Point of View August 19, 2024 – Hour 2 : Christocentricity of the Christian Faith

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Hour 2

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_04]: world view bulletin newsletter and really since its inception when Dr. Paul Copan and

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Dr. Paul Gould put it together we have certainly had a chance to interview them and Megan Riles

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_04]: and Melissa Cain Travis and Christopher Reese and now in this case Donald Williams and

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_04]: this particular one has to do with the issue of the Christo centricity or the center

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_04]: of Christ in the Christian faith and we're going to be talking with him about that.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_04]: He is a professor emeritus of to Coa Falls Church individual that has been involved in

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_04]: various aspects of church planting.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_04]: We serve together at the International Society of Christian Apologetics.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_04]: He's written a number of books which I would commend to you and do have a link to his

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_04]: website in which you can find out more about the Young Christians survival guide

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_04]: which relates to common questions young Christians are asking about the Bible God the Christian

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_04]: faith and others 95 theses for the new Reformation kind of a roadmap to the new post

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_04]: evangelical world and answers from Aslan the enduring apologetics of C.S. Lewis.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_04]: As a matter of fact if you'd like to have somebody come and speak and talk about many

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_04]: of those particular elements of fiction Christian fiction I think you would benefit tremendously

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_04]: from him and you can go of course also to his website DonaldTWilliams.com to find out

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_04]: more about so many things he's written about there's some great resources there on the

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_04]: inklings and C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton I think you'll find that a great resource

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_04]: as well so Donald Williams welcome back to point of view.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_02]: It's good to be here.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's if we can talk about what seems to be sort of intuitively obvious wouldn't

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_04]: you think that Christ should be the center of Christian theology and I'll hold up my

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_04]: booklet here that we produced a couple months ago which had the arresting title just called

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_04]: heresy and a lot of that was really based upon the concerns that Alisa Childers raised

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_04]: about the fact that we have kind of this progressive Christianity now we know of course

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_04]: that liberal Christianity is sort of rejected a biblical view of Jesus Christ but even

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_04]: within the various denominations that we work with and you and I have spoken to we're

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_04]: seeing that as a problem so in some respects even though it might seem kind of redundant

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_04]: to talk about the need for Christ to be the center of the Christian faith you felt

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_04]: the need to write about that why so.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Well people give lip service to it but if you listen to an awful lot of the preaching

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_02]: that passes for evangelical preaching today if you read a lot of the books that are coming

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_02]: out that are on the popular level it seems like we're interested in other things health

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_02]: and wealth Jesus covers in the background he doesn't actually make it to the center

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_02]: focus and you know the older I get the longer I live the Christian life and the

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_02]: more I study the Bible the more convinced I am that the the centrality of Christ to everything

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_02]: is absolutely essential to healthy Christianity and you can you can judge a church or an individual

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_02]: in terms of whether they really represent the heart of the Christian faith as it's

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_02]: given to us in the Bible by how central Christ actually is in their life and so Jesus I used

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_02]: a pun I can't resist puns as you know me realize I punish people all the time but

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_02]: the S O N S U N so I say that Christ the S O N son is the S U N son is the S U N

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_02]: in the solar system of Christian doctrine right and all of the different truths are orbiting

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_02]: around Christ and the people should be orbiting perfectly around Christ with him in the center

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_02]: of it all we don't of course because of the fall our orbits are eccentric we might even

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_02]: slam into each other but the gravity of Christ the sun S U N S O N is pulling us all into

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_02]: harmony and that actually happens to the extent that Christ actually is the most important

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_02]: thing in my life that Christ is sitting on the throne of my heart and has no competition

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_02]: for that position that's when I discover that he was right when he said that he came to bring

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_02]: us life and to bring it more abundantly that's when I discover that the New Testament was

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_02]: right when it said that to know him is to know joy inexpressible and full of glory and

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_02]: whenever there's competition for that place on the throne of my heart then I'm no

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_02]: longer a person of integrity I'm no longer a person that can be trusted I can't trust

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_02]: myself I need to be in that spot and every aspect of Christian theology needs to bring

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_02]: us to that place I am preaching a series on Malachi in the church that I'm part of

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_02]: right now and so you get in Malachi chapter 3 you got this passage about tithing so I had

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_02]: to preach on tithing and I asked myself when I was preparing that how do I make Jesus central

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_02]: to this you know this isn't about what your percentage is it's about who Jesus is in

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_02]: your life and I concluded that you know if you have trouble in this area if it's a challenge

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_02]: for you to really support the Lord's work as a cheerful giver not grudgingly because

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_02]: it's an act of love and of joy don't beat yourself up over what you're giving or not giving

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_02]: focus on all the reasons you have for loving Jesus and consequently for his sake loving

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_02]: his church and its ministry and the people it serves and wanting that to be able to happen

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_02]: and if you get rightly oriented to those things with Christ of course in the absolute center

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_02]: of that your tithing your giving that's going to take care of itself and I think that

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_02]: that basic pattern fits just about anything in our life where we're loving Jesus the way

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_02]: we're supposed to which of course we won't do until we see Him face to face you know

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_02]: every time I'm tempted to think that I'm doing pretty well in the Christian life I

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_02]: ask myself this question do I yet love Jesus the way he deserves to be loved?

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Good question. Do I yet trust Jesus the way he deserves to be trusted? Do I yet obey Jesus

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_02]: the way he deserves to be obeyed and it starts with the love and the trust and the answer

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_02]: to that question is so obvious that it even restores me to humility. Let's take a break

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_04]: while we continue our conversation with Dr. Donald Williams right after these important

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: messages. This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_04]: This week is the Democratic Convention and more Americans will be paying attention to

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_04]: the upcoming elections. The Olympics are over that means that many will be tuning in to

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_04]: learn more about the candidates but so far the press hasn't been asking many questions

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_04]: of substance or even allowed to ask many questions. Here are three principles for you that

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_04]: all start with the letter P. The first P is personality. In an ideal world we would love

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_04]: to have a governor or a member of Congress or a president who is warm, humble and likeable.

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Some are but most aren't. Ambitious and driven people are the people most likely

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_04]: to win elective office. That is why you need to focus on the second P that is policy.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_04]: What policies will the candidate promote and implement? That is what will ultimately

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_04]: affect your family, your church and society. Fortunately there are voter guides and

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_04]: party platforms you can and should consult. Yes, party platforms often have vague language

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_04]: and platitudes but there are dozens and dozens of specific policy recommendations. Does

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_04]: the candidate agree with those policies? If not, why not? In the case of the presidential

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_04]: candidates both campaigns this year have been quite involved in crafting their party

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_04]: platforms. A third P is personnel. If you're voting for a candidate in an executive

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_04]: position you should evaluate who they will appoint to help them achieve their agenda. The

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_04]: president for example can appoint 3,000 to 5,000 personnel in the executive branch. Each

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_04]: of the presidential candidates has picked a vice presidential running mate. Who he or

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_04]: she picks provides a window on the type of person who will be in their administration.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_04]: As the adage goes personnel are policy. Although there are lots of talk about personalities

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_04]: right now, policy and personnel are more important in choosing a candidate. I'm Kirby

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Anderson and that's my point of view. For a free booklet on a biblical view of

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: antisemitism go to viewpoints.info slash antisemitism. Viewpoints.info slash

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: antisemitism. You're listening to Point of View. Your listener supported source for

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_04]: truth. To Geneer Conversation Day with Dr. Donald T. Williams again you can go to

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_04]: website donaldtwilliams.com. This particular article we've also posted because it again

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_04]: comes from our good friends there at the Christian World View newsletter but let me

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_04]: just mention also that this article is entitled personal and propositional on

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_04]: the Christocentricity of the Christian faith. And you talked about Christ the

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Son, S-O-N is the central son, S-U-N around which the propositional planets

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_04]: whirl in mathematical precision. Of course we also have centrifugal forces that pull

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_04]: the planets away from Christ. So if you want to keep the metaphor going I might use

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_04]: that in a future commentary but it brings us back to the point that you were

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_04]: trying to make and that is the Christian truth is both personal and

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_04]: propositional. So let's convene your seminary class here for a minute here

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Dr. Williams and explain what that means because that's I think important.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I think we understand the personal part because Jesus is the Son of God and he's

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_04]: the incarnate son and certainly he is our, certainly our Savior and the Holy

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Spirit comes to live within us. But what about this propositional aspect that

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_04]: seems to be missing sometimes in some of these sermons and some of these

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_02]: church programs? When John was looking for the perfect word to describe how

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Jesus functions as the second person of the Trinity as the Messiah who became,

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_02]: he became human and took on human flesh to be the ultimate revelation of God.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_02]: He chose the word Lagos, the Greek word Lagos which is translated word.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_02]: And it's interesting because Greek has two words that can be translated word.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_02]: There's Hrema which is just a word and then Lagos is a word in the sense

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_02]: of not just an isolated word but part of a rational discourse,

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_02]: part of a full message. So when you were impressed with the pastor's sermon

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_02]: and you come out and you say that was a good word.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_02]: You're not talking about just one word. You're talking about the whole sermon.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_02]: That's the word that John uses to describe Jesus in John 1.1.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_02]: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_02]: with God and he became flesh and dwelt among us.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And so by the very virtue of truth being centered in that person,

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_02]: that also means that it's a philosophical grounding not just for

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_02]: the personal nature of truth but the fact that there are words about

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_02]: that truth statements that he is the Son of God,

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_02]: that he is both fully God and fully man, that he came in the flesh,

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_02]: that he died for our sins, that are also true and essential to our concept of truth.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_02]: And so when we see all of those statements not just as abstract statements

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_02]: but as avenues into knowing Jesus as our personal Savior,

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_02]: then we're beginning to understand how God revealed himself to us theologically.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: One of the things you talk about is you say that those who fail to see the

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_04]: systematic nature of these truths created by as you said,

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_04]: the gravitational pull of the sun in the center teach a distorted caricature of Christian doctrine.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_04]: And it seems to me that that is the problem and it seems to me that you might also be able

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_04]: to help us understand ultimately the solution. I mean it's easy to say we'll make Christ

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_04]: the center but you gave us one example just a minute ago when teaching about tithing

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_04]: but it seems to me that we should be looking for those connection points.

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Can you give us some direction on how to do that?

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, that's exactly right. Yeah. By systematic I mean that all of the different statements

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_02]: that are true in Christianity aren't just random isolated sound bites but they all

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_02]: relate to each other and one of them leads to another if you understand them. They are all part

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_02]: of a unified system that is coherent and it makes sense and the way to understand that sense

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_02]: is always to see them in relationship to Christ. And so when you make a mistake theologically,

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_02]: let's say you take a passage of scripture out of context and get some doctrine wrong, it's not

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_02]: just going to sit there. It's going to affect everything else that you believe and it will

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_02]: eventually affect the way you live. So one of the New Testament statements that gets reiterated

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_02]: is that Jesus came in the flesh. If Jesus didn't come in the flesh then that doesn't just affect

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_02]: your Christology all of a sudden what about the Atonement? All that stuff about Jesus blood,

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_02]: is that just a metaphor? One doctrine leads to another doctrine and they all hang together

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_02]: and when you see them all leading you back to Christ then it's just a beautiful thing.

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_02]: But once you start losing that vision and you just grab one truth even if it's an

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_02]: actual truth but you pull it out of context you don't really get the meaning of it because

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_02]: you don't see it as related to the rest of truth. And then there's no telling where that

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_02]: will lead to some dangerous places sometimes. Most heresies are not just plain wrong,

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_02]: they are taking a biblical truth removing it from its context blowing it out of proportion

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_02]: until it starts distorting other truths. The Arians who denied the deity of Christ

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_02]: they were so focused on his humanity which was right that they couldn't understand how could

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_02]: an infinite God be part of a finite human being and so affirming something that was true, that

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_04]: was the deity of Christ. And again I think most doctrinal heresies work that way. We've got to deal

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_04]: with this idea because in this section there you talk about again how to deal with that and it

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER_04]: seems to me first of all we need to teach and preach the whole Council of God but you also

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_04]: talk about the need to meditate and I was thinking certainly as I was reading the kind

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_04]: of the last section of your piece about Joshua 1-8 that this book of the law shall not depart

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_04]: from your mouth that you should meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_04]: according to that which is written in it and then you will make your way prosperous and then you

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_04]: will have great success. It does seem to me that another application is if we're not meditating

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_04]: on God's word, if we're not reading God's word, meditating God's word and even sitting in church

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_04]: where the whole Council of God is taught then sooner or later you're going to take

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_02]: some verses out of context. Is that fair? I think that's a fair statement and it's not

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_02]: just meditating about own scripture, meditating on scripture as what God has given us to reveal

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Christ to us. Yes. So we let all our thoughts ceaselessly orbit around Christ,

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_02]: all our meditations ceaselessly seek the relationship of everything to Christ and the

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_02]: affections be focused on the one whom those thoughts and meditations revealed to be altogether

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_02]: lovely and on everything else for his sake and then we incarnate those thoughts and meditations

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_02]: in words and deeds and everything in our life focuses as Paul says whether we eat or drink

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_02]: or whatever we do do it all to the glory of God and the glory of God as revealed to the world

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_02]: in his son Jesus Christ which is the way he wants to be known. Yes. Let me just mention before I let

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_04]: you go that we have a link to donaldtwilliams.com and if people would want to find out about

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_04]: your many books, a mere humanity, the inklings of reality, of course I mentioned the young

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Christian survival guide and answers from Aslan and so many others or if they'd like to have

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_04]: you come and speak they can connect up with you by going to donaldtwilliams.com can't they?

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes, they can. Just a great resource. I appreciate the writing that you've done over the years and

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_04]: certainly anybody wanting to think through the whole issue of English and language and

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_04]: fantasy and the rest from a Christian point of view you are certainly one of the individuals

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_04]: we've depended upon over these years and appreciate you writing this piece which again

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_04]: is just a reminder of the Christo-centricity of Christ and the Christian faith and it's

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_04]: all part of the worldview bulletin newsletter. If you go to that link we can also encourage you

[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_04]: to subscribe. I did since the very beginning think it's a great resource and donaldtwilliams

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_04]: always great to have you on the program. Thank you for being with us today. Thanks so much,

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Kirby. We're going to take a break and when we come back a couple things to cover. Certainly

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_04]: we have this convention. We've got some policy statements being made already. We're

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_04]: learning a little bit more about what Cumble Harris would want to do as the next president

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_04]: so we're going to talk about that right after these important messages.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Everything the bible supports. Spurgeon stood against him, warning of socialism's dangers.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Spurgeon understood Christianity is not just religious truth. It is truth for all of life.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Where do you find men with that kind of wisdom to stand against darkness today? Get the light

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[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_01]: the opinions expressed on point of view do not necessarily reflect the views of the management

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_01]: or staff of this station and now here again is Kirby Anderson final half hour today. Let me just

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_04]: mention that all through the week we're going to be looking at the democratic national convention

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_04]: going to hear from President Joe Biden and of course his wife as well as Hillary Clinton tonight

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_04]: and then we'll see kind of tomorrow what that has meant again it could be a speech that just

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_04]: is simply a farewell speech. It could be a speech that passes the baton on to Kamala Harris.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_04]: It could be both it might be neither so we'll see where it goes and we will certainly be talking

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_04]: about that tomorrow. Let me just mention that my commentary today is an attempt to try to help

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_04]: you think through not just the republican convention a democratic convention but all the

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_04]: things that you're going to be doing between now and November evaluating candidates. If you

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_04]: look at the fact that we don't just have a presidential race but we have 34 U.S. Senate races

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_04]: 435 races for the House of Representatives governor's race estate legislative races and

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_04]: the rest we have more than 30,000 different races now again you won't have to enjoy make

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_04]: choices on all of those but you will have to make choices on some of those which is one of

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_04]: the reasons why I talk about in my commentary the three P's. The first is personality and right now

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_04]: especially with the democratic convention and the fact that there is a kind of a new

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_04]: enthusiasm in the democratic party whereas before they thought Joe Biden was going to go down

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_04]: to defeat there's at least the hope that Kamala Harris will be successful but there's also

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_04]: of course the personality issue there are certainly a lot of people and the democratic convention

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_04]: that think that her personality and just her presence will be more successful but you will

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_04]: find especially if you watch some of the talking head shows tonight that there are

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_04]: people in the democratic party that say you know her personality isn't that great.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_04]: She did not do well when she ran as the presidential candidate. She did not collect any

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_04]: delegates as Bill Maher said the other day you can count all the delegates she had on one hand

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_04]: that's if your hand didn't have any fingers and so there's always been a question about her personality

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_04]: believe me there's always been a question about Donald Trump's personality

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_04]: so when you look at the presidents and even when you go to the vice presidents I mean there

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_04]: are things that people like and don't like about JD Vance and about Tim Walls so if you're

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_04]: solely choosing an individual as president vice president or senator or congressman

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_04]: or governor on the basis of personality I point out you're going to be disappointed because quite

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_04]: frankly the kind of people that run for office tend to be a little more on the aggressive side

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_04]: they tend to be more ambitious they tend to be very driven people and even though you would

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_04]: like to have a president or a governor or a senator whatever who's warm and humble and likable

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_04]: not always the case and it seems to me that choosing an individual on the basis of personality

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_04]: is probably the least important in terms of the impact it will have on you well what will

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_04]: well that's policy and that is certainly to recognize that you need to evaluate

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_04]: what this candidate believes and what this candidate will try to do

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_04]: and how that'll affect your family your church the society at large and certainly that is the case

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_04]: and you can get a pretty good idea certainly by looking at the platforms the we will and on our

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_04]: election central post both the republican party platform and this rather interesting

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_04]: democratic party platform which was actually ratified when Joe Biden was still the candidate

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_04]: but it still gives you at the plane and again that's one of those things where

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_04]: okay do you agree with the platform I mean after all has been the Biden Harris administration for

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_04]: three and a half years so for now Kamala Harris to run away from some of that well okay sometimes

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_04]: people flip-flop but why and for what reason and is it just politically expedient or do

[00:27:18] [SPEAKER_04]: you really believe it those are some important questions and I as in the commentary point out

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_04]: that let's face it platform sometimes are vague sometimes they're full of platitudes but these

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_04]: are platforms that do make it pretty clear on a number of things that these are issues that

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_04]: we are going to fight for and both candidates have been very much involved Donald Trump cannot

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_04]: run away from the republican platform because he's made some significant changes with his

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_04]: campaign staff and Kamala Harris has been part of the Biden administration has been able to

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_04]: in some respects want to distance herself from a few things but those are legitimate questions

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_04]: the press needs to ask and then of course the final one is when you're dealing with somebody

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_04]: in the executive branch that's a governor a mayor but most importantly the president as I

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_04]: pointed out the president can appoint anywhere from three thousand because some of these are

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_04]: coming up it could be as many as five thousand people in the executive branch will be appointed

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_04]: by the next president and that's how those individuals really achieve their goals and

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_04]: so I think it's going to be important to pay attention to that with that is background

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_04]: to where do we stand right now you've heard me say many times and you'll hear me say again

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_04]: the only poll that really matters takes place in November but the most recent ABC news Washington

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_04]: post poll and I've posted it there for you to read actually shows Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_04]: when you look at voters now again you're elected by the electoral college not by the popular vote

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_04]: nevertheless at the moment of registered voters 49% like Kamala Harris 45%

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Donald Trump she's plus four if you then add in the other individuals running and in

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_04]: most states that is indeed the case not all it's still Harris 47 Trump 44 Kennedy 5

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_04]: West 1 Stein 1 and you can read more about that and so if nothing else it illustrates again

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_04]: that so far the not only is she a little more popular in terms of the popular vote than

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Donald Trump but also Tim Walsh her running mate is all at the moment they viewed a little

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_04]: more favorably than JD Vance and so if you elect people on the basis of personality that is the case

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_04]: recognize though we don't elect people on the basis of the popular vote we also don't even

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_04]: necessarily like people on the basis of registered voters the more significant polls are the ones

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_04]: that look at such issues as what the likely voters and identifying who those likely voters

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_04]: are is very difficult so again you can go and find all sorts of things on twitter and x

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_04]: which is what it's called now or facebook and others trump war room says you know again tonight

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_04]: we're going to have joe biden and jill biden and hillary clinton and brandon johnson speaking

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_04]: but also said in case you're wondering Kamala Harris owns the broken economy broken border

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_04]: and broken world and we're going to hear more about that certainly in the next couple

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_04]: of days and weeks as well and then of course also we have pretty good evidence that this is going to be

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_04]: a somewhat contentious election and so it turns out that the individuals who have now joined

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_04]: the Kamala Harris campaign she has a very substantial legal team as a matter of fact

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_04]: it's now estimated that she may have 10 times as many people most of whom are probably

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_04]: volunteers she'll have hundreds of lawyers and all sorts of other volunteers but recognizing

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_04]: that we could have a real set of election battles and if you have been receiving my the importance

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_04]: of voting booklet that we just now sent out some of them actually may have landed in your

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_04]: mailbox i point out that the difference in three states arizona georgia in michigan

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_04]: 42 000 votes again we can have a debate in the future as to whether or not those vote totals are

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_04]: accurate and how many people voted legally and illegal and all the rest but 42 000 and if indeed

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_04]: you had changed 42 000 votes you could have ended up with a 269 269 tie which would then

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_04]: have to be adjudicated in the house of representatives and of course as kelly shackleford said the

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_04]: other day i think he said it on air but i know he said it off air um that would have been even worse

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_04]: maybe that january 6 was bad you would have had people from both sides uh inundating the capital

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_04]: on that day about that vote and especially if you'd had for example somebody that was what was

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_04]: called a faithless elector who let's say was in a republican state or red state who then

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_04]: decided to change his or her vote to vote for joe biden i mean you can imagine the controversy that

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_04]: would have surfaced in that regard so this is going to be not only an election that could be

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_04]: decided in november it also could be another one of those very close elections that won't be

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_04]: decided until january with all sorts of legal challenges and the harris campaign has gearing

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_04]: up for the possibility that there might be election battles and of course i think you already

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_04]: figured out that the trump campaign is gearing up for the possibility that there could be election

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_04]: battles as well so anyway we now know a little bit more about some of the policies that either

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_04]: have been proposed by kamala harris or have been proposed by the biden administration

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_04]: so when we come back from the break i just want to real briefly kind of work our way through that

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_04]: because if you know just a little bit about economics primarily the issue of supply and

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_04]: demand and certainly we are going to then talk about demand and supply and really talk about

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_04]: how that might actually be a way to evaluate some of the policies that we're going to be hearing

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_04]: about this week at the democratic national convention let's take a break we'll be back with more

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_00]: right after this to point of view your listener supported source for true mac ones again let me

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_04]: just mention that tomorrow we're going to have drew hammer with us and again you might remember the

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_04]: name arman hammer and of course those of you that watch movies arnie hammer who is the course

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_04]: of the sun you probably saw him play billy graham and he played the lone ranger he played

[00:34:17] [SPEAKER_04]: the winkel boss twins in the social network he played the man from uncle just to mention a few

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_04]: so we'll be talking with her tomorrow they'll get back into some of the issues in the news which i

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_04]: think you'll find very helpful but let's if we can for just a minute talk about how to evaluate

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_04]: some of the things that we're going to be hearing both at the convention and out on the campaign

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_04]: trail and as i thought pointed out before the first policy statement that we have from comel

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_04]: harris came last friday and that was something that she decided to deliver before the democratic

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_04]: national convention and that was something that she talked about in terms of the idea

[00:34:59] [SPEAKER_04]: that there is price gouging in the grocery business and so she wanted to implement

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_04]: some ways in which indeed you could begin to bring those costs under control now of course

[00:35:12] [SPEAKER_04]: as you heard me say last friday when we first heard about this i quoted from an op ed piece that

[00:35:21] [SPEAKER_04]: appeared in the washington post in which the individual said when your opponent calls you

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_04]: a communist maybe don't propose price controls and the reason for that is very simple it turns

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_04]: out that price controls have not worked very well in the soviet union venezuela even under

[00:35:40] [SPEAKER_04]: richard nixon decades ago and giving more authority to the federal trade commission

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_04]: to punish grocery stores didn't really look like a very good solution to high prices

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_04]: and so i thought it would be kind of a good teaching moment when we talk about supply and

[00:35:58] [SPEAKER_04]: can we use that principle and the question some people might have is well okay what's wrong with

[00:36:05] [SPEAKER_04]: price controls well again going back to that op ed even in the washington post it points out that

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_04]: it will distort distort the market the argument was saying that this would lead to shortages

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_04]: to black markets and hoarding among other distortions and so that was what was written

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_04]: even in the washington post second of all if you're really looking for a place where there's

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_04]: price gouging probably not in the grocery sector because if you look at and i looked this up

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_04]: just the other day what are the um if you will the particular profit margins for let's take apple

[00:36:46] [SPEAKER_04]: well that's anywhere from 20 to 25 percent what is it for microsoft well that's about 30 to 35

[00:36:52] [SPEAKER_04]: percent by contrast the profit margins the grocery industry last year were 1.6 percent

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_04]: there is a difference between 1 percent and 25 percent 1 percent and 35 percent so i think you

[00:37:06] [SPEAKER_04]: can see that if you're going to make the case that there is price gouging somewhere okay

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_04]: i just don't think you're going to actually find that in the grocery business in anything it

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_04]: will take a bad problem and make it worse as matter of fact another way to think about that

[00:37:25] [SPEAKER_04]: is to see sometimes groceries go stores going out of business i've lived in two different

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_04]: locations where our next store grocery store went out of business so obviously it doesn't take much

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_04]: a down economy maybe another grocery store if you're as she was talking about on friday

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_04]: wanting to introduce competition in the market i'm thinking this is one of the most competitive

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_04]: cutthroat markets in the business and so to come out with price controls tells you a little bit

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_04]: about maybe some of the other policies she might want to come out with but let's think about

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_04]: a few more because this week you're going to hear a lot of statements about various things we

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_04]: need to do to help young voters why because those young voters certainly can be democratic voters

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER_04]: and again two issues certainly come to mind student loans and housing prices well that about student

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_04]: loans again getting back to this issue of supply and demand if you want the price of colleges

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_04]: to actually go down and we really don't have a free market there of supply and demand

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_04]: then certainly you would have maybe where you decrease the demand and so is it possible that we

[00:38:46] [SPEAKER_04]: might decrease the demand well it turns out a little bit because and i just looked this up

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_04]: and did not realize it that during the great depression years since like 2008 to 2011 fewer

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_04]: children were born so you have the potential about 15 percent fewer people of college age

[00:39:07] [SPEAKER_04]: maybe available to go to college so that could have some impact but the problem with that is

[00:39:13] [SPEAKER_04]: is that every year when since we have basically student loans as a government program the government

[00:39:21] [SPEAKER_04]: just gives more and more loans to students and up until recently and even as recently as a month ago

[00:39:30] [SPEAKER_04]: president biden has been canceling literally billions of dollars of student loan debt

[00:39:36] [SPEAKER_04]: which i think signal to students that they may not even have to pay back their loans

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_04]: that they're taking out this year so you completely bizarrely twist this in such a way

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_04]: that you really don't have a guarantee that these actions being proposed right now are going to do

[00:39:55] [SPEAKER_04]: anything to reduce the cost of college education what about housing well again it's supply and demand

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_04]: when there aren't many houses for sale well the price goes up again president biden has

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_04]: are called for building two million housing units comel Harris wanted to one up him and now

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER_04]: talk about three million but again the government doesn't build houses so how would they encourage that

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_04]: well they would encourage it with maybe providing a tax credit to home buyers hold builders excuse me

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_04]: but at the same time now comel Harris has proposed a 25 000 dollar subsidy for first time

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_04]: home buyers which again would actually increase the demand and actually increase the cost because

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_04]: if you know that a first time home buyer is going to get 25 000 dollars from the government

[00:40:53] [SPEAKER_04]: well you'll just raise the cost of the house another 25 000 dollars are you with me on this

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_04]: so again giving money to students um and giving money to home buyers you know might

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_04]: sound like a good idea until you understand basic economics supply and demand and this subsidy

[00:41:13] [SPEAKER_04]: being proposed and you're going to hear a lot of that from some of the talking heads this week

[00:41:17] [SPEAKER_04]: sounds really good to provide a 25 000 dollar subsidy for first time home buyers but the

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_04]: reality is that's going to increase the demand and it's going to increase the cost of those

[00:41:31] [SPEAKER_04]: houses which is the very thing you didn't want to do in the first place so again there are ways to

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_04]: evaluate these policies if you just have a basic understanding of supply and demand a basic

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_04]: understanding of economics so again those are some things that will probably work our way through

[00:41:50] [SPEAKER_04]: this week and i'm sure there will be other policy proposals that will actually be articulated

[00:41:56] [SPEAKER_04]: by the various speakers including the vice presidential nominee on wednesday and the presidential

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_04]: nominee on thursday one last time let me just mention that if you would like to have some of

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_04]: the information we've talked about today we certainly encourage you to go to the website

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_04]: you'll see again we have the information about chad hennings and that gives you a link to

[00:42:18] [SPEAKER_04]: the what makes a man dot org website and of course we also have the proclamation on godly

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_04]: masculinity we also have the article that comes from our friends at the world view bulletin newsletter

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_04]: on the idea of the cresto centricity of the christian faith and that's available on

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_04]: our website as well and if you'd like to read these various articles about fact checking and

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_04]: about the polls and a variety of other issues those are all available at the website pointofview.net

[00:42:51] [SPEAKER_04]: and most importantly sent out an email to you recently about the fact that if there's anything

[00:42:56] [SPEAKER_04]: constant in our politics it's change good reason to listen to point of view every single day

[00:43:03] [SPEAKER_04]: when we get back tomorrow we'll certainly cover some of what happens tonight i'm going to thank

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_04]: megan and steve for their help see you back here right here on point of view at point of view we believe

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