Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, I want to challenge you with the understanding that in the euphoria of the recent election of Donald Trump, can we now relax and go back to old ways of food, fortune, and fun? Ha ha, yes. We can take a break from paying attention to what's going on among those who govern us, can't we?

Well, Trump's got it under control. He'll take care of things, right? Like the song that FDR used in his presidential campaign when the Great Depression hit, it was happy days are here again. Is that true for us? Well, of course, as you might gather, I'm exaggerating what many of us might be thinking or feeling in the wake of Trump's landslide victory in the recent election, right?

We worked so hard, we invested so much time, money, and energy in taking this life and death step. And this election, we can say without exaggeration, was an existential moment for our constitutional republic. Well, then, aren't we allowed to relax a little bit and rest on our laurels? Oh, yes. Rest on our laurels.

That's an interesting phrase that applies exactly to our situation as American citizens. Roman generals would have the fragrant, lushly green laurel branch placed on their brow after significant military victories and campaigns. And it would be done in elaborate ceremonies honoring them. And it was believed that the god Apollo declared the laurel plant sacred after his true love, the nymph Daphne, was turned into a laurel plant. That's why Apollo was depicted wearing a crown of laurel.

And consequently, a laurel wreath was the appropriate prize for a victor or a laureate, right? But as the Roman Empire decayed, well, Roman generals grew complacent and lazy, trusting in and pointing to their laurels as proof of their greatness. But of course, the barbarians who swept over the Roman Empire cared not a fig about these laurels, and they conquered Rome anyway. Rome was caught resting on her laurels, and she paid the price in being conquered. Therefore, let that be a cautionary tale for us.

Let us not be caught resting on our laurels at this crucial stage in our history and be conquered by the deep state. Just because we experienced a significant victory in this last presidential election does not mean that the war is won. Rather, it means we are now poised to strike with great force our enemies on every front in the war against tyranny, the evil oppression of the deep state, that is. The beast must be vanquished. The power we wield is that acknowledged in our constitution, but in reality granted by our creator, the Lord God, and that is we the people.

We the people, as our constitution commences, right? Thomas Jefferson says, I consider the people who constitute a society or nation as the source of all authority in that nation. All authority belongs to the people, unquote. Thomas Jefferson. Our founding fathers knew from experience that any ruling body of men detached from direct accountability to the people who are being governed while they became tyrannical over them, even as we have seen in our own day.

Once again, Jefferson, every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories, and to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree, unquote. Thomas Jefferson. Well, in just a few words, Jefferson has captured our experience in our generation, right? Our quote-unquote rulers, that is, those chosen from among us to govern as our representatives, well, those representatives have degenerated into tyrants who despise us, and they rule over us for their own benefit alone and not for we the people.

And in order to persuade us that this is the way it should be, that is, we the benevolent kings and queens over you. We dictate what's good for you. Well, in order to effect this, the modern deep state has created the education industrial complex. Yes, what I call the education industrial complex, or the ministry of propaganda, we could also call it, right? Headed by the Department of Transification, no longer the Department of Education, but the Department of Transification, and it should be eliminated.

Trump wants to do it. So did Reagan. I hope Trump can pull it off. Well, this Department of Transification, it says that we, and it ensures that we, the people, are indoctrinated from a young age, that our founding was evil because of slavery, our constitution is flawed because it was conceived by privileged old white men, and that we need not instruct the next generation in the principles of a constitutional republic, but rather lead them into a Marxist paradise. Oh, the education industrial complex has seen to it that every other avenue of information is twisted to serve this end, right?

A Marxist utopia. That would be mainstream media, all the legacy media as it's called, all the organs of the old media, and social media too. But thank God for Elon Musk, who has returned us Twitter, right, or acts as it's called, and even the churches in liberal mainstream denominations. I have seen this personally as a minister. Even the churches in liberal mainstream denominations, and megachurches too, they spew out the poisonous socialism of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

But as we observed in this last election cycle, silencing and brainwashing Americans is a bit like squeezing Jell-O, isn't it, tyrants? Tyrants can't seem to get a hold of us, and most of us melt right out of their grasp like Jell-O. As long as we can create alternative avenues of information, and that's a big caveat, it needs to be done. We need to keep creating alternative avenues of information, and as long as we can do that, we will freely communicate. That is why we, the people, must be ever vigilant in protecting and cultivating the First Amendment.

Yes, it is our first line of defense against the present tyranny of the fourth branch of government, that is the intelligence branch of government. There's not only an executive and a legislative and a judicial branch, but as I have covered in past broadcasts, and I urge you to look this up, there is now a fourth branch of government that tyrannizes over the rest, and that is the intelligence branch. Once again, I am reminded of Jefferson's encouragement at the end of the Revolutionary War.

His faith in an informed American electorate was reaffirmed, and he says, and I quote, the firmness with which the people have withstood the late abuses of the press. Abuses of the press. Well, it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? He experienced, Americans experienced the abuses of the press back in the Revolutionary War period.

Well, he says, the firmness with which the people have withstood the late abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, oh, show that they may safely be trusted, that is, the people may be safely trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them, unquote. Yes, as long as Americans have access to a free press and a free market of ideas, and they're not dumbed down and brainwashed by the larger culture that is turned into progressives, we will firmly withstand the abuses of the press, and we will, the people, discern between truth and error.

Dear listener, our founding fathers understood to their toenails the necessity of an informed and virtuous people. Once again, Jefferson, reflecting on these things, says, a people can become so demoralized and depraved as to be incapable of exercising a wholesome control. Their minds are to be informed by education, what is right and what wrong, to be encouraged in habits of virtue, and deterred from those of vice by direct punishments. And he goes on to say, proportioned indeed, but irremissible. That is, it must be fit to the crime, but must be sure and swift, those punishments.

Well, he goes on to say, Jefferson does, and I quote, in all causes or in all cases, to follow truth as the only safe guide and to eschew error, which bewilders us in one false consequence after another in endless succession. These are the inculcations necessary to render the people a sure basis for the structure of order and good government, unquote, Thomas Jefferson. Consequently, dear listener, it is imperative that you and I get and stay informed on what's happening in our world. This is no time to figuratively roll over and go back to sleep. Many of us are now awakened to the Rolling Stones' Midnight Rambler.

Remember that song, the Midnight Rambler creeping around the bedroom door while we slept in our social slumber. Those evil, cunning, deep state ramblers are still intent upon finally overthrowing our constitutional republic and murdering us in our figurative sleep. So, we cannot rest on our laurels, dear listener. We cannot go back to sleep. We must assume our role as the inaugurators and the responsible agents of the Constitution.

That is, we the people. We the people. And there are seven things that we must do. Seven things that we must assure get done, indeed, if we are to be we the people of the Constitution. That is, those in whom God has entrusted the leadership and the final say in the creation of our nation and its Constitution.

First of all, we the people must continue to act in our own sphere of influence. Oh, dear listener, so important. We the people must continue to act in our own sphere of influence. Do not go back to sleep. Stay active.

Do your part, dear listener. That is, not all of us can wield power and influence on a grand scale. Now, President Trump can have a permanent and salutary influence on America for generations to come if he indeed exercises his power wisely. And we must all pray that he does so. But so can you have a permanent and salutary influence on America.

That is, you can do so on your own scale. With self-conscious intent and godly wisdom, you can speak to and do good unto those in your own sphere of influence. That is, your family, your friends, your workmates, your neighbors, all of your fellow citizens. For example, be ready to speak intelligently on the important issues of our day. Read, become educated, inform yourself.

And if you can do so, then speak intelligently on the important issues of our day. If you can do so in a calm, reasoned manner, you will influence many for constitutional principles. And also, in continuing to act in your own sphere of influence, volunteer in your community for constructive causes, for example. For example, on my mind recently has been the Nest Crisis Center for Women. And that worthy, worthy effort helping to work with pregnant women in crisis who don't know where to turn and what to do, they are laboring on behalf of pregnant women and their children.

And they need volunteers and they need financial support. Or your local church also has activities that benefit so many. Work for your church, volunteer for your church. Or groups like Stand Up for Idaho. This is a worthy group.

Indeed, they deal with local issues. We're always exhorted, right, to think globally but act locally. Well, act locally in getting informed on the issues we face as we face as Idahoans. And Stand Up for Idaho is one group that does so and does so effectively. And they need your attendance.

They need your financial support to keep us informed on issues that directly affect our lives and liberty here in Idaho. Well, I just sampled a few real constructive ways that you can work locally to indeed have a powerful influence in your own sphere of influence, dear listener. Well, secondly, we the people must run for and elect unto office, political office, people of integrity to government service. Oh, I lament sometimes, why is it that so many progressives run for elective office and they infest the city councils and school boards and state capitals of our nation?

Well, I do remember, I'm old enough to remember, that following the attempt to violently overthrow the American system in the 60s, Marxists here in America changed strategies and they started to work within the system. That was a buzz term during the 60s. We have to start working within the system to nevertheless overthrow the country.

And likening it to Chairman Mao's legendary, at least for the communists, it was legendary, Chairman Mao's military long march through China to power in the 40s, our modern American Marxists and Maoists call their accumulation of power a long march through the institutions in America to arrive at what they presently hold. And how successful they've been, how nearly complete has been their coup d'etat. Well, dear listener, that is why now that so many of us are awake, some of us must run for and be supported in elective office from dog catcher to defense secretary.

Well, the defense secretary is appointed, but at least to dog catcher to president, right? We must change the perception of government service from that of being a slime ball rather to statesman again, the ideal. Our founding fathers, in fact, called the study and practice of government, the divine science. Yes, it was. And you can see its divinity, if you will, reflected in the elegance of our constitution.

And the now derogatory label politician, that's actually a diminutive, isn't it? Derogatory label politician actually derives from a worthy citizen who makes policy, thus politician, right? Even the word policy derives from the Greek word for the ancient city-state, polis. In ancient Greece, only men of intelligence and education and integrity could shape policy of their respective city-states. And it was a necessary and noble calling, politician.

We constitutionalists must return to that vision and restore the reputation of policy makers by running for office ourselves and then fulfilling the duties of that office honorably and with integrity. Well, thirdly, we the people must also live out lives of family on the biblical model. We the people must also live out lives of family on the biblical model. One of the tenets of the Communist Manifesto is to break down and destroy the family and replace it with the state. Karl Marx knew that the building block of a free capitalist constitutional republic was the biblical family.

And therefore, religion and the family must be destroyed and disfigured beyond all recognition. And that destruction and disfigurement is happening with the transgender movement literally disfiguring our children. Do you perceive the slow process over the decades, a study in gradualism, in the boiling of the frog, if you will? First of all, feminism took the wife and mother out of the home. Feminism has been a destructive force in our culture.

And the sodomite movement, the acceptance of homosexuality as a legitimate alternative lifestyle, right, gave us the option of perversion as an alternative lifestyle. And then the designation of pedophiles as minor attracted perversions. What a euphemism. Pedophile as merely a minor attracted person has blurred the wicked crimes of this class of perverts. And then finally, the transgender movement has ushered in the ancient androgyne into modern times.

I have an entire series on this. The idea of transgender is nothing new, but harkens back to the Greek and Roman and ancient androgyne culture or androgyne. And if it's successful, it will weaken and bring down the family and the culture and the society as it did in ancient Greece and Rome. Instead, we must cleave to and defend the biblical family. One husband and father united to one wife and mother with all of the children that God may graciously give to them.

We the people might just as easily be called we the families because we are God's building blocks as families for a strong constitutional republic. And then fourthly, we the people must also experience religious revival and reformation. This is one component yet missing in our reawakening to constitutionalism. Hand in hand with it goes indeed the idea of religious revival and reformation. This constitution was made only for a moral and ethical people, as John Adams eloquently put it.

It is entirely unsuited to any other, he went on to say. Indeed, without a religious and moral and ethical people, the constitution degenerates, into what we see before our eyes today in the deep state. Yes. As I have articulated in previous broadcast, our constitution was crafted upon centuries of Christian principles. And it was also preceded by colonial constitutions that were overtly Christian.

In fact, our revolution was preceded by the great awakening, which revolution would not have transpired if not for the initial spiritual preparation that revival provided. And we must return to these roots, dear listener. It still holds true. And we've seen it with the irreligious and the pagan and the unspiritual and unchristian men and women that have infested our institutions, that indeed our constitution was made, as John Adams said, only for a religious and ethical people. It is entirely unsuited to any other.

We must return to those biblical roots. We must experience religious revival and reformation. Number five, we the people must ensure that justice be visited upon those who govern us. That is punishment for wrongdoers and rewards for those who do good. That's the heart of justice.

And it's heartening to see some of the moves that President Trump has taken in order to bring accountability to those who have done wrong. Biden's pardons notwithstanding. Hopefully Biden's pardons, his blanket pardon over his old administration. What a farce. Hopefully that will be struck down by the Supreme Court and President Trump and the courts and the Justice Department and other venues in his administration will bring all of these criminals to account.

And we will see Mayorkas, Merrick Garland, Anthony Fauci, among others, behind bars in the near future. We must ensure that justice be visited upon these. Punishment for wrongdoers and rewards for those who do good. There have been many who have done good, whether it's in the the COVID crisis or those behind bars for January 6th. They must be rewarded.

They must be released and rewarded. Number six, we the people must educate ourselves and our children on constitutional principles. This is so vital, dear listener, that indeed, as we have expressed, as indeed Thomas Jefferson expressed in the comments I made a little earlier, that only an informed citizenry can indeed make the right choices, make the proper choices based on good information and intelligence. And then finally, number seven, we the people must acknowledge God as the sovereign king of our constitutional republic. The rallying cry during the revolution in defiance of King George III was King Jesus alone, right?

King Jesus only as king. And indeed, God is sovereign over the affairs of America. And Washington reflected on that after the revolution, that the grand hand of providence indeed guided America through those dark days and helped to establish peacefully a constitutional republic. We must acknowledge God as the sovereign king of our constitutional republic. We say, we the people, of course, we the people are indeed sovereign over our constitution.

But behind that was recognized by our founders and must be acknowledged by us as well, that God is the ultimate sovereign king over all things and is bringing all things to fruition in his kingdom. And the constitutional republic of America is one of those grand pieces in redemptive history that figures into God's kingdom. So, number seven is final. We the people must acknowledge God as the sovereign king of our constitutional republic. So, dear listener, we are not to rest on our laurels.

We indeed must continue to be active. President Trump and his administration cannot reform America, cannot bring America back to its roots, cannot make America great again without you. We must do our part. Indeed, if America is going to be great again, America must first become good again. And that can only happen through the sovereign power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed, as he brings revival and reformation to the very heart of the people. As goes the church, so goes the nation. So, pray for revival and reform in the hearts of every American. And indeed, we can once again bring a constitutional republic back to life, resurrected, if you will. And it will be done as God uses you and me, we the people.

This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. And New Geneva Meets for Holy Worship on Sundays. We encourage you to join us and hope that you will do so, and you'll find a warm reception for yourself and an opportunity to worship in spirit and in truth. So, come and join us at New Geneva at 10 a.m. on Sunday at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for more information and feedback at 208-523-0196. 208-523-0196.