Point of View November 21, 2024 – Hour 1 : How God’s People Can Bring Justice Through Literacy

[00:00:04] Across America, live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson.

[00:00:20] Thank you for joining me. We're going to spend some time today talking about a number of issues in the news and certainly to lead off, let's point out the fact that Matt Gaetz, who stepped down from the House of Representatives and actually had his name put forward as the next Attorney General and the Trump administration has resigned.

[00:00:38] He said the Ethics Committee investigation into his allegations was something that was too much of a distraction for Donald Trump and his incoming administration.

[00:00:48] So he said on X, there is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.

[00:00:54] Thus, I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.

[00:00:59] Trump's Department of Justice must be in place and ready on day one.

[00:01:03] He goes on to say, I'll be forever honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will save America.

[00:01:11] So that is certainly something that we probably could have predicted.

[00:01:16] The line around a lot of people is when it came time to fill out your bingo card, I don't think anybody had Matt Gaetz on the bingo card as the Attorney General.

[00:01:29] That being said, I think some of us had on the bingo card the possibility that he might actually withdraw.

[00:01:36] Not because he may or may not have been qualified, but he can count like anyone else.

[00:01:42] And when you don't have the requisite number of votes in the United States Senate and every single day there is a constant drumbeat against your nomination, you can see the problem.

[00:01:53] And, of course, there was an attempt to try to prevent some of this by philosophy that the Trump administration or the transition team has developed, which I guess I could call flood the zone.

[00:02:06] Now, what do I mean by that?

[00:02:08] Flood the zone, if you've watched football at all, know that certainly the quarterback and the offense on football, if they are playing against zone defense, will put an enormous number of individuals in that particular zone area and thus flood the zone.

[00:02:26] There are too many people for the defenders to attack simultaneously, too many people for the defenders to defend against.

[00:02:35] And that seems to be the strategy that was implemented by this transition team by Donald Trump.

[00:02:42] And that is, they learned their lesson from 2016 and 2017.

[00:02:47] Because one of the first people they put out was Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as the National Security Advisor.

[00:02:55] And because he was out there sort of on a lone post, there was all sorts of attacks came against him and also some underhanded tactics.

[00:03:05] I won't even get into all of those.

[00:03:07] And as a result, that was the end of the possibility that actually Michael Flynn would serve as National Security Advisor to Donald Trump.

[00:03:17] This time you had day after day after day, usually two or three additional nominees put forward.

[00:03:25] And so it makes it a little bit harder to focus on, whether it's Tulsi Gabbard or Robert Kennedy Jr.

[00:03:33] Or whether it is Pete Higgseth, some of the ones that are perhaps a little bit more controversial, if you will, when they're mixed in with, of course, we've talked about the fact that you have some individuals that will be serving that I would think would be a little less controversial.

[00:03:50] But even the other day, we had people looking at the fact that they might even go after some of the people that would be almost quasi-establishments.

[00:04:01] So, nevertheless, this idea of flooding the zone was really an idea of putting most of the nominees out there almost simultaneously.

[00:04:10] In the last week and a half, I think he's pretty much filled out his cabinet.

[00:04:15] And I gave up even trying to mention the name of each individual.

[00:04:19] Although, next week, one of our guests who is with the Danforth Organization, or Danbury Institute, I should say, actually will take some time to maybe talk about what is happening in each one of those cabinet positions, who those people are and the rest.

[00:04:35] So we will get into some of that next week.

[00:04:37] Next week, of course, is Thanksgiving week.

[00:04:39] And I figure we'll get away from some of the day-to-day politics and kind of look a little bit more long-term to what is happening.

[00:04:45] But, nevertheless, this idea of flood the zone may have protected a few of the other nominees.

[00:04:50] But the first one to actually step down is Matt Gaetz.

[00:04:54] And if you've just heard it here for the first time, it was just announced recently.

[00:04:58] And I think we'll see what happens in the future.

[00:05:01] By the way, I just should mention that if, indeed, we do have a confirmation of a U.S. senator from Florida,

[00:05:08] there will be an open spot, and some people think that it is possible that Ron DeSantis might put him in that position as senator.

[00:05:16] So we'll see where that goes.

[00:05:19] Just before we get into some of the business in the news, since I'm picking out a few of these small items,

[00:05:24] let's just keep on that particular focus.

[00:05:28] Because some of these small items are big issues, but they're kind of small news stories.

[00:05:33] And one of those comes from Illinois, and that is the Supreme Court in the state of Illinois has overturned the conviction of Jesse Smollett in the hate crime hoax.

[00:05:45] And so this is something that was done because originally he was actually found not guilty.

[00:05:53] So then, because of some of the public pressure, a special prosecutor was then impaneled to try him again after the previous charges had been dropped.

[00:06:07] And, again, if you're not familiar with the story, we've talked about it before,

[00:06:10] simply because from time to time I do like to talk about the real danger of some of these fake hate crimes

[00:06:18] in terms of what it has done for the public perception, the waste of police resources,

[00:06:23] and the fact that anybody seemingly can make an allegation,

[00:06:26] and the police have to take it seriously until finally we prove the person innocent,

[00:06:32] and then where do they go to get their good name back?

[00:06:34] But in this particular case, it was a false report that he filed back in January of 2019,

[00:06:40] claimed he'd been attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs,

[00:06:44] had a Make America Great hat on and a variety of other things,

[00:06:48] wrapped a rope around his neck,

[00:06:50] and said the assault took place in one of the coldest nights in Chicago.

[00:06:55] I've been to Chicago many times working with our friends at Moody Bible,

[00:07:00] but it's hard to even believe any of that.

[00:07:02] But nevertheless, it turns out that he paid two brothers to stage the attack,

[00:07:07] that he was actually found to have purchased the rope and all the rest.

[00:07:12] And so he, as a matter of fact, paid these two men $3,500.

[00:07:16] So after the decision to drop the charges,

[00:07:19] that's when the former Cook County Judge Michael Tumann appointed a U.S. attorney

[00:07:24] to actually pursue the case again.

[00:07:28] And so he was found guilty the second time of these refiled charges.

[00:07:33] Well, it turns out, even so, he never served any time.

[00:07:37] He was released on his personal recognizance bond.

[00:07:41] My producer and I like to talk about personal recognizance.

[00:07:44] That means you recognize yourself.

[00:07:45] Anyway, that's a joke that we use every once in a while when they use that phrase.

[00:07:49] But nevertheless, he actually might have lost the bond,

[00:07:53] but everything else never served any time.

[00:07:56] And I think it's just a reminder, and probably the most visible reminder.

[00:08:01] If you ever listen to my daily commentaries, about once a year, sometimes twice a year if need be,

[00:08:07] I talk about all the fake hate crimes out there.

[00:08:11] Well, I've got a few here for the end of 2024.

[00:08:14] Believe me, there's some incredible ones there.

[00:08:17] And these are doing incredible damage.

[00:08:20] And so I do talk about that.

[00:08:22] But probably the most visible and best-known fake hate crime is the Jesse Smollett hate crime.

[00:08:30] For those of you in Illinois, well, your Supreme Court thought he's suffered enough in the court of public opinion.

[00:08:38] I'm not sure I agree, but anyway, that's the latest news story.

[00:08:42] We'll come back with more right after this.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] Chuck Bentley is the CEO of Crown Financial and the host of the daily radio program, My Money Life.

[00:09:07] He was on my radio program last week to talk about this question he received from a listener.

[00:09:12] That listener said,

[00:09:13] I am really concerned with what Elon Musk said about America headed towards bankruptcy.

[00:09:18] Do you think there's anything we need to do if he turns out to be correct?

[00:09:22] Well, Elon Musk was on a recent All In Summit hosted by the All In podcast in which he said,

[00:09:29] America is going bankrupt extremely quickly.

[00:09:32] And everyone seems to be sort of whistling past the graveyard on this one.

[00:09:36] Chuck Bentley attributes most of this problem to the promotion and popularity of what is called modern monetary theory.

[00:09:42] Now, the economists and politicians believe our currency is sort of like monopoly money.

[00:09:47] They argue that we can ignore deficits and ignore the growing national debt that the government will always be able to print enough money to pay its debts.

[00:09:55] But he warns we're headed for a downward debt loop.

[00:09:59] Now, during the program, I explained that we weren't the only people concerned about this.

[00:10:03] Chuck Bentley quotes from an individual by the name of Les Rubin in an article who admitted,

[00:10:07] the government can pay their loans due to their unlimited ability to borrow for now or to print more money as long as other countries and investors will continue to buy our bonds.

[00:10:19] But then in the article, he warned that this will eventually stop and will have to default, leading to severe consequences.

[00:10:27] So both Chuck Bentley and I concluded that if Elon Musk and the proposed Government Efficiency Commission cannot reduce spending,

[00:10:35] then the economic future of this country isn't very bright.

[00:10:38] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:47] For a free booklet on a biblical view on big data, go to viewpoints.info slash data.

[00:10:53] That's viewpoints.info slash data.

[00:10:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:03] Once again, we're going to spend some time now talking about the department

[00:11:07] that we're going to actually call a department, even though it will not actually be a department.

[00:11:13] The Department of Government Efficiency, oftentimes called DOGE, so we use that as well.

[00:11:18] Very good piece written by Elon Musk and Vivek Rameshwamy.

[00:11:22] But let me just mention the rest of the program here, because at the bottom of the hour,

[00:11:26] Dr. Tony Kriz is going to be with us.

[00:11:28] We're going to talk about the Children's Literacy Project.

[00:11:31] I think you'll appreciate that ministry and organization that he has put together.

[00:11:35] Next hour, David Bonson will be with us for a little bit of time.

[00:11:38] And, of course, he has certainly been a defender of free market economics and has written some books.

[00:11:45] There's No Free Lunch, 250 Economic Truths.

[00:11:49] And, of course, one we talked with him last time about full-time work and meaning of life.

[00:11:53] We're going to talk a little bit about the impact that, for example, this DOGE plan

[00:11:58] and even some of the other Trump plans, what that will mean for the economy.

[00:12:04] Then we'll get back to some news in the area.

[00:12:07] One of those, give me fertility or give me death.

[00:12:10] That's a turn of phrase there.

[00:12:11] But it just reminds us that no matter who is elected,

[00:12:14] and in this case now we sort of have a pretty good idea who is elected,

[00:12:18] to both the House, the Senate, and to the White House,

[00:12:21] some of these intractable problems don't go away.

[00:12:24] And one of those is the remarkable decrease in fertility.

[00:12:28] So we'll talk about that and some environmental issues and much, much more.

[00:12:32] But let me come to this particular article.

[00:12:35] This appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

[00:12:37] It's very well written.

[00:12:38] I suspect Vivek wrote a good portion of it.

[00:12:41] But they start with this claim that, and I think it is very true,

[00:12:44] our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government.

[00:12:50] This is how America functions, they say.

[00:12:52] Most legal edicts aren't laws enacted by Congress,

[00:12:56] but rules and regulations promulgated by unelected bureaucrats

[00:13:00] and tens of thousands of them each year.

[00:13:02] I might just point you to a book that I've been reading through by Vivek Rumashwamy,

[00:13:08] Truths, the Future of America First.

[00:13:10] And in his truth, one of the ten truths is the fact that there are three branches of government, not four.

[00:13:15] But he's talking about the fact that this fourth unelected bureaucracy

[00:13:19] which has not been tamed oftentimes, either by Congress or by the executive branch,

[00:13:24] sort of does a lot of the work of governing.

[00:13:27] And that was not what was intended.

[00:13:29] Also, I might point you to Ned Ryan's book.

[00:13:32] I've held it up a couple times here.

[00:13:33] We'll probably do some interviews with him in the future, American Leviathan.

[00:13:37] But again, these are both books to remind us of this very significant fact.

[00:13:42] They go on and say that this anti-democratic and antithetical to the founders' vision,

[00:13:50] it really is imposing a very direct and indirect cost on taxpayers,

[00:13:58] because, as he says, it's antithetical.

[00:14:00] Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem.

[00:14:04] And that is, the president, of course, has asked the two of them to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency.

[00:14:11] I don't think it actually is going to be a department,

[00:14:13] but we'll just keep calling it that since that's what everybody else calls it.

[00:14:16] And he says,

[00:14:35] They go on to say that our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution,

[00:14:40] with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden's tenure.

[00:14:46] The first of those is West Virginia v. EPA.

[00:14:50] The justice has held that agencies can't impose regulations dealing with major economic or policy questions

[00:14:57] unless Congress specifically authorizes them to do so.

[00:15:01] That has been a very strong statement that has come from the Supreme Court.

[00:15:07] And then the more recent one that happened this year is the one having to do with the Chevron Doctrine,

[00:15:12] which we've talked about a little bit with Kelly Shackelford.

[00:15:16] Which says that federal courts should no longer defer to federal agencies' interpretations

[00:15:21] or their law or rulemaking authority.

[00:15:25] And so they argue that these two cases really provide an open window.

[00:15:30] Because a lot of us who have been around for a while,

[00:15:33] remember when we had the Grace Commission.

[00:15:36] And J. Peter Grace put it together.

[00:15:38] He paid for it himself.

[00:15:39] It issued its results in 1984.

[00:15:43] And yet not much came of it.

[00:15:45] A little bit, but not much.

[00:15:47] I think there were a couple mistakes they're going to try to fix.

[00:15:49] One I talked about the other day.

[00:15:51] They're going to be much more transparent.

[00:15:53] Instead of having a group sequestered off and doing all the research and then issuing a report,

[00:15:57] they're going to be posting.

[00:15:58] Of course, now we have social media.

[00:16:00] We didn't have as much back then.

[00:16:02] Here's what we're doing.

[00:16:02] Here's what we're going to do.

[00:16:03] Here's one that we're recommending.

[00:16:05] Here are some just incredible non-common sense policies that have been implemented on and on and on.

[00:16:10] And that's the first issue.

[00:16:12] Number two, we have a court that has ruled much more in favor of what could be an open door.

[00:16:19] So it is quite possible that this Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE,

[00:16:25] could be more effective than the Grace Commission was a number of years ago.

[00:16:30] And you probably guess by now I'm going to be writing a commentary about that.

[00:16:33] But let's continue on.

[00:16:34] Because then they go on to say that they will present a list of regulations to President Trump,

[00:16:40] who can, by executive order, pause these particular enforcements.

[00:16:45] If there have been places where the government has, in this case the bureaucracy,

[00:16:50] has ruled in ways that Congress has not allowed, he can pause those.

[00:16:54] Now, again, they already anticipate the criticism.

[00:16:59] Because they say when the president nullifies these regulations, critics will allege that this is executive overreach.

[00:17:08] In fact, they argue it will be correcting executive overreach of thousands of regulations

[00:17:15] promulgated by administrative fiat that were never authorized by Congress.

[00:17:20] And then they also want to spend some time, as they say, to work with embedded appointees in agencies

[00:17:28] to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutional,

[00:17:37] permissible, and statutorily mandated functions.

[00:17:40] The number of federal employees to cut should be at least proportionate to the number of federal regulations that are nullified.

[00:17:48] Which then raises the next question that you probably will hear.

[00:17:52] And that is, they say, that conventional wisdom holds that statutory civil service protections

[00:17:58] stop the president or even his political appointees from firing federal workers.

[00:18:03] The purpose, of course, of these protections is to protect employees from political retaliation.

[00:18:09] But, they then point out the statute allows for reductions in force that don't target specific employees.

[00:18:16] The statute further empowers the president to prescribe rules governing the competitive service.

[00:18:23] And the power is fairly broad.

[00:18:25] And they then quote two Supreme Court decisions from 1992, Franklin v. Massachusetts.

[00:18:31] Another one from 2021, Collins v. Yellen.

[00:18:34] And the point that he's making again is,

[00:18:37] we can't necessarily remove Bob and Sue and Jim and Sarah,

[00:18:42] but we can reduce the number in the department by four.

[00:18:46] I just picked four there for a minute.

[00:18:48] And they can figure out which ones they want to get rid of.

[00:18:52] But the point is, it's not political retaliation.

[00:18:55] It's just the reduction of the size and scope of government.

[00:19:00] Pretty good.

[00:19:00] Finally, we're delivering on delivering,

[00:19:03] we're focused on delivering cost savings to taxpayers.

[00:19:06] Skeptics question how much federal spending Doge can tame through executive action alone.

[00:19:12] And they point to the 1974 Empowerment Control Act.

[00:19:15] I do remember that.

[00:19:16] But Mr. Trump has previously suggested the statute is unconstitutional.

[00:19:20] And more to the point,

[00:19:22] the current Supreme Court is likely to side with him as well.

[00:19:26] That came about at a time when Richard Nixon did not have a lot of power

[00:19:30] and there was a lot of push against him.

[00:19:32] And I suspect that this could be another one of those cases.

[00:19:35] Just as in 1973, there was the idea of Roe v. Wade,

[00:19:40] which more recently was actually struck down by the Supreme Court.

[00:19:43] In the Dobbs decision,

[00:19:45] I think this particular issue of the Empowerment Control Act

[00:19:49] could be struck down as well by this current Supreme Court.

[00:19:52] The point they're making is this.

[00:19:55] The door seems wide open.

[00:19:57] You have, first of all,

[00:19:59] the election of a Republican president,

[00:20:02] a Republican House,

[00:20:03] a Republican Senate.

[00:20:04] You have a number of Supreme Court decisions

[00:20:07] that have opened the door significantly.

[00:20:10] And you have a Supreme Court with at least a 6-3,

[00:20:14] sometimes even a 7-2 majority,

[00:20:17] depending on what you look at there,

[00:20:19] that might provide for historic opportunity

[00:20:22] for the reduction in the size and scope of the federal government.

[00:20:26] We'll see where it goes,

[00:20:28] but this is a very well-written piece,

[00:20:30] as you probably have gathered.

[00:20:32] Four pages.

[00:20:32] It is our first article.

[00:20:34] And if you are wanting to understand what you think

[00:20:37] Elon Musk and Vivek Ramachwamy are going to do,

[00:20:41] I would recommend that you read it.

[00:20:43] And I might just mention,

[00:20:45] as a program note,

[00:20:46] tomorrow we're going to be talking about

[00:20:48] an editorial that appeared in the USA Today

[00:20:50] about this as well,

[00:20:52] from another individual looking at

[00:20:54] what this might mean for the American people.

[00:20:56] So, we'll take a break.

[00:20:58] We'll come back and we'll spend some time

[00:21:00] talking with Tony Kriz.

[00:21:02] And then we'll, a little bit later,

[00:21:04] give you a chance to join the conversation

[00:21:05] if you'd like to do so.

[00:21:07] A lot that we are covering today here on Point of View,

[00:21:09] if you'd like to find out more about the guests we have on here,

[00:21:12] the articles we've posted,

[00:21:13] just feel free to go to the website,

[00:21:15] which is pointofview.net.

[00:21:17] Let's come back,

[00:21:18] and we're going to spend a little bit of time

[00:21:19] talking about this children's literacy project.

[00:21:23] Maybe one of the best ways

[00:21:24] to address the issue of poverty in America.

[00:21:26] We'll be right back.

[00:21:31] Many years ago,

[00:21:32] they began saying that we live in the information age.

[00:21:36] Well, today, there is so much information

[00:21:38] coming at us from every direction.

[00:21:41] The hardest thing is to discern

[00:21:43] which issues are really important

[00:21:45] and how can I make a positive impact

[00:21:47] without wasting my time

[00:21:49] trying to figure out accurate information.

[00:21:52] Let me give you a suggestion to help with that.

[00:21:55] Visit pointofview.net,

[00:21:57] look at the tabs across the top,

[00:22:00] find the one named Viewpoints.

[00:22:02] Kirby Anderson and others on our team

[00:22:04] are constantly watching for news

[00:22:06] to identify those issues

[00:22:08] that you really need to know about.

[00:22:10] They boil things down in a brief summary,

[00:22:12] and then you can decide

[00:22:14] if it's something on which you want to learn more

[00:22:16] and get involved.

[00:22:17] Again, when you go to pointofview.net,

[00:22:20] click on Viewpoints,

[00:22:22] you'll see exactly what I mean.

[00:22:24] You'll see the issues

[00:22:25] that we are covering right now,

[00:22:27] and when you like what you see,

[00:22:29] I honestly think you will,

[00:22:31] you can slide on over,

[00:22:32] enter your email,

[00:22:33] and get them automatically sent

[00:22:35] to your inbox each day.

[00:22:37] That's it.

[00:22:38] Take a minute now,

[00:22:39] be informed.

[00:22:41] pointofview.net,

[00:22:42] click on Viewpoints.

[00:22:48] Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:57] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:02] The opinions expressed on Point of View

[00:23:05] do not necessarily reflect the views

[00:23:07] of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:10] And now, here again,

[00:23:12] is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:14] This afternoon,

[00:23:14] we're going to spend some time

[00:23:15] talking about literacy,

[00:23:16] but in particular,

[00:23:17] the connection between illiteracy

[00:23:19] and poverty.

[00:23:20] If you cannot read

[00:23:21] in this modern 21st century world,

[00:23:25] it just eliminates you from so much.

[00:23:28] And so we do want to talk about

[00:23:29] the Child's Children's Literacy Project.

[00:23:32] And in order to get some perspective on that,

[00:23:35] we bring to the microphone

[00:23:37] Dr. Tony Kriz,

[00:23:38] again, an individual

[00:23:39] that received his Doctor of Ministry

[00:23:41] from Portland Seminary,

[00:23:43] has served on the faculty

[00:23:44] at Warner Pacific University,

[00:23:46] Multnomah Seminary,

[00:23:47] and Portland Seminary.

[00:23:49] He writes a monthly column

[00:23:50] in Christianity Day's Leadership Journal.

[00:23:53] Might point you to one

[00:23:54] that I found very interesting,

[00:23:55] that mysterious gospel,

[00:23:57] because so often

[00:23:58] when we talk about evangelism,

[00:24:00] we're quoting what Paul says,

[00:24:03] but Paul most of the time

[00:24:04] is a Christian talking to Christians.

[00:24:06] He suggests we go back

[00:24:07] to the book of Acts,

[00:24:08] which is revealing,

[00:24:09] to see what was happening

[00:24:10] when Christians were talking

[00:24:12] to non-Christians.

[00:24:13] Anyway, it's an interesting piece,

[00:24:14] along with many others

[00:24:15] that he's written as well.

[00:24:16] He is the founder,

[00:24:18] the theologian,

[00:24:18] and creative director

[00:24:19] of the Children's Literacy Project.

[00:24:21] And so, Dr. Kriz,

[00:24:23] great to have you on the program today.

[00:24:26] Kirby, so great for you to invite me.

[00:24:28] I love the fact

[00:24:29] that we're here together,

[00:24:30] and you brought up that article.

[00:24:32] That's really lovely.

[00:24:33] That was a very evocative piece.

[00:24:36] It got a lot of conversation started.

[00:24:38] Well, it's one that generated it.

[00:24:39] How many people wonder about the God?

[00:24:40] Yeah.

[00:24:40] As they say, it went viral, I guess.

[00:24:42] I don't know if it went viral,

[00:24:43] but, you know,

[00:24:43] it started conversations anyway.

[00:24:45] As an individual

[00:24:46] that's lived in Oregon,

[00:24:47] and over a year,

[00:24:48] I fly into the Portland airport

[00:24:49] and then go and speak at E.C.O.L.A.,

[00:24:51] which is over there at Cannon Beach.

[00:24:52] I'm familiar with some of the things

[00:24:53] you do at Portland.

[00:24:55] But let's get into this,

[00:24:56] because you have, of course,

[00:24:58] have written a number of books,

[00:24:59] and I will certainly,

[00:25:01] as we go through this,

[00:25:02] mention those.

[00:25:03] But first of all,

[00:25:03] I would encourage people

[00:25:05] to go to the childrensliteracyproject.org,

[00:25:09] because that will tell you

[00:25:10] about the particular book

[00:25:12] called Read,

[00:25:12] although it's one of many books

[00:25:14] that you've written.

[00:25:14] But let's talk about that,

[00:25:15] because that, I think,

[00:25:17] is a way of looking

[00:25:19] at this issue of poverty

[00:25:21] and the culture of poverty

[00:25:22] in a little different way,

[00:25:24] and that is to look

[00:25:24] at the issue of literacy.

[00:25:25] Can you help us out?

[00:25:27] Yeah, so Read,

[00:25:29] subtitled,

[00:25:30] How God's People Can Bring Justice

[00:25:32] Through Literacy,

[00:25:34] is we've been in the church-school

[00:25:37] relationship space now

[00:25:39] for about 15 years,

[00:25:40] me and my partners

[00:25:41] in the Children's Literacy Project.

[00:25:43] We've had just tremendous opportunities

[00:25:46] to set up tens of thousands

[00:25:47] of churches with partnerships

[00:25:48] with local schools,

[00:25:49] just doing acts of service,

[00:25:51] acts of love,

[00:25:52] acts of compassion,

[00:25:54] you know,

[00:25:54] raking leaves

[00:25:55] or scraping gum

[00:25:56] or doing whatever

[00:25:57] the schools need.

[00:25:58] And so many of our schools

[00:25:59] are so underfunded these days,

[00:26:01] and they just don't have

[00:26:02] the resources

[00:26:03] to do some of the basic things

[00:26:04] that my school's growing up

[00:26:05] had no problem pulling off.

[00:26:07] But what we realized over time

[00:26:09] is that if you want to make

[00:26:10] real systemic impact,

[00:26:12] you want to make

[00:26:12] long-term impact,

[00:26:13] both in the hearts

[00:26:14] of the people who are volunteering,

[00:26:15] the churches who are volunteering,

[00:26:17] but also in the lives

[00:26:18] of the children

[00:26:19] and the teachers,

[00:26:20] by the way,

[00:26:20] that we're serving,

[00:26:23] literacy is the single

[00:26:25] best way

[00:26:25] that an everyday citizen

[00:26:27] can really change

[00:26:28] the life of another person.

[00:26:30] One in three fourth graders today

[00:26:33] are reading at the lowest levels.

[00:26:35] And children who do not learn

[00:26:37] to read by fourth grade,

[00:26:39] we stop teaching reading

[00:26:40] in fourth grade.

[00:26:41] Right.

[00:26:41] And after that,

[00:26:42] there are no resources

[00:26:43] for reading.

[00:26:44] And if a child does not learn

[00:26:45] to read by fourth grade,

[00:26:46] statistically,

[00:26:47] they will never read.

[00:26:49] And 1.3 million children

[00:26:51] are currently illiterate

[00:26:53] in the fourth grade.

[00:26:55] And ironically,

[00:26:56] or maybe not ironically,

[00:26:57] 1.3 million children

[00:26:58] drop out of school.

[00:27:00] Yes.

[00:27:00] And those children

[00:27:02] are our future,

[00:27:03] they're going to fill

[00:27:04] our future welfare lines,

[00:27:05] they're going to fill

[00:27:06] our future prison cells,

[00:27:07] they're going to fill

[00:27:08] our future walking the streets,

[00:27:12] attics,

[00:27:13] filling our hospitals,

[00:27:15] the very people

[00:27:15] that Jesus spoke about

[00:27:17] that we were supposed

[00:27:18] to love

[00:27:18] as much as you've done it

[00:27:20] to me,

[00:27:20] as much as you've done it

[00:27:22] to me.

[00:27:23] These children

[00:27:24] are the future people

[00:27:25] that Jesus was talking about.

[00:27:27] One of the things

[00:27:28] I appreciate about that

[00:27:28] is you're kind of

[00:27:29] looking upstream

[00:27:30] rather than downstream.

[00:27:32] Sometimes we're trying

[00:27:32] to deal with the problems

[00:27:33] when they develop.

[00:27:34] And of course,

[00:27:35] the Gospels call on us

[00:27:37] to actually uplift

[00:27:39] the least of these.

[00:27:41] Every time I hear

[00:27:42] the word least of these,

[00:27:43] I just think about

[00:27:43] just the other day,

[00:27:44] if people are not familiar,

[00:27:45] Tony Campalo,

[00:27:46] Dr. Tony Campalo,

[00:27:46] who I've known,

[00:27:48] just passed on.

[00:27:49] But nevertheless,

[00:27:50] when we talk about

[00:27:51] the Gospel

[00:27:52] and we talk about

[00:27:53] what we can do,

[00:27:54] sometimes people say,

[00:27:55] well, this issue

[00:27:55] of poverty

[00:27:56] is just so overwhelming,

[00:27:58] well, then deal with it

[00:28:00] in a systematic way

[00:28:01] because even when

[00:28:03] I was growing up

[00:28:04] in the San Francisco

[00:28:05] Bay Area

[00:28:05] and I only became

[00:28:07] a Christian

[00:28:08] a little bit later,

[00:28:09] but I still

[00:28:09] was hired out

[00:28:11] and I was actually

[00:28:12] volunteered,

[00:28:13] I never got paid

[00:28:14] a penny for it,

[00:28:14] to actually teach

[00:28:16] reading and teach math

[00:28:18] in some of these

[00:28:19] underprivileged areas,

[00:28:20] which is more up

[00:28:21] in Richmond, California,

[00:28:22] because we recognized

[00:28:23] if you can solve

[00:28:25] the problem

[00:28:25] in the grade schools,

[00:28:27] you don't have

[00:28:28] to deal with

[00:28:28] the problem

[00:28:29] in the high schools

[00:28:30] and afterwards.

[00:28:31] Is that fair?

[00:28:32] That's fair.

[00:28:33] We call it

[00:28:33] preventative justice.

[00:28:35] We talk about

[00:28:36] preventative health care

[00:28:37] all the time.

[00:28:38] That's the wide place

[00:28:38] to put your money

[00:28:39] as opposed to reacting

[00:28:41] when people have problems.

[00:28:42] We call it

[00:28:42] preventative justice.

[00:28:43] How do we help people

[00:28:44] have the tools

[00:28:45] early on in their life

[00:28:46] so they never get

[00:28:47] to the point

[00:28:47] that we're having

[00:28:48] to fund

[00:28:48] a massive prison complex?

[00:28:51] We're not having

[00:28:51] to fund massive

[00:28:52] welfare systems.

[00:28:53] How do we get

[00:28:53] to people

[00:28:54] and give them

[00:28:54] the resources

[00:28:55] so they can have

[00:28:55] a future and a hope?

[00:28:57] I love the fact

[00:28:58] you brought up

[00:28:58] Dr. Campolo.

[00:29:00] I've known Tony

[00:29:01] for many, many years.

[00:29:03] 25 years ago,

[00:29:04] I was a young theology student

[00:29:07] and I was sitting

[00:29:08] in front of a room

[00:29:09] surrounded by pastors

[00:29:11] of large churches

[00:29:13] and heads

[00:29:14] of big Christian agencies

[00:29:15] and Dr. Campolo

[00:29:17] and I were talking

[00:29:18] and he looked at me

[00:29:19] and he said

[00:29:20] young theologian

[00:29:21] is what he said

[00:29:21] which if you know Tony

[00:29:22] that won't spite you.

[00:29:23] Young theologian,

[00:29:25] what is our theology

[00:29:27] of the poor?

[00:29:29] He put me on the spot

[00:29:30] in front of this room

[00:29:32] and I must admit

[00:29:33] I was on my heels.

[00:29:35] I didn't.

[00:29:36] Seminary had not trained me

[00:29:38] to have an answer

[00:29:38] to that question

[00:29:40] and he looked at me again

[00:29:42] with compassion

[00:29:43] but stern.

[00:29:45] What is our theology

[00:29:46] of the poor?

[00:29:48] When I couldn't answer

[00:29:49] the question,

[00:29:50] he said,

[00:29:51] young theologian,

[00:29:53] our theology of the poor

[00:29:55] is when we look

[00:29:57] into the eyes

[00:29:57] of the poor,

[00:29:58] we look into

[00:29:59] the face of Jesus.

[00:30:00] Good line.

[00:30:01] As much as you've done

[00:30:02] it to the least of these,

[00:30:03] you have done it unto me.

[00:30:06] And I just,

[00:30:08] I've been training pastors

[00:30:10] for two decades

[00:30:12] and one of the things

[00:30:14] that pastors tell me

[00:30:15] all the time

[00:30:15] is that their people,

[00:30:17] their congregants

[00:30:18] have beautiful hearts.

[00:30:20] They want to love

[00:30:21] the poor.

[00:30:22] They want to love

[00:30:22] the tossed aside,

[00:30:23] the forgotten,

[00:30:24] the least.

[00:30:24] They want to.

[00:30:25] They don't know how.

[00:30:27] Like the idea

[00:30:28] of walking into a prison

[00:30:29] and like starting

[00:30:30] a prison Bible study

[00:30:31] or something

[00:30:32] just feels overwhelming

[00:30:33] to most congregants.

[00:30:34] The idea of working

[00:30:37] at a soup kitchen

[00:30:38] sometimes feels scary

[00:30:39] and I don't know

[00:30:40] or unsafe.

[00:30:40] the idea of going

[00:30:44] to an immigration camp

[00:30:47] just to show compassion,

[00:30:50] just to feel like

[00:30:51] I wouldn't know

[00:30:52] what to do

[00:30:52] and I wouldn't know

[00:30:53] what to say.

[00:30:54] You know what's not

[00:30:55] intimidating?

[00:30:56] An eight-year-old.

[00:30:57] Mm-hmm.

[00:30:58] An eight-year-old

[00:30:59] from an under-resourced home,

[00:31:01] under-resourced school

[00:31:03] is absolutely

[00:31:04] not intimidating.

[00:31:05] And what we're seeing

[00:31:06] across the country

[00:31:07] right now

[00:31:07] is unbelievable number

[00:31:10] of churches

[00:31:10] that are saying

[00:31:11] we want to get involved

[00:31:13] with the forgotten

[00:31:15] and all of us

[00:31:16] know how to read.

[00:31:18] So let's go make a difference

[00:31:19] in this really powerful area.

[00:31:21] And Kirby,

[00:31:22] there's some.

[00:31:23] We live in a world today

[00:31:24] where the neighborhood

[00:31:26] has been abandoned

[00:31:28] and in our consumerism

[00:31:30] and our commuterism,

[00:31:31] there are only two institutions

[00:31:33] that still exist

[00:31:35] in every neighborhood

[00:31:35] in America,

[00:31:37] the grade school

[00:31:39] and the local church.

[00:31:41] And we want to hook

[00:31:42] those two institutions up

[00:31:44] and see a transformation

[00:31:45] of an entire generation

[00:31:46] that we would stop being

[00:31:49] 125th in the world

[00:31:50] in literacy

[00:31:51] according to World Book

[00:31:52] Encyclopedia.

[00:31:53] Amazing.

[00:31:54] And we would once again

[00:31:55] return to being

[00:31:56] one of the great education

[00:31:57] countries in the world.

[00:31:59] Among developed countries,

[00:32:00] they say that we're 32nd

[00:32:02] out of 35

[00:32:03] developed countries.

[00:32:05] In literacy.

[00:32:07] America peaked

[00:32:07] in the 1970s.

[00:32:09] In the 1970s,

[00:32:10] we were leading

[00:32:10] the world in education.

[00:32:12] Today,

[00:32:12] we are 32nd

[00:32:13] out of 35

[00:32:14] developed countries

[00:32:15] in literacy.

[00:32:17] And we've got to see

[00:32:18] a change.

[00:32:18] And we all want

[00:32:19] a better country.

[00:32:20] We all want

[00:32:20] a better future.

[00:32:20] We all want

[00:32:21] better neighborhoods.

[00:32:22] This is one of the ways

[00:32:22] we can do it.

[00:32:24] Let's take a break

[00:32:24] and when we come back,

[00:32:25] we'll talk a little bit more

[00:32:26] about how you can get involved

[00:32:28] individually

[00:32:28] and how your church can.

[00:32:29] First of all,

[00:32:30] let me just point you

[00:32:31] to Children's Literacy

[00:32:33] Project.org.

[00:32:35] They have a lot

[00:32:35] of key resources.

[00:32:36] Getting started,

[00:32:38] school relations,

[00:32:39] why mentoring,

[00:32:39] and the rest.

[00:32:40] When we come back,

[00:32:41] I do want to talk with

[00:32:42] Tony about

[00:32:43] the film

[00:32:45] Sentenced

[00:32:45] because there's a way

[00:32:46] in which you can screen that.

[00:32:48] Of course,

[00:32:48] we have a trailer

[00:32:50] that you can watch.

[00:32:51] The book,

[00:32:52] Read,

[00:32:52] How God's People

[00:32:53] Can Bring Justice

[00:32:54] Through Literacy.

[00:32:55] You can learn more

[00:32:56] about that.

[00:32:57] Of course,

[00:32:57] we've even put up

[00:32:58] a separate link there

[00:32:59] as well

[00:33:00] to the book

[00:33:01] that has come out

[00:33:02] here in September.

[00:33:03] If you would want

[00:33:04] to get a copy of the book,

[00:33:05] and I think you might

[00:33:06] want to,

[00:33:06] that is the case.

[00:33:07] Of course,

[00:33:08] all of that is available

[00:33:09] through the website

[00:33:11] pointofview.net.

[00:33:12] Just even during the break,

[00:33:13] you might get near a computer.

[00:33:15] Check out

[00:33:18] childrensliteracyproject.org.

[00:33:19] I'm going to come back

[00:33:20] and I'm going to have

[00:33:20] Tony talk about

[00:33:21] first of all,

[00:33:22] what you can do

[00:33:22] as an individual,

[00:33:24] not anything terribly

[00:33:25] threatening about

[00:33:26] wanting to help

[00:33:27] an eight-year-old

[00:33:28] learn how to read,

[00:33:29] and most importantly,

[00:33:31] how you and your church

[00:33:32] can be involved

[00:33:33] because this is a movement

[00:33:34] that we hope

[00:33:35] would be expanded

[00:33:36] even by this broadcast today.

[00:33:38] Let's take a break.

[00:33:40] We'll come back

[00:33:40] and talk more

[00:33:41] about the Children's

[00:33:41] Literacy Project

[00:33:43] right after this.

[00:33:56] You're listening

[00:33:56] to Point of View,

[00:33:58] your listener-supported

[00:34:00] source for truth.

[00:34:01] Tony Greer is with us

[00:34:02] as we talk about

[00:34:03] the Children's

[00:34:04] Literacy Project.

[00:34:05] And Tony,

[00:34:06] first of all,

[00:34:06] I've just got to say

[00:34:07] that I'm so impressed

[00:34:08] with your website

[00:34:09] because it is really

[00:34:11] literally plug-and-play.

[00:34:12] You've got a section

[00:34:14] on getting started

[00:34:15] and a number of videos

[00:34:16] there,

[00:34:16] all the way to

[00:34:18] why mentoring

[00:34:18] and literacy champion

[00:34:20] and church resources,

[00:34:22] but I imagine by now

[00:34:23] people have heard

[00:34:24] enough of these

[00:34:25] very discouraging

[00:34:26] statistics about literacy

[00:34:28] and recognizing

[00:34:29] that if we really

[00:34:30] want to make a difference,

[00:34:32] I think our church

[00:34:33] needs to develop that.

[00:34:35] So talk about

[00:34:36] how we get started.

[00:34:38] Thank you so much.

[00:34:39] And yeah,

[00:34:39] the website is,

[00:34:41] it's a new site.

[00:34:42] We've been working

[00:34:42] really hard on it.

[00:34:43] I've been developing

[00:34:43] a lot of the materials

[00:34:44] for it,

[00:34:45] and we just want it

[00:34:46] to be a catch-all

[00:34:47] so everyone feels

[00:34:48] like they can get

[00:34:48] started today.

[00:34:50] We hope,

[00:34:51] you know,

[00:34:51] the long arc,

[00:34:53] we really hope

[00:34:53] that this country

[00:34:54] goes through a transformation.

[00:34:55] We go through,

[00:34:56] our education system

[00:34:57] goes through a transformation

[00:35:00] both nationally

[00:35:01] and locally,

[00:35:01] but in the meantime,

[00:35:03] we have to act.

[00:35:04] And the best way

[00:35:06] that we have found

[00:35:07] to really make change,

[00:35:08] and again,

[00:35:08] we have seen this

[00:35:09] in thousands of neighborhoods

[00:35:10] across the country,

[00:35:11] is for a church

[00:35:12] or a collection of churches

[00:35:14] to adopt a school

[00:35:15] and declare

[00:35:16] that no child

[00:35:17] will get through

[00:35:18] fourth grade

[00:35:19] unable to read.

[00:35:21] We will commit to that

[00:35:22] and then have their congress

[00:35:24] show up one hour a week.

[00:35:27] Anybody who's willing

[00:35:27] to volunteer,

[00:35:28] take one lunch hour,

[00:35:29] one hour a week,

[00:35:30] show up to that school

[00:35:31] and become the new best friend

[00:35:33] to an eight-year-old,

[00:35:34] to a nine-year-old,

[00:35:35] and just give them

[00:35:36] that one-on-one attention

[00:35:37] that so many children

[00:35:38] lack in their lives.

[00:35:40] So many of our children

[00:35:41] come from difficult homes

[00:35:42] where their parents

[00:35:43] are doing the best

[00:35:44] that they can

[00:35:45] but maybe they're

[00:35:45] working multiple jobs

[00:35:46] or it's a single-parent home

[00:35:48] or they're living

[00:35:48] below the poverty line

[00:35:50] and struggling

[00:35:50] just to get through

[00:35:51] the things of life.

[00:35:52] And many kids today

[00:35:54] with the loss

[00:35:55] of the extended family,

[00:35:57] with the loss

[00:35:58] of community engagement,

[00:35:59] they do not have

[00:36:00] one adult

[00:36:01] who really cares for them,

[00:36:02] shows up every week

[00:36:03] and says,

[00:36:04] hey, you're important,

[00:36:05] you're smart,

[00:36:06] you have a future

[00:36:07] and a hope

[00:36:07] and let's spend time together

[00:36:10] reading one fish,

[00:36:11] two fish,

[00:36:12] red fish,

[00:36:12] blue fish.

[00:36:13] Let's get together

[00:36:13] and work on these skills

[00:36:15] together.

[00:36:16] So many of our teachers

[00:36:17] are overwhelmed,

[00:36:17] they're doing the best

[00:36:18] that they can,

[00:36:19] but their classrooms

[00:36:21] are overcrowded

[00:36:22] and too many of their kids

[00:36:23] are so far behind

[00:36:24] that they never can help

[00:36:26] get ahead of the wave.

[00:36:28] But when a few volunteers

[00:36:29] come in from a local church

[00:36:30] and say,

[00:36:31] we want to love you,

[00:36:32] we want to care about you

[00:36:33] and pull just a fraction

[00:36:34] of those kids

[00:36:35] out of the room,

[00:36:36] suddenly that teacher's

[00:36:37] got margin.

[00:36:39] Suddenly that teacher's

[00:36:40] got the ability

[00:36:40] to teach

[00:36:42] instead of just doing

[00:36:43] crisis control

[00:36:44] all the time.

[00:36:44] These are the things

[00:36:45] we want to bring

[00:36:46] to the classroom

[00:36:46] and we've seen it happen.

[00:36:49] Down in Waco, Texas,

[00:36:52] local churches adopted

[00:36:53] the top eight

[00:36:55] worst scoring schools

[00:36:57] in maybe the whole state,

[00:36:58] but certainly

[00:36:59] in that county

[00:37:00] in Texas,

[00:37:02] the eight worst scoring

[00:37:03] in literacy

[00:37:04] in the entire state.

[00:37:05] Today,

[00:37:06] those eight schools

[00:37:06] are the highest scoring schools

[00:37:09] because churches

[00:37:10] got involved

[00:37:11] and began mentoring programs

[00:37:13] in each one of those schools

[00:37:14] and it transformed

[00:37:16] and they're seeing

[00:37:17] those neighborhoods

[00:37:17] transform

[00:37:18] because those kids

[00:37:19] are coming home

[00:37:20] with less emotional problems.

[00:37:22] Suddenly those families

[00:37:23] are healthier

[00:37:24] or more engaged.

[00:37:26] The impact,

[00:37:26] the ripple effect,

[00:37:27] and I'm not even talking

[00:37:28] about what happens

[00:37:28] 10 years down the road,

[00:37:30] 15 years down the road

[00:37:32] when these kids

[00:37:33] suddenly enter the workforce

[00:37:35] and they have the skills

[00:37:36] to get a job,

[00:37:37] to contribute to society,

[00:37:38] to pay their taxes.

[00:37:41] Most of these,

[00:37:42] almost all these illiterate kids,

[00:37:44] they grow up

[00:37:44] to become people

[00:37:45] who don't pay any taxes

[00:37:46] at all.

[00:37:46] They take from the system

[00:37:47] and we end up

[00:37:48] carrying that burden.

[00:37:49] How do we make transformation?

[00:37:51] And this is one of the ways

[00:37:52] that we just believe

[00:37:53] the church can really

[00:37:54] have a tangible impact.

[00:37:56] And one of the things

[00:37:57] I've noticed

[00:37:57] is you were saying

[00:37:58] 10 years down the road,

[00:37:59] our own church

[00:38:00] had done this

[00:38:01] where we had individuals

[00:38:02] that were going

[00:38:03] to teach reading

[00:38:04] in West Dallas

[00:38:05] and out of that

[00:38:06] eventually developed

[00:38:06] the West Dallas Community School

[00:38:08] and I've served

[00:38:09] on the West Dallas

[00:38:10] Community School Board

[00:38:11] for many years

[00:38:11] and so you went from

[00:38:13] not only helping those kids

[00:38:15] to actually establishing

[00:38:16] a lighthouse

[00:38:17] in the midst

[00:38:18] of some of that

[00:38:20] really difficult circumstances

[00:38:22] and turning out individuals

[00:38:24] that were not only literate

[00:38:25] but doing very well

[00:38:26] going to college.

[00:38:27] But again,

[00:38:28] how can people get involved?

[00:38:29] It does seem to me

[00:38:30] that the first step

[00:38:31] is to fill out that form.

[00:38:33] There's a take action item

[00:38:35] and you can say,

[00:38:36] well, I'd like to be a volunteer.

[00:38:38] Maybe I'd like to register

[00:38:39] some volunteers.

[00:38:40] Maybe I'd church.

[00:38:41] Talk about what

[00:38:42] that might entail

[00:38:42] because I want to encourage

[00:38:44] people listening right now

[00:38:45] to sign up.

[00:38:47] Yes, please go to

[00:38:50] childrensliteracyproject.org

[00:38:51] and just say

[00:38:52] I want to get involved.

[00:38:53] Click on the button

[00:38:53] right there.

[00:38:54] And if you're an individual

[00:38:56] who wants to,

[00:38:56] what we'll do

[00:38:57] is we'll do a very,

[00:38:58] very short intake

[00:38:59] and we'll get you hooked up

[00:39:00] with the best literacy organization

[00:39:02] in your local area.

[00:39:04] If you are a pastor

[00:39:05] or a leader

[00:39:06] of a faith community

[00:39:07] and you want to see

[00:39:08] how your entire community

[00:39:09] can get involved

[00:39:10] or maybe adopt a school,

[00:39:11] go on,

[00:39:12] register your organization,

[00:39:13] register your church

[00:39:15] and we will get back to you

[00:39:16] and we will hook you up

[00:39:17] with the best literacy organization

[00:39:18] in your area

[00:39:19] to expedite the process

[00:39:22] so that your people

[00:39:23] are on the ground

[00:39:24] with a new eight-year-old

[00:39:26] best friend

[00:39:26] as soon as possible.

[00:39:28] Our goal is to make that

[00:39:29] so simple

[00:39:30] because we want churches

[00:39:32] to be doing the work,

[00:39:34] to actually be in the lives

[00:39:35] of people,

[00:39:35] not worrying about

[00:39:36] figuring things out

[00:39:37] and doing research

[00:39:38] and doing administration.

[00:39:39] We want to take care

[00:39:40] of all of that

[00:39:40] so your people

[00:39:42] can tomorrow

[00:39:43] have a new best friend

[00:39:44] who is the least of these,

[00:39:46] the poor and spirit

[00:39:47] as Jesus talked about.

[00:39:48] And again,

[00:39:48] one of the videos

[00:39:49] is Are You a Literacy Church?

[00:39:50] I'm hoping some

[00:39:51] of the listeners here

[00:39:52] will try to make their church

[00:39:54] a literacy church

[00:39:54] and part of that outreach.

[00:39:56] Fantastic.

[00:39:57] If people have a question,

[00:39:58] I know that sometimes

[00:39:59] they would like to talk to you.

[00:40:01] There's a get involved,

[00:40:02] but of course,

[00:40:03] you're up there

[00:40:03] in Lake Oswego.

[00:40:04] I know where that is

[00:40:04] because my wife

[00:40:05] is from Canby, Oregon,

[00:40:06] so that's just down the road.

[00:40:07] Oh, wow.

[00:40:08] But I think anybody

[00:40:09] could give you a call

[00:40:10] and you do have a way

[00:40:12] in which people

[00:40:13] can contact you

[00:40:14] as well,

[00:40:14] don't they,

[00:40:15] through email

[00:40:15] or then some of the links

[00:40:16] that we have?

[00:40:18] Yes, sir.

[00:40:18] You can connect

[00:40:20] through Children's Literacy Project

[00:40:22] through the website

[00:40:23] or quite frankly,

[00:40:24] T-O-N-Y-K-R-I-Z

[00:40:27] at childrensliteracyproject.org

[00:40:29] if people want to contact me

[00:40:31] directly and ask questions.

[00:40:33] Maybe they've gotten

[00:40:34] a book read

[00:40:35] and they want to talk about it

[00:40:36] and see some of the ways

[00:40:37] that we've applied

[00:40:38] the teachings of Jesus

[00:40:39] to this literacy crisis

[00:40:40] in America today

[00:40:41] and how the church

[00:40:43] is the perfect answer.

[00:40:44] I would love to talk

[00:40:44] to anybody.

[00:40:45] Let me just mention again

[00:40:46] we have a link

[00:40:47] to the book,

[00:40:48] Read,

[00:40:48] How God's People

[00:40:49] Can Bring Justice

[00:40:51] Through Literacy.

[00:40:51] We have a link

[00:40:52] to the website.

[00:40:53] We also have a link

[00:40:54] to your Twitter feed

[00:40:56] or of course now called

[00:40:57] X and Facebook page.

[00:40:58] All of that is available

[00:40:59] but the simplest way

[00:41:00] to get started,

[00:41:01] simply go to our website,

[00:41:02] pointofview.net

[00:41:03] or go directly

[00:41:04] to childrensliteracyproject.org.

[00:41:07] Everything you need

[00:41:08] is right there

[00:41:09] and I hope you'll contact Tony

[00:41:10] and let's see if we can turn

[00:41:11] some of the churches

[00:41:12] that are associated

[00:41:13] with this radio program

[00:41:14] across the country involved.

[00:41:16] So Tony,

[00:41:16] thank you for being with us today

[00:41:17] here on Point of View.

[00:41:19] Thank you Kirby,

[00:41:20] I appreciate it.

[00:41:21] We're going to take a break

[00:41:22] and when we come back

[00:41:23] we'll get into

[00:41:23] some of the issues

[00:41:24] in the news.

[00:41:25] David Bonson

[00:41:26] will be with us

[00:41:27] and of course

[00:41:27] if you have

[00:41:29] maybe an interest in this,

[00:41:31] I just think

[00:41:31] there's a great opportunity

[00:41:32] to deal with this issue.

[00:41:34] I would rather

[00:41:36] deal with the problems

[00:41:37] that are going to unfold

[00:41:39] in the 21st century

[00:41:40] upstream

[00:41:41] rather than downstream

[00:41:42] and if you cannot

[00:41:44] learn to read

[00:41:46] by the fourth grade

[00:41:47] it is not a real

[00:41:49] positive outcome

[00:41:50] for you in the future

[00:41:51] and seems to me

[00:41:52] that there are some things

[00:41:53] that we can

[00:41:54] and should do

[00:41:55] and after all

[00:41:56] the church is going

[00:41:57] to be a lighthouse

[00:41:57] sometimes in the midst

[00:41:59] of a dark culture.

[00:42:00] Let's be the lighthouse

[00:42:01] and let's see

[00:42:02] what we can do

[00:42:03] in terms of this issue

[00:42:04] of literacy.

[00:42:05] So let's take a break

[00:42:06] when we come back

[00:42:07] we'll get into

[00:42:08] some more issues

[00:42:08] but if you go

[00:42:09] to the website today

[00:42:10] you'll notice

[00:42:11] that my commentary

[00:42:12] is on debt

[00:42:13] and spending

[00:42:13] which will get into

[00:42:14] of course

[00:42:15] some of the conversation

[00:42:16] we just had

[00:42:16] about Elon Musk

[00:42:18] and Vivek Rameshwamy

[00:42:19] but also the conversation

[00:42:20] we're going to have

[00:42:21] in just a few minutes

[00:42:22] with David Bonson

[00:42:23] but you'll also notice

[00:42:24] that we now have

[00:42:25] a banner up there

[00:42:26] saying Giving Tuesday.

[00:42:29] Giving Tuesday

[00:42:30] is just around the corner

[00:42:31] it's December 3rd

[00:42:32] and again we would

[00:42:34] encourage you

[00:42:35] to want to join

[00:42:36] with us

[00:42:37] if you appreciate

[00:42:38] the kind of conversations

[00:42:39] that we have.

[00:42:41] Today we talked about

[00:42:42] the Children's Literacy Project

[00:42:43] yesterday we talked about

[00:42:44] a pregnancy resource center

[00:42:46] we're talking about

[00:42:47] what's happening

[00:42:47] in the transition

[00:42:48] for Donald Trump

[00:42:50] and his new administration

[00:42:51] we're getting into

[00:42:52] foreign policy issues

[00:42:53] we'll be talking about

[00:42:54] religious liberty tomorrow

[00:42:55] with Kelly Shackelford

[00:42:56] if you think that's worthy

[00:42:57] of your financial support

[00:42:58] I hope that you would think

[00:42:59] that would be the case

[00:43:00] I hope you might click

[00:43:02] on that button

[00:43:02] that says donate

[00:43:03] and support this ministry

[00:43:05] even before

[00:43:05] Giving Tuesday

[00:43:06] and that's just around

[00:43:07] the corner

[00:43:08] we'll be right back.

[00:43:11] The Bible tells us

[00:43:13] not to worry

[00:43:14] and yet there is

[00:43:16] a lot of worrying stuff

[00:43:17] in our world today.

[00:43:20] Thankfully the Bible

[00:43:21] doesn't stop

[00:43:22] at telling us

[00:43:23] not to worry

[00:43:24] God gives us

[00:43:25] a next step

[00:43:26] he says we need

[00:43:28] to pray

[00:43:28] but sometimes

[00:43:30] even knowing

[00:43:31] what to pray

[00:43:31] can be difficult

[00:43:33] and that is why

[00:43:34] Point of View

[00:43:35] has relaunched

[00:43:36] our Pray for America

[00:43:38] movement

[00:43:38] a series of weekly emails

[00:43:40] to guide you in prayer

[00:43:42] for our nation.

[00:43:44] Each week

[00:43:45] you'll receive

[00:43:45] a brief update

[00:43:46] about a current issue

[00:43:48] affecting Americans

[00:43:49] along with

[00:43:50] a written prayer

[00:43:51] that you can easily

[00:43:53] share with others.

[00:43:54] We'll also include

[00:43:55] a short free resource

[00:43:57] for you

[00:43:57] in each email

[00:43:58] so you can learn more

[00:44:00] about the issue

[00:44:01] at hand.

[00:44:02] Will you commit

[00:44:03] to pray for America?

[00:44:05] Go to

[00:44:06] pointofview.net

[00:44:09] Click on the

[00:44:10] Pray for America

[00:44:11] banner at the top

[00:44:12] of the page

[00:44:13] to subscribe.

[00:44:14] Again,

[00:44:15] that's

[00:44:15] pointofview.net

[00:44:17] Click on the

[00:44:19] Pray for America

[00:44:20] banner.

[00:44:21] Let's pray together

[00:44:22] for God

[00:44:23] to make a difference

[00:44:24] in America.

[00:44:28] Point of View

[00:44:29] will continue

[00:44:30] after this.

[00:44:31] Thank you.

[00:44:32] Thank you.