On the issue of a church and state that was used as a hammer against almost all of our witnesses. One of the important recommendations that we made, if that happens in the future if any superior person in the military, a superintendent of a school district, someone in the health care system, whoever uses that against someone who is simply standing up for their religious liberty or simply praying in public that within a short amount of time if they alleged separation of church and state, that public official must in writing explain how that person has violated the Constitution. Because again, the separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. And from this day forward, if anyone says that to you and they're in public office or they serve in any agency in any official capacity, they have to point out exactly uh where you have violated the Constitution because you have not. And from this day forward that phrase should have no power over the people of all faiths ever again in America. >> Did you catch that? This meeting was supposed to be about religious liberty and as a Christian, I believe religious liberty should absolutely be protected. No one should be punished for living according to their convictions. But what you just heard was not only a defense of religious liberty, it was an attack on the principle of separation of church and state. And sure, it's true that the phrase separation of church and state is not found in the Constitution, but the principle is. The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." That means no state-endorsed religion. So this should concern every Bible-believing Christian, especially since Revelation 13 warns that church and state will unite when the image of the beast is formed and then false worship will be enforced, the mark of the beast. Now, watch what Trump said about why he established the Presidential Commission on religious liberty. >> I established the Presidential Commission on religious liberty to outline threats to the free exercise of religion in our country and to provide recommendations for action. America was founded by people of faith and it was settled as a haven for religious freedom, so important as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding next week. It is only appropriate that we work to strengthen this fundamental right and to most essentially have liberty for generations to come. We want religious liberty. We want liberty, but we also want religious liberty. We will closely study this report that is being presented to me as president today and my administration will continue to work with the really the pillars of protecting religious liberty for all Americans. >> I don't really have any problems with what Trump said here. Actually, I agree. Religious liberty should be protected. All religions, not just Christians, should have the right to practice their faith without being discriminated against and punished. Especially when it comes to all of this woke madness. I don't want to have to face legal action because I don't want to use a pronoun that does not match a person's biological gender. Why should I have to play along with their fantasy? I don't want to do that. It goes against my faith. And I don't want my children to be forced to participate in LGBTQ curriculum at school that's contrary to what I believe about sex and gender identity. Now, don't get me wrong. I respect the LGBTQ community as far as believing everyone has a right to live their life how they want, but I don't have to agree with it, and I shouldn't be punished for exercising my free speech to oppose it. These are just some of the challenges Christians faced under the Biden administration, which promoted woke ideology at the cost of religious liberty. And I'm not trying to be political. That's just a fact. That's why Trump is fighting back, and I appreciate that. But there's a thin line between protecting religious rights and government endorsement or enforcement of religion. And it looks like the Trump administration is starting to cross that line. This is not the Christian way. Jesus said in John chapter 18 verse 36, "My kingdom is not of this world." He did not say, "My kingdom needs the state to enforce it." Or tell his disciples to take over Rome. He sent them to preach the gospel and win converts. So, when a government says, "We are going to protect religion." Christians should ask, "Protected how? By protecting conscience and ensuring free speech? Good. Or by merging religious influence with political power? Dangerous." That's what it seems like the Trump administration is attempting to do in conjunction with Christian nationalism. And that sort of union of church and state has never ended well. Just look at Catholic Europe in the Middle Ages. And then the Church of England. And even the Puritans in colonial America. All of these religions united with the state powers, and then persecution of non-conformers was the inevitable result. Especially in Catholic Europe, millions of people were killed for rejecting the authority of the Pope in religious wars, crusades, and inquisitions. It was a dark period in history, and the Trump administration, by undermining the separation of church and state, is leading us back in that direction. I want to take a look now at an online post reporting on this by the Associated Press entitled "A Trump Commission Urges Bridges Between Church and State in Sweeping Draft Report." There's a lot of good things in this report along with a thing or two I'm concerned with. Some of the good things it mentions is protection for religious expression in public settings, ensuring parents have the right to opt out of school lessons for religious reasons, protection for people who object to policies involving vaccine mandates, and pronoun usage, and the recommendation for federal agencies to publish know-your-rights materials so that ordinary believers could understand their rights instead of being intimidated into silence. And there's more, too. I think that's great stuff. It makes me feel I can be more confident of being a Christian and expressing it and not having to face backlash. But there's things that are an obvious erosion of the separation of church and state, like the idea of building bridges between church and state and eliminating the Johnson Amendment. It states, "The report recommends eliminating the Johnson Amendment that forbids political activities by tax-exempt religious groups, a long-standing goal of Trump." The Johnson Amendment prevents tax-exempt churches from endorsing political candidates. Eliminating it would turn some churches into political machines. And once churches get involved in politics, they are no longer simply preaching the gospel. They become instruments of political power. I mean, just imagine churches across America being mobilized as campaign centers. Imagine politicians courting pastors for votes and donations from their congregations. Imagine sermons becoming campaign speeches. And that opens the door for corruption because in return for the support of Christian voters, politicians may feel obliged to pass laws in favor of Christian churches. And this reminds me of something I read in The Great Controversy by Ellen White. And it also ties into the mark of the beast in Revelation 13. The Great Controversy, page 592 states, "Rulers and legislators, in other words, politicians, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected." So, why will politicians pass Sunday laws? At least one of the reasons, because the religious public demands it. And if there's no Johnson Amendment, it will make it easier for religious leaders to persuade politicians to do that. They could say, "We supported you and got you elected. Now it's time for you to return the favor and pass our Sunday law. Or next time, we're going to tell our congregation to vote for someone else." And the Christian voting bloc in America is very powerful. They were influential in getting Donald Trump elected for both of his presidential terms. Also, Revelation 13 warns about worship being enforced through political and economic pressure. Verse 12 says, "And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And then verses 16 through 17 says, he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. We are talking about economic sanctions here. This is something that can only be done by the government. In other words, the government will pass laws restricting buying and selling for those who refuse to accept the Sunday worship law, which will constitute the mark of the beast. And eventually, the government will make death a punishment for those who remain persistent. Verse 15 says, he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. The image of the beast that it's talking about is the coming church and state union which we see being formed before our eyes. And for those of you who may be hearing this for the first time and still need clarification on all this, I highly recommend getting the Daniel and Revelation Verse by Verse Devotional Set by Amazing Facts. Not only are you going to learn about what Bible prophecy says about America, the union of church and state, and the coming Sunday law, you will learn about many other prophecies from the books of Daniel and Revelation. Like Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue made of four metals in Daniel chapter 2, the 70 weeks prophecy in Daniel chapter 9, and and it identifies the exact year of the Messiah's baptism and crucifixion, the rise and identity of the Antichrist, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the seven last plagues, the second coming of Jesus, and much more. Scan the QR code on the screen or click the link in the video description to order your Daniel and Revelation verse-by-verse devotional set today. As Christians, we should absolutely defend religious liberty. We should defend the right of every person to follow their conscience and worship God freely. But protecting religious liberty is not the same thing as merging church and state. The moment the church starts depending on political power to accomplish its mission, it loses sight of the mission Jesus actually gave it. Jesus did not call his followers to force people into obedience through legislation, he called us to preach the gospel and invite people to follow him. So, my appeal to you is to make Christ and his word supreme. As much as it may sound, this is not an anti-government Trump-bashing video. I actually like a lot of Trump's policies and I think Christians should follow the laws of the land, but once those laws conflict with the Bible, we have a higher obligation. Acts chapter 5:29 tells us we ought to obey God rather than men. Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comment section. Let's talk about it. And if you have any questions that you would like me to answer in a future video or any video suggestions, let me know in the comments as well. Did you know the Heritage Foundation has suggested a universal day of rest built on old blue laws? This ties right into the subject of the mark of the beast and everything else I talked about in this video. Learn more by clicking on the screen to watch my video entitled this warning about the mark of the beast is being fulfilled right now. Thank you for watching and God bless you.