Date: September 3, 2020
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Pastor Richard Schmidt
MP3 | Order
As many listeners know, the eyes of America have been on Kenosha, Wisconsin, over the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police officer. Since that time President Trump and the attorney general have visited the city while today, former Vice President Joe Biden landed there.
Joining Crosstalk to address this issue from a biblical perspective was Richard Schmidt. Richard is a former sheriff of Milwaukee County, who had served some 32 years in different capacities in the sheriff’s office. He’s now pastor of Union Grove Baptist Church and also heads Prophecy Focus Ministries. He is speaker on the WVCY-TV program ‘Prophecy Focus.’
This edition of Crosstalk began with a discussion of civil government and where it comes from. Pastor Schmidt noted that God is the one who initiated civil government. He went back to Genesis 9:5-6 where Noah had just taken his family off the ark. Here God was setting the stage for how civil unrest, specifically in regard to murder, should be treated. God was saying that if someone killed someone else, they are to be held accountable by human beings or civil government.
Here we see God instituting civil government for the sake of protecting people, something that isn’t strictly an Old Testament concept. For example, in the New Testament book of Romans (chapter 13) it’s clear that every soul is to be subject to the governing authorities. In context this isn’t just referring to Christian leaders. God has raised up governments.
On the other hand, the view of many rioters is that every law enforcement officer is bad and all of them are racist and therefore need to be challenged and removed. To this Pastor Schmidt communicated that there’s a strong anti-government, anti-authority culture going through our nation. When you start to train people to go against authority, that’s when you end up with horrific riots involving chaos and violence against property and others and it all stems from one thing: People are rejecting the authority that was originally put in place by God.
Are there bad officers on the job? How does Pastor Schmidt describe the morale within law enforcement across America? How does he feel about recent comments by prominent Democrats who are communicating that President Trump is responsible for the turmoil? How do we get situations like Portland under control?
This is just some of the information you’ll get from the first quarter hour of the program, with much more to come when you review this important program.
More Information
414-788-6010 (Pastor Schmidt’s phone number)
