't have any bread,

199
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:16,880
but we're having fellowship and investing in each other's lives. And that's really what changes

200
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:22,320
things. So for me, my story has been, yes, I've got to do with that with members of Congress and

201
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:27,680
high level elected officials, but they're just like everybody else. Yeah, they're searching for

202
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:34,560
answers to politics is a very rough world, particularly these days. Yeah, you know, it is

203
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,400
why so many people are corrupted. They're either corrupted or crushed. It seems like

204
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:46,240
not many people can stand in the midst of it. How has God led you through the fray and allowed you

205
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:53,760
to be a light for Christ in the midst of it all? Well, I share a lot. My book that just came out,

206
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:59,360
Jesus in Politics, and I really want to inspire Christians that don't have a lens that they can

207
00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:03,360
get involved with politics and government. They just think of it as the mudslinging corrupted

208
00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:11,280
world, right? But also I want to inspire people that are news junkies or engaged somehow, or

209
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:16,480
candidates or elected officials that they can walk with God in this space and do it rightly.

210
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:23,200
But it's difficult. I mean, you have to constantly go to God every morning, seek him in his word,

211
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:28,560
seek him in the place of prayer, and ask him to deal with your own soul and heart. I think,

212
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:34,880
you know, sharing my story with you is just relived all these moments when I was young,

213
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:40,720
where God was trying to rip out pride, rip out all this stuff, and being sensitive to that and

214
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:46,000
realizing, man, God wants to do something in my heart and life right now. And I think carrying

215
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:53,360
that through, you know, three more decades of walking with him is going, okay, being sensitive,

216
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:58,240
God wants to deal with something. So after I ran for Congress in 2018, I had all these offenses,

217
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:03,440
bitterness, unforgiveness, right against my opponent, against the man that funded a half

218
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,560
a million dollar super pack against me, against these people on the ground that were throwing

219
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:14,640
rumors and horrible things about me and my family. And so it took, you know, me taking

220
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:22,160
a Christmas card from my former opponent, just praying over him and his family, asking God to

221
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:30,240
root that out of my life. And then I found out after I lost a runoff by 2,700 votes out of 43,000

222
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:36,960
votes that my opponent's whole runoff had not been paid for. He has consultants that actually

223
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:42,960
floated his invoices and didn't bill him until after the runoff, which, so if you can imagine,

224
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:48,080
I out raised him by $300,000, raised almost a million dollars, had the endorsement of Vice

225
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,960
President Mike Pence, you know, all these other people, all the conservatives in the district,

226
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:59,520
but yet I couldn't win because of this quote unquote injustice. It was legal, but it felt

227
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:05,600
unjust. And a year later, the Lord said, the only way you're going to get over this is to do

228
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:11,440
something drastic to touch your heart. And so for me, I looked up his FEC report, discovered he had

229
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:19,200
50,000 left of the debt from our runoff. And I went to him and asked him if I could help pay that

230
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:28,560
off and fundraised for him, spent a good three weeks with no work trying to get that party to

231
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:33,760
the place where it could pay off the rest of that debt. We raised $35,000 and helped him retire that

232
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:41,200
debt by the end of the quarter. And that set me free. So I say all that to say that in politics,

233
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:46,720
people have to deal with the things that are attacking them, whether that's pride, anger,

234
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:54,640
fear, offenses, but the people that go off the path, Jody, are ones, they might have great hearts

235
00:23:54,640 --> 00:24:00,640
starting out, but they're not diligently watching their heart ongoing through the years. And really,

236
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:06,000
and they start shifting. Yeah, and that applies to every aspect of life. Yeah, absolutely. Every

237
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,560
aspect of life, you're going to get beat up, you're going to experience things that you don't believe

238
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:16,240
are right or just. And if you let those offenses stay in your heart, you're going to go down a

239
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,960
path of bitterness and anger, and you're going to open the door for the enemy, Satan to come in and

240
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:27,520
really wreak havoc in your life and your family. So that drastic step that you took to pay off your

241
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:34,320
opponent's debt really set you free from all of that. Yeah. And it's such a powerful lesson for,

242
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:41,200
gosh, everybody, all of us, whether you're politics or not. Well, and I share in another little book

243
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:46,480
I did called Enduring to the End, a lot of the ministry wounds I've had as well. Sometimes we

244
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:53,840
go through church splits or we go through different woundings, right? And if we let that just hold us

245
00:24:53,840 --> 00:25:01,120
down, we'll never move forward in what God has called us to do. So it's fun now looking back

246
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:07,520
that almost everybody, well, pretty much everybody that we've ever had a church split with,

247
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:13,200
and we didn't split churches, but I'm just saying things happen that have all been, we've all been

248
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:21,440
reconciled at some point or another. And even one of the pastors that was like, we're taking you out

249
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:27,200
of leadership because you're a woman and we now have a man to step in, is now on my board of

250
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:33,440
directors for the ministry for Christians Engaged right now. So God knows exactly what he's doing

251
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:39,600
if we walk with him through those processes, right? Yeah. And after your campaign, the Lord led you in

252
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:47,280
a whole new area to start Christians Engaged. Tell us about that process. I'm sure you had some bumps

253
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:54,080
along the way. Oh yeah. And what you're doing. When I ran for Congress in 2018, I really felt like I

254
00:25:54,080 --> 00:26:00,080
was going to win. I didn't get in to lose, but then I, on the back end, I had to deal with failure.

255
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:06,240
I had to deal with failing on a national platform really and struggling through that. And one of the

256
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:11,040
things that really bothered me was because my husband and I had been doing Christian ministry,

257
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:16,400
we had founded house churches, we had done a big ministry conference, prayer and worship conference

258
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,360
in Dallas, Fort Worth for a few years. We had all these built in relationships with the ministry

259
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:27,520
leaders and churches. So 16 brave pastors, Jody had me in their pulpit when I ran for Congress,

260
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:32,800
which is really unusual. Either had me speak the whole service, introduced me for 10 or 15 minutes.

261
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,800
Even a conservative Baptist pastor said, Bunny, I can't have you in the pulpit, but I'll give you

262
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:42,000
the whole potluck after church, right? They were really supportive of a Christian woman that loved

263
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:48,000
Jesus, that knew federal public policy, that they felt could win that seat. But I realized real quick,

264
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,520
they didn't have a grid for what a primary was, what a runoff was, how the process worked.

265
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:59,120
And the more Christians I talked to in churches, the more I realized these guys are not voting.

266
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:04,480
They're not voting. They're talking a good talk. Oh yeah, we should be salt and light,

267
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:10,000
but they're not actually doing this stuff. And so I realized there was really a huge

268
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:18,320
hole for practical political education in the church. So I stood, kind of prayed and asked God,

269
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:24,720
and he gave me like 20 pages of notes and it all circled around either prayer, prayer for America,

270
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,960
prayer for our elected officials, actually talking to God about what's happening in our country,

271
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:35,600
the importance of voting, loving our neighbor, electing righteous leaders, electing people with

272
00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:40,880
a biblical worldview, choosing between imperfect candidates, helping Christians decide how to move

273
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:46,320
forward in that. And then also engagement, that there was just not a lot of practical education on

274
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,880
how do I get involved in my school board? How do I get involved with my city council? How do I get

275
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:57,280
to know my elected official or my member of Congress? So we started building a ministry

276
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:04,000
at the beginning of 2020. We launched December 2019 to develop two main things. Number one,

277
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:09,520
a get out the vote system for the church. We're Christians that are being awakened right now,

278
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,040
can take our pledge to pray, vote, engage, and they get prayer reminders every Monday with a video,

279
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:22,320
a scripture to pray for their country, to vote in every election for texts and for emails around

280
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:28,080
every election. And then starting to build, we've got hundreds of articles on our website. We have

281
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:35,200
a weekly show where we teach Christians on issues, teach them about civics, but also online

282
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:42,080
demand, on demand video curriculum to really create leaders. And that's where I've been the

283
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:47,440
most happy seeing 2000 Christians go through our long form classes, get past the 30 seconds

284
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,680
soundbites into six to eight hour classes that can really turn them into leaders.

285
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:57,680
So, you know, as you've pointed out, so many people are just afraid to get into the election,

286
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:03,520
the political process. Yeah. And it's muddy. Yeah, it's muddy. There's a lot of ways that you can do

287
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,440
it. What are some of the resources? I mean, you mentioned a few of them, but if somebody's out

288
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,800
there listening and saying, gosh, you know, this is a year I really do want to make a difference.

289
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:18,080
I mean, a lot is at stake in our nation. There's a huge divide. There's all sorts of accusations

290
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:26,480
on both sides. And there's a lot to weed through. What are some principles or keys or resources

291
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:33,440
people can use to really research what's going on, get the truth, hear God in the midst of it all,

292
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,920
and not just rely on public opinion, but really hear the word of the Lord. And what can they do?

293
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,400
What are some of those steps or resources? Yeah. Well, we try to make it as simple as possible for

294
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:47,760
someone. So Jodi, like I tell Christians all the time, if you would follow our five steps for the

295
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:53,280
particular election and print off your ballot, research your ballot, you're going to go in 95%

296
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:58,320
more informed than anybody else. Have you ever noticed those people outside the polling places

297
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:03,200
that have bunny pounds for Congress on signs? Well, why do those people stand out there? Because

298
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,880
there's actually people that walk into the polling place that don't know what they're doing. They

299
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:12,400
don't know who they're voting for. That cannot be us folks. When you go on our website at

300
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:17,840
ChristiansEngage.org, on every page, you'll say, take the pledge. When you take the pledge,

301
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:23,280
you're going to start getting texts and email with a five step guide to whatever state you live in.

302
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:29,360
So if you're in Texas, Texas primary guide, we don't endorse candidates or political parties,

303
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:35,280
but we walk you through, okay, we have to decide in the primary, I'm going to vote Democrat or

304
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:43,600
Republican. Here's the platform planks. Here are the platforms. We even developed a 15 issue

305
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:49,200
platform guide so people can see what the Bible says on the issue, what Marxism says on the issue,

306
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:54,960
Democratic platform and the Republican platform in quotes. And then we walk you through, okay,

307
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:59,760
go to your county elections department, print off your ballot. So you know exactly what's on

308
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,120
your ballot. Because some people walk in, they think there's only two or three things and they

309
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:08,880
found another 20 people that they got to vote for that they don't realize. So printing off your

310
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:14,480
ballot, researching your ballot, we have great friends at iVoterGuide, Transparency USA that

311
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:20,960
digs into their finances, some great resource materials that we link to, just start moving

312
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:26,400
forward. You're not going to make perfect decisions every time. We're picking between

313
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:31,840
imperfect candidates. Jesus is not on the ballot. We have to choose. But I tell people in the

314
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,400
primaries, vote your conscience. In the general election, you have to vote a platform and values

315
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:41,040
regardless of whether you love the person or not. Yeah, talk a little bit more about that because

316
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:49,120
there can be a huge difference in personalities of people, candidates at every level from the local

317
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:56,160
nationals, you know, state. Why is the platform important? I mean, candidates make promises, but

318
00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,880
you know, what about the platform? I mean, most people have no idea there's even a platform.

319
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:05,840
Yeah. And what that's all about. Explain that a little bit more. It's the most critical document

320
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:11,920
that we have on from political parties, because it's like your mission statement, right? What is

321
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:16,560
the platform? What does the party actually believe? What are the people within that party? Now,

322
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:21,520
the beautiful thing about the platforms are it is created by the people, whether it's the

323
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:27,680
Democrat or Republican platforms, it goes, like I said, from a precinct level to a Senate district

324
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:33,040
level to a state convention to the national convention. So if you ever watch the national

325
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:38,720
convention and you see all those folks on the on the in the audience, those are delegates that got

326
00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:44,960
there from a grassroots precinct level. The same thing with the platforms. You can as a person,

327
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:50,960
you can take off, ask for a plank to be removed, you can add new language, you can rewrite it,

328
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:57,680
you can put in a new plank. So the power of individual folks in the parties make a huge

329
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:02,640
difference. And when I say it, Christians can make an impact in every political party. I'm saying

330
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:10,640
the truth. You know, in twenty eighteen or twenty sorry, twenty sixteen, the Democratic platform,

331
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:17,040
they removed any reference to God out of their platform. Well, if more Christians that believe

332
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:21,760
that that was important were standing up in that party, then maybe they wouldn't have done that.

333
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:27,920
Right. We saw a huge change in the Republican Party platform in the 1980s. There was no reference

334
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:34,560
to life issue, religious liberty, family values. All of that started coming in in the 1980s,

335
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:41,040
1990s as the Christian coalition and Christians started getting involved. And but those platforms

336
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:47,200
have to be maintained as well. You know, wherever they change every election, every four years.

337
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:52,880
Yeah. So I was elected with David Barton to represent Texas on the national platform during

338
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:57,920
twenty twenty. Unfortunately, the convention was canceled. We have to have high caliber leaders

339
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:04,240
from every state making sure that that platform stays secure on every political party apparatus.

340
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:11,280
So it's important for people to understand that that's really like the party's Bible,

341
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:16,560
right? That you should be referencing. Now, and then how do how do candidates use that platform

342
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:21,520
once they get into office? They look at it. They should be reading it. We hope they read it,

343
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:29,360
but they need to see what the people actually want and support. And then we have to as activists need

344
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:34,960
to hold those elected officials accountable to that platform. So so they should be creating

345
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:41,040
policy and legislation in keeping with the platform. Yes, I believe that that's the way

346
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:46,240
we should be doing it. And so it's important for people to understand what what's in the platforms,

347
00:34:46,240 --> 00:34:53,120
but then also use it as like a tool to hold your elected officials accountable on a state level

348
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:58,080
and a federal level. So by me looking back over your life, what are one or two key principles

349
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:04,480
that have helped you through the good times and the bad times? Grace is a huge theme in my life.

350
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:11,840
My number is 555. I love the fives. But you know that God is faithful, man, if we cry out to him,

351
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:18,960
if we go to him every day to be really poor in spirit, desiring more of him, realizing we can't

352
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:24,160
do things on our own with our own talents and gifts and going and asking for grace, man, he is

353
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:33,440
faithful to show up every day with favor, with open doors, with his words. It's just amazing to me how

354
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:39,440
God works through our lives. And it's only because of his grace. One of my key scriptures of my life

355
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:45,840
is a second Corinthians 520 21 that we're ambassadors for Christ as though Christ were

356
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:51,280
pleading through us be reconciled to God, and that we each have a voice and that he's really

357
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:58,000
called us to be ambassadors for him. And then when we open our mouths, man, he loves to speak to

358
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:04,400
people through that. And that's a powerful thing. When people see Jesus in our eyes, when people

359
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:11,920
hear Jesus in our voices, when his word goes out, it will not return void to see how his word impacts

360
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:18,800
hearts and lives and changes families and changes, you know, family trees and generations. It's a

361
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:24,720
powerful thing. Anyway, those are some of my guiding principles. Yeah. Well, as we close, Bunny, is

362
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:29,840
there a woman of the Bible who's inspired, encouraged or taught you something and why? I love

363
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:38,800
Esther, of course, Esther just being obedient to step into a pagan society. You know, she was known

364
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:44,480
for her beauty. She was brought into the king's court for, you know, what looked like superficial

365
00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:50,800
things. But at the end of the day, God brought her in to save her people and her being obedient to

366
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:57,120
fast and pray, you know, do what she needed to do to go before the king in a time where Haman wanted

367
00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:03,680
to destroy the Jewish people is such a powerful story. And I think we have opportunities in our

368
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:12,080
life and our generation every day, really, to stand up for truth. And I share a story in my book,

369
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:19,440
Jesus in Politics, about the IRS denied our tax exempt status, right? And so we were 18 months as

370
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:24,560
a ministry. And I use this as an example of you never know when something's going to happen that

371
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:30,000
you're going to have to stand up for. Sometimes we don't choose the battles that come to us.

372
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:34,720
So I get this letter from the Internal Revenue Service and it says that we're denying you your

373
00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:39,200
tax exempt status because Bible teachings are typically affiliated with the Republican Party

374
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:45,040
and candidates. Wow. Can you imagine? No. They went on to say, because you're teaching on the

375
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:49,920
sanctity of human life, biblical justice, debt and taxation, Israel, these things are inherently

376
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:56,320
Republican, therefore you're not nonpartisan. And I looked at that letter thinking, what in the

377
00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:02,480
world? How in the world did this letter come to me? Again, we don't endorse candidates or political

378
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:09,280
parties. We just teach about civics and biblical worldview. So we had a choice. I took it to my

379
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:14,720
board. I said, I got this letter. I walked it over to my friend at Kelly Shackelford at First

380
00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:20,800
Liberty Institute and said, have you all ever taken an IRS appeal? And they're like, nope, we

381
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:25,520
haven't. We fight for religious liberty and First Amendment all the time, but never done an IRS

382
00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:31,360
appeal. And they ended up taking that pro bono, which saved us about $25,000 or $30,000 that we

383
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:35,680
didn't have as a startup ministry. That couldn't accept donations at the time. Yeah. Because the

384
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,600
IRS wouldn't let you. Yeah. Well, we were accepting donations, but we were waiting for this

385
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:46,960
letter so that people could get their receipts from us. Yeah. And so it was like a crazy thing.

386
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:52,000
And so all of our board of directors had to sign off on whether we were going to appeal this or

387
00:38:52,000 --> 00:39:00,080
not. And I had this thinking that a lot of times human zeal, passion leads us into things, but

388
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:07,280
courage is really found in those moments. Nobody batted an eye. Not one of my board of directors

389
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:13,200
said we shouldn't take the IRS on, even though they knew it could lead to personal audits, audits to

390
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:21,040
their companies, different things. But courage is built over years of digging a deep well in God

391
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:28,960
and seeing his faithfulness when we do stand up for truth. So I was so proud of our board and we

392
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:35,680
took that on. They filed an amazing appeal and we became national news, went on Fox News three times

393
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:43,280
and became the top story of Breitbart and Epoch Times and everything. But 21 days later, the IRS

394
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:48,960
called me and apologized, literally called me and apologized, and then sent our tax exempt status

395
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:54,080
for our donors. So we're very thankful for that victory. But if we hadn't stood up, that could

396
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:59,680
have affected every ministry and church in America, that the Bible was inherently Republican. That

397
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:07,440
doesn't even make sense. That it could have affected any pastor from a preaching on topics

398
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:13,760
that are defined by political party platforms. That could be a bad case scenario. So I say that

399
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:20,240
to say that Esther stood up in a moment of crisis in her nation. She didn't choose that. She didn't

400
00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:25,120
know when she became queen that Haman was going to try to destroy all of the Jewish people.

401
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:30,640
We have choices in this country. Are we going to stand up for the Jewish people? Are we going to

402
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:37,840
stand against anti-Semitism? We don't have choices sometimes on the battles we have to fight, but we

403
00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:42,960
need as believers to stand up in those moments and watch God move. Yeah, reminds me a little of David

404
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:49,680
and Goliath too. Yeah, exactly. He didn't know he was going to go up against Goliath and he just

405
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:55,200
took his brothers some food. Yeah. Well you know Bunny, as I think about your life and calling

406
00:40:55,200 --> 00:41:01,120
along with the times we live in, Moses' words to the Israelites come to mind. Deuteronomy 31 6 in

407
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:08,240
the New Living Translation says, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because

408
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:13,760
of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. When we're

409
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:19,360
doing what the Lord's called us to do, it doesn't matter where he takes us, for he is with us,

410
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:25,280
he won't leave us, he won't forsake us. So as the craziness of the world spins on, look to the Lord,

411
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:31,680
hear his voice and then in his strength and in his courage follow him. Yes. Bunny, would you take a

412
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:36,720
moment, pray for our listeners? Amen. And I just want to encourage everybody as we're ending here,

413
00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:41,760
you know, I had significant failures, I had different things that happened in my life, but

414
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:48,400
man what we go through that looks like failures, the Lord, you know, wants to bring it in perspective

415
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:54,160
when we see the next season of our life and today Christians Engage has over 200,000 Christians in

416
00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:59,040
our Get Out the Vote system to pray, vote, engage and 2,000 people that have gone through one of our

417
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:04,960
long-form classes and that's only by the grace of God to see, you know, the things that I've struggled

418
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:11,520
through in my life, even political consulting, failure for Congress, that God can take all those

419
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:16,800
things and use it for his glory. So that's what I'm believing for, for everybody listening, Jody, that

420
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:22,880
man they can see the pieces of their story that God's weaving all that for their good. So Lord,

421
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:28,240
we just thank you for today, Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to share our testimony and our

422
00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:34,000
stories and Lord that you take all the broken places, you take all the struggles, you take all

423
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:41,440
the twists and turns. For my story it's like, you know, one turn after another that doesn't seem to

424
00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:48,160
make sense in the natural, in the moment, but man you put it all together into this beautiful tapestry

425
00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:55,200
in the right moment and it all makes sense at some point. And Lord, we just thank you for

426
00:42:55,200 --> 00:43:01,360
giving people that are listening to this clarity of what their season that they're in is. Lord,

427
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:07,840
give them clarity of how you're walking with them, show them your presence even in the midst of

428
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:14,480
trauma, crises that they've gone through, Lord, that you will show them where you were walking

429
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:19,680
with them even in the midst of hard times and that God, you would make us into the leaders you called

430
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:26,880
us to be. Lord, you're after our heart and Lord, you're wanting to make us all into disciple makers,

431
00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:33,600
to be disciples and to disciple other people. So God, give us eyes to see how we are ambassadors

432
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:38,000
for Christ, Lord, that you would plead through our eyes, that you would plead through our voices,

433
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:44,960
Lord, that you would give us eyes to see the harvest in front of us, Lord, to be present in

434
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:50,640
every conversation, whether we're with members of Congress or people of influence or we're with

435
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:56,320
somebody in our local church or our family member God, that you would give us eyes to see their

436
00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:01,920
hearts and how we can invest in their life. And Lord, that's truly how we disciple the nation,

437
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:06,800
one heart at a time. So we thank you for that. Thank you for using this time for your glory in

438
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:13,520
Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. If you've been listening and are really interested to know more about how

439
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:19,760
to get involved with your local state national elections, you want a copy of Bunny's book. The

440
00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:26,080
first 10 people who email me at hergodstory at somebodycares.org asking for the book with your

441
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:32,640
address, we'll mail you a free copy. So if you want a copy, be one of the first 10 to email me at

442
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:38,240
hergodstory at somebodycares.org and we'll mail you a copy of her new Jesus in Politics book.

443
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:43,120
You know, friends, there are widows as well as orphans all over the world who need to experience

444
00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:48,560
the tangible expression of God's love right now. And together we can do so much like building an

445
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,720
indoor bathroom and shower for a girl's home in a remote part of Kenya. I just saw pictures

446
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:57,440
yesterday of the walls going up and the doors being installed. So it's not long for these young

447
00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:04,000
girls to have an indoor shower and bathroom. Together we can do so much more. If you haven't

448
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:08,960
given, please consider joining us with a special gift to help widows and orphans throughout the

449
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:14,160
world through this fund. Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top

450
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:19,120
of the page. Thank you for tuning in. In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures

451
00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:23,520
and other information we talked about. There you'll also find the link to get a free six-week

452
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:28,160
devotional on Women of the Bible that you can download. We'd also love to pray with you on our

453
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:36,160
24-7 prayer and text line. So call or text us anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer

454
00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:41,280
at somebodycares.org. And now, dear friends, I leave you with an encouragement and promise adapted

455
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:48,320
from Joshua 1, 7 through 9. Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey the word of God.

456
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:53,600
Be careful to obey the Lord your God. Do not turn from his precepts to the right or to the left,

457
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:59,360
that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep his word always on your lips. Meditate on it day

458
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:03,840
and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be

459
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:10,320
prosperous and successful. Has the Lord not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not

460
00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:17,600
be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

461
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:22,560
Your God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international. To find out more about

462
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:48,800
or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.