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>> Walker Wildmon: We inform religious freedom is about people. Of faith being able to live out. Their faith, live out their convictions no. Matter where they are.
>> Jeff Chamblee: We quit.
>> Rick Green: Sacred honor is the courage to speak truth to live out your free speech. We also rejoice in our sufferings because.
>> Brother Don Wildmon: We know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character.
>> Jeff Chamblee: This is At the core on American family Radio.
Rick Green: Patriot Academy is hosting its annual National Leadership Congress this week
>> Rick Green: Welcome back to corps with Walker Wildmon, the red green. I'm Rick Green, America's constitution coach, coming to you from the Patriot Academy campus. We've got a great week going right now and I want to share as much of it as I possibly can in my two days with you this week. Course. Walker Wallman with you on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and I'm with you on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We've got an entire week At Patriot Academy with students here from all over the nation doing our national leadership Congress. It's, it's our big program. Just incredible. And this morning I had a chance to record out on the house floor in the house chamber in our own Patriot Academy legislative hall with some of the leadership of Patriot Academy this year. So we're going to go straight to that interview right now, sitting in the.
>> Rick Green: House chamber right now where the leadership Congress, our national leadership Congress is taking place. Tim Barton and I will be here teaching the students all week long. And today on wall Builders, we've got some of the students actually here to share with you what we're experiencing here At the campus. Now, we do this actually several times throughout the summer. We call them regional academies around the nation and state capitals. But our big one is this week we call it the National Leadership Congress. We got our largest class ever. About 140 students here from across the nation. They are learning leadership skills, they're learning founding fathers philosophy, they're learning the process, and they do it in a mock legislative simulation, as well as hearing from a lot of great speakers. Our first guest today is the governor of Patriot Academy this year, Benjamin Greasing, your governor. Thanks for joining me on the program today.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Thank you for having me.
You were supposed to give your state of the academy speech this morning
>> Rick Green: All right, so you, you got total booted from your state of the academy this morning, the opening session, and you're supposed to give your state of the Academy and some guy running the show ran everything late, and then, And you got canceled until tomorrow. Who was that?
>> Benjamin Greisinger: I'm not really sure. you know, it was just kind of a ghost in the wind situation.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: I think they call him Rick Green.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: it's a very interesting situation, but I think it honestly worked out for the best because the Lord was definitely moving here. A lot of what I was going to say was. Was already touched on by every single speaker before me. So it was one of those things where I knew, okay, maybe this was a lot of me, maybe it was the Lord, but I definitely need to go in and tweak some stuff.
>> Rick Green: So you get an extra night, you get a preparation.
>> Tim Barton: Exactly.
>> Rick Green: So you're doing yours on the floor session. So we'll actually be gaveled in. Just like the real Texas legislature and just like the real state of the state that the governor gives in each state, you will give sort of a report on what's been going on with Patriot Academy and where Patriot Academy is going. And also, are you going to address any of the things in the country or the role of Patriot Academy plays, or. You haven't written that new speech yet. What do you.
>> Rick Green: What are you thinking?
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Yeah, absolutely. I think, one of the main things that we can talk about is all the growth that Patriot Academy has had within this last month alone. I mean, We've had over 200 people on campus working hard, getting this thing built. And within that, you see the environment that they've been building, the. The atmosphere from who they are and what they're wanting to accomplish. You know, they're out here working hours and hours in the sun, but there's always joy on their face because they know that what we're doing here is truly taking background in the culture and they can do with a smile because they know that's what they're called to do by God.
>> Rick Green: And you kind of get to see it all, because you see that part of it, but then you also see behind the scenes what it takes to put on even a legislative simulation like this. But then you get to see the young people out here, your colleagues in the debate and in the committees and in the workshops, and you see the light bulb. Come on. You kind of get the same privilege I do of seeing their growth. You actually experienced it and had that kind of growth, and now you're giving back and helping other students get it.
>> Rick Green: Pretty cool.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Yeah, that's exactly right. When I was younger, I didn't really know anything, and then going through being a freshman and a first year and a second year, you know, the lights click each year. You're not going to have every light on a board light up At the same time.
>> Rick Green: Right.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: But being able to sit where I am right now and look At these freshmen in first years and second years and see the light pop and see them, you really understand the floor session. And even for the first years and second years, they may have got it their first time around. And now they're going to the freshman and they're helping them get it as well. It's kind of really cool to see it, because when you're younger, when you're first in it, you never know what it's going to look like. And then down the road, when you've had that experience and that age come with you, you get to look back and see, oh, that's where I was and now I'm here. So it's a really cool point, of view to see from.
>> Rick Green: You may have solved the problem that I haven't been able to solve for 25 years. I've never been able to communicate to people what Patriot Academy really is. The leadership Congress, it's impossible to describe. They'll watch the videos, I'll give a speech on it. But then when they come, they're like, oh, my goodness, it's even better than what I thought, or, I didn't even realize this was going to happen. What's kind of your elevator pitch? What do you tell people when they ask you about this Patriot Academy thing?
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Well, the whole point of Patriot Academy is, yes, we want to pour into the next generation, but not only that, we want the, you know, a year above the next generation to pour into them as well. It's not just us pouring into the generation. We'll have students come through, and it'll be their first year, and then they decide they want to come back because they want to learn more. But they also want to pour into the person that they almost.
>> Rick Green: Peer to peer then.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Exactly.
>> Rick Green: Yeah. It's really close.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: You know, we've had such a culture of, you know, the, the. The current generation has to pass it to the next generation, which could be 20 years age gap. But what Patriot Academy is doing is equipping young leaders to be able to pour into each other, not just wait 20 years, get all the, you know, experience. They can do it right now with what knowledge they have through Patriot Academy.
>> Rick Green: I think one of my favorite moments of the year so far was this morning. I got to sit in the back of the room and watch you and, Bailey and Hannah and Elisha do the lift principles talk, which I normally give, but I got to sit in the back and watch each of you give a piece of that. And to know that you're, like, you're saying you're just a couple of years older than most of these students, and some of them are actually older than you, and yet you're getting to teach those principles that you've been learning over the last four or five years, that was awesome to watch that happen. I kind of felt like, okay, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to die in a car wreck tomorrow, but if I did, you guys are. It's in good hands. I feel like y' all could take this over.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Yeah. And, I mean, last night, Reagan gave a great devotional on David and talking about how when he took on Goliath, and one thing that he talked about with Goliath was how young David was when he actually took on Goliath. He wasn't in his 40s, he wasn't in his 50s, making a change. He was a teenager, and he stood up in front of all these adults and said, you know what? You're not. If you're not going to do it, I'm going to do it. As a. As a teenager, as a kid, he took on the biggest fight of his life up to that point, which was a Goliath, you know, a guy who was nearly nine feet tall. He was killing everybody. He was, completely just disowning their God and insulting their God. He said, you know, even though I'm young, I can't stand for this. And that's exactly what Patriot Academy is about, is giving the confidence, the skill and the knowledge to these younger, generations so that they can step up with confidence in what God is calling them.
>> Rick Green: I love what he said, too, about being, How did he describe it? It was something to the effect of having your ear tuned to the Lord. And then when the enemy speaks, you hear that because it's, you know, the opposite of what you've been tuned to. And then you go in and fight something to that, ah, that effect for you. How old are you now? 22?
>> Benjamin Greisinger: 23.
>> Rick Green: 22. 22. So what do you do to tune your ear? Right. What do you do to, to, to, to, to find God's will for your life? What have you been learning At Patriot Academy that's helped you with that? And just kind of for all the young people that are listening right now, how does coming to a Patriot Academy leadership Congress help with that?
Being in the word helps you spot lies easily. Well, there's an old adage
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Well, there's an old adage that I've been told many, many times growing up of, you know, how does a bank teller know if a bill is fake? Because they've handled the real thing so many times. They, they just, by feeling it, they can say, this is a fake bill. And the way you do that is by being in the word and being with this, the Father and with the spirit so much that the second you do hear the voice of the enemy, you say, okay, I absolutely know that is not my God, because I know what my God sounds like. I know what he says about me. I know what he says about people around me. He, he is not a God of, depression. He's not a God of negativity. The Lord has never said a negative thing about me, but the enemy does.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: So whenever you're getting in the word and you're getting around people who speak truth and you're around truth so much, it is so easy to immediately tell what the lie is because you know.
>> Rick Green: What the truth is.
How do you stay positive as a young leader amid divisive politics
>> Rick Green: Okay, one more for you because the speaker of the House has arrived and I think she might kick you off of her dais where we're sitting right now. how do you do that as a country? So in other words, we are, we have a lot of negativity about the nation and your generation is being handed, in some ways a broken nation. But there does seem to be a resurgence. How do you stay positive as a 22 year old, as a young leader in the, in the next generation about, you know, still fighting for the country regardless of who wins the election, how do you stay on course?
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Well, I think for me, the thing that I always look At is if you look At history and you look At let's take Christianity for an example. If you look At Christianity, it's been persecuted since the beginning, and every time it's been attacked, it's only gotten stronger. There may have been dark times, but it always grew and grew and grew. And I think with our culture right now, it may seem dark, but in the time of darkness, that's where truth shines the brightest. And so with that, you know, we may be dealing with hard things, but to know, okay, on the other side of this, there's the Lord. On the other side of this, there's truth and righteousness. As long as we are faithful to what he has called us to do, we don't have to worry about what is actually happening in this moment. And that can be hard to do sometimes. You know, we look At what the last four years, before Trump just got elected, it was really hard. We didn't know it was going to happen. There was wars happening. Taxation was through the roof. You couldn't afford groceries, you couldn't afford gas. But the second that little bit of hope sparked when Trump said, I'm rerunning, and then he got elected, the wildfire started. We just need to put more gas.
>> Rick Green: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Rick Green: Amen.
>> Rick Green: I wish I could remember the quote that Kirk Cameron always, shared with me out of Lord of the Rings about, you know, you can't worry about all these other. That's basically what you just said in today's terms. Can't worry about all these other things. You got to do what you can with what you got right now, and fight your fight. Ben, I'm so glad you're in, this position of governor and that you're pouring into these other young people. I know this is going to be a rewarding week for you, not just because you're going to be governor and you're going to give your state of the academy tomorrow, but you're going to see the fruit of your labor. You're going to see these other young people light up, and you're going to see that all of your time and your effort, from working outside to being in here and doing this is going to pay off in the lives of these young people. So thanks for investing in them.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Thank you for having me.
Benjamin Greisinger is the governor of Patriot Academy in Texas
>> Rick Green: All right, that's the governor of Patriot Academy this year, Benjamin Greisinger being kicked off the dais as the speaker of the House takes his seat.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Seat.
>> Rick Green: Not takes his seat. It was his seat. She takes her seat, which was his seat and is now your seat. Abigail, your speaker of the House, here in the big national leadership Congress. You've already done this in your home state of Florida, but, but it's Exciting to do it right here in Texas. Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Yes, sir.
>> Rick Green: Which is better, Florida or Texas? Trick question.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Well, I mean for Patriot Academy, it's been really amazing just to see Patriot Academy grow. So this being the largest Texas, this Patriot Academy leadership Congress is just pretty amazing.
>> Rick Green: That sounded like a politician dancing around.
>> Abigail Sullivan: The question, just maybe. But I love, I mean I started in Florida, so I gotta say, yeah, Florida's pretty, pretty good.
>> Rick Green: Well, so we have to, we have to admit all the time that Florida does better than Texas on a lot of things. Been amazing over the last few years.
>> Rick Green: Done a lot, a lot of cool stuff.
>> Rick Green: You've had a chance to work for the, for Casey, for the governor's wife. You've been very involved in the, not only the homeschool movement in Florida and Patriot Academy, but even some of these, you know, high level government positions. What was that like to get to be around literally the highest level possible in your state?
>> Tim Barton: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Well, I would say that Patriot Academy first of all helped me a lot in preparing me for helping in those situations.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: So being a senior in high school and interning for Casey Desantis in Tallahassee in the capitol building was amazing.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: And just to have the opportunity to be inside, inside the office on a day to day basis and find what they're doing to actually serve the citizens of the state. A lot of people don't know what goes into it and sometimes they can just do, accusing, be accusatory towards the administration for what they may not be doing. In reality, they're doing so much to help. I mean, Casey Desantis has her initiative where she's trying to get government out of the local, areas so that the church can step in, so corporations can help people who may be At disadvantage, so that more people can step up in their communities and lead.
>> Rick Green: It's a whole lot easier to throw stones. Right. And just complain about whatever they're doing. When you're At that level and you're seeing it every day, you realize how hard the work is and you realize, you know, that even with the best of intentions, people are going to twist that and say things. Even here on the, you know, Patriot Academy level, have you had any stones thrown At you? Are you okay? Are there any Patriot Press bad stories coming out about the speaker of the House? No. No. So far so good.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Not At all. It's about character, so.
>> Rick Green: That's right. So tell me about that.
Rick Green is presiding over the largest house membership at Patriot Academy
So what do you hope that the students here this week get when they leave here on Saturday and they're driving away Saturday afternoon. What do you hope that they most take with them?
>> Abigail Sullivan: I hope that they are emboldened in their faith for Jesus Christ. That is something that I've been praying about. And that they're emboldened in their fire and patriotism for this country. Because I know that the level of understanding and teaching that they're getting here is so amazing. And to have that level of quality of education here At Patriot Academy that they will deepen in a relationship with the Lord on fire for revival, for. For our nation. And in conclusion, having that affect our whole nation and, you know, in a constitutional way.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: you know, you talk about it all the time and having. Who decides? You know, it's us, we the people.
>> Rick Green: How'd you like the, It felt like we were definitely getting off on the right track with worship this morning.
>> Benjamin Greisinger: Absolutely right.
>> Rick Green: I mean, that just kind of set the tone for the whole thing. And then, of course, Chris's devotional was fantastic. And then the. The charge from Michael, just incredible.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Fired up.
>> Rick Green: Yes, I know. It got. It got us going for sure. let's see. So what, what's been a little bit different this year? Anything? Like what have you noticed? What surprised you? It's the biggest class we've ever had for Patriot Academy. So you're presiding over the largest house membership, in Patriot Academy history. We actually had to squeeze people into the back of the room. Didn't have a desk on the. On the house floor. have you noticed anything that's. That's kind of. I mean, we're only a day in. So it's just. It's just getting started.
>> Tim Barton: Right.
>> Rick Green: But what would you say is. I don't know, off the top of your head?
>> Abigail Sullivan: I would say that most of the freshman class is younger.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: and which is interesting. A lot of them are high school, college student age. And so I think the energy that they bring into Patriot Academy because some of them aren't even able to vote yet, but learning what they're learning, they can go and influence their local communities and get involved and possibly run for office or even if they don't just affect that area.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: and knowing what's going on in their local communities. Like, when I was. I think I was like, 17 years old knowing about Patriot County, I'm like, oh, I can have a, recognition for constitution day and constitution week in my city. So I approached my city council. I know them all by name. I go to city council meetings.
>> Rick Green: All right, this is a great place to stop for a break. Did you catch what she just said? 17 years old, as she knew who our city council members were, she was ready to approach them, knew them by name, ready to approach them about doing something for Constitution Day. That's the kind of young people we were raising up At Patriot Academy. Got to take a quick break. We'll be right back. You're listening to At the Core with Walter Wildmon of the Green.
>> Jeff Chamblee: At the Core podcast. Are available@afr.net now back to At the Core on American Family Radio.
Rick Green talks about Patriot Academy's National Leadership Congress
>> Rick Green: Welcome back At the Core with Walker Watman and Rick Green. I'm At Green America's Constitution Coach. When we went to break, we were in the middle of a conversation with the speaker of the House, Abigail, Sullivan from Florida. She's speaker of the House for Patriot Academy's National Leadership Congress, which is happening right At the Patriot academy campus. About 150 students from across the nation that have joined us At the campus and just doing an amazing, amazing job. And this morning I had the chance to sit down with the governor and the speaker of the House, the Lieutenant Governor and one of our special guest speakers. So I'm going to share all that with you today. And, Thursday we'll, do the same thing. I'll have a chance to visit with a lot more of the students and we get some questions from them. Kind of like we did a few weeks ago when we were At the, I think it was the Colorado Patriot Academy and then the, I believe it was the Florida Patriot Academy. Anyway, we've been doing these off summer, so it's all running together for me. But this is our big one. This is kind of the culmination of our, of our whole summer and a lot of work throughout the year for these young people and preparing to equip them and then give them an environment where they can use those skills and hone those skills. And that's what's happening in the House chamber At Patriot Academy. They're literally debating the major issues of the day. They're learning the process better than, frankly, most actual legislators. They learn the principles and the biblical worldview. I mean, it's just, it's an amazing, amazing thing what happens. And it's very encouraging and I want it to be encouraging to you as our audience so that you know that you're making a difference. Whenever you support Patriot Academy and you support American Family association, we're raising up the next generation of leaders and just know that there is a remnant that is rising. Okay. We had interrupted Our interview with Abigail Sullivan, she was telling us about when she was 17 and, and already getting involved because of what she had learned At Patriot Academy. Let's jump back in office.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Or even if they don't just affect that area.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Abigail Sullivan: and knowing what's going on in our local communities, like when I was, I think I was like 17, knowing about patriot Academy, I'm like, oh, I can have, a recognition for Constitution Day and Constitution Week in my city. So I approached my city council. I know them all by name. I go to city council meetings. I approached them, I said, hey, here's a proclamation that you guys can do to affirm that in our city. And they did it and they were able to proclaim that, you know, September 17th is Constitution Day and we had a Constitution Week. So those types of things and engaging in and having citizens understand and going through programs like Patriot Academy and Constitutional Live and Biblical Citizenship, just really helping. So that's something that I've noticed this time around is that energy is really going to be taken away from this week and applied all across the nation.
>> Rick Green: Your answer was much deeper than mine. I was going to say what I noticed different is that Florida is overrepresented. I think y' all have like 20 of the.
>> Abigail Sullivan: It's better than previous years.
>> Rick Green: I think.
>> Tim Barton: That was great.
>> Rick Green: It's great. Abigail, thank you for serving as speaker this year. Thanks for pouring in to your colleagues, to your students and the Patriot Academy in general, your whole family. We just love having you all a part of this. And, I hope you see that it's already starting to pay off for generations, the investment that you're making in these young people.
>> Abigail Sullivan: Thank you. It's an honor.
Emma Sager is Indiana's presiding Lieutenant Governor
>> Rick Green: That's the speaker of the House for Patriot Academy. This year. We are At the Patriot Academy campus in the National Leadership Congress is our biggest event of the year, our largest Patriot Academy Leadership Congress ever. And the presiding Lieutenant Governor has joined us. Emma Sager is with us. Emma, thank you for letting me just totally surprise you. She had no idea I was going to grab her and put her on national radio all of a sudden. Emma, thanks for coming on.
>> Emma Sager: Thanks.
>> Rick Green: I should say. I should say Governor. I shouldn't call you Emma. M. that's ok. How do they do that in. In, Indiana? Do they call the Lieutenant Governor? Do they just say Governor or do they say Lieutenant Governor all the time? Because like here in Texas, we call Governor Patrick Lieutenant Governor Patrick. We just say Governor.
>> Emma Sager: You know, I don't know, because it's.
>> Rick Green: M. Micah Beckwith, Right. You guys have a Patriot Academy, you know, biblical citizenship coach and pastor there, which is really cool, serving as Lieutenant Governor.
>> Emma Sager: He's doing great things.
>> Rick Green: Yeah. I'm excited about your state. I think, you know, we just had Abigail on, and I'm always embarrassed that Florida is passing better stuff than Texas. And I think Indiana's got a great future ahead. How you feeling?
>> Emma Sager: I feel great about Indiana. We're one of the free estates for homeschooling.
>> Rick Green: Yeah. Ah.
>> Emma Sager: For, constitutional carry. Just a lot of great things happening and. Yeah, I'm excited to see what's next.
>> Rick Green: Well, we're going to get fired up this week doing the National Leadership Congress, and then we're going to do the Indiana Patriot Academy, what we call. What do we call it? The Midwest. Yeah. Midwest Patriot Academy. What is that? August 20th. Is that right?
>> Emma Sager: It's the 20th through the 22nd, 21st and 22nd.
>> Rick Green: So if you're listening right now and you're thinking m. Man, that sounds so cool. I wish I had been At the campus this week for Patriot Academy. You can still join us. It's not too late. In Indianapolis At the Indiana State Capitol. And you're gonna be there, right?
>> Emma Sager: I'll be there.
>> Rick Green: Okay, good. Is. Is Elijah gonna. He's not gonna make it now. Your brother, he was gonna be speaker of the House, and we changed the date.
>> Emma Sager: Super sad, that.
>> Tim Barton: Bummer.
>> Emma Sager: He'll try and be there next year.
>> Rick Green: Normally a family affair, so.
Patriot Academy is going through hundreds of bills this year
Okay, so I'm curious. You've done what year? How many years you've been doing Patriot Academy?
>> Emma Sager: This is my fifth year.
>> Rick Green: Fifth year, yes. Anything stand out different this year from previous years? I feel like, other than being the biggest.
>> Emma Sager: Yes, you're the biggest. I feel like the. The fellowship this year At national specifically has been amazing.
>> Rick Green: I love the worship this morning, man.
>> Emma Sager: The worship, beautiful. Just. Everyone is engaging with everyone. I don't feel like anyone is left out. And there's so much growth happening already, and it's just beautiful to see.
>> Rick Green: Are there any horrible bills that the Lieutenant Governor is just going to squash? Are you going to just make sure that that. Is there a bill that you're like, that one cannot see the light of day?
>> Emma Sager: There's a few I have my eye on. Yes. I'm watching.
>> Rick Green: That's a lot of bills. I mean, you all are going to have. You got to go through, what, 200 bills? We got 140 students, and most of them have. At least some of them have two, and then some have one so that's a lot.
>> Emma Sager: Yes. Yes. Well, we'll see what passes committee and then the floor, and then it comes to me.
>> Rick Green: You're feeling the same thing we would feel in a regular session when it's thousands of bills. And then we'd have five months. You know, you guys have a whole week. And that's it.
>> Emma Sager: That's it. Yeah.
>> Rick Green: Just a few days.
>> Emma Sager: Yep.
>> Rick Green: Okay.
Governor Greisinger says Patriot Academy is a life changing experience
Talk to students that might be listening or parents that might be thinking, you know, next year, I want to say actually next month, to Indiana. But next summer, I want to send a. I think I want to send a student to Patriot Academy. If they're not sure, like, they don't know what to expect. I was asking Governor Greisinger a few minutes ago. Maybe you've solved my problem of 25 years. I have such a hard time describing Patriot Academy because you try to tell people about it and then they go. And they go, wow, this is even better or crazier or whatever than it was. What do you say when people say, what's this thing you're going to in the middle of summer?
>> Emma Sager: Yeah, I would say that it is a life changing experience. I know it changed mine. you'll just be pushed outside of your comfort zone, but that's a good thing. You'll build so many communication skills, so many leadership skills. you will find yourself better equipped to go into any area of life. It doesn't have to be politics. And it's just an amazing experience to equip you to do well and be successful in everything. Whether you're At home being a mom or a dad eventually, or whether you're going into the career field, that God has for you. You will just be much better equipped all around.
>> Rick Green: I love it. I'm glad I was recording that. That was a great testim. Going to replay. That's much better than what I usually say when people ask me about Patriot Academy and you said something about communication skills. I mean, literally, Emma had no idea that I was going to ask her to be on a national radio program. And I sat her down and she just said all that without any preparation whatsoever. She's probably going to, I don't know, poison my food later for doing that. No, no, no, no, you won't. No. Anyway, last thing. What are you hoping when they drive away on Saturday, they get that they kind of leave with, you know, hoping.
>> Emma Sager: They'Ll leave with a renewed hope for our country and a renewed desire to reflect Christ in everything they do in their daily lives and just Take. Just take that hope and that leadership skills back home and impact those around them.
>> Rick Green: Love it.
>> Rick Green: Oh, that's perfect.
>> Rick Green: Governor, thank you. Appreciate you coming on and thank you for serving this year with all the students.
>> Emma Sager: It's a pleasure.
>> Rick Green: All right. That was a lieutenant governor, and she's also been the one that organizes our mentor program. So they help the students get ready for this week because it is an insane week, and there's so much preparation, and it's so different from most, things that people have done. So really important job there as well.
Rick Green's Patriot Academy is preparing young people for leadership roles in America
Next up, I've got Pastor Michael Siolciola. I'm hollering At him to get him to get up here on the dais, because we're doing Wall Builders radio. And he gave the most amazing charge this morning. Governor, thank you. You did a great job.
>> Tim Barton: Rick, it's awesome. This is so amazing.
>> Rick Green: You knocked it out of the park, bro. That was so good. I'm telling you. I'm back there going. I'm like, it was really, really good.
>> Tim Barton: Thank you.
>> Rick Green: I am praying we recorded that so that we can share it, because it was not just for the students. I mean, that was a great encouragement for people that sometimes people get down and they think the country's too far gone or I can't do enough. I mean, you just brought it back around. And basically I felt like I'd be a wuss to not get in the fight.
>> Tim Barton: There's that beautiful passage in Hebrews after you read about, like, he just. He brings them all out, right? Boom, boom, boom. And you kind of feel sometimes like I'm in the wrong room. I'm in the deep end of the pool. What am I even doing here? And then he says that statement about God had something better planned for us so that, you know, with us, what they started was completed. I'm m not, That's a paraphrase.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: But it just. It hits you when you read it.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: Like truth usually does. And you realize, no, God has a role for you to play right now. And everything that came before, all the heroes, the signers of the Declaration, all of those guys, what they did is not complete until you step up and take your part in the group.
>> Rick Green: It makes. It makes it where it's so much bigger than just you. And, And it makes you want to be a part of it. And for them, you know, these are 16 to 25 year olds, so for some of them, they're really trying to figure out what is my role.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Rick Green: What do I. And most people don't figure that out till they're 40, you know, 45 years old or whatever. So for them to even be asking those questions and thinking those things is really cool.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Rick Green: You've seen a couple of these now. What, what. How do you describe Patriot Academy to people or leadership Congress to people now that you came out last year and then you came and this year. I know only for a day this year so far.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Rick Green: But, when people say, what are you doing? What are you going to Texas to. What is this Patriot Academy thing? What do you say? This.
>> Tim Barton: Rick, look, what you've done here and what you are doing that's still unfolding is something that I feel like every family. You have a high school track, a student track, and then you have a veterans track. Look, I live 20 minutes away from Beale Air Force Base, and I encourage anyone who's listening to this, who is, active duty or who is a veteran or has, that in their family, history, connections, please look At Patriot Academy, how many times have you or I gone to vote? And then we looked At the names on the ballot and we're like, ah, yeah, I don't know which one of you. You know what I mean? And what you are doing here is proactively preparing godly, constitutional minded young people, to step into these roles. Because, you know, as you pointed out many times, the Constitution, these founding documents, unless we've got godly people in these roles, are paper. They're just paper.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: And the reason that we're in some of the circumstances that we find ourselves in is because that proactive piece, this was not designed to be a, sort of set it and forget it situation. It was designed to be something that you and I are actively involved in. That's why after we ran, you know, one of your Constitution courses, my wife was like, you know, somebody came up to me and told me there was a school board seats that were coming open and I, I think I'm going to pray about running for one of those.
>> Rick Green: Nice.
>> Tim Barton: Listen, everyone who is listening to this, who loves Jesus, the point is that we're supposed to be salt and light. We're supposed to be involved in what's going on. God's given us his word, his authority, his power to affect change in this world. This is our country. We only get this one. Let's do it.
>> Rick Green: Did y' all feel any sense of, when you considered running for the school board, was there any of this? well, shoot, we've told Everybody else, they should do it. And now they're asking us to do it. It's like, how do we not.
>> Tim Barton: Well, look, isn't that what leadership is? Look, a good leader doesn't just tell. A good leader demonstrates what it looks like. That. And that's true out on the range.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: You know what I mean? I remember going, got to one of these, gun classes, and I, was out there with Cameron, and, one instructor was like, you're going to shoot this one inch box. And Sweeney was like, yeah, I must.
>> Rick Green: See you do it first.
>> Tim Barton: And. And he did it. Yeah. Demonstrate that you can execute what it is.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: Because, look, most. Most of us, if we can just see somebody do it right, then we.
>> Rick Green: Believe that we can.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Barton: Once you see somebody do it, like, it sort of takes away the walls.
Patriot Academy hosts Military Veterans Leadership Congress in two weeks
It takes away those mental barriers that we put up.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: That, like. Well, I don't know how.
>> Rick Green: Huh?
>> Tim Barton: I don't know anybody. I'm not connected. I don't have enough money. I don't have enough time.
>> Rick Green: I don't have whatever starts shooting down.
>> Tim Barton: We start looking At the things that we don't have instead of being reminded of what we already have, what we've been given.
>> Rick Green: Well, you mentioned Cameron, when you said Sweeney, and he's been to the Military Veterans Leadership Congress, and, we still have that. Well, that's in two weeks, and we have some slots. So really encourage people. Patriotacademy.com if you're a military veteran, you can be active duty or retired. Come spend the week with us. You would absolutely enjoy it.
Michael: Keep praying for California after devastating floods
Michael, we got two minutes left. Okay, give us a summary of what you're planning to teach the students in just a minute. You're going to be back up in about 20 minutes. What are you planning to give them tonight?
>> Tim Barton: Yeah, look, I'm not telling you anything when I say that there's a lot of families in the. In this state that are hurting and they're trying to find a way forward and put the pieces back together. And when I saw, the interview with the Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskin, it stood out to me, the way he was talking, in a humble way, that there are real heroes that walk among us, that you and I have been called to run into situations that a lot of people would rather run away from.
>> Rick Green: Right, right.
>> Tim Barton: And, this is the role that we've been given. it reminded me, too, of, What was that movie with Kevan Costner? the Guardian, the Guardian.
>> Rick Green: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Barton: And there were some amazing scenes in there, that I was like, I gotta go, I gotta go watch this. Watching this kid.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: Scott get up and, and humbly give credit to the entire team. Look, and I get it why, you know, he's in his primal life. He's a good looking young guy. He's a real legitimate hero.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: And, saved so many people. I think that's one of the things too, that emerged out of this, were people who risked everything and in many cases, you know, their own lives to pull people out of this flood. I remember watching the news when it was playing out earlier this month and one of the reporters said, if you were lucky, you got a knock on the door.
>> Rick Green: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: And I couldn't help but think about the spiritual truth behind that. How lucky you and I have been.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: That someone knocked on our door and warned us and told us.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Rick Green: so you're gonna knock on their door tonight?
>> Tim Barton: We're gonna knock on the door tonight.
>> Rick Green: That's good, brother. Oh, man, I'm, ah, so thankful, thankful you're here. And I, love your church, love your family.
>> Tim Barton: Thank you.
>> Rick Green: We love you.
>> Rick Green: You're the only part of California. No, I'm kidding. I got a lot of friends in California. But, I actually love coming out there and I, look forward to coming to spending time with you. But I'm glad you're here this week pouring into these kids. Thank you for investing in the next.
>> Tim Barton: Generation and, and if you're listening to this, keep praying for California.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: we, we are standing and we are fighting, where it's hot.
>> Rick Green: Yeah.
>> Tim Barton: So.
>> Rick Green: Amen.
>> Tim Barton: So send down some prayers.
>> Rick Green: That's right. Good stuff. That's Pastor Michael. CIO did our charge this year At Patriot Academy, which is the pastor's message right before they're sworn in and they begin their debating. Fantastic job.
>> Rick Green: And I, want you to hear from more of the speakers and the students, especially here At the Patriot Academy Leadership Congress. National Leadership Congress At the Patriot Academy campus. It's so encouraging to me when I hear from them. You know, the speakers, of course, are encouraging and they come in and they're prepared and they're given some sort of charge and message to the students. So you can almost expect to, to be impressive and they always are. But the students, I'm telling you, that's where the secret sauce is. And, and so we'll have certainly more of the students for you to hear from on our Thursday program. We're gonna Take a quick break. When we come back, try to hit some of the headlines from today. And, and also just apply some of that, you know, biblical wisdom and principles of liberty that we're teaching to the students for us At ATH.
>> Jeff Chamblee: At the Core. Podcasts are available@afr.net now back to At the Corps on American Family Radio.
Rick Green interviews students at Patriot Academy about Christian leadership
>> Rick Green: Welcome back to At the Core with Marco Wildmon of Rick Green. I'm with Green America's Constitution coach. Thanks for staying with me today and thanks to all the students that gave me a chance to interview them. I didn't warn any of those kids, so if you. If you've been listening to the whole program At the top of the hour, had the governor and then the speaker of the House, lieutenant governor didn't give them any warning. Literally just grabbed them as they were walking by on the House floor chamber, and they did such a great job. You know how many people would just freak out if you said, hey, come sit down. I'm going to interview you on a national radio program? There's no way. Most people would absolutely freak out. These kids did an amazing job. And I say kids, I mean, they're, let's see, I guess 20, 22, 23. but still, I mean, that's young and, and just did an amazing, amazing job. So proud of them and so proud of the other At Patriot Academy as well. I brag on, you know, the results of what we're getting At Patriot Academy because I'm so immersed in it. I mean, I see what these kids are doing with their lives and, you know, they're just like us. They're flawed and make mistakes and sinners and needed savior and all. I mean, all of those things, not putting them up on a pedestal. They're, We're all flawed jars of clay. Right? But. But I'm telling you, there's just something about what God's doing with this generation. And there's a. There's a hope there that it's hard to express it. It's hard to get it across on the microphone. I hope that some of you out there that are listening are catching this. I hope that you realize and can sense that there's something happening in America with the youth. You see some of the big rallies and the campaigns last year with the youth. You see a lot of these altar calls and worship services, with the youth that are happening. hopefully you're seeing some of that and you hear some of the reporting on that. And if you're too far removed from It. If you haven't been to one of those or you haven't been around some of these young people that God's raising up, it's kind of hard to. It's kind of hard to, I guess, verify and know that it's truly happening. So for whatever, amount of trust I've gained with you as the audience over the last year or two in doing the program and just always given the good, the bad, the ugly, being honest with you about everything and transparent, I hope I can, bank on that right now and just tell you, be encouraged, be encouraged and know that this is not just hoopla and rah rah. It's not, just promo videos for the latest program that we're promoting, or that somebody else is promoting. This is real stuff. This is the nitty gritty of life and preparation for life. And this. These are real young people with, with, immense talent but real challenges and, you know, just doing an amazing job At conquering those things and, and moving into what God has for them, Finding their purpose, their passion, finding what it is that. That. That they are called to, that they're good At that. That God has gifted them to be able to do. It's a spectacular thing to watch a young person's eyes light up when they have that, ignition, you know, that igniting of fire and passion and purpose when they realize I get to be part of something bigger than me, that this is about not just my, you know, my personal journey or career or name or any of those things. It's about a culture. It's about serving the king. It's about furthering the kingdom. It's about, quite literally, as Pastor, Michael was talking about, you know, finishing the story and completing the story that, that the founders began and on our watch, being. Being good stewards, being. Being responsible and not. Not dropping the baton.
The Torch of Freedom Foundation was founded 25 years ago
You know, one of the things that, Pastor Michael didn't talk about here on the program in the interview that he talked about this morning in his charge is, is that passing of the baton and named our organization 25 years ago. Torch of Freedom Foundation. The Torch of Freedom foundation. For precisely that, to pass the Torch of Freedom to the next generation. Patriot Academy is the name that most people know us by and the DBA that we operate under most programs. But Torch of Freedom foundation is the name of the overall nonprofit, foundation. So if you ever want to look us up CR990, it's all public. We share that. We want you to know that we Want you to see how little everybody's making, how much we put the money into the programs and into the kids and the campus. But I say all that to say this idea of passing the baton, this idea of making sure that we don't fumble the handoff, I think that hits home to most people in my generation and my parents generation realize that there was a fumbling of the handoff there, that the culture changed dramatically. There was a move from the left to take over the institutions in America and there was a standing down on the right. The church, the conservative circles just sort of backed off and did not purposely instill the torch and pass the torch to their children. And so we lost the culture for a while there. We, still do not have the culture. We still don't have most of the major institutions in America. The left still owns those. But we have made tremendous gains in a short period of time and, and, and gotten a lot more people on the field into the game, you know, actually voting, actually running for office, taking over political institutions, going into arenas like the arts and entertainment and journalism, and all these areas that we had kind of left off the table that people in the conservative circles thought, you know, that's not for me or, or you know, a conservative only goes into business or ministry. And instead we've started realizing the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Psalms 24:1. We, we've started realizing that if we don't see God's principles in any of those arenas, it's because we're not taking them there, that we have a duty and ah, responsibility to be leaders in those areas and to raise up leaders and in the young people in our life to draw out from them whatever it is that God's put into their hearts to help them seek the desires that God's put in their hearts because he will give them the desires of their hearts. He actually placed those desires into their hearts. And it's our job as mentors and pastors, pastors and, and teachers and coaches and parents to, to draw that out and to help them find that, and then it's our job as human beings to seek that for ourselves. What is it that God's called us to do and then to strive for that and to, and to figure out how to do that best. Everything we do, we do the best that we can, as in a God, not in a man. Colossians 3. 23. And so these are all the things that we're teaching these students here At Patriot Academy. This Week to, To find that purpose, then to. To plan it out. How do you. Once you find that passion and that pur. God's given you, how do you. How do you plan out the next 5, 10, 20 years? Not meaning that, you know, we're going to make it all happen and never mind what God wants, but instead, how do you seek God's will for your life and then plan out how to execute that? Always, of course, being sensitive to the spirit and sensitive to him, redirecting our, where we're going because he directs our steps, but we have to be lifting that foot up and moving forward, taking that step. And then he will direct it. I don't think he directs us when we're sitting on the couch. You know, if we're not doing anything, if we're not, we got to get in motion, and then he will move us the right direction if we are listening and paying attention. And so that's how we teach these students to walk in God's will and to be difference makers and to go out there and not be one of those that just sits on the sideline. But they. And when I say get engaged, I mean, all of us need to do that. I mean, we're teaching these young people this week to do it. And in two weeks, I think it's two. Yeah, two weeks, we will have the military veterans and, Constitution coach Congress that'll take place here At the campus. So these are people of all ages, that have either served in the military or they're active duty, or they're a Constitution coach. They're out there actually serving the country by teaching education, teaching the Constitution and educating themselves, their families, their neighbors, the people in their church. And anybody can do this. Being a Constitution coach does not require a law degree or some special political science degree or any specialized knowledge. You don't have to have any of the answers. All you have to do is get people in a room and hit play on the videos and let the videos do the teaching. And you just provide the coffee and the cake and help lead the conversation when the video is over. Doesn't mean you have to have answers to all the questions. Just means you say, hey, what y' all learn? What'd y' all learn? What'd you think? This, this struck me. I. I learned something I never knew before or, or I wasn't taught that in school. And just leading that conversation will cause your friends and family gathered in your living room watching these videos of our Constitution classes to get excited about getting like, these students At Patriot academy are doing right now. And so I guess what I'm saying to you as an audience is what I'm doing with these students right now At the Patriot Academy campus, you can do with your friends and family and neighbors and people in your church right there in your home, right there in your living room, or if your pastor is willing to do it right there At the church, go to your pastor and say, would you trust me enough to offer a course here At the church on biblical citizenship, on, what the Bible says about how to treat our neighbors, about what the Bible says about how we should interact in our society and have good civil discourse and how biblical values should be salt and light in the community. Would you trust me enough? And if they hesitate and they not sure, then say, well, what can I do to earn your trust to be able to host that class? M. So maybe you can do it At your church if you follow those steps, or maybe it's in your home, maybe the local library, wherever. But you can do in your community exactly what I'm doing right now this week with these 150 young people from across the nation. You don't have to do a legislative simulation. All you got to do is get people together. And as a constitution coach, host one of our classes. We've got a lot of options. One, I'm encouraging people to do right now is rebuilding liberty. That's our brand new and literally just released videos, just finished being editing. It's all available right there. Patriotacademy.com Sign up as a coach coach and you can do that new class. Lord willing, we're going to put millions through that over the course of the next year. As we head into the 250th, it's all about the Declaration of Independence and the 250th. Okay, I got kind of sidetracked there. what I was about to say is we have this coach congress and military veterans congress and it's a, it's a the exact same thing we're doing with the students this week. We're going to do that with military veterans and coaches in two weeks again here At the Patriot Academy campus, in the house chamber, in our committee rooms, all the beautiful stuff that we built for this very purpose. And I raised that for two reasons. Number one, that you would be praying for the people that are planning to be here and get that training. And number two, that perhaps you want to come to that training. It's not too late. We've got a few slots left. We're almost full, but we do have a few slots left. And it's a program where you actually stay here on the campus At Patriot Academy. You know, we built 40 beautiful cottages and, and it's just, it's an amazing how God's blessed this place and a beautiful 177.6-acre campus. Yes. 177.6. 1776. Anyway, we got a beautiful place here and everything we're doing with these students that you heard in the program today that you're going to hear on Thursday, you can actually participate in that if you want to come out for the Constitution coach, Congress, either as a military veteran or as a Constitution coach. So check that out today At Patriot Academy. Patriotacademy.com just click on Leadership Congress and then look for MILVET or Coach Congress. Click on that. And you, gotta do it quick though, because that's. We're less than two weeks away actually, and you gotta make your travel plans and all those things and we have to process your application, do your background check, all that good stuff. Yes, we are careful about who comes to the Patriot Academy campus. one other thing while I'm talking about the programs we have going.
Rick says Americans have a responsibility to be prepared to defend families
there's a special program we do that's not happening this month. We kind of shut this one down in the hottest month of the year here in Texas. But we will kick it back up first weekend of September. And it's our constitutional defense program. many of you in our audience have been through that. You've come to the Patriot Academy campus and learned to defend yourself and your family. I was just listening this morning in Proverbs to the verse about, a wise person foresees danger and takes precaution. A simple thing or a fool walks blindly on and suffers the consequences. Well, I used to be the simpleton. I used to be the fool that would not have been able to defend my family. And there's a lot of violent crime in America. Let's face it, we allowed millions of people to come in illegally. There's the unknown. There's a lot of gangs that came over, a lot of terrorists. I mean, I'm not saying that to scare you. I'm just saying that's a reality. Even before the Biden administration, you had 4 million violent crimes a year in America. That has ramped up dramatically now that they opened the borders and allowed that to happen. And so the deportations, President Trump's doing is very important in order to get us At least back to just 4 million. You know, anyway, this stuff happens, and it happens in your neighborhood, it happens At your grocery store. And for us to be foolish and think it'll never happen to us, or, you know, I don't have to worry about that, God will take care of it. That is not doing our duty. That is like staying in your prayer closet all day long and not getting out there and being salt and light and actually interacting with people. So in this, regard and on this particular issue, I believe we have a responsibility to be prepared to defend our family, to take precaution, to be the wise person that takes precaution. And so this program that we do is for citizens of almost all ages. It's 11 and up. So you can bring your young people. I think it's important to teach kids early on how to use a firearm so that they're not enamored by it. You never let them touch it and then, you know, somehow they find one and they end up having an accident. The way to avoid that is you teach them while they're young. And so 11 and up. But I, have people that are 90, 91, I think is the oldest that I've had go through the course. It's a, you can do a two day course or a four day course. And I don't care if you've never touched a gun in your life or you're a police officer. I've had a lot of police officers come to our corps. I've had a SWAT officer actually say it's the best training that they ever had. 55% of our students are women. a lot of our people, you know, were like me. They grew up on the ranch, but they never had any real training, training. And when I went through this for the first time in my life 14 years ago, it radically changed the way I walk, the way I, where I sit in a restaurant. I mean, all of those things. And now I'm able, I'm ready and able to prepare and prepared to defend my family. God forbid if the wolf shows up At my door or in the restaurant that I'm At or the grocery store or the church or wherever it might be. I want you to have that same confidence and kind of competence. And so please consider doing that. So either come to the, you know, Constitution coach and military veterans Congress is going to happen a couple of weeks or plan September, October, November, sometime in there to come do our constitutional defense program, two or four day program, and you can stay right here on the campus. So many great opportunities for you to participate and be a part of this remnant that God is raising up hope. You've enjoyed, enjoyed all the great, you know, testimonials and just the energy that's coming from this next generation. Sure appreciate you listening. Today you've been listening to Epic Corps with Walker Wildmon and recreate.
>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
