we're so glad you're joining us on hope today on this Monday.  I'm so glad I'm here with Tom and Amanda and Tom tell us about our guest that is coming up today. Oh yes, well I'm coming guest. He is the great grandson of slaves yet he believes that the promise of liberty has always belonged to all Americans. Bishop E. W. Jackson sees the history of America as the epic story of flawed human beings achieving an unprecedented victory for freedom with the help of God. He says this, I love my country. We can focus on our mistakes and shortcomings or focus on our aspirations and nobility. He's a declared candidate for president and you'll hear about Bishop Jackson's goals for the future of America too. It's going to be a great conversation. That is for sure. You're going to want to dial someone up and tell them they need to watch hope today because that's exactly what they're going to walk away with from this program. I'm really excited. And you know, just thinking about everything that's been happening around our world, but specifically with Israel, there was a scripture God put on my heart and it's from Psalm 68. It's verse one. It says, let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. And I just, I encourage everyone to pray that, pray that over Israel, pray that over our world, that God would arise. And how does he arise? It's usually through his people, us.  This is like, let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. Yeah, we truly just have to continue to be in prayer because we know as many of you have been following the situation, the crisis that continues to escalate and unfold. And so our hearts and our prayers like for the people that are in Israel, also those who are in Palestine that there's just a lot of things of, you know, I was just reading how hundreds are just trapped in the hospitals right now. So I think a lot of times, as you know, as we see in these news cycles and media cycles that sometimes I think our news fills up and we're able to move on, but let's just keep in the forefront of our hearts and the mind the people that are suffering and just see that who the true enemy is as this terrorist organization that is really encroaching on the Palestinian people. And so we just truly believe, I just think in this season just to pray for all the people that are suffering and that are hurting, but we know that God's purposes and plans are going to prevail. We know he is the God of Israel. And one of my prayers and things that has been on truly on my heart is just to pray even right now for Hamas and that it would be like a Paul experience where Jesus would appear in front of them, that the people that are suffering and that are going through so much hardship, both Jews and the Muslims that there would be an encounter, there would be a move of God like never before. I really feel like as Christians we're kind of like the middle child in this season that Jesus says that blessed are the peacemaker. So we are called to be peacemakers and we just even have to pray for the Christians that are in Israel right now. Like I've heard stories of just being the hands and feet of Jesus during this crisis and everything that's happening in our world, but we know that we don't belong to this world, but we are part of the kingdom of God. We are citizens of the kingdom. We have to keep that in the forefront of our mind, Tom. I think that is really strong and important. In fact, Amanda, why don't you pray for Israel right now? Could you do that? Father, we just thank you right now that your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Father, I thank you that we can place our full confidence, our full trust in you. And Lord, I thank you that there will be many that will have that experience as Saul who is now Paul did. Father, we thank you for appearing to these men and women, Father God, Lord, that they would just turn their way toward you, Father God, that they would go in a totally different direction. Lord, true repentance. Father, we thank you right now for your mercy that is poured out for all of us. None of us deserve salvation, but we know that you want it for each and every person that you created, God. We are your creation. And Lord, I just thank you for touching those in the hospital units that are overworked, overextended. Lord, I ask that you would send your hands and feet, Father God, your people. God, help us that we will be awakened to the call of the Lord on each of our lives. Lord, may we not be asleep in the light in this hour. In Jesus mighty name, amen. Hallelujah. Please continue in prayer for Israel. Before we get to our guests, I wanted to just share something. I had a brief chance last week, but because of our fundraiser, I didn't really get a chance to share with you. Recently, well, first let me say this. In 1960, a 20-year-old saw a vision from the Lord of waves crashing on a shore. And as he looked closer, he saw that they were young people. And he founded an organization called Youth with a Mission, YWAM. His name was Lauren Cunningham. Lauren Cunningham passed away at the age of 88, about 10 days ago. And Lauren Cunningham was, first of all, he was a man who would release people into ministry like nobody I've ever seen. And I was revisiting his story. He started getting people, young people to go, and it wasn't going real well. He's just starting to get a few people, and then it just exploded into this ministry that has reached around the world. They quit counting, but at last time they counted. YWAM had seen about 4.5 million young people share the gospel. They have centers in about 200 nations. There's only about 215 nations in the world. And so just that little spark that he got from the Lord launched that. And I just wanted to say thank you to Lauren. I had a chance to meet with him. He was a humble man, one of the few people that has visited every country on earth, and just an important person in my life. So I just wanted to honor him. It's so good. You were a YWAMmer. My son was a YWAMmer. And let me tell you, he's sharing the gospel on the air force base. Wherever he goes, he was equipped by YWAM. So praise God for youth with a mission. Truly incredible. Yeah. Well, there's no doubt that America is in need of God. After all, this great country was founded as one nation under God. But the enemy has a different agenda to divide us and turn us away from God. Bishop E. W. Jackson is our next guest, and he still has great hope for America. His book is called Sweet Land of Liberty, and he emphasizes the importance of returning to the principles that made America great. Bishop Jackson, welcome to hope today. Thank you for having me. Before we get into your story, Bishop, I really, your book Sweet Land of Liberty is subtitled Reflections of a Patriot Descended from Slaves. I think your story is amazing. We want to get into that. Just your thoughts on what's going on in Israel right now. Could you give us that and where we need to be as the church and as America? Well, as a church, just as in keeping with my presidential campaign, we've got to look through spiritual eyes, not simply political or military eyes. And what is going on in Israel right now, as far as I am concerned, is really part of the unfolding in the end times. Israel becomes the center of Satan's attention. Attacking and destroying God's covenant people is real, becomes a preoccupation. We know it's a preoccupation of the Antichrist in which he shows up in the temple and declares that he is God. And so what we're watching is really something of biblical proportions. And we as Christians have got to be unequivocal in standing with Israel. Yes, we have compassion for all the people who are suffering, but we know that there is a demonic agenda to destroy Israel. And we've got to put a stop to it. We've got to stop Iran from funding terrorism. We've got to stop financing them and supporting them and appeasing them. And we've got to do everything we can to stand with Israel unequivocally. I'm very concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism in our country and the willingness of people on college campuses. And even our president to kind of equivocate and not be clear. He did make a pretty good statement recently. But on the other hand, he's been very difficult to deal with. He's refused a solidarity meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So we've got a spiritual problem on our hands. Ultimately, the problems of America and the world, let's face it, are not political and social. They're ultimately spiritual. That's right. They are ultimately spiritual. Let me ask you about your story.  Tell us about that and tell us, just tell us about the role. I'm so interested in the role of your father in your development. Could you just let us in on what your upbringing was like? Well, I was born into a broken home. My mother and father were breaking up when I was born.  And by the age of 10, I was a gang member, a juvenile delinquent, a truant, a petty criminal. We were actually having gang fights. We were looking up to the guys who had been to the penitentiary and hoping one day we would aspire to be like them, the tough people, the people who everybody feared. And my father came back into my life at the age of 10, took me out of foster care in a very dramatic story. I mean, literally in one hour, picked me up off the street, took me to my foster home, told my foster mother who had raised me from 14 months old, that he was taking me and through her tears and hysteria, he walked out the door with me and never looked back. My life literally changed overnight. Had it not been for my father, I'd probably be dead or in jail right now because that's where I was headed. But my father gave me a vision. And you know, he was the first person to teach me to appreciate my country because he told me, you live in the greatest nation in the world and their opportunities are bounding. And it's up to you what you do with him. And he used to say this to me. He would say, son, of course, you're going to face opposition. I think that was his allusion to the racism in America. He said, you're going to face opposition. He said, well, you will find that when people find out that you want to do something positive with your life, help will come from unexpected places because that's the nature of this country. And I found it to be absolutely true, which is why when I got saved, in the Marine Corps, I learned duty to my country. I got saved and I fell in love with America because I realized that it was a gift from Almighty God that allowed someone like me to do the things that I'm doing. That's a great story and an American story. Let me ask you just before we go on about the whole role of fathers in America and on our need to strengthen that. I think we're seeing more than ever that when a father is not present or when a father is not being a father, there's tremendous more than any other issue. It contributes to the the person not growing the way they should. What do we need to do to strengthen the role of fathers in America? There is a lie, a myth that is being perpetrated that the social problems in America because of racism and poverty and discrimination, actually the social problems in America are because of the breakdown of the family. As you know, 3% of Americans of European background had 3% of their children born out of wedlock in 1950. 13% of Americans of African ancestry had their children born out of wedlock. Now the family was largely intact. 1965 enters in, the great society program begins and the family across the board begins to fall precipitously, mainly in the black community, it's most acute, where 72% now a complete reversal, 72% of children are born out of wedlock. In a city I live near Richmond, Virginia, 80% of black children are born out of wedlock. It's about 40% for children of Americans of European ancestry. And even the Asian and the Hispanic families are beginning to feel the pressure of disintegration. And it leads to the crime we've got in our streets. The data shows mental illness, suicide, violence, rape, murder, a whole host of issues, school dropouts, a whole host of issues are much more prevalent where a child is being raised in a single parent, female-headed household, as opposed to a parent family where the mother and father are together in the bonds of marriage raising their children. It is, look, it's the second issue on my campaign platform. The first is we must come back to God. The second is we must come back to family as God designed it. Amen to that. Tell us about your vision for America and coming back to God. We've seen some inklings of revival. What happened at Asbury and just the beginnings, I think, of what God wants to do. What do you see as America returning to God? What would it look like? I believe that we are on the brink of a major breakthrough. I really believe the darker it gets, the brighter we shine, and that God is preparing to do something. The devil's never going to outdo God, and I really believe that God loves this country. I always say the Declaration of Independence is seen as a political statement, but again it was also a spiritual and cultural statement. It was a statement that said we are going to be a society that believes that our rights and liberties come from Almighty God. Well, there are forces trying to rip that out of our culture and trying to make us a secular culture with no regard to God, and if you do that, you destroy America as we know it and you destroy the firm basis and foundation for our rights and liberties. So my vision for America is that we come back. Psalm 3312, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, that we come back to family as God ordained it, that we come back to a sense of civility and decency and honor and integrity, a recognition of sin for what it is, not to condemn people, but to say what there are absolute standards which we should not transgress, because when we do, we all pay the price. So I see an American which we come together across racial and cultural lines. The beloved community that Dr. King often spoke about, and we don't see each other based on the color of our skin, but we relate based on the content of our character, our competence, our abilities. I want us to be a meritocracy, not an affirmative action culture. I want us to be a unified culture. You mentioned it earlier, I think Tom, one nation under God, what would never going to be that if we allow Marxism, collectivism, socialism to rule the day.  I want to say thank you for stepping up to the plate. Thank you for your obedience to our Lord. When I look at our culture, to me there's so much division, so many things that are dividing us. Talk to us, because when you're speaking about one nation under God, it's this beautiful picture of where we can actually be in unity. What is the importance of that? Look, when Josiah had his great revival, he discovered the Word of God and began to stand on it and told his advisors to go out and read it throughout the land, reconnect people to truth. I think the biggest philosophical and ideological issue we have is not left versus right or Republican versus Democrat, but good versus evil. Isaiah chapter five says, woe to them who put evil for good and good for evil, darkness for light and light for darkness, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. We've got to begin to reassert the truth of God's Word.  I say we need to discard that rule and say, no, that's precisely what we've got to do because Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. And until we come to that, we'll let organizations like Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ Movement, Antifa, their loud vociferous voices will sway people and move people on the basis of some notion of social justice, but what we really need to come back to is righteousness. There is no justice without righteousness and God sets the standard for righteousness. Amen. Amen. God's Word, the scriptures. Let me ask you about a word that has fallen out of favor in many cases, the word patriotism or patriotic. What does that mean to you? Well, you know, the word patriotic comes from the word father or pater, I believe, in the Latin or Greek. And to me, patriotism really means love of a father. And I always say it has a two-fold meaning in America. It means love of the founding fathers or respect or appreciation for what they did. And let me just say, you see, I've got George right beside me here, because he is my favorite American historical figure. I believe that the founding fathers, in spite of their flaws, were some of the greatest human beings who ever walked the face of the earth. And they did something marvelous. They gave us the greatest nation the world has ever known. We ought to thank them. We ought to be grateful. I say, I'm looking forward to seeing George Washington in heaven. I want to ask him about the Revolutionary War and ask him about some of the things that he went to through. These were great people. We've got to come back to the founding fathers, but I believe the founding fathers were given to us by the father, our heavenly father. I believe that America is a gift from Almighty God. I don't think it happened just because these were great men. I believe that God engineered the assembly of these great men, gave them the most successful governing document in the history of mankind, the Constitution of the United States, and allowed somebody like me, whose ancestors were slaves, who came here perhaps not knowing how this was all going to end up, but God knew that they would have an heir who would run for president of the United States and that this would be a nation in which all people, regardless of where they've come from, would have the opportunity to pursue their God-given gifts and talents and abilities. By the way, I think America more than any other nation on earth, and this is the way God intended it, is a reflection of what the kingdom of God looks like. When you said you had George there, I didn't know what you were talking about for a second. I was like, what? Has he got a friend there? Then I saw the statue of George in Washington right next to you. Let me ask you, you talked about his leadership. Let me ask you about a return to principal leadership, because you focus on that. What is your definition of that? How do you see that happening? Well, you know, I really believe that the educational system has a two-fold and maybe even a three-fold purpose. Of course, it is to educate people, give them academic disciplines, teach them knowledge, information, but on the basis of truth, not on the basis of ideology, not on the basis of a polemic against the country, and the second thing is to build in them the character that makes them good people and good citizens. And that means, as the early educators understood, that means teaching them that we are all ultimately accountable to our Creator, to Almighty God. You know, education or in a free society, education should produce not sycophants, not slaves. It should produce thinking responsible citizens who understand their role in a free society. And our educational system, unfortunately, based upon that standard, has completely broken down. And so we started, my wife and I started a school called the Maximum Potential Christian Academy. It's a principal education school in which we are doing that, teaching the disciplines, of course, academic excellence, but also teaching character and teaching our relationship with God. This is just so powerful, everything that you're saying. And I would love for you to just take this opportunity to pray over our country. And I believe that God has you at the right place at the right time. You're walking in His gifting and calling. And I would appreciate your prayers today. Absolutely. Let us pray. Father God, we plead the blood of Jesus Christ over this nation, because we believe that America was birthed in covenant. When the settlers arrived on the Mayflower, they entered into covenant with each other, and they acknowledged their purpose was to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Jamestown settlers did exactly the same thing. And Lord God, we need America to come back to its sense, its understanding of itself as a covenant nation with Almighty God. And so Lord, give us an awakening, give us a revival, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, give us a hunger for truth again, a hunger for you, a hunger for prayer, a hunger for America to be that shining city on a hill. Not because we're perfect people or that we're better than other people, but because we're rooted and grounded in the faith of our fathers, the ancient landmark which we refuse to remove. And that is their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Bishop Jackson. The book is called Sweet Land of Liberty, Reflections of a Patriot, Descended from Slaves. Thank you, Bishop, E.W. Jackson. And my website, if I may say my website is E.W. Jackson for president.com. And we will have a link to that on our website as well. Thank you so much. Thank you for taking this step. I mean, you already have a pretty good job, Bishop, and, you know, man of God and everything, but Lord has you taking stuff. Amen. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. God bless you. God bless you, too. Amen. Amen. Thank you, God, for just, it's so encouraging to see people running for office that are God-fearing individuals and stepping out. It's so important, Sidney, in this day and hour. You know, as they're having the conversation with Bishop Jackson, just thinking about this term, just as in my spirit about the Ecclesia, that we are the called out ones. And I think about our citizenship, where it is first in heaven. It is first with Jesus. And when we have a revelation that the kingdom of God is within us, that God calls us to certain places of influence. It's the government or media or education or wherever it may be that in this season and time, I truly believe that God wants to understand what is inside of us. He wants us to have a revelation of who we are called to be.  And because when you think about a seed, it's all about what it can produce. It's all about what is within it and what's inside of it. And just want to ask you today, what is inside of you? What potential has not been released? What things has God put and spoken in your spirit? But maybe it's fear or you're timid or you don't know how it's all going to go. But what things that are inside of you? What gifts are you carrying that the world needs? We see what's happening all over our world right now in different parts of, you know, we're seeing multiple wars and all of these things that are going on. But we are called to be the light. And the light is only accessible through Jesus Christ. He is the door. So will you access Him today? Will you surrender your life to Him today? Will you lay your life down and give it all to Him? Because we see the world is passing away, but we know the word stands forever and Jesus is the word. So today, just give us a call if that has been on your heart or maybe you're like, you know what, I just want more of you Jesus and I want to know where you're calling me to go so I can walk in the fullness of my calling. So I know the hope of my calling where I know where you are sending me out. Give us a call at<PHONE_NUMBER>. I love that, Sidney. I love that, you know, not only sharing the gospel, but we all, each one of us have that place that God has called us and gifts He's given us that I have to tell you sometimes we don't move in them. Sometimes, like Sidney said, fear or just not knowing how. But if you seek after God, if you really just say, Lord, I am going after you. I want to know my role. I want to know where I can be the hands and feet of Jesus. I want to know where I can make a difference. God has got that for you. He's got that place for you. He's got that place where you can be effective for the kingdom of God. Maybe it's preaching. Maybe it's teaching. Maybe it's, you know, whatever He has for you, but whatever it is, I know that you're going to succeed in it when you just lay it all on the altar for Him. That's right. I think one thing that people do is oftentimes we disqualify ourselves because of our past. And I encourage you today to put on your biblical eyeglasses and begin to see yourself the way that God sees you, washed clean. All of that past is behind you. That's where it's at. You're not to keep looking in a rear view mirror when you're driving forward. You got to move forward into the things that God has called for you to do. He loves you so much. He truly does love you so much, and we're just so glad that you've joined us on Hope Today. And this is what it's all about this program, why we created it, and why we started it, because we love to just take this time to speak to your spirit, to speak to your heart, so you know the plans and the purposes of God, and also that you know Jesus. You know, having a relationship with Jesus, coming into the revelation of Him, is the best thing ever. Because when we know Jesus, when we find our identity in Him, when we're rooted in Him, we know that all things are possible, and we can make great change in this world, great change in this earth, great change in our communities, because we know that people need to know who Jesus is. We love you so much. Have a wonderful day in Him. On Tomorrow's Hope Today, finding purpose and meaning in the midst of life's most difficult setbacks. Motivational speaker and author Gary Miracle shares his personal story of tragedy, and offers a different perspective on how to live life each day. Don't miss Tomorrow's Hope Today.