Pastor's Circle - Rick Scarborough

 Dr. Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America, joined the Pastor's Circle today to discuss Ohio's "heartbeat bill" and the upcoming "Pulpit Freedom Sunday". Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview. 

Tell us about the "heartbeat bill" in Ohio?

It's a bill that has already passed through the house. Governor Kasich has already pledged to sign it.

If it passes through the senate and the state legislature, it will be the first bill of its kind in the country.

We believe this bill will be challenged; we believe it has the possibility of going all the way to the Supreme Court, and possibly overturning Roe v. Wade.

This bill will immediately save tens of thousands of babies lives the moment it's signed into law.

This is a chance to keep chipping away at this horrific crime.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday is coming up. What is it, and why is it important?

Alliance Defense Fund is encouraging pastors to preach a politically-themed message on the first Sunday of October.

Typically, historical preachers were better educated and had more opportunity to meet the candidates.

That's what Alliance Defense Fund is encouraging pastors to move toward again.

It is not only the right, but the responsibility of Christians to get involved in the political process.

Anything the Church pulls out of becomes corrupt. We are the Salt. We are the Light.

The whole theory that you can't mix church and politics is a lie.

"If we become focused on the physical, we're no longer the salt and light of this world."

 Dr. Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America, joined the Pastor's Circle today to discuss Christianity in politics.


Did you get in on any of Rick Perry's Response?

I was there for about three hours of it. It was wonderful.

It's easy to get excited about a particular candidate, simply because of their testimony. Then later you may find out they aren't who they said they were. Do you have any words of caution?

I'd say what Ronald Reagan said. You have to "trust, but always verify".

Over time, you have to observe a man's life and see if what he does lines up with what he preaches.

And verify means what? You look at their record, the fruit of their life?

Absolutely. All of the above.

I've had my issues with Rick Perry over the years. There have been three or four major missteps during his career.

 But when you look at the overall fruit of his tenure, it's primarily positive.

You can make that work for anything. I pastored for several years, and you could make the case that I was a bad pastor or a good pastor, depending on isolated incidents.

But you've gotta look at the overall picture.

Should we be skeptical about religion in politics?

The real key here is that all of us are subject to the fleshly response to power. Whether it be the President, Governor, or the Mayor of a small city.

If it has any elements of the power of this world, we're attracted to it.

What we need is a spiritually minded person who isn't focused on this world.

If we become focused on the physical, we're no longer the salt and light of this world.

Is it fair to say that even the most "spiritual" people may not be genuine?

No, you're being very fair. It's in the unscripted areas of life that you can tell who a man is.

We're going to learn a lot about Rick Perry under the spotlight, because that is a pressure cooker that brings out the real man.

Watch for the unscripted moments.

What are some biblical examples of people who resisted the temptation of political power?

The person who always comes to my mind, who was courageous and spoke with power, is John the Baptist.

Jesus said he was the greatest man ever born of woman.

He had power but he said of Jesus, "He must increase, and I must decrease."

There's gotta be the kind of commitment to Christ that encourages you to lay down yourself to glorify Him.

How can you avoid being fooled by power?

I think it's all wrapped up in Galatians 2:20. "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

I think you have to constantly pray, "Father, give me the strength."

Marriage is "absolutely essential to the success of any nation"

Dr. Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America on marriage and culture. 


How importance is marriage to the Kingdom of God and our nation?

It's absolutely essential to the success of any nation.

There's a passage in the old testament that says a cord of two strands is not easily broken. A cord of three strands can't be broken.

When the two are separated..they become easily broken.

I'm not sure if the church has stood up for heterosexual marriage in the past.

I can't think of one thing that the church has done a good job of in the past fifty years, but certainly not marriage.

Why don't we go to great expense for the training for marriage?

Not only do you focus on marriage, but you focus on the components of marriage.

You work on the components as well as the joint effort as well as seminars.

The first and most important thing is that you go back to Malachi, God hates divorce. He hates divorce, because He loves people.

We've worked so hard on self-esteem that we've forgotten about sin.

How important is it to train with gender specificity?

I don't think it's the only thing, but it's one of the ingredients.

Most men don't know how to be godly people, so they aren't godly husbands.

If we don't get our marriages together, will we suffer serious consequences?

Yes, sir. We're suffering those consequences.

One of the reasons we have so much conflict in the church is that there's so much conflict at home.

Not until we get this family thing straightened out...will we ever begin to grow as church as as a consequence as a nation.

If you were to give a few pieces of advice to the males listening, what would you say?

I would say simply, your concentration simply needs to be on being a godly person.

We don't need to learn to be better husbands. We need to be godly people.

Yes, there are certain things that we do, but what's more important is who we are.

Advice for the Women listening?

I joke and say, "If my wife is spirit-filled all the time, I won't have to be and we'll have harmony."

The worst thing a woman can do is...beat him over the head with how godly he is, and then lay blame for her behavior at his behavior.

The worst thing a wife can do is point out a man's faults and failures. The best thing a woman can do is pray.

The scripture says it's better to live on a rooftop than with a railing woman.

The man has to pursue being a godly man. The woman has to pursue being a godly woman.

What are the barriers between the church doing better at marriage?

We've got to take a knife spiritually and stab it into the heart of church growth.

We've gotten so busy with the mechanics of how to grow a church that we've forgotten it's Jesus' church.

We're not going to build strong and healthy families unless we stab a knife into the heart of this false god.

If you do the right things and godly things, growth will follow.

Matthew 6:33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.

Pastor's Circle - Rick Scarborough, Vision America

Dr. Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America

How can people deal with sin?

This is the generation that needs a little more teaching of the Old Testament.

There's a lot wrong, but there's no fear of God in the land.

When I grew up, hellfire and brimstone was standard preaching across America. But preachers these days have stopped that.

I had a professor, walked into one of our classes in a black robe, and read Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"...by the end of it, we were quaking in our chairs.

What in America is sinful that we're not viewing as dangerous?

I would say it would be the salacious nature of our media entertainment.

We've taken a very casual view of the amount of sex and sexual innuendo in the movies we go to and the television we watch.

Are movies and shows like that an addiction?

Let's not make it complicated. It's a sin that we all struggle with to some way.

We do not impact the culture we live in anymore, because we're like the culture we live in.

New figures today on how denominations are faring...Southern Baptist down, mainline denominations way down...how can the Church grow?

It goes back to whose church it is...

Some say you're Jeremiah. That tells use Jesus was a weeping prophet.

Some say you're Elijah. That means Jesus was calling people to repentance.

Some say you're John the Baptist. That means Jesus was bold like John the Baptist.

We just need to leave it up to God.

But why are these denominations are facing declines in membership. Reaction?

"You are the Salt of the earth..."

We have ceased to be the Salt and the Light.

Jehovah's witness are growing.

They aggressively approach people to find someone who is concerned about eternity.

We believe inherently that following Jesus requires sacrifice. When mainline denominations try to make everything people-pleasing we turn people off.

Ted Haggard asks why church leaders can't be restored.

This man merits very little comment in public.

His HBO special was a shameful trip into self-indulgence.

In his desperation, he's parlayed his sin into another ministry.

Reaching out means tough-love, correct?

Absolutely.

My wife and I grieved over Ted.

I sat right next to Ted Haggard in many a meeting in Evangelical leaders meetings.

This was a case of a man with much light who parlayed it into a way of serving himself completely. God's not going to let that stand in any of our lives.

How are people restored?

A depth of humility and a burst of compassion for others are the trademarks for people who are truly restored.