Spotlight

Monte Larrick sat down with Illinois Family Institute's lobbyist Ralph Rivera, and IFI's contract lobbyist Mark Johnson following the adjournment of the most recent Illinois General Assembly session.

They discuss the new Illinois budget, a potential Illinois fair tax, SB 1564 and a pro-life version, financing taxpayer funded abortion, Illinois ratifying of the Equal Rights Amendment, when Illinois will attempt to legalize recreational marijuana, what the next attack on life might target, what Illinois might do with the US Supreme Court's ruling about sports betting, and the vital importance of turning out to vote in the down ballot races.

Finally, please call your state lawmaker and ask them to oppose these terrible pieces of legislation. The Illinois Capitol switchboard is (217) 782-2000. If you don't know your lawmaker, click here.

Featured in this edition of Spotlight, the Q & A portion of the Illinois Family Institute's 2018 Worldview Conference featuring John Stonestreet. John is the President of the Chuck Colson Center and a co-host for daily BreakPoint commentaries.

Following his presentations, Stonestreet took questions from the audience ranging from pending Supreme Court rulings, division in America, Facebook, and even Kanye West.

David Smith and Monte Larrick recently sat down with Jo McGuire while she was visiting Illinois warning residents about the many consequences of legalizing recreational marijuana. Jo comes from Colorado, where they have had recreational marijuana since 2013.

Jo McGuire serves on the board of directors for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association and co-chairs the Marijuana Education Committee. She is also a DATIA Certified Professional Collector and Trainer (CPCT) and a Certified Designated Employee Representative Trainer (CDERT) who consults and trains professionals overseeing Safety Sensitive Employees in the compliance of federal DOT guidelines for drug and alcohol screening programs. Jo assists educators with classroom and assembly-style presentations aimed at youth drug prevention and parent awareness and education.

They discuss why we cannot regulate marijuana like we do alcohol because of the sweeping differences between marijuana and alcohol; the fact that legal marijuana increases the strain on first responders and traffic; the supposed revenue increase from recreational pot; big tobacco's influence on recreational marijuana; the proposals in the Illinois recreational marijuana bill, which makes allowances for the messy and complicated home grows; butane hash oil extractions, which are high concentrates--up to 95% THC; and the need to get up and be a driving force against the legalization of recreational marijuana.

The message is: don't buy the lies from those supporting legalization recreational marijuana. In this podcast you will learn more about the following:

The science explaining the differences between how the human body metabolizes alcohol and marijuana.

Despite the fact that some regular users of marijuana develop some tolerance, the product still negatively impacts things like motor skills in them.

The fact that alcohol addition is treated seriously, while society tends to dismiss the harm done to society and the individuals that use marijuana.

Today's marijuana is many times more potent in its THC levels than in previous decades; it has been genetically modified often.

The percentage of highway accidents and emergency room visits related to Marijuana use have spiked upwards in Colorado.

Unlike with alcohol, there is no roadside test for those impaired by Marijuana, and scientists are not close to developing one close despite what weed proponents claim.

Big tobacco is investing big in "big weed."

Home growing of marijuana is legal in Colorado, which results in a number of additional problems, including the increase in mold inside and outside of homes growing the product.

The marijuana black market continues in Colorado despite the product being legalized.

Because of the makeup of "extraction labs, to produce usable marijuana, hash oil explosions resemble those of meth lab explosions.

There are more items to add to the list! Monte, Dave and Jo get into a great deal more detail in this 20 minute podcast so be sure to listen.

Take action! Please call the capitol switchboard and ask to be transferred to your state senator or representative and ask them to vote NO to recreational marijuana. The switchboard number is (217) 782-2000. If you don't know your state lawmaker, click here.

Monte Larrick and Dave Smith sat down with Reverend Dr. Joey Krol, Dr. Krol is an author and the senior pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Decatur. He is also the morning host at WLUJ, a christian radio station in Springfield.

They discuss pastors getting their churches to speak up and get involved in politics, the role prayer plays in our nation's spiritual health, giving President Trump a pass on his past behavior, religious liberty and increasing government pressure on churches.

Joey's books At the King's Feet and Common Misunderstandings about God, Jesus and the Bible can be found on Amazon here.

Dave opened by raising the issue of pastors needing to get off of the fence and address issues that are moral, not just political. Too many churches are afraid to get involved for fear of offending those in the pews. Joey responded, "If your butt hurts get off the fence...if the church will not speak up, who will?"

Monte asked how pastors can take on those issues without driving people who may disagree politically out of the church. Joey explained that you have to go back to the Gospel -- people hated Jesus and wanted to kill him, so controversy arising after speaking the truth shouldn't surprise us.

Monte raised the challenge for parents of children who are being indoctrinated in schools and through culture. Dave brought up the fact that it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children as addressed in Deuteronomy chapter 6.

The three men discussed the need for voting and praying about voting. Since self-government is a gift from God, we all have a duty to pray for our elected officials, even those whose policies are different than our own. They touched upon the possibility that Vice President Mike Pence may be having a positive impact on President Donald Trump. They closed with a conservation about the importance of religious liberty and the support that President Trump is showing so far for the cause of religious liberty.

Monte Larrick interviewed John Stonestreet at Illinois Family Institute's Fourth Annual Worldview Conference. Stonestreet is the president of the Chuck Colson Center and BreakPoint Radio co-host. They discuss why Christians should be concerned about the Culture when we have seemingly lost; the next major cultural shift after the Sexual Revolution; the continued attacks on religious freedom; and when it is right for Christians to engage in civil disobedience.

Monte and John also discuss the cost of following Jesus, and legalization of recreational marijuana.

John's new book is A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's World.

Monte opened with the question, "Why should Christians care about the culture? It appears we've lost -- we have legalized abortion, gay 'marriage,' unisex bathrooms -- so why bother trying to change something that seems unchangeable?"

John Stonestreet answered: "I think we care about culture -- not because we're winning or losing but because it's what we're supposed to do as humans.

"The question is, which direction are humans taking? We certainly see a lot of bad news -- but we also see a lot of good news. In my recent book Restoring All Things, my co-author Warren Smith and I told stories of 14 different areas of culture where Christians are engaged in education, in dealing with poverty, in dealing with victims of the 'sexual revolution,' in dealing with victims of abortion -- both in fighting for the life of the unborn as well as helping mothers and fathers who are also victims of this very bad idea."

When Monte asked when is it time for Christians to engage in civil disobedience, Stonestreet responded, "We need a theology of when to get fired. These are calculations we don't make anymore. There is a cost to follow Jesus."

"It's been historically a part of the Christian life," John said, "for almost every generation of Christians, except for us."

Jesus laid aside His privileges. He relinquished His authority. He yielded His rightful position in the throne room – even though He was and is worthy of all glory, honor and praise.

Jesus did this so that He could be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and to do the will of the Father.

The text today is found in Mark 8:34-38 it is also recorded in the Matthew chapter 10 and in Luke chapter 9, the latter we will look at a bit later: Mark 8 starting in verse 34:

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Just hearing these words is difficult. Putting them into practice seems utterly unrealistic. We cringe at the very thought of self-denial. It is so contrary to our human nature.

We wonder if anyone can take Jesus seriously. I mean, who ever heard of self-denial? We are much more comfortable with words like “self-fulfillment” and “self-actualization”.

And yet, “self-denial” is right there, annoyingly, and not just once, but repeated in the gospels. It seems to me, if we are to be devoted disciples of Christ, we need to seriously consider these words: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

But the truth is, each one of us must not shrink back from dealing with our selfish and sinful inclinations. Our flesh, our sin nature, the old man – whatever you call the result of the curse, are all ways of identifying our natural rebellious existence.

Watch on YouTube HERE.

 

 

 

 

Monte Larrick recently interviewed Philip Haney at the National Religious Broadcasters convention. Philip is a former Department of Homeland Security officer and congressional whistle-blower. They discussed the Parkland school attack, including government negligence, and how to prevent similar attacks.

Monte opened with the question, "what did you expose?" Here is Haney in his own words:

"During the Obama Administration I was on active duty [and] put information into the law enforcement database -- we call it derogatory information -- connecting the dots on two major groups: the Muslim Brotherhood, which a lot of us have heard about, and another group, Tablighi Jamaat...on terrorism and counter terrorism." "The bottom line is that the [Obama] administration deleted the information out of the system."

Haney says he has proof that the information that was deleted could plausibly have prevented the Boston bombing, the San Bernardino shootings and the Orlando shooting. Those are just three examples.

Monte asked: "Has political ideology infiltrated our security apparatus? How prevalent is it?"

It has, Haney said, and added that there are "hopeful signs." "You have to recognize that there is something wrong before you can even start addressing it. At least we're starting to see indicators now that the Trump Administration recognizes that there are some major breakdowns in our national security."

Regarding the Parkland school shooting, Haney discussed the FBI's failure to follow up on the many calls from citizens regarding the behavior of the person who eventually became the shooter. What caused that failure? Haney said that he witnessed the planting of a seed of political correctness -- "a progressive Leftist ideology where essentially we saw the [Obama] Administration treat our enemies like our friends and our friends like our enemy."

On the topic of safety in the public schools, Haney recommends that like other government buildings, the entrances should be secured "so just anybody can't walk right in with no I.D."

Regarding his help with Save The Persecuted Christians, there are a lot of ministries and organizations, Haney explained, but "what we're going to try to do with this coalition is to unite the many flags under one banner and coordinate and work together as a team, if you will, to provide better or more help to communities of persecuted Christians around the world.

Philip Haney is the author of: See Something, Say Nothing: A Homeland Security Officer Exposes the Government's Submission to Jihad.

Laurie Higgins joins David Smith and Monte Larrick to discuss the Illinois Senate's ratification of the ERA, and they also discuss the LGBTQIA history curriculum legislation currently in consideration in the Illinois General Assembly.

Can the ERA be stopped in Illinois now that it has passed the state senate? "Yes," Laurie Higgins said, because the "ERA actually says nothing about women." The language of the proposed amendment does signal, however, that it will eradicate abortion restrictions and it will end sex differentiation in private spaces.

When Monte Larrick pointed out that 80 percent of voters are in favor of it when asked, Higgins explained "The reason people are voting for this is because they don't understand it. They have been persuaded because the mainstream press is in the tank for everything Leftist. So they've been persuaded that this is something about protecting women and it actually works against women."

"It's not only against life, Higgins said, "Women will be harmed by this." Women will have to register for the military draft, and how spousal Social Security benefits are allocated will also be impacted, harming women financially. Higgins said that existing laws already protect women. She asks people, "which civil right are women deprived of? Name me one."

Listeners are encouraged to contact their state house members regarding the ERA. "Look at the language of the law and ask yourself how might that language be applied or used or exploited," Higgins said.

The discussion then turned to the issue of pending legislation in Springfield that would mandate an emphasis on "LGBTQXYZ" history in our public schools -- "even elementary school students would be subjected to this," Larrick pointed out and asked Higgins for her reaction. "Oh my gosh, I have a lot of reactions, none of them pleasant. This is a very, very troubling bill."

Children would not be allowed to graduate from the eighth grade without being able to pass a test on their knowledge of the contributions of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. There would be no opting out "because this is an amendment to the school code."

Higgins said that you have to ask, "what is homosexuality? What constitutes it? How do you define it?" The political left, Higgins explains, "is using a fallacious and absurd and I would argue insulting analogy to race to get this bill passed."

That is not a sound analogy, Higgins goes on to say, "you have to find the right analogy, which I would argue is polyamory. So can you image if someone said, 'well, we need to talk about the roles and contributions of polyamorists" to society.' "Does anyone think a bill like that would pass?"

What constitutes homosexuality? "Subjective internal feelings or desires and volitional acts, behaviors," Higgins explains. "Homosexuality has no points of correspondence with race or biological sex." "This bill is based on a Leftist assumption, not a fact, that homosexuality and trans behaviors are morally acceptable."

Dave Smith and Monte Larrick recently interviewed Jo McGuire while she was visiting Illinois warning residents about the many consequences of legalizing recreational marijuana. Jo comes from Colorado, where they have had recreational marijuana since 2013.

Jo McGuire serves on the board of directors for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association and co-chairs the Marijuana Education Committee. She is also a DATIA Certified Professional Collector and Trainer (CPCT) and a Certified Designated Employee Representative Trainer (CDERT) who consults and trains professionals overseeing Safety Sensitive Employees in the compliance of federal DOT guidelines for drug and alcohol screening programs. Jo assists educators with classroom and assembly-style presentations aimed at youth drug prevention and parent awareness and education.

They discuss the impact of marijuana on kids, the impact on mental health, including the negative effects of our service men and women suffering from PTSD, and they also address the argument that marijuana is one of God's creations, therefore a "good" thing.

Back in March, 68 percent of Cook County voters voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana, and Dave Smith said that they "don't know what they're asking for." Jo McGuire agreed, and pointed to her home state of Colorado which legalized it five years ago. "I am very well aware," McGuire said, "that when folks watch the mainstream media the popular talking points are how well its going in Colorado and that they sky hasn't fallen."

Unfortunately, as she explains, they fail to report "the negative consequences -- unintended consequences -- of things that we do not yet have solutions for." As a result, Colorado voters feel as if "they were duped" into legalizing recreational marijuana. They heard one thing -- "let's control it, regulate it, and tax it." But the only regulation is who is allowed to sell it. Beyond that, she said, almost anything goes.

One of the areas most of the public is unaware of is the THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) potency issue of today's marijuana. THC is the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Decades ago, THC levels were between 1 and 3 percent. Today, the levels are easily 12-15 percent and higher, while the levels in edibles such as marijuana laced candies, cookies, sodas and brownies can reach 60-90 percent. "They are not controlled," McGuire said, "They are out of control."

The subject then turned to how "Big Marijuana" (as in "Big Tobacco") is targeting children. In fact, Big Marijuana is borrowing from the Big Tobacco playbook concerning the false claims that they are making. "We are not thinking this through clearly," McGuire said. "We have the most potent cannabis products in the world coming out of Colorado."

Studies from New Zealand have shown the serious negative impact marijuana use has on the human brain. The impact is especially harsh for those under 30 years of age. Brain development is stunted for young people, and the damage caused is irreparable. In Colorado the reports of addiction have risen 600 percent in five years, and the diagnosis levels for mental illness are increasing.

Also discussed was the big financial support Leftist billionaire George Soros has provided for the efforts to legalize recreational marijuana, and the fact that Colorado is already talking about "magic mushrooms" as the next drug to legalize. Some supporters of legalization also aim to remove legal restrictions on methamphetamines and heroin.

This is exactly what Illinois can expect. Bills to legalize other drugs have already been introduced.

Monte Larrick recently caught up with Elise Bouc, the State Chairwoman of Stop ERA Illinois. They discuss the push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United State's Constitution, only requiring two more states to approve it before it becomes a federal amendment.

Please contact your state representative and ask him or her to please vote NO on the Equal Rights Amendment.

When the ERA was stopped back in the 1970s, people understood that the wording of the Amendment was flawed, Bouc explains, and we need to separate the discussion of "equal opportunities" for women from this proposal. The fact is, the ERA would harm women and harm unborn children.

Larrick and Bouc also discussed the legal question of whether the ERA push can be "resurrected," since its seven-year deadline passed a long time ago. Based upon the makeup of the United States Supreme Court, it is anyone's guess how it would rule on the question. If it chooses to resurrect it, then only two more states would be needed to ratify it to the U.S. Constitution, Illinois and one other state.

"Equal rights" sounds good, Larrick pointed out, but Bouc explained that the problem is in the wording of the Amendment. We already have laws on the books regarding equal opportunity for women, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is where disputes can be rectified.

The ERA, Bouc said, is being used by extremists as a vehicle to bring about extreme change in our country. For example, using women and "equal rights" as a cover, their goal is to remove all abortion restrictions in all 50 states. This would mean the elimination of parental notification laws.

"It's all about slogans and perceptions," Bouc explains, "and they are leading women to falsely believe that this ERA is going to solve all their problems -- and it won't."

Bouc relates the story of what happened in Pennsylvania on the issue of car insurance, a state with its own ERA. A lawsuit was brought on behalf of men complaining about sex discrimination in that women paid lower car insurance premiums. The state government then acted to make it legal for women to have lower premiums since they have fewer accidents. Then the Pennsylvania Supreme Court over-turned that law, based on "legal strict scrutiny" in light of the state's ERA language not allowing for any distinctions based on sex.

Larrick and Bouc also discussed the ERA's potential impact upon restrooms, locker rooms, the military draft, and age of consent laws. Bouc said that the Amendment is "poorly written" and "overreaching."

People need to get informed, and help educate their friends and family, and contact their state legislators.

Bouc's article at the Illinois Family Institute's website is also worth reading: The ERA Harms Our Unborn Children. IFI also has a one-pager on the issue containing helpful facts about the Amendment.