Allen Jackson NOW

Charlie Kirk: We know the church is failing for multiple reasons. By its fruit, you will know it. That is a biblical principle. And church attendance has been going down steadily the last 30 years. It's actually plateaued and gone up 1 point in the last year and a half. I think that's only a COVID recovery. I don't even think that's a revival, so I think we have to be very humble in the way we look at that data, but the data is the data.

But it's been a 30-year slide. More and more young people are identifying as not religious or at very best as spiritual. And what has been the prevailing Christian, let's just say, the prevailing church methodology? Number one, we must be more sensitive and we must water down scripture. And when we do those two things, we will then be able to bring more seekers into our church. And the less truth that we tell, the bigger we'll be able to expand. That's basically been the formula.

Has it worked, Pastor Allen? Last question and then we'll get to some Q&A.

Allen Jackson: Well, I want to disagree with you on one point. And it's just a semantic thing. I don't believe the church is failing because Jesus is the head of the church and the church is triumphant. I think the institutional church.

Charlie Kirk: That's fair. Yeah.

Allen Jackson: The institutional church in the way we've known it.

Charlie Kirk: The mechanical church. Yeah.

Allen Jackson: I think that there's definitely I think there's a tremendous decrease in its influence. I think that's good. If they've rejected the authority of scripture and the uniqueness of Jesus, I want their influence to diminish.

Charlie Kirk: That's exactly right. It's ungodly.

Allen Jackson: It's ungodly.

Charlie Kirk: And you could make an argument they're not actually even the church. Yeah.

Allen Jackson: That's not. Yeah, that's an easy argument. I think the order of March is really important and it's not complicated. Jesus entered the kingdom of God, he didn't say you needed to be sensitive. He said you needed to be born again.

And it confused the man who'd come to see him. It's in John 3. There was a confusing discussion. And he was a scholar. And he said, I'm old, I don't understand the logistics. And Jesus was a bit chagrined by that. He said, how can you a leader of my people not understand that there has to be a birth of the spirit.

And only the power of God can do that. But if we're willing to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as Christ, as the Messiah, and then you're willing to accept him as Lord of your life, there's something supernatural that happens to you. There's a spiritual birth that takes place in you. The Bible describes it as becoming a new creation.

And then that message has lived in American evangelicalism pretty well. But we haven't taken much beyond that and talked about now the necessity of growing up in our faith. Of running our race as if we want to win the prize. You know, I've been invited to the hospital hundreds of times to see new arrivals. And there's grandparents and pictures and all this stuff. But nobody imagined the story's done. It's just the promise of a life to be led well.

So your entry into the kingdom of God comes with that simple thing. It's not controlled by a church, a pastor, a priest, a denomination. You can do that by yourself. You can do it in the in the grocery store in the produce section or in the parking lot of the dream center or at the altar of a church. It's the beginning point for every life.

And we have to go with that message. There will be good people in hell. There'll be kind people and generous people and pretty people. There'll be people who sit in churches. All of those things, it's our relationship with Jesus that determines our destiny and opens our lives to that new birth.

And we have to care enough about our families and our friends and our neighbors and the people that we work with to share with them the good news. There's a God and you can know him. And he will change your life. He doesn't need anything from you.

And if you will take that simple step of faith, it opens an entirely new realm of existence to you. And the church has lost our passion for that. And we think we can fix our problems with an election or a dynamic leader or more seats in Congress. And I'm not against any of those things, but if those things are to happen, they will be because the church is awakened and we took our values back into the marketplace.

Charlie Kirk: That's well said. Let's start lining up for some Q&A. We'll get to as much as we can. Pastor Allen, I just want to thank you for your boldness. It is so refreshing to have someone that has a platform as big as yours. And I hope you understand Pastor Allen Jackson is heard by millions of people every single week. It's one of the largest ministries out there and really teaches the word verse by verse and chapter by chapter. So thank you for that.

Guest (Male): Yes, sir. Welcome, gentlemen. Welcome. My question is got to do with DEI in the military. I'm a maggot lifer, retired Air Force. And I never had that problem, that situation because I was put in I was put in a lot of different jobs that had a lot of, you know, responsibility. So what do you guys think about President Trump and uh, Secretary Hedgpath kind of getting rid of it?

Charlie Kirk: First of all, thank you for your service, sir. That's, uh, we really Very much against it. I'm against any sort of DEI measurement in corporate life or in schools, but especially in the military. The military is a place where to be perfectly honest, the military does not exist to accommodate all people. The military does not exist to make people feel good. It's to be excellent and lethal and to protect the homeland against threats that want to wish us harm.

And not only am I against DEI, I'm very much in favor of what Secretary Hegseth, who's doing a phenomenal job, by the way, he's just doing a great job of what Secretary Hegseth issued yesterday, where he said, look, combat is hard, it's difficult, people's lives are on the line. And if you want to serve in combat, if you're a man or a woman, you have to have the same physical fitness standards.

One in particular is that in 2015, they said that women in combat, you only have to be able to deadlift 210 pounds. A man has to be able to deadlift 320 pounds. And to put that in perspective, an average soldier that is a man with his pack and his ruck will weigh about 220 to 230 pounds.

That means that a female marine or a female individual in the US Army, if all of a sudden a male marine would have his leg blown off, that female would not be strong enough to be able to carry him on her back, be able to give him necessary medical attention that could save his life. That is not a military, that is a social experiment and that ends and is ending right now. Thanks to President Trump and Pete Hegseth. No place in our country.

And let me just go a step further. You know what I think is awesome is that you served in a time of military where everyone knew that you earned it and that you were qualified. DEI unintentionally introduces racism and prejudice where it otherwise does not exist. Where then people wonder that if black Americans are in a certain role, are they there because they were the best or because there was some sort of accommodation? In fact, it's insulting to people as yourself if you would have to reapply in the military under those standards. And so God bless you. Thank you for your service and I'm glad we're bringing merit back to the finest fighting force on the planet.

Allen Jackson: No, I mean I think the church muddied that conversation. Excuse me, because we we we wanted the approval of the culture, so we came up with some other tortured explanations of scripture to try to make diversity and equity and inclusion look like they were biblical principles, not in the way they were being pushed through our educational systems and the military.

Charlie Kirk: Thank you. And that's exactly right. And you could always go back to where does this idea originate? For example, natural rights, human equality, freedom of speech all started by Christians and people that adhered to scripture. Diversity, equity, inclusion to a T were all the outgrowths of secular philosophers like Derek Bell and Kimberly Crenshaw and Herbert Marcuse and Michel Foucault. None of them were believers. That is a great test before we go any further.

When an idea is pushed you on the culture, ask yourself, are the people who theorized this, who authored it, are they Christians and people who believe in the authority of scripture, or are they secularists? That does not mean that secularists cannot have good ideas. However, it's a very good beginning and starting point of what is the origination.

I would go a step further and say that a lot of the impulses of DEI is anti-scripture and against our faith. Yes, sir, what's your question? Thank you for that.

Guest (Male): What are your thoughts on Greek gods? Do you think they're fallen angels? I know there is only one true God, but how do you think as a kid in public school who is taught about all of this and many generations have been taught?

Allen Jackson: That's a great question.

Charlie Kirk: That's a really good question. Thank you. What's your name?

Guest (Male): Javen.

Charlie Kirk: David. Thank you. Thank you for that question.

Guest (Male): Javen.

Charlie Kirk: Javen. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry. I misheard you.

Allen Jackson: Well, I I think the Christians have been way too passive. When they told us to take, you know, prayer out of the schools or our faith out of the schools, we rather meekly said, yes. When they said you could pray at school, but only if you pray at the flagpole outside, we said thank you.

Anyway, that's another day. I'll come back for that one. But what we didn't acknowledge is in the schools, they're teaching worldviews and religions. I've walked through the public schools, there's all sorts of Egyptian gods and expressions of their faith that are a part of the I'm okay with that. But they need to tell how Christianity has shaped this nation.

I think the Greek and Roman mythology are an ancient expression of of the way we have worshipped demons and false gods throughout human history. And they've been a part of the education, but you don't have to be afraid of it. If you know the truth, you don't have to be afraid of something that's false.

Charlie Kirk: A couple, two, two very quick additional thoughts. Number one, is that the Bible does talk about repeatedly, you have to be very careful using the word gods, because we are a monotheistic faith, but forces that could be interplaced with the word god, like Molech, for example, that are pagan manifestations of demonic and spiritual forces. Lucas is writing a book on paganism right now. And if you want to really have a breakthrough, and I think everyone needs to really dive deep into this, the more you realize that we don't live in an atheistic country, but more in a pagan country, things start to make a lot more sense.

And finally, understand that the early Christians were given what was conceived to be a very good offer by the Romans. Early Christians were humming, they were starting to win converts, and the Romans said, hey, look, we have this thing called the Pantheon, okay? Where you could be one of many religions. We'll add you, okay? We'll have Hermes, we'll have Ra, we'll have the sun god, we'll have the dirt god, we'll have, you know, the air god, we'll have, we'll put you amongst many. You'll be one amongst equals.

And the early Christians to their credit said, no, there's only one true God. We are not going to acknowledge all these fake pagan manifestations. And the courage of the early church to do that, as they faced martyrdom, as they faced extreme exile is one of the great acts of courage that to this day led us to the truth of our faith. If they would have accepted that deal, a lot of the persecution would have stopped. A lot of the massacring of Christians in the early couple hundred years would have ceased. But they said, no, we will go through the persecution, but we refuse to ever say that Jesus is on the same level as Zeus. That is heresy and we will not put up with it. So I hope that's helpful. So thank you.

Allen Jackson: Hey, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us a handful of times, do not worry. Well, here's what I know about Jesus. If he tells us not to do something, it's possible for us to put it down. We've put together a six-week email series to help each of us lead lives free of worry. Folks, we live in a tumultuous world, lots of confusion, but I don't believe we have to be plagued by worry. You can go to AllenJackson.com/freedom, sign up for the email series. Let's live worry-free. Truth matters. You know, I'm not talking about your truth or my truth, but the truth.

Well, on Allen Jackson Now, I talk with top voices and insiders about what's happening today. Our goal is to equip you to help find a trustworthy perspective on what's happening around us. So, when you have conversations throughout your day, you can bring the truth you learn into those places. It's time to be salt and light. Our nation needs it.

Guest (Female): Hi, Pastor. Last summer, there was some testimony in Congress about UAPs, what we used to call UFOs, and that they have, our government has biologics. Just wondering your opinion, wisdom on that.

Allen Jackson: I'm I I'm not familiar enough with what the government has. I think what I can say today is I'm convinced that for far too long, our government has been deceitful, dishonest, lied to us and manipulated us. You know. And one of the very uncomfortable things that has come forth in my life since COVID is that I'm going to borrow Reagan's line. I have to trust but verify.

You know, my father was a veterinarian, I grew up in the sciences. I trusted the CDC and the NIH and all of those people until about April of 2020. And my I'm a veterinarian's assistant informally. And my training said this isn't science anymore. And so on that particular topic, I haven't seen enough data. I've listened to a lot of information, but I don't really have anything beyond that. To to imagine that there's aspects of creation that we don't know about, makes complete sense to me.

You know, every time we get a telescope and we can see further into the universe, our last theory has to be changed because we were incorrect. Or every time we learn more about this physical world we're in, we're adapting what we said was absolute fact. So I I'm I'm completely comfortable saying there are aspects of creation that we just don't know.

You know, I had a mentor in my life. He said that miracles were not Jesus using some extra power, he was just taking advantage of aspects of creation that we don't understand. And so I the discussion doesn't bother me, but I don't trust the source.

Guest (Male): Hi, um, I was wondering, you touched on before creation. I was just wondering if you could tell me more about that. Like, what you your opinion is on what happened before creation.

Allen Jackson: That's a good question. I don't really think we have the information. You know, when Genesis opens, um, it it says that there was chaos, really. There's two Hebrew words used there that are used to that are used a handful of times in the Old Testament, and they almost always describe something chaotic, where there's been some destruction.

So I don't think Genesis begins with the original creation, it says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and then it says and the earth was void and without shape and the spirit of God is hovering over the face of the deep, and then God begins to bring order out of that. So there're there's some things that aren't there. What the Bible is is the story of an almighty God. And his creation of an environment for human beings to live in and how we can have a relationship with him.

It's not the complete story. We don't know where God came from. It's not there. And so what we have the opportunity to do is is to take the design manual and accept that truth and get to know this almighty God. Or we can establish ourselves as in charge and we can figure it out. So I'm not trying to avoid it. I just don't think the information is there and my speculation isn't overly helpful.

Charlie Kirk: Thank you, man. Appreciate it. This will be the last question and then Pastor Allen, I'm going to have you lead us in um, kind of a informal alter call. That's okay. Great. Final question. Thank you.

Guest (Male): So the demonic always seems to know where to attack and tempt, you know, tempt me. And probably all of us. So do our thoughts being read? Are they keying off behavior? Or the words we speak? How does it always seem to know?

Allen Jackson: So I think that the the question is centering around um the intelligence of unclean spiritual forces. And I I I don't personally I don't think it's prudent to make fun of the devil. He's been pretty effective against most of my heroes. You know, Moses and David and Abraham and you can take the list. So I don't mock him or make fun of him.

You know, the story's told of Martin Luther, I don't know that it's true, that he woke up in the middle of the night and he saw the devil standing at the foot of his bed. And he said, oh, it's just you, and he rolled back over and went to sleep. I like the approach. Um my experience is the devil always overplays his hand. He goes too far. I think we've seen that culturally. He goes to the point that it's so absurd that marginally aware people go, wait a minute, that's just that's too far.

And I I think as far as that individual nature, you know, I I think we all have vulnerabilities. We're not all tempted on every point. So my favorite sins to preach against are the ones that aren't temptations for me. I mean, I can drop the hammer on poaching elephants because I haven't been tempted to do that in a long time. You know, um eating too much chocolate, I try to stay away from Glaton because that's a little more personal, but

Um the reality is we all know we have some points of vulnerability. And I think that having with that self-awareness then gives you a game plan. I don't put myself in places where those points of vulnerability are exposed. I won't give my discretionary time. I don't have a great deal of discretionary time, but I will not give it to people that don't encourage me in godliness. Because the the struggle's too real, the challenge is too great.

You know, I find my my friends that have excellence in some area, they spend their free time with people that help them be better at what they're trying to learn. And if you want to be more godly, spend your discretionary time with people that will encourage you in the Lord, not discourage you. So I I don't spend a lot of time worried about the enemy. I try to spend my time getting closer to the Lord and living in the strength and the truth that he's given me. And I don't find, you know, I don't spend a lot of time worrying about viruses and bacteria. I just try to get healthy.

Charlie Kirk: Thank you.

Pastor Allen Jackson: Pastor Allen, would would you lead us in kind of a conclusion here and a call to the Lord? I would. I give you the same invitation that my mom asked for, that to know the truth. And that's not about being Baptist or Catholic or Jewish. It it it Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

And wherever you come into your journey tonight, you may be a veteran of decades in the church. I came to this building decades ago and the Lord met me in this place. And I'm sure he's still meeting people here and tonight would be a good night simply to say to the Lord, I I want to take another step with you.

I don't want to come presumptuously and and imagine that I know it all. And if you stood on the outside as a skeptic, I would invite you simply to say, Jesus be Lord of my life. You didn't take a genius to be a skeptic. It's not hard to find the the frailty in Christians, folks. Our weaknesses are on display most days. But sitting in the seat of the skeptic's a lonely place to stay. It's more fun to be engaged with what God is doing.

And so I would invite you whatever brought you here to to say to the Lord, I want to give you a greater place in my heart and my life. I want to give you a greater place in my priorities. I'm going to say that little prayer and to the degree that that makes sense for you, you just say yes, Lord. I want to stand for that if you will. I'm pretty sure if the Lord came in the room, we'd stand.

Before we put our face in the carpet, I think that would happen really quickly, but I think we would start by standing. He deserves our respect and our reverence. God's not like us. He can make me out of a dustball and and not exert any effort. There's nothing hidden from him. He knows the ending at the beginning. The greatest problems and challenges we have today do not cause God any anxiety.

The church is way too anxious. If we would be more aware and closer to the Lord and stand more in his authority and power, we would be a much greater help to this nation than any elected official. And I'm grateful for all those people that are making sacrifices to provide leadership to our nation. But I believe the God is awakening a generation of people who will tell his truth. So what if we said tonight, I want to be one of those people.

For some, it's a first step. For some, it's another step. For some, it's a reprioritization of your life and your time. Life is no brief candle to me. Life it seems kind of long. But there's no do overs. And I want every season of my life to reflect my very best effort for the kingdom of God.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for these men and women. They've made a sacrifice to be here tonight. And you said that you're the rewarder of those who diligently seek you, and so I lift them before you. For those who are standing apart from you, I pray that they will simply say, Jesus be Lord of my life.

Lord, give them the courage to take that step, to to move beyond indifference. There are many of us who have known you and walked with you, but we've been distracted by many things, and we come tonight to say we're sorry. We give you first place. Forgive us for our ambivalence. Forgive us for imagining that something beyond you would bring contentment and joy and peace to us.

Jesus be Lord of our life. May your truth grow in our hearts. May your name be exalted and your kingdom extended in our generation that will cause the nations of the world to stand in wonder. We thank you for it. In Jesus' name.