Today my name is John Waller I'm a contemporary Christian artist and I'm a father and I can remember when my wife and I found out we were expecting our 1st child it was a miracle that we got to hear my son's harpy and and to this day I don't understand how anyone can say that this is not a child this is not a life for more information on how you can be a voice for life visit the voice dot net everyone is called to be a voice for life this is the worst hurricane in the history of Texas this is Franklin Graham in the wake of Hurricane Harvey Samaritan's Purse is responding people have lost homes some people have lost everything and we want to be there in their time in need of course we want to do this in the name of Jesus Christ Samaritans as. They say Dan Q What a gift for more information or to find out how you can help go to Samaritan's Purse that Samaritans Purse dot. 1000 years ago he had some pretty revolutionary ideas back on it's easy to sign with him now but if you. Want him then such supporter. Mexico. They play all male favorite. Snacks not to jam. Their music there's everything your pop classic station on our sister station legends 810 calle v.z. . You're listening to calle d.c. H.d. 122895 point 3 f.m. And streaming at 1220 table d.c. Don't come across for drug testing is country station. The weather is in the news once again current events section of the bottom line show today I'm Roger March there are different reports coming out of the southeast at this time it's hurricane Erma the strongest Atlantico ocean hurricane ever recorded so far and it may bring significant storm surge ing as it nears Florida and Governor Rick Scott announcing basically what he was encouraging people to do was to do what needs to be done to make yourself safe Roger Marsh your bottom line show kicking off for today's edition the broadcast coming up today in our number 2 Brian Byrd is going to join me and Brian's a great friend got to know him over the past several years he is a writer he's a producer and he's got a brand new d.v.d. Blu ray cd streaming mechanism out for the movie The Case for Christ and he's going to join me in studio in our number 2 in and talk about that and that's this going to be a wonderful conversation about a fascinating project about one man police trouble who moved into a season of faith simply because he was trying to rescue his wife from a season of belief they were both one was atheist one was agnostic and one his life wife Leslie became a Christian as a result of some witnessing and just the Holy Spirit moving in her heart through will accrete church in Chicago literally decided I've got to rescue her from these people who brainwashed her and the rest is a just a fascinating story and has led to a ministry led by one of the leading apologists in the United States in the world least trouble so Brian Bird joins me in studio in our number 2 our number one we're focusing on the weather yet again and our hurricane Irma is packing 185 mile per hour winds right now currently located about 20 miles east of St Thomas 90 miles east of San Juan Puerto Rico by the way. There's been some interesting chatter on social media with regard to this. And from people who are reminding us here in the u.s. Mainland that St Thomas Virgin Islands San Juan Puerto Rico those are American territories so lest we think gosh I hope this doesn't hit America it's already basically hitting America and wreaking havoc in Florida Governor Rick Scott earlier today said this could be on landfall in Florida as early as Friday possibly on Saturday and what's fascinating about this if you look at some of the maps of where Hurricane Erma is going the trajectory about 400 miles it literally could go from the tip to the Panhandle just remarkable and not only that I was talking with a colleague in Florida earlier today and he said The thing about this is the weather pattern is so strange and so unusual with this hurricane as well. That what we might be looking at as more rain in Louisiana and in Texas if you can believe it this is one of those situations where if you are traveling and you have plans to travel into the Florida area change your plans I mean it's just it's not worth the hassle to me colleagues right now tonight we're talking about this but before the show people that we know and you know 2 who have had either vacation plans or business related plans and friend of mine from Colorado Springs literally landed in Orlando and then caught the next plane out if you can possibly get one it's just not safe at all. The mandatory evacuation in Florida right now is for everyone in the Florida Keys especially for people who are visiting there the residents. Mandatory evacuation gets underway in about an hour and this mess mandatory evacuation. I believe is prudent because of the fact that they're giving residents at least 48 hours to move ahead and there's been a lot of chatter about this leading up to all this too. There are 6000 National Guard members reporting for duty all across the state of course the 900 members of the Florida National Guard have also been summoned as well and this is yet another if you're looking for the governmental response to this can't stress this enough the importance of the governor of a state acknowledging that there is going to be the potential for danger and preemptively California Governor Brown and the other governors have been famous for doing this when it comes to earthquakes and things of that nature if they sense that the fault lines are moving in a certain way they'll go ahead and preemptively declare a state of emergency and then if the earthquake does happen and does recap make everything all the federal mechanisms are in place so if we've learned anything from Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 it's this the mayor of a town needs to speak up the governor of a state needs to speak up and alert federal authorities before the problem gets here I can't stress this enough there was so much misinformation after Hurricane Katrina with regard to quote unquote who's the blame who's responsible who's at fault and if we're going to get the fault blaming finger pointing accurate it starts with what is your responsibility as an elected official and do you uphold it so far we've got 3 governors have been impacted by hurricane Harvey and hurricane Irma and all 3 of them have stepped up to the challenge so kudos to Governor John Bill Edwards in Louisiana to governor Greg Abbott in Texas and now Governor Rick Scott in Florida for doing what needs to be done how do you argue with 185 mile an hour winds Can you fathom that I mean the only time I've ever travel that fast is in an airplane and let's face it when you're an airplane you don't know you're going 500 miles an hour right I mean unless you jump out of the plane or unless I interviewed a woman who one time was in a plane there was a collision or something the wing blew off an adorable emergency door blew off right in front of her and they flew for a while with the part of the. Lane missing then you know how fast you're going in an airplane but I don't know that our bodies can actually comprehend 185 miles an hour mean less or in some kind of moving vehicle and even then it's going so quickly you really don't have any. You don't have anything to compare it to the frame of reference is always important in Florida Governor Rick Scott is saying hey look this is a bigger storm it's moving faster it is stronger than Hurricane Andrew which is frame of reference for 4 Floridians and the fact that he's calling for this is is it's wise and again I say this not to fault the governor of Houston so best return or I did not at all because I believe every leader in a situation like this has to make the best decision based on what they know about their areas what they know about their past history and what they can tell and they're going off of like radar maps and things once this is actually hitting and we're hitting Antigua and hitting other parts of the Caribbean there that are getting blasted by hurricane Irma they can kind of get a gauge for this but hurricane Harvey came up so quick and so so unexpectedly no one really knew how much rain was going to be dumped and this is interesting to the Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharif said that earlier today they've scheduled evacuations there beginning at noon on Thursday anybody who lives on u.s. Route one the federal highway all the barrier islands there are 14 emergency shelters that will be open by Thursday. And the county does have pet friendly shelters too which is also important to talk about that yesterday here on the bottom line my conversation with Katherine Schwarzenegger about rescue dogs and rescue pets now Miami Dade mayor Carlos jiménez has not issued a mandatory evacuation because in that area Irma has slowed down county officials have a bit more time to kind of figure out what's going on before they actually make their decision though they did say that in Miami Dade there are 2200 special needs residents who have in fact been of evacuated so far and that's how they're handling this notice again this is a case by case by case Hurricane Andrew by the way frame of reference it's a category 5 that hit South Florida in 1902 now this is really really tough for this area not that Texas wasn't a tough spot not that Louisiana wasn't any more important but when you think of Florida the reason why this is so key is because of the fact that Florida is a tourist attraction the entire state it's just tourism drives the industry in Florida. And this is a moment for us in the body of Christ to once again step up and stay in prayer for those who are experiencing what's happening here the idea that. You can't really control something like this you have to just kind of figure out the National Weather Service even saying. The wind and the surge of water in the Keys could be the biggest problem here whatsoever for these folks so we do what we've been doing the past few days you're on the program and begin the program with a word of prayer. Heavenly father we are grateful that you are in control and we know that you love us and that you care for us your children and we know that there are those here in harm's way right now some who are your children and some who are not yet a pray Father for safety pray for protection pray for guidance for those who are in harm's way for those who are coming to provide aid and comfort we pray that you would give them success in their journeys and help us all to be mindful of the fact that when a situation like this does in fact arise it does so reminding us that there are forces greater than us in this world that we can't control and and our life is but a vapor and how wise we are to remember that there is an eternal perspective to maintain spending eternity in glory with you spending eternity separated for you in turtle torment and it's moments like this when people think about the potential for loss of life and loss of property that these thoughts come to the forefront so help us as your children to be instruments of comfort but also at the same time Father help us to be mindful of the fact that there may be hearts and minds that are being opened as well to the possibility that maybe things aren't right in their world we ask all these things in Jesus precious and powerful name Amen as we continue more our weather related updates and also a good update with regard to a god and country at issue and here in the bottom line show with regard to well how how does it happen in the public eye when we the people are trying to exercise our freedom of religion in the public square we're going to talk about that also this hour to hear the current events section of today's edition of The bottom line tune into Monday through Friday to calle d.c. 12 20 am and 95.3 f.m. For c.b.c. Broadcast Christian ministries business talk and conservative talk only on the all new kale d.c. . You're never too old to wacky too wild to pick up a book and read with a child this is cool. Ery Dolman president of the Colorado Education Association reading to your child now can spark a lifetime of reading and learning parents we know you're tired at the end of a long day but by taking just a few minutes to read with your child you'll be setting them on a path towards reading and learning on their own and studies show students who read and are read to do better in school and in life so have books that interest your child around your home if your child enjoys sports have books about sports if your child enjoys pelé have books about dancing with parents and teachers working together every child in Colorado can learn to read and reading may be the most important thing they'll ever learn sponsored by the Colorado Education Association and aired in cooperation with the Colorado Broadcasters Association. But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace longsuffering kindness goodness faithfulness self-control against such there is no law elations $522.00 through $23.00 here's Dr Charles Stanley keeping believers in touch with God Now the Bible speaks Current events section the bottom line show them Roger Mark is kind of digging the tunes here as we take a look at what's happening in the world around us and I think about the the prayers that we're offering up for people who are being impacted by natural disasters and it's it's interesting to see and I have a friend of mine who lives in Idaho was posting on her social media earlier this morning she said hey pray for us in Idaho here the fires aren't anywhere near here in terms of you know like burning in Idaho but there's so much wind going on of the soot in the ash that's blowing everywhere around here the visibility on the roads is awful it looks like it's worse than a stage 3 smog alert and it's a it's a really interesting time to Father we're praying for rain for those areas for frame for winds to blow the smoke away the rain is really what is desperately needed in a situation like that and hopefully we're moving into a rainy season not like a hurricane Harvey or hurricane erm related season but nonetheless I've been intrigued with the number of people and maybe you have 2 who have been prayer warriors during the past couple of weeks isn't it that been encouraging to see it's nice to know that we it's unfortunate when a tragedy strikes that people will say Ok well now I'm going to turn to prayer 1st and foremost this is my pastor's heart coming out it's important for us to use prayer as your 1st thought not your last resort. I mean it's really and to those who are concerned it while I don't know how to do it right or I don't know what I'm saying or you know is God really going to hear my prayer is God God going to answer my prayer God's looking at your heart before he's listening to your words he wants to know what your motive is 1st and foremost because let's face it any little kid can say God give me a new bike God give me but you can't you get all these feel selfish desires we're praying according to God's Will we're praying in Jesus' name so I mean obviously God's not going to let you pray for something that it goes against his will so you have to worry about that that that's one of the guardrails but also you know there are times I was talking with a woman earlier today who went through just a major challenge in her family a car accident an unexpected cancer diagnosis that was actually the result of treatment that her daughter had for the car accident was just it was awful and I thought by this is really it's really lousy and she said no actually what has been happening in our families we've been learning how to to heal during these times of tragedy and so and God has been using these times of tragedy to draw people to us for ministry opportunity and it's been a whole new ministry has been birthed as a result of what they've been through and I was I was thinking about that as a we realize that there are a lot of people who look at what's happening in the United States right now just the natural disasters but also in terms of the cultural up evil that has been the result of the most recent election and I say cultural upheaval in terms of the number of people who literally are spooked over the fact that the current occupant of the White House is not who they voted for and appears to be someone who is you know depends on who you talk to some people say gosh this is the worst thing that ever happened to America and some people the best and this is coming from within the church I'm not even looking at the world on the whole I'm looking at the church . And it makes me wonder about you know an anti-Christian America what kind of influence we actually have of course in the rescue efforts I'm not saying it's all Christians who are doing it but you're seeing a lot of faith based groups that are having tremendous success I mention this Sunday on the program yesterday the the idea that there are so many different faith groups and nonprofit groups and for profit groups that are government related that are stepping up and providing the aid and comfort it's just it's great there are firefighters there are battling these blazes in Oregon I mean Portland's and ash right now and California all throughout the West in the Northwest that's where the fires are the southeast are getting the rain and it made me wonder start thinking about well I wonder how many people of faith there are in the United States because we think of about America's being a Christian nation and in all honesty a new survey that was conducted these Sociedad Press reported this earlier today the Public Religion Research Institute p.r.i. Is based in Washington d.c. 40 years ago 8 in 10 Americans were were white Christians this is how the population the cultures change 8 out of 10 those are the people who are out in the street corners praying in the node viable meetings and city councils and this that the other thing nowadays the number of people who identify as white and Christian is below 50 percent now that doesn't mean that America is becoming less Christian in that sense let this one sink in. According to the Public Religion Research Institute poll that was conducted just recently 70 percent of Americans identify as Christians 70 percent isn't that interesting Does that make you wonder I mean you wonder where all the people who are praying for for and praying about this whole diesel issues whether it's the floods in the southeast of the fires in the northwest. There's a lot of people of prayer and lot of churches are volunteering and doing what they need to do to and what they feel compelled to do and obviously as we talked about last week in the program there are some churches that are compelled not to do things as a matter fact I wrestled with this Joel O'Steen gave a rather fiery sermon over this weekend at Lakewood Church and I I was tempted to to play it because he really went after the people who criticized him I didn't think it was called for so I chose not to play it you can find that anywhere it's all over You Tube where he basically took about 6 or 7 minutes and took some pretty hard swings at people who said hey people are criticizing us for doing this but it was with a smile people criticizing us for doing this well here's what we did and here's why we did it and we don't feel bad about it all. Ok well that's that's your call 70 percent of Americans according to a new survey are Christians 43 percent of white Christians are now that's the the population is 43 percent under 50 percent 40 years ago 80 percent of Americans identified as white Christians so does that mean the number of Christians is going down not at all. What's happening is we're seeing a population shift in a demographic shift in the United States there are still many people who are dead of a 70 percent of the population still Christian but if only 43 percent are white and Christian what does that say about the rest of the how do you make of the other 27 percent you begin to see how this looks and this is my my call if you will my challenge to us in the pastorate and to answer the call is Ok if this is the make up of the church right now does your church congregation reflect that I still think of the words of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr when it when he said and this is my paraphrase of it 11 o'clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in the United States and he said that in the middle of the civil rights movement but how is it changed. It's food for thought obviously you can't change demographics debased you know if you're if you live in a state right now where the demographics are what they are you can't say well my church needs to reflect this national average because that's not where people live but I mean treat by this just as a think about the church and the church as influence in the culture and the number of people who are stepping up right now and they're doing hurricane Harvey relief and that's going to go on for months it's going to go on for years right now we're all excited you know everybody's you know let's rebuild and we can drain the swamp in Texas if you will and and hopefully not get hit by this again and I'm God bless everybody who's going out and taking the stand and making the effort now with Hurricane Irma and God only knows what that's going to look like on the land in Florida by this weekend that Friday and Saturday and then of course with the wildfires these are 3 major natural disasters that require humanitarian effort and thrilled to see the church stepping up but my question is Who are these people who are stepping up and are we going to go in for the long haul or are we going to do kind of American missionary stuff or it's like hey we did a one time thing it's a one off and we're done with it this is a golden opportunity for us brothers and sisters it really is to shine the light of Christ the new story will fade away the news cycle goes much too quickly if you look back you have to google back the last 30 days and see the big news stories and ask yourself it was last time you thought about all of them chances are you don't have the capacity for it none of us do. But as the landscape has changed how are we in the church responding to that just some food for thought as we talked about some of the current events today here on the bottom line. Gospel Sunday on Calle d.c. 95.3 f.m. For when you need to be lifted up in the arms of the. Blessed are the merciful Blessed are the me. Blessed are those who moan. For days will be comforted . She's this coming back soon a crafter Broadcasting Company God and Country moment when you turn 62 new opportunities will open up for you to make life easier and more comfortable like a reverse mortgage the money you receive from a reverse mortgage can be used in a myriad of ways to increase your retirement income listen to me Kathy me any annuity for your money the reverse mortgage show get their real scoop on the ends and outs of getting a reverse mortgage listen to Muni for your money on the reverse mortgage show Saturdays at 2 pm as well as Thursdays at 1 30 pm right here on Calle d.c. Things were bad at home my wife and I were fighting it I just never had any energy even my boss noticed I was taking a lot of sick days and when I did show up I think everyone saw that my mind was on something else looking back I can see how all the stress took a toll on my body when it comes to your body your mind really matters for more about the mind body connection go to a Help Center dot org That's 88 Help Center dot org a message from the American Psychological Association Here's Dr Charles Stanley keeping believers in touch with God I asked the question well why does God want to a larger. Don't stop thinking too soon that's the bottom line. Our current events section of the bottom line show today take a look at who is helping what that help is actually needs to take place especially as the of the Southeast in Florida especially getting ready for the wrath of Irma as it were it's amazing I mean the buildings that are getting knocked down I mean you literally Puerto Rico is experiencing landfall I mean that the major damage in the Caribbean is just awful this is without question the strongest hurricane to hit the Atlantic ever put this in perspective one report that I like the perspective in terms of how do you know how strong it is you know. What was the. Johnny Carson line you know it was so hot Burbank today how hot was well how powerful is hurricane or right now if you take the 8 major storms this year and put them all together hurricane. Irma rather is more powerful than all of them as a matter of fact they're having a hard time getting a reading on this because one of the weather stations in particular was actually destroyed by it. It's incredible it's absolutely incredible. Now another thing that we can be praying for to and this is something just really makes my skin crawl is price gouging during a season like this. I understand is one thing if you only have a certain limited amount of supplies and the roads are knocked out and the rains are so bad you can't get new supplies to the stores I understand that but if you've got the supplies you have the means you've got the fuel or the water or whatever it is and you're just charging 3 times as much because hey it's a storm and everyone else is doing it oh my gosh please check yourself and I pray that you know you want to be a prayer warrior for the fires and for the flooding and the storm damage right now that's a good place to start pray that innocent people aren't taken advantage of that me think their lives have already been turned upside down by this I mean literally as well as figure to flee but this is a place I think where the church can really be effective in our prayers I mean obviously financial contributions as well too and I'm a big proponent I mean I want to give the Red Cross a break but even some of the reports are coming out of Houston either they're so big or they're So you know top heavy or whatever it just it doesn't seem like the Red Cross is being as effective as the churches of the other parish church groups and non-profits that are there so I had courage especially if you're still looking to help out Sark 8 of lamb listeners have been benefiting from our Facebook page where we've got a number of Dallas area churches that are helping with Harvey will start getting more information about Florida and how we can help there as the days and weeks roll on but encourage you to find pray for places where you can be effective and also pray for those who might be considering the price gouge as it were as we continue. Good news yet again regard to a case that is some kind of becoming commonplace another challenge to a federal court judge having to take up the case of the Board of Commissioners of a certain county that that likes to open their meetings within vocations. Long long time ago in America we did no problem with that you know local pastor goes out and offers a prayer for opening day of Little League no one cared local priest goes out to you know do the implication at the local town hall meeting no one cares I mean if you're a believer you say hey that's great pastor so and so is there when you pray along with them if you're not you just kind of value head and go when's this guy going to stop talking right while yet another case of a group of commissioners who used to do this and a good result out of this case Roger Byron is senior counsel with 1st Liberty Institute he's going to join me to talk about what happened in Michigan and why this is a good sign for all of us here in the body of Christ we'll talk about that today coming up in our sanctity of life segment today here on the bottom line lighting the world with ministry in praise 95.3 f.m. King a l d c. Hello Hi Bill this is George Dewey from up the street Mo Hey George how you doing good good say I noticed you've been walking to work these days instead of driving and I don't quite know how to say this but but But what but but your but your buttocks your butt I think I found your butt in my front lawn can't you recently lost it as a matter of fact I have George it's about time someone noticed Well I was going to hard to miss if you know what I mean anyway so what you like it back but I like it back no not really so it's Ok if I throw it out sure that's fine take it easy George. Small steps number 8 walk instead of driving whenever you can it's just one of the many small steps you can take to help you become a healthier well you get started w w w dot small step up and take a small step to get healthy. Public service announcement brought to you by the u.s. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. 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But we can listen to her mother the woman or girl facing an unexpected pregnancy maybe she has no money is so ashamed that she can't face her parents or is in an abusive relationship if she's desperate she may make a decision that she later regret and if you want to have. Come alongside some other good the best nonjudgmental friend you can refer her to your local pro-life pregnancy care center where they will listen and answer her tough questions about all her pregnancy options she'll get a confidential caring counsel a frequency test maybe even an ultrasound and the facts she needs to make an informed choice to be a voice for pre-born children support your local pregnancy care center and visit be a place dot net all the resources you need to make a difference be a voice dot net. A safe space for those who like to think that's the bottom line. There once was a time when people understood that you could practice freedom of religion in the United States of America apparently not anymore or sometimes you have to go to court to find out how to solve these issues and today here on the bottom line show our God country segment of the program join for this segment by Roger Byron who is senior counsel for 1st Liberty Institute he focuses on religious liberty matters and the 1st Amendment Roger welcome to the bottom line show today thanks Roger that's right it's all Rogers here for the next 1520 minutes or so as we talk about this the the case out of the the 6th circuit court with regard to the commissioners in Jackson County Michigan give us kind of a framework for what they were up against before we talk about the actual ruling sure glad to do it well the the quick back story is that the county commissioners of Jackson County Michigan have this tradition a longstanding tradition like many many legislative bodies around the country they open their commissioner's meetings with an invocation with a short prayer. However a Jackson County resident who identifies as a pagan and an animist I believe sued the county because he claimed that because they prayed before their meetings the commissioners themselves would take turns giving the invocation that somehow offended the Constitution. However the trial court the federal district court ruled in favor of the county but then the plaintiff appealed it to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and by a $2.00 to $1.00 vote 3 judge panel reversed the district court's decision and found that the that the prayer did violate the constitution now it was then how are the that the most interesting part happened something that you rarely ever see occurred within a few days. These. Appellate panel decision being handed down. The entire 6 Circuit Court of Appeals on its own decided to set aside that opinion and rehear the case you know that is interesting Roger why would they do something like that especially when their own little the appellate bed 3 man panel or whoever was 3 judge panel was not good enough for them it would be I've never heard of that happening before where they would just say hey that the 3 judges voted but not the whole court's going to take a look at this. Or you'd have to them individually but but rarely is there and on hearing usually one of the losing party has to request that right and it's almost never granted here the the county didn't even request it the court on its own look at the opinion and said I don't think so either side and said we're going to hear this again Ok clearly the issue was important after the court the court saw how important is not only to the 6 circuit not only of Jackson County Michigan but to the to the nation in general so that they clearly understood it wanted to read hearing and a very different opinion Ok Roger Byron is with me today here on the bottom line senior counsel for 1st Liberty Institute we've got a link up for their Web site at the bottom line Show dot com As we look at this you mentioned something Roger before we go any further on and talk about this the person who filed the complaint paganistic What was the other the way they described themselves look at Anna Mr something like that as I recall he he describes himself as a pagan and an Animist and then Ok what does that mean is I've now well actually better at you know whatever that may be the really good news is that the the on by 6 Circuit Court of Appeal paled the prayer practice of Jackson County Michigan and there's really nothing else they could do and. And still be in accord with the law when the Supreme Court has already ruled on legislative prayer on 2 different occasions yeah 2 landmark cases one in 1903 in March versus chambers and then very recently in 2014 and out of resources Galloway Yeah and both instances of legislative prayer was a Bill Gates and this is a remarkable it's a remarkable turn of events the way it all happened and yet it's not without precedent as you mention 2 other Supreme Court cases today here in the bottom line show Roger Marcia joined by Roger Byron from 1st Liberty Institute to talk about the 6th circuit court and the way this went down with the Board of Commissioners in Jackson County to my knowledge Roger this was not something that the commissioners themselves were forced to do necessarily and everybody had you know it's kind of a rotating wheel I mean in terms of Ok it's it's October you do it it's November you want to they they could all step up of their own volition or they didn't have to participate in these prayers absolutely it was you describe it fairly accurately it was a rotating basis and each commissioner when it was their turn could offer an indication or not they could simply do a moment of silence or not and then each commissioner got to decide what to do there's no nothing more neutral than that in fact if you notice the cases themselves beginning with March versus chambers March versus chambers the Supreme Court said it's Ok for it for a legislative body to hire and pay a clergyman to pray for them. Right and that and completely fine as you know it's completely in keeping with the Constitution and the nation's history and town of Greensburg Galloway of course it is completely fine for volunteer clergy to come in and that's where they were Yeah they were there were pastors and clergy coming from outside the commission and they would volunteer to go there was kind of a Call it was an open call as I recall whoever wanted to participate could it was just that the majority the people were doing it were evangelical Christians or mainline denominations at the. Point Yes And and of course the bottom line point here is that you know public prayer particularly indications before a before legislative body have their governing meetings play an important role and they always have in our country they help solve my Republican simply and they've done so for over 200 years. Roger Byron is with me today here on the bottom line senior counsel from 1st Liberty Institute we're talking about a case involving the the Board of Commissioners in Jackson County Michigan and a case that as you heard Roger mentioned just a few moments ago really unprecedented in terms of the fact that their court of appeals a little chamber court decided that they were going to rule against them and then the entire court completely unprovoked no request for this whatsoever you've probably seen a lot of cases Roger where the the the small 3 member panel will rule one way and then your client says hey let's go ask for a full court review and then the entire court does you've never have you ever seen this happen before with a court with no provocation whatsoever no prompting from anybody else said now we're going to take a look at this. I've never personally seen it wow that's this this is my 1st experience with it there's a 1st time for everything so I'm glad you're sharing that 1st experience whether it's in the you know anyone is interested in any additional facts information on the case that we don't have an opportunity to discuss here as you said earlier should go to our Web site at 1st Liberty dot au argy right at 1st liberty and just look up the Jackson County map Ok Now there's another case that I know the 1st liberty is also working on to slightly different results back a couple months ago with Rowan County North Carolina talk can you talk about that briefly certainly we've had the unprecedented. Situation this past year to be in 2 separate courts of appeals federal courts of appeals on the precise same issue within the same year in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a case called Lund vs Rowan County we litigated the same issue in row one Candy had their county commissioners or county leaders would also rotate and and and take turns giving the invocation before their meetings. However in in the 4th Circuit we won at this 3 judge panel right the 3 judge panel ruled in our favor. But then the the box for Circuit ruled against us. And and you know fairly clearly leaving Supreme Court precedent by yeah I mean even the 6th Circuit here addresses to some extent in their opinion the Rowan County opinion and finds it quote persuasive Yeah that's interesting I'm talking with Roger Byron today here on the bottom line senior counsel for 1st Liberty Institute 1st Liberty dot org is the Web site and we've got a link for that up at the bottom line Show dot com As we continue some final thoughts on this matter and also. A continuing conversation about religious liberty here in the United States and how we as Christians can engage not so much relying so much on the courts but at the same time realizing that we are going to have to have these confrontations from time to time that's what we're discussing today here on the bottom line start years and leave the right way wake up with the gospel on 95.3 f.m. And on the way. D.c. 1220 dot com. Teddy Roosevelt said a thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education Hello I'm Steve Gregg I don't have a college education but I am the host of the narrow path and I do know the Bible somewhat and I invite you to come and talk about the Bible with me on the air every weekday on the narrow path radio broadcast. Greg answering your questions live on the radio Monday through Friday from 3 to 4 pm on k l d c 95.3 f.m. And 12 20 am and 247 as a narrow path dot com Dave what are you doing just sending a gift to Dave 2037 who may in the future I save a little money from every paycheck for Dave 2037 so you can buy antigravity boots or a hologram Doberman What are you getting Steve 2037 Steve 2037 will be just fine Ok but don't expect to borrow my anti-gravity boots save something for the future put away a few bucks feel like a $1000000.00 for free ways to save go to feed the pain that's. Learned this stress is brought to you by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the council 1st Corinthians 714 for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife and the unbelieving wife is sent to by by the husband otherwise your children would be unclean but now they are holy a reminder from this cross for broadcasting station. Here's Dr Charles Stanley a larger. Views you can use that's the bottom line. God country segment of bottom line show today I'm Roger Marsh to join for this segment by Roger Byron a senior counsel for 1st Liberty Institute we are rejoicing over the decision with the full u.s. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruling in favor of the Board of Commissioners in Jackson County Michigan that they can continue to meet in open their meetings with invocations and that kind of rotating wheel if you will of voluntary no complaints whatsoever from those who are on the board of commissioners right now and that's really excellent news an outstanding news especially the way that this decision all came to be with the entire court deciding to take up the small court's ruling that they didn't like and deciding to vote on it and voting in favor here with the 6 court Roger giving you a victory in a case like this but then the 4th court going against Rowan County North Carolina and voting against it are these 2 cases now that the Supreme Court might look at these 2 and say we need to take one of these cases on and make a final decision once again so that would be 3 cases now that the court has ruled in favor of County Commissioners doing something like this. And certainly gives you no further So listen to what the u.s. Supreme Court said on 2 different occasions now that invocations before government meetings are constitutional where they are lawful and they're important part of our nation's history and heritage Unfortunately the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decided to go against a pretty clear Supreme Court precedent and now we're certainly considering whether to take that matter up to the court Yeah I think it it would definitely be one that I would hope that the court would take but then again we understand there are tens of thousands of petitions that are filed and the Supreme Court can really get about 80 is there a strategy to do something like this now that says this would be a good time to do it or perhaps wait for a couple more cases and then say once we've got more ammunition here in terms of giving the court maybe 2 $4.00 and $2.00 against that would be maybe more prudent to wait till the following term. Well that is for matter to matter what we do have here is what's called a circuit split we have 2 different courts of appeals now taking what is almost an identical set of facts and ruling in opposite directions you know handing out rulings and when situations like this happen when when the appellate courts are taking a Supreme Court decision and doing completely different things with them that does tend to get the high court's attention and make it somewhat more likely that they will hear the matter Ok Well we certainly are going to keep up with all of these cases in our prayers I encourage you to visit the 1st Liberty website 1st Liberty dot org for the various cases that they take with regard to religious liberty cases in a variety of others and it seems like there's just about one case every month where we've got someone from 1st Liberty joining us here on the bottom line show to to share the good news about a success or to encourage us to keep praying for someone who's fighting a tough battle but Roger Byron congratulations on today's success at the 6 circuit court and thanks for being with me today here on the bottom line thank you Roger Ok you know the legal system as it pertains to our religious liberty is really important for us to understand and keep praying for and about I think there was a time in American life maybe in the 1980 s. You're so when it seemed like the prevailing wisdom among evangelical community was hey you know what we are going to get enough judges appointed enough politicians elected into law nuff laws passed where we can basically insulate ourselves from having to deal with this type of stuff and over the past decade I've noticed anyway for reasons you know that are personal and professional I've noticed a huge change in that perspective for the better in here's what I mean I love the fact that we have organizations like 1st Liberty Institute that can fight for us and stand up for our cases I was another case it was reading about our friends of life Legal Defense Foundation have been working on this one for a while. With regard to David delight in the Center for Medical Progress now the life Legal Defense Foundation have been handling parts of David allied and Sander merits case and there are other outstanding groups Thomas Moore Society and others that are there also leading the charge here but every time I see something you know like this just a brand new news headline that came out today a brief regard to David delight in a federal judge has ruled out a San Francisco its Judge William Oric David to Leyden and 2 of his attorneys have been fined close to $200000.00 in the case where they released undercover videos that expose Planned Parenthood and this is a case that. It's what's interesting about this Steve Cooley and Branford Ferreyra are the lawyers who have been held in contempt of court there was a 3 minute compilation video that was posted on the internet maybe you saw it it showed among other things there are a lot of things are in this video but there were some Planned Parenthood officials basically acknowledging the fact that abortion is murder that you remember the one quote We played this audio clip for you here on the bottom line it was Planned Parenthood Michigan Lisa Harris the director there who said Ok let's give all the violence it's a person it's killing give those you know anti-abortion zealots that if that's what they want. That video was released by Steve Cooley and Brant Ferreyra because of the fact that it had been admitted as evidence in the case and it was no longer under lock and key Well once that video was released of course the National Abortion Federation went nuts Planned Parenthood went nuts because basically they had one of their leaders on video eg knowledge ing Yes abortion is murder. What are we supposed to do I mean come on of that's what they keep saying fine Ok if that's what they want to say it's murder we get it we're not going to argue on that well this is where the world comes back and says hey you know what your These are the laws you are damaging the business practices of these abortion clinics by saying that the courts are even acknowledging this in this case William Oric is the u.s. District court who it's no secret he helped open a Planned Parenthood clinic he helped run a Planned Parenthood clinic at some point and works expecting him to be nonpartisan to not have partiality toward the abortion industry in this case against David allied and I mean now I'll be honest with you I don't know how you can stay neutral 7 dinner with some friends last night husband and wife broadcaster his wife an attorney and she was discussing what it's like to be in the moot court process and how you have to learn both sides of the argument and be able to present them on a moment's notice and she as an attorney says hey look I can do that I mean we were talking 2nd Amendment stuff and she said I don't like guns but I support the 2nd Amendment I can argue either side I expect that from an attorney I would hope that would happen for an attorney but I don't know if you could find that in a case of abortion with a judge I would hope you could but wouldn't it seem obvious that if William Oric had been a board member of a Planned Parenthood clinic helped to open it help to run it don't you think that he's probably not the best guy to be holding Steve Cooley and Brant Ferreyra in contempt of court as they represent David delighted in the Senate medical progress in their case against Planned Parenthood. Interesting thoughts interesting perspective but that's a final word to share on this in the sanctity of life segment today's edition of The bottom line you were listening to calle d.c. Denver on h.d. 12 20 am and 95.3 f.m. And streaming online at 1220 calle d.c. Dot com across broadcasting God and country station in the great scheme of things I mean it isn't all that much unless you happen to have a stroke all of a sudden those minutes count minutes that could mean losing your ability to talk minutes they could mean losing your ability to walk talking moving walking. Gone which is why if you can get help in time your stroke can be treated the warning signs of a stroke include sudden numbness or weakness of the face sudden trouble seeing speaking or understanding if you experience this call 911 immediately because time lost is brain last visit Stroke Association dot org or call 18884 stroke today a public service announcement brought to you by the American Stroke Association and the Ad Council know the facts about African-Americans and stroke to join the movement to stop stroke visit Stroke Association dot org Today our country is not the only thing to which we all our allegiance it is also owed to justice and to humanity patriotism consists not only in waving the flag but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as stronger James briars right can be reasonable and vice versa that's the bottom line. You know I think you have life segment of the bottom line show today David delight in has been fined nearly 200000 dollars by a u.s. District Court Judge William Oric the same William Oric who helped open and run a Planned Parenthood clinic is now fighting David divided in 2 of his attorneys for releasing an undercover video that exposed the illegal activities at Planned Parenthood. Ok the Center for Medical Progress is of course fighting back coolly and for a explained they thought they were bound by an injunction because the video was already part of public record federal you know so here here the judge has set this fine as compensation to the National Abortion Federation for lawyers travel employee time and my favorite security costs. The security cost involved the fact that they've got to have bodyguards because they're fearing for their lives now I'll be honest with you if you are a pro-life advocate and you are threatening bodily harm life threatening injury or even death to somebody who disagrees with you you really need to check your attitude at the door there is absolutely no place for violence against people who support abortion if you're pro-life or none if your life is being threatened and you're in danger because a crazed pro-abortion guy doesn't like the fact that you are anti-abortion and they come after you with a gun that's a whole different story. But I can't imagine in any reality be necessary for pro lifers to attack the pro-abortion world having said that please keep David alive and Sandra Merritt in your prayers David gets death threats constantly. You know he's getting death threats from he's getting death threats from the abortion industry the abortion industry likes the way things are working right now the abortion industry thinks it's just fine that Planned Parenthood is subsidized to the tune of now $550000000.00 It will be very interesting to see in next year's budget and notice I said It'll be interesting to see in next year's budget for the federal government because I'm assuming they're going to have one for the 1st time in 8 years. I'm not sure they voted to raise the debt ceiling by 3 more months and we're going to get more continuing resolutions under this administration like we did this last one I sure hope not but if they do it's not going to surprise me anyway would be interesting to see what kind of funding is approved for Planned Parenthood prior to President $43.00 taking office was around $15160000000.00 when he left office it was 340000000 His successor came in and left it at 550000000 and the number of Planned Parenthood's keeps going down because the number of abortions goes down they see half as many patients as they did 10 years ago they provide half the number of services that they did 10 years ago and they get nearly twice the money that they got 10 years ago mind boggling and yet of course the attorneys were representing the attorneys representing thinner Center for Medical Progress are appealing the contempt fine David to lighten is the now facing 15 felony counts of illegal recording in California these are the same charges that were filed in Texas and dismissed in 2016 so have to go through that whole process again. The reality is it's interesting that. The number of attorneys general who have actually filed briefs arguing that law enforcement should be privy to any videos that show possible criminal activity and so why would this be even a problem for releasing these videos should law enforcement see them of course and in talking to legal representation for David allied and I think most recently with Alexander Snyder the executive director of the life Legal Defense Foundation she said hey here's the deal. When it comes down to depositions David aligned their answers all the questions requests for materials video audio whatever it is David the wind there and has never missed a deadline and so when he did everything that the courts asked him to they still came after him the California attorney general's office when camel Harris was 80 and they raided his office and took his equipment and now Xavier Sarah her replacement is still going after him with felony charges too so add to your prayer list if you will David allied and Sandra Merritt Steve Cooley and Brant Ferreyra the last 2 are the attorneys the other 2 are the plaintiffs in these cases are the ones who are being attacked and father please give them your favor they keep it if they're they're being prosecuted in the court of law in our country for telling the truth this is America in 2017 as we continue you want to talk about that you're listening to Gail d.c. Denver want h.d. To all 28 and 95.3 f.m. And streaming online at 121.