How soon our leaders forget Iran’s terror

0:00Welcome to Peace to Strength, I'm Lieutenant Commander Stephen Rogers, United States Navy retired, presently the Executive Director of the Association of the United States Navy. Well, let's face it, folks, we're involved in a war that we're winning, we're involved in a war that was necessary, we're involved in a war that will secure the emitties, I believe, to the degree of bringing much stability to that region of the world, as well as ensure that the Iranians will not obtain a nuclear weapon, which in my view, and the view of many, many others would use it against Israel and the United States if they obtained it. Now, saying that, I believe that we need to address something here that's been going on, that has not been talked

1:03about very much, especially through the mainstream media, and that is how soon many of the leaders of this country have forgotten, and I'll get into that specifically in a few minutes, how soon they have forgotten. Now, many of you know, because I've repeated it over and over again, that I tell it like it is, that I'll call people out, I'll call leaders out, I'll let the people of this broadcast who are listening know and understand that I do tell it like it is, because we need leaders who are going to stand up and tell it like it is, and one of the things that I wish to convey to you today, and I believe any of you feel this way, I'm sick and tired, I am sick and tired of many leaders in this country, especially on a federal level, of them criticizing the president of the United States, the congressional representatives who are supporting our military, criticizing the Department of War, and in fact, trickling their

2:06criticisms down even too, are fighting forces, the men and women who put the uniform of the armed forces of the United States on, and sacrificing their lives for us, and that is exactly what they're doing. They'll deny that. Now, as I speak to you today, there are hearings, there are commissions, there are congressional investigations going on, that have absolutely nothing to add value to the efforts of the United States of America against this evil, evil empire, that we now see, thank goodness, being destroyed in the Middle East, namely Iran. But the hearings will go on, the critics will continue running to the microphones of the mainstream media, finding every bit of fault they could dig up, and if they can't dig fault up and find it, they'll invent it, believe me, they'll create a narrative that make the White House,

3:08the Department of War, the Navy Department, the Department of Homeland Security and others, they will do everything they could to make things look pretty bad. And I've got to tell you, what disturbs me is that they have forgotten what Iran has done to people worldwide, what they have particularly done to us. This war was not created by the United States of America. This war was in the making decades ago, as I'll share with you in a few minutes. We finally have leaders in this country, from the White House to the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security, our Justice Department, hey, all hands on deck folks, and now I'm happy to say, contrary to what the mainstream media and others want you to believe, that the American people stand firmly and strong behind the policies that are now being executed by the United States government, with regard to the Iranian regime. But unfortunately,

4:10yep, we've got leaders in this country who forgot, and they're out there malving off all sorts of things for their own political gain, looking to advance a political agenda, looking to embolden and strengthen a political party for their own political survival. And then we have those out there, thank God Almighty, who are standing up for this country, who are supporting the policies that are now being executed by the Department of War, the President of the United States, the United States Navy Coast Guard, and all the other branches of the Armed Forces. But we don't hear much about the positive things that are being said about this war. Not saying that war is positive, but I think it's a pretty positive report that when the United States Navy or any branch of our military takes an action, and they're very victorious in that action, we need to know that. We'd like to know that, but no, you've got those on the left and those individuals who are doing

5:12more seeking their 15 minutes of fame by heaping criticism upon what we're doing. You've got them front and center on a lot of these so-called news networks. There are no more news networks in America. There's very few. We've got propaganda machines. I remember during the Cold War, you have probed them, all right? That was a Soviet Union newspaper that was distributed all over the country. Didn't go far, but it was distributed. And then you've got all kinds of news broadcasts that were sympathetic to the Soviet Union, sympathetic to communism. Not many back then, but it was growing. But now today, it's a way of life, isn't it? Here in the United States of America, but we're dealing with it. We're dealing with it. But let's get on to what these leaders in our country, so-called leaders, by the way, have forgotten. Well, let me say this. It's important for those who are questioning the policy and motives of our country with regard to

6:14using the United States naval forces and Coast Guard forces and other branches of the United States military against Iran. And I believe it's important for those who are questioning the policy and the motives to remember, because they've forgotten, that Iran's naval forces have been involved in repeated aggressive actions at sea against the United States of America and other countries not for weeks, not for months, or for decades. In fact, I got to tell you, I find that the serving that many of our national leaders and others have forgotten the history of Iran's provocations against the United States Navy and other nations on the high seas and particularly. We can go back to 2015. The United States Navy reported nearly two dozen folks, two dozen incidents involving unsafe and unprofessional conduct by the Iranian Navy. And at the same time, guess what Iran was doing? They were negotiating several deals with the United States regarding their nuclear weapons

7:19program. So they're sitting at the table negotiating some sort of an agreement with us, the United States would reference to their nuclear weapons program. And at the same time, provoking us on the high seas by doing unprofessional and unsafe maneuvering of their boats. You go to 2016, year later, all these negotiations, remember, Iran is famous for that, and we've been famous for letting them slide. Okay, you need another week, another month. In fact, take a couple of years and we'll come back to the table and we'll talk. In the meantime, the Iranian Navy in 2016, folks, they're still sitting at that table at the same time, never cease to use its Navy to harass and threaten and intimidate dozens and dozens of cargo ships from dozens and dozens of nations at sea. In January 2016, their naval forces, hey, this I didn't forget and I know many of you are going to remember what I'm just about to share with you. It was terrible. It was really

8:24terrible. But in 2016, January now, naval forces of the Iranian Navy, they actually detained two U.S. Navy riverline boats and 10 U.S. sailors and they actually detained them and prisoned them for 15 hours, violated their rights, and they used them as props to embarrass the United States of America and then the United States Navy by putting them on public display for the whole world to see. Remember that? Some of you remember that? You turn on the news and there's our brave men, our brave sailors, men and women at sea, defending our country with their hands behind their backs, some of them blindfolded, some of them pushing their corner, being made to cry or weep or whatever, being made to confess some ridiculous thing that they were told to confess or face debt, all publicly displayed. Now, instead of sending a very powerful message, I'm talking about our government now, I mean a very powerful message to the government of Iran of what was an

9:28unprovoked attack on a U.S. Navy vessels. The president of the United States, Barack Obama back then and his leadership team did nothing, absolutely nothing. There were protests by our government, there were committee meetings by Congress, there were hearings, investigations, and nothing was done. Now, this policy of not responding to our enemies not only was on public display at that time in January 2016, but was always on display. And because of that particular policy of do nothing, well, many of what the do nothings did not do back then ended up year after year after year, and in part is the reason why we are facing a war with Iran today. The Iranian government, the Iranian Navy concluded over all this time that the United States Navy was weak

10:30and could be forced to surrender. That is the conclusion that they got not as a result of our war fighters. They were strong, they wanted to go in and fight, but as a result of politicians, political leaders, I don't even like to use the word leaders next to their name because they're not, they're weak or they've been weak, they certainly haven't showed any strength over the years, over the decades. But our Navy was always strong. Now, there were times when we had political leaders in office that weakened our military. They weakened our military by introducing DEI type policies. They weakened our military by cutting budgets with regard to building ships and on and on and on. They weakened our military by advancing policies of appeasement. And instead of raising the stars and stripes of power and victory, they raised the white flag as surrender. See, these are the things that they don't want you to hear, especially coming from a person like me.

11:36Yeah. But we need a lot more, we need a lot more of our retired military personnel to stand up, to speak out, not with anger, not in meanness, but to let the people know what's great about our Navy and our Coast Guard and our Marines and Air Force and Space Force and Army and on and on and on. We need to let them know about the great successes of our U.S. military because we are strong, we weren't, but we are now. And the reason why I say, you know, we need more retired personnel to stand up, I know the act of duty personnel and reservists can't, I mean, it's against policy, not against policy for those of us who are retired, but we need to stand up. And let me add this, aren't those who are retired, standing up and speaking out against the policies of our military, against the policies of our government, overall, and that's why I'm concerned, those criticisms trickle down to criticizing those very heroic people in the United

12:44States Armed Forces that are now in harm's way, that are now in combat. They will tell you, they will tell you, and I'm talking about now, the individuals who are criticizing our heroes, they will tell you that they support our troops. No, you don't. If you take the time to go on the mainstream media and all their talk shows, I see what you're doing, or listen to see what you're doing, you go on there and you give the narrative that the mainstream media wants to hear. And I'll tell you how I know that. I am on a lot of these networks. I'm on all over the place on these TV networks. I've been with them for years and years, and I know without a doubt, and as a fact that many of these networks want a narrative that fits into their agenda. I never bought it, never sold into it. That's why you won't see me on a lot of mainstream media networks. You'll see me

13:46on a lot of networks, but not on those mainstream media networks. And I'll name one of them. How about that folks? CNN, you won't see me on CNN. I have been asked a few times to go on CNN, and they were trying to set me up in order to put me in a position where they would advance their criticisms and try to have me confirm their narrative. I learned, I learned, and you need to learn. But you have an agenda, maybe your agenda is to advance your own career, network career, maybe a journalist, I don't know what it is. But when you serve the United States military, your allegiance should be to our military and to our constitution, and in support of the policies that are now being implemented by the United States government. Because as I've said, over and over and over again, many of you who get on the air and do that, you're not helping us. You're emboldening our enemies. You're encouraging our enemies. You don't like to hear it, then come on

14:50this broadcast. Come on this broadcast. Peace to the strength of America's Navy. And you join me, and let's have a discussion. How about that? I'll bet not one of you will. And if one of you want to believe me, I'll suspend all of the plans I have for any broadcast moving forward. I'll move that schedule over and I'll bring you on right away with me. Steve dot rogers at a usn dot org. How about that? Directed email to the Steve dot rogers at a usn dot org. Let's go at it. Let's talk about it. You got the guts and courage to do that. I think not. But anyway, the US Navy now is strong. The Marines are strong. All of our armed forces are strong. And guess what? We're not going to fly the white flag of surrender. We're going to fly the Stars and Strikes. Now when President Trump assumed office, he evaluated the United States policies towards Iran and he was horrified. He can believe we saw. And he found out that despite all of the efforts, if you want to call them efforts, by past administrations, Iran continued to finance terrorist organizations worldwide.

15:56And they continue to destabilize the Middle East mostly by the aggressive actions of the Iranian Navy. You haven't heard much about the Iranian Navy, right? You heard a lot about the terrorist activities and other things, but not about their Navy, which now ceases to exist, by the way. And let me give our Navy a round of applause. The Iranian Navy, I believe, as of now ceases to exist. So let's look at some more facts that led up to where we are today involved in a war with Iran. March 2017, several Iranian fast attack boats approached a US naval ship called Invincible, and it forced the captain to that ship to alter his course to prevent a collision at sea. In July 2017, Iranian boats approached a USS Dundable, another war fighting ship in the Persian Gulf, which caused that ship to fire warning shots. They didn't fire shots to sink that Iranian boat, but they did fire warning shots. In August of 2017, we had fighter jets that were involved in an

17:00exercise over in the Middle East, and they were landing on the USS Nimitz, very powerful aircraft carrier, and guess what the Iranian Navy does. They launched an unarmed drone, and they brought it very close to that aircraft carrier and jeopardized the safety of our pilots. Now, that situation was taken care, but it was not a situation where the captain ordered that drone to be shot down. I believe that those captains of those ships wanted to use the lethal force against these Iranian naval forces, but could not because the policies back then were policies of appeasement, not peace through strength, if you will. So, the fact that a matter is, they, many our enemies, after a lot of these incidents concluded that the American Navy is weak, that the American government is weak. So let's do some more, and that's exactly what they've been doing worldwide. Now, once the Trump administration finished reviewing the US policy on Iran,

18:04President Trump, what he did was he introduced a new policy, a new approach, and he stated that the United States of America would no longer accept Iran's current behavior or ignore its provocations, and that is exactly what we see happening today, the results of the president's new policy. And due to the president's new policy, Todoran, you know what happened in 2017 when it policy was implemented, the Iranian Navy's harassment of these ships at sea dramatically declined. They kind of ceased to commit those acts because now they were fearful. They were fearful of the United States Navy. So fearful that you could hardly see one of their boats at sea anymore, but that fear did not totally deter them from their aggressive actions because of May of 2019, after they led a few years passed by, they launched an aggressive campaign to pressure the international community to relieve sanctions against them that were brought upon them, meaning Iran,

19:09by the United States. So instead of coming after our boats, they decided to launch an aggressive campaign against the cargo ships of these foreign nations who were allies of ours believing that their leaders would put pressure on the United States government, and we would go running saying, oh, please, please don't shoot those ships anymore. They're our friends. We're going to take the sanctions off you. The problem is they were used to the governments before Donald Trump was elected to office, before the Department of War were strengthened by good sharp leaders who know what they're doing, contrary to what you're being told by the way. Believe me, the Department of War, they know what they're doing, their hands on. In May of 2019, the Iranian Navy, they deployed and listened to this folks, didn't hear much about this. They deployed and detonated mines on two Saudi vessels, one a UAE vessel, one Norwegian vessel, and a number of other, and another ship, there was three now, another ship while they were anchored in UAE

20:13territorial waters. Iranian Navy violated sovereignty of the UAE, didn't hear much about that and planted mines on ships. On June 13, 2019, IRGC naval personnel, they attached and they triggered mines on a Japanese ship and a Norwegian ship in the Gulf of Oman. And then we go to June. Notice the pattern month after month, June of 2019. It was a big year for the Iranian Navy, by the way. They happened to use a surface-to-air missile to shoot down a US drone flying over international waters in the strait of our modes. Now, here's the problem that I see. They shoot down a US drone. Well, the problem I see is that we were ready at that time, I believe, at that time to take aggressive action against them, more so than what we did. But the fact is, is that the Iranian government actually tried to convince us that that drone was

21:18within Iranian territorial waters. Now, I believe that that was not the case. I believe we're smarter than that. But the action taken was this wait now. Let's not go crazy. Let's wait. Let's not start a war. And I supported that because at that time, there was at least, in the view of the US government, progress being made with the Iranian government. But regard to their nuclear weapons programs. So that was probably the only time, the only time that we kind of let them off the hook. On July, in July of 2019, there was a tanker flying a British flag that was owned by Sweden, that was going through the strait of our mose. And guess what happens? The IRGC there, any Navy decides to harass them. And then there was a Libyan flag, the vessel, harassed again in the strait of her mose, all this going on with the Iranian government negotiating with the

22:24United States government with regard to the nuclear weapons program. 2020, the Iranian Navy seized a Hong Kong flag oil tanker in international waters. Again, saying that the vessel was moving into Iranian territory, April 2020. Iranian Navy small boats interrupted a routine exercise by five US Navy warships, making multiple high speed and provocative maneuvers. Now, the Iranian boats repeatedly passed very close to the front and rear of American ships. And at one point, allegedly coming within 10 yards of US Coast Guard ship. So all this was going on. All of this was going on during this period of time of negotiations with the United States government. But it seems to me that those now in office who are criticizing the Trump administration over his actions right now forgot this. How soon they forgot. And now they're having hearings.

23:29And now they're having committee meetings. And on and on and on running to the microphones, telling the people not only of America, but of the world and signaling to our enemies that it's okay. It's okay. I ran. It's okay. They'll worry about it. We're going to take care of the business. What we have a law here in the United States that prohibits the president of the United States from taking the actions he is unilaterally. He needs the approval of Congress. It's a lie folks. It's not true. The Constitution you're going to find out real soon. He gives a president of the United States the authority to do what he's doing. No one likes war. If any president, if any administration, if any people, namely us Americans, do everything we can to prevent war, we take those steps first. But if we have to go to war, we go to war to win. We go to war to fight, not to surrender, but to win. And that's where we are right now. I certainly want to send my condolences to the war fighters

24:32who lost their lives, sacrificing their lives for our country. Let's not forget them. And let's always keep them in remembrance. And I would hope and pray that all of us, no matter what party, politically we are affiliated with, we come together as Americans, but we also send this signal, a very strong message, if not a signal, to those of individuals who we elected the office, whether they're Republican, Democrat, or Independent, keep your mouth shut unless you've got something nice to say publicly. If you want to say something that will embolden our enemies and do damage to the morale and welfare of our troops, whether you believe it or not, that's what you're doing. Do it behind closed doors. Do it behind closed doors. We don't need to hear your mouth rambling on and on and on about why we shouldn't do this and why we shouldn't do that. We should be hearing you say, well, we are in support of what's going on. We're standing strong

25:32with our military. And when the reporters ask you about this and about that, say, well, that's a discussion I'll have with my colleagues behind closed doors because now is not the time and now is not the place because we have young men and women in combat putting their lives on the line for us to have this discussion. What's wrong with that? They won't do it. They won't, but we can. And what we can do is send that message to them by writing letters to them, by calling them, by in fact going on news broadcast, if you can, and then the most powerful thing we can do is make sure they're never ever elected or reelected to office. What about that folks? What about that? Look, there's a biblical scripture that says, blessed are the peacemakers, where they shall be called the children of God. So let us remember that America, the American people, the United States Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, everyone serving this

26:34country one way or another, let us remember we are the peacemakers and blessed will be this nation. Thank you, God bless you and God bless America. Hi, this is Colonel Mike from the National Security Hour calling all patriots to join me in national on July 2nd, 3rd and 4th for America out loud news, 250 10th anniversary in national. Go get them Cowboys along with clear the wellness company. We're celebrating two big milestones, 250 years of America and 10 years of America out loud loud news. That's where you come to hear military and intel experts on the national security hour and where you get freedom of speech with liberty and justice for all, not like anywhere else. This is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration. We will have inspiring entertainment and credible fireworks nationally recognized speakers who proudly stand for freedom, just like you and us. Let's unite to salute and celebrate the history of our great nation and collaborate to protect the future. Join us and register now

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30:53America become great again. This is Malcolm out loud here. Join me in pushing back against censorship on fellow Americans. White at the top of America out loud.News are the worst. Many voices, one freedom united in the First Amendment. Now is our time, my fellow Americans, America out loud.News, Liberty, and Justice for all. Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to our broadcast. It's always a pleasure being with you during this time, where we have an opportunity to share not only news from around the world, some of the news that's happening here in the United States of America during the first half of our broadcast, but it's certainly a real pleasure to share with you news that comes from another place.

31:56I call that place heaven, right? There's a God above. There's a heaven. There's a kingdom called the kingdom of God. I believe that what is written in the Bible is true. And it is during this portion of our broadcast that I share with you some great words from the book of life, which is the Holy Bible. I'm going to do something a little different today though. There was a prayer that was sent to me many years ago. It was a prayer that was published by an individual who wanted to make sure that any one of us who got our hands on this prayer would probably apply it to our very own lives. So I'm going to read this prayer to you. I normally don't read things on the air, but this is so moving, so powerful. I just have to do this. So it's called a prayer after ordination written in 1950. And I believe it was after the ordination of a priest or a minister or a monk, but someone who certainly loves the Lord Jesus

32:58Christ. This is the prayer of a man called to be a witness to the nations. This is what he said to his Lord on the day of his ordination. After the elders and ministers had prayed and laid their hands on him, he withdrew to meet his Savior in the secret place and in the silence. Father then his well-meaning brethren could take him. And he said this, oh Lord, I have heard thy voice and was afraid. Thou has called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou art about to shake all nations on the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Oh Lord, my Lord, Thou hast stooped to honor me to be thy servant. No man takeeth this honor upon himself, save he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Thou hast ordained me thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and heart of hearing. They have rejected thee, the master,

34:03and it is not to be expected that they will receive me thy servant. My God, I shall not waste time deploying my weakness nor my unfiteness for the work. The responsibility is not mine, but thine. Thou hast said, I knew thee, I ordained thee, I sanctified thee, and Thou has also said, thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Where am I to argue with thee or to call unto question thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine, but thine. So be it, Lord, thy will not mine be done. Well, do I know thou God of the prophets and the apostles that as long as I honor thee, Thou will honor me. Help me therefore to take the solemn Thou to honor thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep Thou vow unbroken while I live. It is time of God for thee to work,

35:09for the enemy has entered into thy pastures, and the sheep are torn and scattered, and fault shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround thy flock. The sheep are deceived by these herelings and follow them with touching loyalty while the wolf closes into kill and destroy. I beseech thee, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of my enemy, give me understanding to see and coverage to report what I see faithfully. Make my voice so like dine own that even the six sheep will recognize it and follow thee. Lord Jesus, I come to thee for spiritual preparation. Lay thy hand upon me, anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet, for that I should become a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the face of modern clergy and the curse of compromise, of limitation,

36:10of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity, or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet, not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds, heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping, teach me self discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place. I shall try to build blind to the little ways

37:11that could make life easier. If others seek the smoother path, I shall try to take the hard way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes. Or if as sometimes it falleth out to disurvence, I should have grateful gifts pressed upon me by dichinely people. Stand by me, then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I receive in such manner that will not injure my soul, no diminish my spiritual power. And if in thy permissive providence, honor should come to me from thy church. Let me not forget, in that hour, I am unworthy of the least of dimercies, and that if men knew me and intimately as I know myself, they would withhold their honors or bestow them upon others more worthy to receive them. And now, O Lord, of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to thee. Let them be many or few as that will. Let me stand before the great or minister

38:17to the poor and lowly. That choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am thy servant to do thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame, and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven. Though I am chosen of thee, and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray thee, therefore my Lord, and redeemer, save me from myself, and from all the injuries I may do myself, or trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with thy power, by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in thy strength and tell of thy righteousness, even thy holy. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure. Then, their Lord, when I am old and weary, and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with thy saints and glory ever lasting.

39:22Amen. What a powerful prayer. And I must tell you that when I read that prayer, I studied it, I looked at it, and I realized that that would be a prayer that I need to keep, and that I need to remember. Maybe we all need to keep and remember prayers like that, because it is so important that we are here not to serve ourselves, but we are here to serve a God. We are here to serve Jesus Christ, the God of God, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. There are so many scriptures in the Bible that encourage us to move on. There are so many blessings in the Bible that will show us that indeed, yeah, we're going to go through some tough times. We're going to go through some difficult times, but each and every difficult time we go through, there is a God above who will do everything that he can in his power to put us on a road that will

40:26bring us to solutions to our problems, that will bring us to success, that will lead us to glory. And where is that glory in the kingdom of heaven? I've heard so many people today share with me their problems and difficulties, and I remember times when I would have people come into my office when I was on our local government, and they would share with me that they've tried everything. They've tried everything to solve the challenges that they're facing, whether it be in their marriage, whether it be with their children, whether it be at work, anywhere at any time. Many people came and said they're exhausted, and they need help. They've tried to pay their bills and can't make the mortgages and the rent and on and on and on. And I would see that the major thing that they were really looking for was peace through the storm, was peace through that very, very, very dark day. I call it the darkness of the soul, right?

41:33The dark night of the soul, and we've all been through the dark night of the soul. How many times have you gone to sleep and wake up with the same burden you went to sleep with? How many times did you try to go to sleep and you couldn't sleep? How many times do you go to work, worried? What's going to happen to my children today? What's going to happen to my wife, my husband? Oh, there's an illness in the family, and you're so consumed with the problem. Listen, we're made that way, folks, aren't we? All of us? I've made that way yet. There are times I still go through those dark nights of the soul. Make no mistake about it, but I've learned over the years. I've learned over the years that although there is a dark night of the soul, there is a light that we could all shine upon that soul that we have, that the Spirit that God has given us, namely the Holy Spirit, living in all of us. There is a light, and sometimes we get so overwhelmed with our problems,

42:36we forget there's a light. And many, many times, people know the light's there, but one accepted, one accepted power until they're on their knees, until they're really truly on their knees. And there are many times in the past, when I really kind of just thought the Bible has just another book, heard about Christ but really didn't get close to him, said by prayers, but kind of would say a prayer, get up and leave and go about my business. In other words, I never really, really turned that light on to its brightest, brightest degree. You know, you ever see those three way lights where we turn it on, we got a little dim light, then the medium light comes on and you want to see the whole room and everything in the room, where you turn the biggest wattage light on. That's the light coming from heaven. There's no stage one, two or three regarding the light of Jesus Christ, the light of the Holy Spirit. You turn that light on, my friends, and it's going to shine brightly and get rid of the darkness.

43:40You know, I quite often relay the story of President Abraham Lincoln, so if you're hearing it for the hundredth time, kind of forgive me, but there's so much truth to one moment in his time, one moment in the time of President Abraham Lincoln that I will never forget reading about. And I hope you never forget when I'm about to share with you because I think we've all been there. As we all know, President Lincoln had been gone through some very, very difficult times, probably the most difficult times of his life during the Civil War. And he prayed daily, he had a Bible on his desk and he read it quite often. See, history doesn't talk much about this, does it? But these are facts. And one night, the White House was closed, doors locked, all the lights out in the White House, except for a candle that was lit

44:41in the Oval Office. And the door of the Oval Office was a little open, there was a little crack in the door. So you could see the light of the candle shining through that door out into the hallway. So President Lincoln's chief of staff had been walking around the hole to the White House, I guess doing this and doing that, kind of fixing things up. Clearly, he was just kind of walking around, I guess, killing some time. But he walked into the hallway where the Oval Office was and saw a little bit of light shining through their crack in the door. So he decided to walk down the hallway. And when he came to the Oval Office and saw the door a little open, he opened it up wider, and there he saw President Lincoln, not sitting behind the resolute desk, not standing, looking out the window, but on his knees.

45:42President Lincoln on his knees holding a Bible in his hand with his head bowed down. So his chief of staff is looking at him. And finally, he said, Mr. President, I don't really want to interrupt you, but you okay? Is there anything I could do? And what are you doing down there on the floor? The President turned his head in a minute or so and looked at him and said, My friend, I have no place else to go. Wow, what a message. I have no place else to go. So the only one final place, the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln went with to the Lord Jesus Christ. He went to the light, not only shining from that candle in the Oval Office, but he went to the light shining from heaven, to his heart, to his soul, to his spirit,

46:44praying to God for peace, for wisdom, for understanding, and for strength. And is that not what you and I seek every single day of our lives? I admit to you, when I run into challenges and problems now, yep, I look for solutions. Need a doctor? I go need to meet the banker. I go need to solve some problems in the household. I get to find those solutions. I do. But before I now take those steps, I pray. Lord, lead me in the right direction. Lord, show me thy path. Teach me thy ways. Lord, give me the wisdom. Give me the knowledge and understanding of what I'm going through so that I could make the right decisions. Now many of you may be saying, oh, but I've tried everything. I've done everything I could. People have come and gone and they've patted me on the back. I'm

47:45with you all the way. And well, you notice that when the people, although many of them are meaningful, very well, they really mean well when they do that. What have they really come to help you? Maybe some have and God bless them if they have. It was maybe the good Lord is using them to answer your prayers. And that's a good thing. But it rarely happens. For the most part, those who pat us on the back, they really mean it. If they really want to help, but they can't. But they'll say anything to bring comfort. My point is this, the only real place you can go to is with a literally or figuratively on your knees and pray. It doesn't mean you're going to get a scripted prayer. You know how you're going to pray? How about this? You pray the way you want, the way you think is best for you. But for me now, the most effective way for me to pray, is what I'm doing right now. Having a conversation with you and believe me, I wish this was a

48:50two-way conversation. Perhaps one day we'll get you on a radio program. Anyone who wants to come on that wants to talk about this? I'll tell you what. I love for you to come on. In fact, go to our website, AmericaOut Loud.News. AmericaOut Loud.News. And you're going to find out on that website that there is a way to get to me and send me an email. I think it actually does a contact form, okay? So contact form, you'll see where my broadcast is and just go and send me a little note, okay? That's AmericaOut Loud.News. That's the network website. And since we're on this network, that's a pretty easy way you can get to me. And then maybe we get you on the air. And let's have a good talk about Christ and the Bible. Very rare, huh? Very rare on a lot of networks and broadcasts, but America out loud. All right, this news broadcast brings not only news, like I said earlier, from Earth, but from heaven. And this is all good news, by the way. It is good news.

49:53And I encourage you to take advantage of that. But getting back to what I was originally speaking about the peace of mind or heart or whole of spirit, the dark night of the soul. We can eliminate the dark night of the soul if we pray and have a conversation with God. So I wake up 4, 5, 6 in the morning. I make a cup of coffee. Maybe I'll eat something. I'll sit on a chair. I relax. Sometimes I'll put on some nice, so beautiful, relaxing music. How's that sound? Folks. And then I take a sip of coffee. I literally look out the window up at the sky or in the room on the ceiling. Sometimes across the room. Sometimes bow my head. And then I say this. Okay, buddy. Let's talk. That's right. That's the way I stop my prayer.

50:54I feel that close and intimate with Jesus Christ that I could actually have a conversation with him like that. Now somebody might say, well, that's kind of disrespectful. You know, he's a king. Well, he also knows my heart. He knows your heart. And I tend to believe he also has a sense of humor. And I tend to believe that he has no problem with us before referring to him as a buddy. I thank him every day for being my friend. My point is, get close to him. Get to know him. He's not walking around heaven with a hammer, looking for something to hammer your head with. He's walking around heaven, waiting for you to come on to show up and how you show up, you have that conversation. So tomorrow morning, this afternoon, after this broadcast, and whenever you're comfortable, maybe sitting behind your desk, or maybe in an office like the oval office, maybe getting on your knees, whatever, whatever you feel is comfortable for you. Don't

51:57let somebody tell you how you should pray, you know, on your knees up down. That's why I won't do that. I don't tell you how to pray. I tell you how I pray, but the only way to pray is the way you feel comfortable with. That's right. God isn't necessarily looking at how you pray. He is looking at what you're saying. Are you confessing to him your sins? Oh boy, that's a tough one, isn't it? Are you letting him know everything that you should be letting him know about your life, about your problems? Are you holding things back from him? Don't do that because he already knows. Oh yeah, where there is the presence of sin, there are a couple things going on, where there's presence of sin, the grace abounds. Believe me, he brings a lot of grace to you, but also where there's the presence of sin is a roadblock to blessings. Oh yeah. And as I shared with you in that letter

53:00that I read to you a few minutes ago, I see that that particular individual who wrote, while I call it a letter who wrote that prayer made it very clear that they clearly made it clear. I'm repeating myself. That's when you run out of words on radio. You kind of, you can't do it again. All right, so forgive me. But the fact is what I'm trying to say is that he made it very, very clear that we need to be honest with God close to him. When he says things like Lord, make me aware of my faults and my sins. Yeah, I want to be aware of the sins and faults. Hey, folks, there's some things we do that we know we should do the instinct kicks abs. Well, I'm not going to do this. And we don't do it. And then we realize, hmm, is that sinful? Listen to this folks. I have a friend who said to me, oh, income tax is coming up and he received some

54:01income where he got, I think, it wasn't a W2. Oh, 1099. All right. So he gets this 1099 form where he was contracted out to work for someone. And he's telling me, hey, look, he says, he's Steve, you think I should kind of just take a chance? I got a lot of income here. And I might be end up paying a lot of taxes. So I, you know, maybe kind of forget this 1099. And I looked at him, I says, well, you may forget it. What makes you believe the IRS is going to forget it? He says, well, he says, sometimes, you know, I could take the gamble. I could take the shot. I said, well, well, to what end? Well, Steve got to what end? I mean, I'd have to, you know, see my taxes really go through the roof if I don't submit this one 1099. I said, so you're telling me you're going to take a gamble. And if you lose the gamble, you'll be fine probably. You'll be given some sort of a tax upon the tax, right? Interest and all that.

55:02Is it really worth it? He says to me, and here it goes, folks, he says to me, now, who's watching? The only person that knows is you. Well, now that you asked me the question I was waiting for, the answer is, God is watching. He's watching. You know who he is? And he stared at me. And this is a long stare. Actually, he stared at me. He says, well, you know, I kind of expected, I know how you are. I kind of expected, but didn't expect you to say that with regard to this. So I said, hey, let's let me tell you something. You told me nobody's watching. God is watching. I guarantee you bury that 1099 in a draw. You may not be going back to for another year, two, three, four, five years, but when that if, but when the IRS catch up to you, you're going to pay a heavy price. But worse than that, and here it comes, folks, worse than that,

56:02when your sin catches up to you, you're going to pay a price, unlike any price you've ever paid before. And he got shaken over that. He said, what do you mean? That's like you're talking like I'm committing a murder or something. I said, you don't have to commit a murder. Sin is sin in the eyes of God. And I tell them, believe me, things like that in the past, of course, my mind, till I realize that if I'm going to honor God, if I'm going to pray to God, if I'm going to ask him for blessings, then the greatest way I could bless him is to be honest, do the right thing. And by the way, this person is a Christian like I am. So we all fall short, the Bible says the glory of God. So I end with this. The Bible tells you to sin not, sin not. And if you sin, confess to the Lord Jesus Christ, let him know your faults, your problems. And then you know what you're going to hear from him. Go my friend and sin no more. You're forgiven. Jesus Christ, the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Yep. If you got no place else to go,

57:09try God. He is the Lord thy God. He says, I have come. I have come to you. I have come for you. Believe me. He's here, ready, willing, and able to receive you. If we're you to receive him as your Lord and Savior. God bless you and God bless America.