Watchman on the Wall

Guest (Male): Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. Today, Josh Davis examines Texas's push to bring the Bible back into schools, a Christian grandmother denied entry into the UK, and new surveillance technology raising questions about the future. It's all ahead on Headlines from the End Times.

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Josh Davis: The state of Texas looks to add the Bible to its public school curriculum. What did one influential signer of the Declaration of Independence believe about the Bible's use in the classroom? A Christian grandmother from Finland was recently denied entry into the UK, but why? Plus, retailers in the UK are rolling out surveillance camera software to alert police when a frequent shoplifter enters their shop. Josh Davis details these stories and connects them to Bible prophecy on today's edition of Headlines from the End Times.

Greetings, fellow Watchman on the Wall, and welcome to another Headlines from the End Times, bringing you information so that you can see how the pieces are falling into place for God's prophetic plans. During this month of July, we've been bringing you special patriotic episodes reflecting on America's 250th birthday, looking to the past, looking at what our founders had to say and the worldview that they held, and going forward to America's present and even going into the future, seeing America's role in Bible prophecy.

We begin today's Headlines from the End Times with the story of the Bible in schools in the state of Texas. This was a recent story that came out in late June. According to reports, Texas will require Bible accounts in public schools after the State Board of Education approved a mandatory reading list. I have an issue with how this is addressed even in the opening sentence of this report. They call it Bible stories. I call them Bible accounts. They're not fictitious stories. It's true history. It's things that actually took place. It's legitimate historical accounts of what took place.

But I digress. Let's get more into this story. The Republican-led board passed the mandated Christian accounts in public school lessons on a 9-4 vote along party lines with two members not present for that vote. According to this report, the statewide reading list requires, among other literary works, that schools teach Bible material to children as young as six years old up to young adults preparing to receive their diplomas. In other words, from first grade through 12th grade. That includes accounts about Adam and Eve, the Beatitudes, and the parable of the prodigal son.

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, criticized this reading list adoption in a statement, saying Texas should not force public school students to learn the Bible. She said this policy is part of a broader movement to misuse public schools to impose one narrow set of religious beliefs and indoctrinate a new generation of Americans in the lie that America is a Christian country.

Is America currently a Christian country? That's a very big question that you need to think about and ponder. As I shared on a recent Headlines from the End Times, we see how our nation is declining here in the US. We understand spiritually we are so far away from where we need to be. We need the Lord in a mighty way.

As we take a step back, how was public education set up? Of course, in the modern era of public education, those things didn't come about until after the Civil War in terms of compulsory public education for citizens of the United States of America. Even in recent years, I've talked to people who are in their 80s and even older that only went through a certain grade level. But it seems that the push is for everyone to receive a diploma nowadays.

Let's look back at one of America's signers of the Declaration of Independence and see what he thought about using the Bible in schools. His name is Dr. Benjamin Rush. He lived from 1745 to 1813. He's relatively unknown to most of our modern generation, but he was one of the best-known signers of the Declaration of Independence in his day. In fact, John Adams considered Dr. Benjamin Rush to be one of America's three most notable founding fathers, ranking him alongside George Washington and the likes of Benjamin Franklin.

That's how important he seemed to be, at least in John Adams's opinion. He achieved so much in his life. It's really legendary. He offered four decades of political service to his country, and he was such an accomplished doctor that he has been called the father of American medicine. He helped to found and guide numerous societies, including those set to end slavery, to promote science, to encourage Sunday school, to distribute Bibles, and to provide relief for many folks that were struggling with medical issues.

He helped to establish at least five universities, colleges, or academies. He did so much else, including authoring numerous textbooks and pioneering educational opportunities for many, like women and Black Americans. He's been tabbed as the father of public schools under the Constitution. He wrote a pamphlet called *A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools*. That was back in 1791 that he first penned it. It was reprinted numerous times even after his death and became a very important document.

I've got the whole thing right in front of me, and it would take the whole rest of this episode to read every single statement. You can find it online. *A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools* by Dr. Benjamin Rush. In fact, the WallBuilders ministry has it available in a small pamphlet form that you can have and hold and read and share with others. Notice a few things that he had to say.

The role of the Bible in educating America's students. He said, "Dear sir, it is now several months since I promised to give you my reasons for preferring the Bible as a schoolbook to all other compositions. Before I state my arguments, I shall assume the five following propositions. Number one, that Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy."

"Number two, that a better knowledge of this religion is to be acquired by reading the Bible than in any other way. Number three, that the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. Number four, that knowledge is most durable and religious instruction most useful when imparted in early life. Number five, that the Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life."

He goes on to outline many of his arguments. I want to circle back to number three. He said that the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. That is so true. We understand the gospel message through the Bible. That's why, whichever side you're on on this Texas issue, we need the Bible back in schools.

I want us just to pump the brakes a little bit and think about it in a more critical role. What if you have a public school teacher who is forced in the state of Texas to teach the Bible? She gets up in front of her students and says, "None of this that I'm going to share with you is true, but if I don't share it with you, they're going to fire me, so I have to pretend like we believe the Bible. But these things are fairy tales. These things are made up."

That teacher is going to undermine the authority of Scripture in front of her students. What the state of Texas is doing may be rightly motivated, but how is it going to work out practically? Is it actually going to end up undermining the authority of Scripture in many people's lives? Are they going to explain the gospel message clearly and articulately to these students, or is it more just about moral lessons that you can get from the Bible? Is it about the Bible as a history book?

It's certainly a book that's important for Western civilization. That's true. It certainly is that, but it's much more than that. I'm sure these efforts are rightly motivated to present this information to students. Who's going to present it, and how are they going to present it? Is it going to fall short of what the Bible actually is to help us in our present state more than any other book in the world, as Dr. Benjamin Rush said, because he understood the gospel message and wanted teachers to be able to proclaim that gospel message?

They should not be handcuffed, as some Christian teachers are today, to where they can't say anything about the gospel or the Scripture whatsoever. This helps us to understand some more about those signers of the Declaration of Independence and the role that they saw the Bible playing in education of children. You can look at some of America's earliest textbooks and understand the crucial role that the Bible played in education in early America. Many of those schools were run by churches, not by the government or by taxpayers.

We understand where we are as a nation today and the direction that we're moving and what our founders originally thought about these kinds of things. Now let's turn to another headline from the end times. I've told you about the Finnish grandmother that was involved in Finland's parliament. She was arrested and tried and found guilty of hate speech according to their rules and laws there. She's recently been denied a right to travel to the UK, restricting her freedom of expression.

Ms. Räsänen—and forgive me if I'm mispronouncing that—was convicted in Finland for having traditional Christian views on marriage and sexuality. She said that her electronic travel authorization for the UK has been canceled. The former Finnish Minister of the Interior said her application for an ETA was initially successful, but she later received a notification informing her that it had been canceled. These travel authorizations are required for travelers who don't have a visa and they need to pass through the UK border control upon arrival in the country.

Ms. Räsänen said she wasn't given any explanation for the cancellation of her ETA, and it's thrown into doubt her plans to travel to Northern Ireland next month. The 66-year-old is due to visit the country in August to speak at a conference and to visit the parliament in Northern Ireland. She no longer knows if this trip will be possible. This cancellation of this electronic travel authorization comes just months after the Finnish Supreme Court found her guilty of what they consider to be hate speech over statements expressing biblical views on marriage and sexuality in a pamphlet she wrote back in 2004.

I pointed out to you several weeks ago when telling you about the story that that law was not passed until years later. They found something after the law was passed and that opened an investigation into her. Then they went back and found this pamphlet that she wrote in 2004 ever before that law was passed, tried her, and found her guilty of hate speech according to what she wrote years before the law was even passed in Finland. She was convicted of making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group.

Commenting on the cancellation of her ETA, she said, "The Supreme Court's closely divided ruling has had unexpected consequences. In addition to restricting freedom of expression, it has also created restrictions and difficulties related to travel and participation in meetings and conferences." She went on to say, "My great concern is that this decision has left many people with uncertainty, confusion, and fear about the consequences of exercising their freedom of speech and religion in a peaceful manner and about where the line lies between lawful and prohibited speech."

This is just an absolutely crazy story, and it continues to evolve with more crazy layers. Thinking about the restrictions that could be put into place just for speaking the truth, just for holding a biblical view on marriage and sexuality in the country of Finland, she's charged with a hate crime. It's a narrow decision and it's being appealed. It's by no means a settled case. As I keep stressing, she was charged for something that she wrote in 2004 when that law wasn't even on the books in 2004.

Now she is denied entry into the UK because she's been flagged as someone who has committed a crime in the last 12 months. She's a criminal. We've got to keep her out of the UK. Her story is being told all over the world now. Let's be much in prayer for her that the Lord would continue to embolden her to stand, that the Lord would protect her, and that the Lord would give her guidance, wisdom, and discernment in moving forward in this bold stand that she's chosen to take for the truth.

Connected to that and staying in the UK, I want to share another story about a software program called FaceWatch. FaceWatch is connected with retail facial recognition software to notify the police of repeat offender matches. This is in the UK and in the city of London, one of Western civilization's most heavily surveyed cities. Cameras are all over the place. Even in retail stores, they have these biometric cameras that can recognize people's faces.

This FaceWatch live facial recognition system is used by over 125 retailers that operate thousands of stores across the UK. Soon they're going to begin sending alerts to police according to a company announcement. The new crime management platform from FaceWatch will instantly call police when the most serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match on entering a participating store. FaceWatch CEO Nick Fisher said the system delivers alerts within just four seconds.

What's the big deal about this? They're targeting these people who are chronic shoplifters. When one of these chronic shoplifters enters into a store and their face is scanned, within four seconds the police receive a notification. John Smith has just entered such and such store down on this certain street. You need to go pick him up and arrest him. Again, we're seeing the surveillance state emerge. We're seeing how people's movements are being controlled.

A lot of people are up in arms about this and saying it's a severe violation of people's security, safety, and privacy. It certainly seems to be, but will that turn back the clock? No, it does not seem to be the case. In fact, it seems that retailers are really buying into this because they're losing so much money due to shoplifting that they're trying to find some solutions to stop the shoplifters. This is what they have come up with using technology and biometric identification almost instantly within four seconds alerting the police to come down and to arrest those particular people.

I want to share another story with you, but before that, I want to remind you that you're listening to Headlines from the End Times, a Friday feature of Watchman on the Wall. Thank you so much for joining me. I encourage you to connect with our ministry at swrc.com. We've got all kinds of wonderful resources available for you on our ministry website, many special resources available for America 250, and books, DVDs, television shows, and so much more. It's available at swrc.com.

Don't forget while you're there to check out the Prophecy in the News TV show. I like to remind you that you can download the free SWRC mobile app as well. On that mobile app, you can watch our weekly episodes of Prophecy in the News TV plus every single Monday through Friday episode of Watchman on the Wall. You can listen to that freely in the SWRC mobile app. The best part about that mobile app is that it's on your schedule. If you can't tune in to a radio station at a certain time, it doesn't matter. It's available right there on demand.

You can listen to it anytime you want. Just go to your mobile app store, type in these four letters, SWRC. Look for the Southwest Radio Ministries blue bubble logo and you can download that free mobile app and connect with us and listen to all the great content. That's a great way to stay equipped and informed with all the wonderful resources from Southwest Radio Ministries. All that wonderful content is also available at swrc.com.

We do want to remind you that we're coming to Minnesota in September and we would love to see you there. All the details are available on our website, or give us a call for more information. Registration is free, but we need to know that you're coming so that we can bring the right number of resources and giveaways with us. Would you call us today or go to our website and register? Again, registration is totally free. Invite others to come with you. It's going to be two full days filled with wonderful content. We'll have more to say about that as the time draws nearer. So go to swrc.com or give us a call, 1-800-652-1144.

Please don't forget that in early August, we're going to be taking a mission trip together. We're partnering with TWR to raise money for radios, sending those to Africa. We've done this for the last couple of years. It's been such a great blessing. We're excited to partner again with our friends at TWR as we raise money for the Africa Needs Jesus campaign. We'll have much more to say about that, so stay tuned throughout the month of August as we bring you more information about this special mission trip that you can take with SWRC and TWR without even having to get in a vehicle or board a plane or anything else. You can make a difference. You can make an impact when you partner with TWR and SWRC during our Africa Needs Jesus campaign that'll be coming up in the month of August.

One more story before we wrap up our time today. The United Nations has finally owned up to what has been obvious for the last couple of years, acknowledging that Hamas-linked interference has occurred with humanitarian aid in Gaza. This is something that I have said and that many people have said for over a couple of years, that Hamas is intentionally withholding the aid that the UN and other groups are trying to send into Gaza and using it as a negotiating tool, as a bargaining chip with the citizens of Gaza.

For instance, if there's a young man that's not wanting to fight, they say we're not giving your family anything food unless you join our fight. Those kinds of things are going on. Don't kid yourself. Well, now the United Nations has publicly acknowledged that armed men affiliated with Gaza's Hamas-run authorities have intimidated humanitarian workers, assaulted aid drivers, and disrupted the delivery of life-saving food supplies.

Don't give in to some of the propaganda that's been coming out from the UN from Hamas. The UN and Hamas have been working together with some propaganda, but now the UN is getting frustrated with Hamas and they've come out officially saying they're going against this World Food Program warehouse. They're attacking people. In fact, the men reportedly assaulted two truck drivers recently who were delivering humanitarian supplies, forcing aid workers to suspend food distributions.

This statement makes a significant acknowledgment by the United Nations after years of disputes over Israeli claims that Hamas and other armed groups were interfering with humanitarian aid in Gaza. A senior US official told the Jewish News Syndicate recently, "The UN at last states the obvious on systemic Hamas theft and diversion of aid in Gaza." This admission adds new weight to the long-standing Israeli concerns that humanitarian aid intended for Gaza's civilian population has been exploited, obstructed, or diverted by Hamas and other armed groups. We know that this has been going on. The US and Israel were attempting to send their own aid to help the Gazan citizens, and that was much more successful than the UN's attempts. Now it's official. The UN has come out and admitted yes, Hamas is interfering with our aid distribution to the residents of Gaza.

So friends, open your eyes. Don't get sucked in by the propaganda that is being spewed by some of the narrative makers out there. Keep your eyes focused on the Lord, understand the signs of the times, and remember as we say here at Southwest Radio Ministries that God is still on the throne and prayer changes things.

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Josh Davis: Lord willing, we'll be back here Monday, ready to once again bring clarity to the chaos. So head into the weekend with the encouragement that God is still on the throne and prayer changes things.

Guest (Male): Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful friends just like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com. That's swrc.com.