Greg Laurie - TGLS - Speaker Mike Johnson

May 31, 2026 | 27:29

Join Pastor Greg Laurie for a time of encouragement, worship, and Bible study.

#Politics #NegativeThoughts #Belief #Government #AmericanHistory #Peace #Prayer #Calling #Sovereignty #Responsibility #GregLaurie

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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie | Greg Laurie - TGLS - Speaker Mike Johnson | May 31, 2026

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♪♪♪
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Mike johnson: so people say that, and they ask me about this
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All the time, "how are we able to do this?"
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First of all, it's an answer--it's a lot of prayer
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And patience.
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The magic of this is really not magic, right?
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I am practicing the new testament prescriptions on how
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To handle conflict.
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♪ this is the day, the day when life begins. ♪♪
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Greg laurie: i'm here with the speaker of the house,
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Mike johnson.
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Mike, thank you for making time for me.
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I so appreciate it.
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Mike: pastor, thanks for being here.
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I get lots of interview requests.
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I was excited about this one.
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Greg: oh, wow.
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Well, thank you so much.
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You are so busy, too, to make time in your schedule.
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I can't even imagine what a typical day looks like for you,
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But we're doing this interview at pretty much 7:30 in the
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Morning, so you get started early, don't you?
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Mike: oh, this is a late start for me.
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Greg: no way, really?
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Mike: yeah, i'm very much like a wartime speaker.
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I mean, it's a kind of a crazy time in american politics, and
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Capitol hill tends to be very divided, we have a very
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Aggressive agenda, and it requires a lot.
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The modern speakership, the way this has all developed over the
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Last 250 years, it's really an all-encompassing job.
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It's a 24-hour operation, really.
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And we don't get a lot of time for rest, but i've decided this
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Is a season of just extreme sacrifice and service and that
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One day we'll rest down sometime in the future.
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Greg: you're from louisiana.
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Mike: yes, sir.
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Greg: and you--when you were a young man, your father was, i
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Believe--was he the chief of the fire department?
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Mike: assistant chief, sure was.
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Greg: so you aspired to be that one day.
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Mike: that's all i knew.
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I was the product of an unplanned pregnancy.
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My parents were teenagers, high school sweethearts.
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When i was conceived, they had to drop out of their junior year
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In high school to start a family and take care of me, thankfully,
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And three younger siblings came shortly after that.
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My dad went into the fire service and loved it.
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He--as all firefighters do, almost all of them, they have
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Multiple part-time jobs and do all sorts of things to make
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Ends meet.
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But in 1984 when i was 12 years old, he had a fateful day on
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The job.
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He was burned in an explosion and burned 80% of his body,
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Third-degree burns, given a 5% chance to live.
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You know, he was severely disabled after that, but he
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Recovered miraculously.
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It's a long story, great testimony about god's protection
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And favor, but that's what i knew.
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You know, i aspired to be the fire chief of my hometown of
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Shreveport, louisiana, because i looked up to that--all those
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Men so much.
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But after the accident happened, they encouraged me to go another
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Route, so that's how i wound up here.
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Greg: so you started by practicing law and then teaching
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Law as well, and then you end up in politics.
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Is that something you aspired to as a younger man, maybe after?
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Mike: well, no, not really.
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I had a sort of a heart, i guess, for public service, and
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That's how we were raised.
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I started in constitutional law.
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I used to litigate religious liberty cases and pro-life
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Cases, worked for the alliance defending freedom and other
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Groups most of my career.
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And then about nine years ago, i guess, we just sensed calling
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That we were supposed to step forward and get into the
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Legislative arena because i was defending our constitutional
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Freedoms in the courts, but i saw how important this arena is.
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It just so happened that the state representative in my
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District in louisiana decided to run for judge and everybody
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Started calling me, saying, "hey, there's an open seat, you
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Should do it."
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We had just moved into that district, you know, ironically.
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Providentially, we ran.
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I served in the state house for a little over a year, and then
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My congressman decided to run for the us senate.
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Everybody started calling me, "you need to run for congress."
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I said, "i just got to the state legislature."
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But so i came to congress in 2017.
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I was elected in 2016, which is the same year that president
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Trump came to washington, and it's been a pretty wild ride for
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The last eight years.
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Greg: yes, and you actually communicate with the president
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Quite a bit, don't you?
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Mike: all the time.
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Most recently last night at about 11:30.
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Greg: really, he just calls you up?
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Mike: yeah, in fact, last night he was having a late dinner with
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Maria bartiromo and five or six other people, and he just--he
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Called, "mike, mike, mike, well, how are we doing, mike?
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How are we doing on the big beautiful bill?"
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"we're doing great, sir."
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And he put me on speaker, and i just had a delightful
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Conversation with all of them around the table.
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We have that kind of relationship.
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Greg: we just had the opportunity to have dinner with
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The president at the white house a week ago.
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It was about 30 of us, and we spent almost four hours with
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Him, and he said, "do you want to go upstairs and see the--" i
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Can't do an imitation of like--"the lincoln bedroom?"
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Now, i've had the privilege of going there one other time, so i
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Knew what was in store, but all these guys, they were like kids
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In a candy shop.
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These are pastors of churches.
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To go up there and to walk--and he tells us stories about--
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Mike: every little thing, oh, yeah.
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Greg: but he enjoys it, doesn't he?
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Mike: look, he still, in some ways, thinks of himself as being
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In the hospitality business.
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That's kind of, you know, how he came up.
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You know, he wants everybody to have a great time, yeah.
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And, i mean, it's really amazing.
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He's so personal.
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You know him at that level.
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My wife, kelly, always says, "i wish everybody could know the
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President trump that we know personally."
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When we would fly around on air force one in the first term, he
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Would come into that boardroom, where all the vips are sitting
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On the plane going to our destination, "do you need
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Another diet coke?
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How are the seats, are they comfortable?"
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And i'm thinking, "you're the president of the united states.
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This is--you don't have to do this.
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There's a lot of people that do this."
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But he genuinely wants everybody to have a good time, to be
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Comfortable, to enjoy themselves, just kind of in
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His dna.
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Greg: well, i think when he's being interviewed often, it's in
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An adversarial situation, so he's got his guard up, he's
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Defending himself.
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But when he's with people that he's comfortable with, people
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Have asked me "what is he like?"
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You know far better than i do, but i've found him to be
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Personable, a good listener.
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You'd think he would dominate all conversations.
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He can and will talk, but he'll listen and ask people
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About themselves.
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And, of course, he's hilarious.
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Mike: he's hilarious.
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Greg: and i don't know if he knows how funny he is.
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Does he know he's being funny, or is that just the way he--
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Mike: i think--i mean, he loves--you know, i've seen him
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Really loosen up so many times and, you know, especially at
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Mar-a-lago in his domain, you know?
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He's very comfortable, but also in the white house now.
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I mean, i was--most recently, i was in the oval office just a
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Few days ago, and he's now doing everything in gilded gold.
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That's his preference, right?
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And he said, "mike, when you come in here next time, all this
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Is going to be gold."
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And i said, "that's president trump.
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He's gonna make it his own."
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Greg: and he has some new portraits up in the white house.
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He's got a painting of that famous shot of him holding his
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Arm up, and then i saw another one that he just put up next to
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The portrait of hillary clinton.
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So he's doing his own redecorating.
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Mike: well, he is, and almost every square inch of the oval
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Office is covered in portraits now, his favorite presidents.
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Funny story very quickly because you'll enjoy this.
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About three or four weeks ago, i get a call in the middle of
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The day.
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The president calls me, he said, "mike, mike, we gotta make
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A deal."
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I said, "a deal?
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I'm in the middle of whipping votes.
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It's crazy downhill."
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And he said, "mike, i need your polk."
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I said, "you need my what, sir?"
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"i need your polk, your james k. polk."
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I said, "do i have a james k. polk?"
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"the curator says you have the only portrait of the
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Former president.
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I need that in my collection because, you know, he expanded
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The map.
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He took in california."
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So, "okay," and he said, "mike, i'm gonna make you a deal.
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It's the worst deal i've ever made.
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I'm gonna give you a jefferson for a polk."
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I said, "i have two of those."
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"what?"
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I said, "sir, you had me at hello.
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I'll get to the polk."
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I hung up the phone.
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My chief of staff said, "you're crazy."
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He would have respected it so much more if he said, "throw in
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A reagan statue with it."
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You know, make a deal, right?
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Anyway, long story short, we find the polk.
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Turns out james k. polk was a former speaker of the house, so
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His portrait was hanging in the speaker's collection gallery.
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But now it's in the oval office.
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So he sends me a jefferson.
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So i have an original thomas jefferson in my conference room.
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People are like, "wow, where'd that come?"
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Long story.
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Greg: and he--didn't he put the declaration of independence in
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The oval office?
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And it's the real one.
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Mike: one of the three original copies.
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They had to put a curtain over it because it can't take direct
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Sunlight, but he keeps the curtain open because he wants to
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Show it off, and it's just amazing.
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Everybody stands there and marvels.
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And he, you know, talks about it like he does in the
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Lincoln bedroom.
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He--you know, he's a tour guide in some respects.
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Greg: yes, i love how you speak so freely about your faith.
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In fact, i have to say i don't know of any person in public
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Service who speaks as openly, freely, and naturally about
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Their faith as you do.
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And when i met you a while ago, i was so impressed by that.
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And is it hard to be a man of faith, you know, believing the
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Bible, as you do in what you do?
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Mike: it's not.
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In fact, it's the only way i'm allowed and enabled to do this
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Job is because i have that level of faith.
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Greg: tell me about that, how that works.
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Mike: well, and i--you know, a lot of my colleagues are openly
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Talking about this now.
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This job is almost impossible.
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We have the smallest margin in us history for the first chunk
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Of the first 100 days, a one-vote margin.
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The odds are, you know, against us every single day.
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They've written my eulogy ten times at least--the press,
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You know?
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But we press forward because i know that i am not in charge.
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I'm so comforted by what john quincy adams said.
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They used to call him the hellhound of slavery because he
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Ran for--he was president, of course, our sixth president, but
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Then he ran for congress.
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He came to congress for the purpose of eradicating slavery.
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He kept bringing the anti-slavery resolution over and
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Over, and he kept losing.
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And a younger member came up to him on the floor after about the
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13th failed attempt, and they said, "mr. president,
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Why do you keep doing it?
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You're not gonna pass the law."
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And he said, "young man, duty is ours, results are god's," right?
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Such a liberating way to live.
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It is a biblical worldview that allows us to do--i do my
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Faithful duty as best i can in the flawed way that i do
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Every day.
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I try to be faithful--have an audience of one at the end of
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The day--and i'm so glad that i'm not the sovereign.
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So it is a way that i operate.
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It's in my dna.
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It's who i am.
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I don't--i can't separate that, and i think a lot of my
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Colleagues and people here have begun to kind of appreciate it.
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Some of them marvel at it, many snarl at it.
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But it's of no import to me because i'm gonna serve
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The lord.
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I know who we serve.
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Greg: do they ever come to you privately--and i'm not asking
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For you to name anyone in particular, but, "hey, mike,
00:10:03.726 --> 00:10:06.462
Would you pray for me," or, you know--
00:10:06.462 --> 00:10:08.531
Mike: oh, yeah.
00:10:08.531 --> 00:10:09.865
Greg, you--pastor, you would be so encouraged and others are
00:10:09.865 --> 00:10:12.635
When they learn that there's a large number of bible-believing
00:10:12.635 --> 00:10:16.439
Christians who serve in congress.
00:10:16.439 --> 00:10:18.240
We meet regularly.
00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:19.608
We have a prayer gathering in my office every week.
00:10:19.608 --> 00:10:22.745
There are multiple bible studies that are going on with some
00:10:22.745 --> 00:10:24.980
Small subgroups on the hill, and it's a faithful community, and
00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:28.417
I'll tell you what, it's growing because when people stand like
00:10:28.417 --> 00:10:32.488
That together, it inspires that in others.
00:10:32.488 --> 00:10:35.324
And i'm encouraging particularly, you know, newer
00:10:35.324 --> 00:10:38.127
Members who come into congress-- we have 33 house republican
00:10:38.127 --> 00:10:41.464
Freshmen members, and i routinely try to gather them up
00:10:41.464 --> 00:10:45.468
And meet with them and talk with them about these very
00:10:45.468 --> 00:10:47.303
Simple things.
00:10:47.303 --> 00:10:48.637
What does it mean to be a person of faith?
00:10:48.637 --> 00:10:50.506
All of them identify as christians, and what does
00:10:50.506 --> 00:10:53.776
That mean?
00:10:53.776 --> 00:10:55.144
Is that something you should leave outside the building, or
00:10:55.144 --> 00:10:56.479
Should you carry it with you?
00:10:56.479 --> 00:10:57.813
And if you did, how could it change the atmosphere of
00:10:57.813 --> 00:10:59.582
Capitol hill?
00:10:59.582 --> 00:11:00.916
Think of it, you know?
00:11:00.916 --> 00:11:02.284
Well, those principles guided our founders.
00:11:02.284 --> 00:11:04.820
They guided previous generations of leaders, and we ought to do
00:11:04.820 --> 00:11:08.257
The same thing.
00:11:08.257 --> 00:11:09.625
It seems foreign to people right now, but this was common in
00:11:09.625 --> 00:11:13.095
Previous generations, and i'm trying to bring it back.
00:11:13.095 --> 00:11:15.297
Greg: has there ever been a nation like america with the
00:11:15.297 --> 00:11:18.000
Spiritual roots?
00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.335
I mean, maybe the nation israel.
00:11:19.335 --> 00:11:20.703
Mike: except for israel.
00:11:20.703 --> 00:11:22.071
Greg: yeah, but apart from that, a nation that has such strong
00:11:22.071 --> 00:11:25.174
Spiritual roots as america does.
00:11:25.174 --> 00:11:27.076
Mike: we're quite literally the only nation--the first nation
00:11:27.076 --> 00:11:29.111
In the world--that was founded upon a creed,
00:11:29.111 --> 00:11:30.846
As g. k. chesterson famously noted, the british statesman.
00:11:30.846 --> 00:11:33.883
And the creed, he said, was listed with theological lucidity
00:11:33.883 --> 00:11:36.585
In the declaration of independence, the clarity that
00:11:36.585 --> 00:11:38.621
Said, "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are
00:11:38.621 --> 00:11:41.223
Created equal," not born equal, created equal by god, and that
00:11:41.223 --> 00:11:44.593
God is the one that gives us our rights.
00:11:44.593 --> 00:11:46.162
We don't have a middleman, a lowercase king on the earth.
00:11:46.162 --> 00:11:49.565
It's the sovereign.
00:11:49.565 --> 00:11:50.933
The sovereign is the one who made us, and that's--he--it is
00:11:50.933 --> 00:11:54.970
To him that we owe our allegiance and our ultimate
00:11:54.970 --> 00:11:57.640
Responsibility, and that's supposed to govern the affairs
00:11:57.640 --> 00:12:00.409
Of men, the regard for that.
00:12:00.409 --> 00:12:03.646
America is built on that foundation, the recognition that
00:12:03.646 --> 00:12:05.781
Our rights come from god and not government, and that's what made
00:12:05.781 --> 00:12:08.784
Us exceptional.
00:12:08.784 --> 00:12:10.119
I mean, that is the foundation of the whole thing.
00:12:10.119 --> 00:12:11.854
If you read the writings of the--of, you know, george
00:12:11.854 --> 00:12:14.423
Washington and john adams and the founders, they spoke of that
00:12:14.423 --> 00:12:17.593
Eloquently and often.
00:12:17.593 --> 00:12:19.495
And washington said in his famous farewell address, "of all
00:12:19.495 --> 00:12:22.298
The dispositions and habits which lead to political
00:12:22.298 --> 00:12:24.567
Prosperity, religion and morality are
00:12:24.567 --> 00:12:26.368
Indispensable supports."
00:12:26.368 --> 00:12:27.970
John adams, our second president, said, "our
00:12:27.970 --> 00:12:29.905
Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people.
00:12:29.905 --> 00:12:32.474
It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
00:12:32.474 --> 00:12:35.144
You don't find that in any other country.
00:12:35.144 --> 00:12:36.812
You certainly didn't before 1776.
00:12:36.812 --> 00:12:39.281
Now, some have tried to emulate it in different ways, but we're
00:12:39.281 --> 00:12:42.117
Unique, and we're different, and that's why we had god's favor,
00:12:42.117 --> 00:12:44.887
And we forget that at our peril.
00:12:44.887 --> 00:12:46.822
Greg: were you raised in a christian home, and did you come
00:12:46.822 --> 00:12:49.592
To christ as a young man, or did this happen--or did--was there
00:12:49.592 --> 00:12:52.494
A deeper commitment later in your life?
00:12:52.494 --> 00:12:54.263
Mike: no, i was blessed to be raised in a christian household.
00:12:54.263 --> 00:12:56.599
My dad got saved in a dentist chair when i was two years old
00:12:56.599 --> 00:12:59.101
And i was the oldest of four kids, yeah.
00:12:59.101 --> 00:13:02.905
Dr. larry weeks led him to christ, and he passed several
00:13:02.905 --> 00:13:05.908
Years ago, but--
00:13:05.908 --> 00:13:07.243
Greg: did he have a drill saying, "do you want to accept
00:13:07.243 --> 00:13:09.511
Christ right now?"
00:13:09.511 --> 00:13:10.846
"yes."
00:13:10.846 --> 00:13:12.214
Mike: under great duress, yeah.
00:13:12.214 --> 00:13:13.549
No, but it was--i mean, my parents were raised sort of
00:13:13.549 --> 00:13:15.484
Nominal catholic, but it wasn't a big part of their walking, but
00:13:15.484 --> 00:13:19.455
After that, he did, and i was raised in a non-denominational
00:13:19.455 --> 00:13:23.359
Bible church out in the country, and i got saved at age seven and
00:13:23.359 --> 00:13:27.096
Baptized in a horse trough out behind our country church in--
00:13:27.096 --> 00:13:29.598
Greg: really, age seven?
00:13:29.598 --> 00:13:30.933
So that's where you would mark your moment of conversion and--
00:13:30.933 --> 00:13:35.604
Because people sometimes wonder when a child, a young person,
00:13:35.604 --> 00:13:39.041
Comes to christ at an early age, can it really take--but i
00:13:39.041 --> 00:13:42.645
Interviewed james dobson once.
00:13:42.645 --> 00:13:44.146
I said, "dr. dobson, when did you accept christ?"
00:13:44.146 --> 00:13:46.315
He said, "when i was four years old."
00:13:46.315 --> 00:13:48.317
Mike: wow.
00:13:48.317 --> 00:13:49.652
Greg: i thought, "four years old?"
00:13:49.652 --> 00:13:51.020
And he marks that as the moment of his conversion.
00:13:51.020 --> 00:13:53.455
Mike: well, he had--dr. dobson had a moment of discernment at
00:13:53.455 --> 00:13:55.858
Age four, probably more than most, but look, i have no memory
00:13:55.858 --> 00:13:59.161
Of not believing in christ, which has been a blessing in
00:13:59.161 --> 00:14:02.932
My life.
00:14:02.932 --> 00:14:04.266
And then i mentioned earlier when i was 12, you know, a few
00:14:04.266 --> 00:14:06.001
Years later is when my father was miraculously saved out of
00:14:06.001 --> 00:14:08.604
This fire, had a 5% chance to live a long way back, but i
00:14:08.604 --> 00:14:12.608
Watched and saw and came to believe that god was not some
00:14:12.608 --> 00:14:15.945
Ethereal concept.
00:14:15.945 --> 00:14:17.413
God was active and working in our lives, and it's informed my
00:14:17.413 --> 00:14:21.250
Worldview and how i think and operate ever since.
00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:23.953
Greg: you're such a great bridge builder.
00:14:23.953 --> 00:14:25.754
And, i mean, my goodness, the responsibilities you have with
00:14:25.754 --> 00:14:30.426
Constant division and disagreement, how--you must
00:14:30.426 --> 00:14:34.363
Have some incredible negotiating skills to get these people to
00:14:34.363 --> 00:14:38.801
Even talk to each other, much less agree to work together.
00:14:38.801 --> 00:14:43.005
Mike: so people say that, and they ask about this all the
00:14:43.005 --> 00:14:44.873
Time, "how are we able to do this?"
00:14:44.873 --> 00:14:47.142
First of all, it's an answer--it's a lot of prayer
00:14:47.142 --> 00:14:49.044
And patience.
00:14:49.044 --> 00:14:50.379
We have prayer intercessors, some of whom, you know, that
00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:53.615
Pray for us every day of the week.
00:14:53.615 --> 00:14:55.150
I mean, i'm talking about hundreds of people who are
00:14:55.150 --> 00:14:57.286
Dedicated to this cause of this congress, to pray us through.
00:14:57.286 --> 00:15:00.189
Greg: i love that.
00:15:00.189 --> 00:15:01.523
I didn't know that.
00:15:01.523 --> 00:15:02.891
Mike: yeah, and i send out prayer requests on saturdays,
00:15:02.891 --> 00:15:05.260
And they distribute those.
00:15:05.260 --> 00:15:06.729
I mean, i'm talking about nationwide.
00:15:06.729 --> 00:15:08.063
It's a powerful thing.
00:15:08.063 --> 00:15:09.431
And so we have those praying for us all the time, but what i'm
00:15:09.431 --> 00:15:12.301
Trying to do here, the magic of this is really not magic, right?
00:15:12.301 --> 00:15:16.405
I am practicing the new testament prescriptions on how
00:15:16.405 --> 00:15:20.476
To handle conflict.
00:15:20.476 --> 00:15:21.844
I mean, you know, it's very--i mean, the bible's full of, you
00:15:21.844 --> 00:15:24.847
Know, advice and admonitions on how we're supposed to
00:15:24.847 --> 00:15:26.682
Handle this.
00:15:26.682 --> 00:15:28.017
If we're supposed to love our enemies, we're certainly
00:15:28.017 --> 00:15:29.618
Supposed to love people inside the building who are our
00:15:29.618 --> 00:15:31.954
Colleagues, right?
00:15:31.954 --> 00:15:33.322
And i think of it that way.
00:15:33.322 --> 00:15:34.656
We bless those who persecute us.
00:15:34.656 --> 00:15:36.291
You know, it turns out if you actually do that, you can be in
00:15:36.291 --> 00:15:39.128
The ministry of reconciliation, as it says in 1 corinthians,
00:15:39.128 --> 00:15:42.965
Because you allow for the window of coming together again instead
00:15:42.965 --> 00:15:47.403
Of in politics when somebody does something to you that's a
00:15:47.403 --> 00:15:50.672
Negative, the inclination and the normal way is that you fire
00:15:50.672 --> 00:15:54.576
Back at them.
00:15:54.576 --> 00:15:55.944
Well, i don't fire back.
00:15:55.944 --> 00:15:57.279
I don't have the luxury of doing that, you know?
00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:58.647
And so i'm always have this sort of conciliatory posture, and
00:15:58.647 --> 00:16:03.352
That's really important and very valuable.
00:16:03.352 --> 00:16:05.654
Greg: soft answer turns away wrath.
00:16:05.654 --> 00:16:07.022
Mike: absolutely, you know, we could go through them
00:16:07.022 --> 00:16:08.357
All, right?
00:16:08.357 --> 00:16:09.725
But, you know, you--the man or woman of god, if you're truly
00:16:09.725 --> 00:16:15.030
Following and you believe in that and you know that those
00:16:15.030 --> 00:16:17.533
Principles are as sure as gravity, it allows you to hold
00:16:17.533 --> 00:16:20.469
That steady when others are running around with their hair
00:16:20.469 --> 00:16:22.638
On fire, and that turns out to be the secret here because we're
00:16:22.638 --> 00:16:27.076
Able to work with everybody.
00:16:27.076 --> 00:16:29.044
And we make a joke around here: i'm not really mostly speaker of
00:16:29.044 --> 00:16:31.447
The house, i'm mostly a mental health counselor.
00:16:31.447 --> 00:16:33.949
I was like--i mean, really, because there's so much conflict
00:16:33.949 --> 00:16:36.251
And so much emotion and so much stress around here, and so what
00:16:36.251 --> 00:16:38.720
I do is i sit down like this with members all the time,
00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.356
Multiple times every day, different members.
00:16:41.356 --> 00:16:42.891
I got 219 republican colleagues and then all the democrats on
00:16:42.891 --> 00:16:46.195
The other side.
00:16:46.195 --> 00:16:47.563
And i sit down and i say, "what's concerning you?
00:16:47.563 --> 00:16:49.731
Guys, i saw you're upset.
00:16:49.731 --> 00:16:51.300
You were saying--talk-- let's talk about that.
00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:52.835
How can we get to yes?
00:16:52.835 --> 00:16:54.870
Did i--have i said something that offended you that you have
00:16:54.870 --> 00:16:56.872
A question about?
00:16:56.872 --> 00:16:58.240
Let's work it out."
00:16:58.240 --> 00:16:59.575
That's what god says to do, and it works.
00:16:59.575 --> 00:17:00.943
If we would just practice the biblical admonition--
00:17:00.943 --> 00:17:02.444
Greg: it's so true.
00:17:02.444 --> 00:17:03.812
Mike: it's so true, but most people don't.
00:17:03.812 --> 00:17:05.147
Greg: but you have to be firm.
00:17:05.147 --> 00:17:06.515
There was--of course, when the president was giving the state
00:17:06.515 --> 00:17:08.150
Of the union address, there was a bit of a disruption on the
00:17:08.150 --> 00:17:11.386
Floor, and you started calmly, "stop."
00:17:11.386 --> 00:17:15.190
And it was at al green, representative al green, and he
00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:20.062
Wasn't stopping you to commit--
00:17:20.062 --> 00:17:22.498
Mike: i had to.
00:17:22.498 --> 00:17:23.866
There's a time to every purpose under heaven, okay?
00:17:23.866 --> 00:17:25.934
It's the first time in history that a president's address to
00:17:25.934 --> 00:17:29.471
Congress has been interrupted, and that--we shouldn't--we
00:17:29.471 --> 00:17:31.874
Can't tolerate that.
00:17:31.874 --> 00:17:33.208
We can't allow it.
00:17:33.208 --> 00:17:34.576
So i was concerned that a number of our democratic colleagues had
00:17:34.576 --> 00:17:37.146
Planned similar protests, so i had to throw the book at him,
00:17:37.146 --> 00:17:39.548
And i did--i took no pleasure in it.
00:17:39.548 --> 00:17:41.350
Everybody's like, "yeah, own the libs.
00:17:41.350 --> 00:17:43.318
Get him--" no, i--it was-- in some ways, it's really
00:17:43.318 --> 00:17:46.421
Heartbreaking to me that we-- i don't wanna make that kind
00:17:46.421 --> 00:17:48.123
Of history.
00:17:48.123 --> 00:17:49.491
We don't wanna make history around here.
00:17:49.491 --> 00:17:50.826
We wanna have normal congress, it's just nobody knows what it
00:17:50.826 --> 00:17:52.528
Looks like anymore.
00:17:52.528 --> 00:17:53.896
Trying to bring it back.
00:17:53.896 --> 00:17:55.230
Greg: it's so true.
00:17:55.230 --> 00:17:56.565
Now, people sometimes say, "oh, this keeps me up at night."
00:17:56.565 --> 00:18:00.035
And i think of the kind of information you're exposed to
00:18:00.035 --> 00:18:03.205
About what's going on in our world today, the threats against
00:18:03.205 --> 00:18:05.941
Our nation externally, internally, and it--how do you
00:18:05.941 --> 00:18:12.281
Process that like--do you--are there certain--like i think of
00:18:12.281 --> 00:18:16.018
Philippians, you know, "don't worry about anything, pray about
00:18:16.018 --> 00:18:18.954
Everything and the peace of god that passes all understanding
00:18:18.954 --> 00:18:21.857
Will guard your heart and mind."
00:18:21.857 --> 00:18:23.859
You know, it doesn't mean don't think about it, don't care about
00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:26.395
It, but don't-- worry doesn't help.
00:18:26.395 --> 00:18:28.530
Mike: no, worry-- you don't worry.
00:18:28.530 --> 00:18:30.165
You know--
00:18:30.165 --> 00:18:31.533
Greg: are you prone to worry or--
00:18:31.533 --> 00:18:32.868
Mike: not at all. greg: you don't seem like a--
00:18:32.868 --> 00:18:34.203
Mike: i don't worry, i don't, i can't.
00:18:34.203 --> 00:18:35.904
And i learned as a young man, you know, god uses your
00:18:35.904 --> 00:18:38.674
Experiences to prepare you for what he calls you to do, and god
00:18:38.674 --> 00:18:42.344
Doesn't call the qualified, qualifies the called, you know?
00:18:42.344 --> 00:18:44.646
Greg: i say that in my sermons, too.
00:18:44.646 --> 00:18:45.981
Mike: yeah, i know. i got that from you, i--
00:18:45.981 --> 00:18:47.349
Greg: no, you did not.
00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:48.684
Mike: it fits, but look, he prepares us, and so i learned in
00:18:48.684 --> 00:18:52.321
All these experiences, i look back over my life now, "oh,
00:18:52.321 --> 00:18:54.456
That's where i learned not to worry."
00:18:54.456 --> 00:18:55.791
You know, i went through--we went through a lot of traumas as
00:18:55.791 --> 00:18:57.526
A kid and stuff.
00:18:57.526 --> 00:18:59.161
But it is a biblical admonition not to do that, and not worrying
00:18:59.161 --> 00:19:02.531
Is a major theme of scripture because god--as john quincy
00:19:02.531 --> 00:19:05.234
Adams said, god is the sovereign.
00:19:05.234 --> 00:19:07.402
So you're right, though.
00:19:07.402 --> 00:19:08.770
It's a balance because much of this falls to me as a
00:19:08.770 --> 00:19:10.973
Responsibility to try to resolve, to play a certain role
00:19:10.973 --> 00:19:14.743
In that, so i can't dismiss it, but i can't allow it to govern
00:19:14.743 --> 00:19:18.680
My thought, or, you know, we can't operate in a spirit
00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:20.749
Of fear.
00:19:20.749 --> 00:19:22.084
We don't have the luxury of that.
00:19:22.084 --> 00:19:23.452
But i believe at the end of the day, i know that god
00:19:23.452 --> 00:19:25.754
Is sovereign.
00:19:25.754 --> 00:19:27.089
I believe he has a plan for our country.
00:19:27.089 --> 00:19:28.423
I believe he has given us another chance to save america
00:19:28.423 --> 00:19:31.493
Because he is so gracious and merciful.
00:19:31.493 --> 00:19:33.262
We don't deserve it, right?
00:19:33.262 --> 00:19:34.863
We don't--as a nation, we don't deserve it, but that's who
00:19:34.863 --> 00:19:37.466
He is.
00:19:37.466 --> 00:19:38.800
And so we're trying to navigate through the challenges of the
00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:40.969
Day to do it in a manner that, you know, preserves this great
00:19:40.969 --> 00:19:45.607
Nation, and i believe god has a plan, and he's gonna show us,
00:19:45.607 --> 00:19:48.010
And he does every day.
00:19:48.010 --> 00:19:49.378
I pray for god's divine intervention.
00:19:49.378 --> 00:19:50.946
I'll tell you a quick story.
00:19:50.946 --> 00:19:52.514
After the second assassination attempt of president trump,
00:19:52.514 --> 00:19:56.184
Providentially, it just so happened that my wife kelly and
00:19:56.184 --> 00:19:58.420
I were landing at mar-a-lago to meet with him while he was on
00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:00.889
That golf course.
00:20:00.889 --> 00:20:02.257
So, long story, but the way it turned out, they held us at the
00:20:02.257 --> 00:20:05.060
Tarmac in palm beach because mar-a-lago was shut down.
00:20:05.060 --> 00:20:08.964
They released us a while later.
00:20:08.964 --> 00:20:10.499
My motorcade arrived at the same time his was to mar-a-lago
00:20:10.499 --> 00:20:13.335
Because he was on a different course and they held him in a
00:20:13.335 --> 00:20:15.103
Safe house.
00:20:15.103 --> 00:20:16.438
And you remember they found the gun of that muzzle in a bush and
00:20:16.438 --> 00:20:18.307
Stopped--and saved his life miraculously, second time.
00:20:18.307 --> 00:20:21.176
Well, we go into mar-a-lago, it's shut down.
00:20:21.176 --> 00:20:23.445
There's no one there, helicopters overhead, the
00:20:23.445 --> 00:20:25.380
Whole deal.
00:20:25.380 --> 00:20:26.715
And kelly and i walk in.
00:20:26.715 --> 00:20:28.083
I had hogan gidley with me and my comms director, who used to
00:20:28.083 --> 00:20:30.452
Be deputy press secretary in the first trump administration, and
00:20:30.452 --> 00:20:32.921
Then the president walked in with susie wiles, who's now the
00:20:32.921 --> 00:20:35.123
Chief of staff.
00:20:35.123 --> 00:20:36.491
This is before the election.
00:20:36.491 --> 00:20:37.926
He's in his golf attire.
00:20:37.926 --> 00:20:39.294
He's just come off of this event, and he's kind of in
00:20:39.294 --> 00:20:41.530
Shock, and we sat there together for two hours and 45 minutes and
00:20:41.530 --> 00:20:44.700
Worked through that.
00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:46.034
My wife, kelly, is a licensed pastoral counselor.
00:20:46.034 --> 00:20:47.502
He knows her well.
00:20:47.502 --> 00:20:48.837
They really have a great rapport, and it was a
00:20:48.837 --> 00:20:50.639
Providential moment.
00:20:50.639 --> 00:20:52.007
But in this conversation as we unpacked this together, we were
00:20:52.007 --> 00:20:53.775
Stuck there, you know, together, but i was so grateful for
00:20:53.775 --> 00:20:56.378
That moment.
00:20:56.378 --> 00:20:57.746
And one of the things i told him, i said, is,
00:20:57.746 --> 00:20:59.314
"mr. president, we've talked many times now about the first
00:20:59.314 --> 00:21:01.516
Assassination attempt and how i don't believe in luck
00:21:01.516 --> 00:21:03.985
Or coincidence.
00:21:03.985 --> 00:21:05.320
I believe god providentially spared your life, saved your
00:21:05.320 --> 00:21:07.856
Life in front of the whole world so everybody can see it and
00:21:07.856 --> 00:21:09.691
Can't deny it.
00:21:09.691 --> 00:21:11.026
It's a miracle."
00:21:11.026 --> 00:21:12.361
Greg: he should have died.
00:21:12.361 --> 00:21:13.695
Mike: should have died, 100%. i'm like--
00:21:13.695 --> 00:21:15.030
Greg: it was god's intervention.
00:21:15.030 --> 00:21:16.365
Mike: yes, and no one can deny it.
00:21:16.365 --> 00:21:17.699
And now the second time, and i said, "sir, there's something
00:21:17.699 --> 00:21:20.602
I've been meaning to tell you about that we haven't had a
00:21:20.602 --> 00:21:22.971
Chance to talk about after the first one."
00:21:22.971 --> 00:21:24.539
And kelly starts kicking me under the table, "no, no,
00:21:24.539 --> 00:21:26.241
No, no."
00:21:26.241 --> 00:21:27.876
I said, "mr. president, i believe there's
00:21:27.876 --> 00:21:30.145
Biblical significance to the fact that
00:21:30.145 --> 00:21:32.013
The first bullet, you know, hit your ear.
00:21:32.013 --> 00:21:33.782
I mean, i think god wants us to listen to him and seek his
00:21:33.782 --> 00:21:36.852
Divine guidance and intervention."
00:21:36.852 --> 00:21:39.121
And that's what the framers did.
00:21:39.121 --> 00:21:40.455
That's what the previous generations--previous
00:21:40.455 --> 00:21:42.057
Presidents early in our history did because they recognized the
00:21:42.057 --> 00:21:44.993
Challenges are too big for them, or all of us collectively.
00:21:44.993 --> 00:21:47.763
And i'll tell you what, he processed that, and you hear him
00:21:47.763 --> 00:21:51.633
Use this language now.
00:21:51.633 --> 00:21:53.001
He said it in his inauguration address.
00:21:53.001 --> 00:21:54.503
Greg: well, easter, what about his easter--
00:21:54.503 --> 00:21:55.971
Mike: his easter address is amazing.
00:21:55.971 --> 00:21:57.305
Greg: i've--now, you're--you know, you know american history
00:21:57.305 --> 00:21:59.541
So well.
00:21:59.541 --> 00:22:00.876
I've never heard of a proclamation so overt about
00:22:00.876 --> 00:22:03.645
Christ ever in the history of america, have you?
00:22:03.645 --> 00:22:07.182
Mike: even reagan, george w. yeah, it's--it was next-level,
00:22:07.182 --> 00:22:10.652
And so many people started texting me, "did you
00:22:10.652 --> 00:22:12.888
Write that?"
00:22:12.888 --> 00:22:14.256
No, i didn't write that.
00:22:14.256 --> 00:22:15.590
No, but--
00:22:15.590 --> 00:22:16.925
Greg: the key is he said it.
00:22:16.925 --> 00:22:18.293
Mike: he said it, and he believes it, and he uses that
00:22:18.293 --> 00:22:21.563
Language, you know?
00:22:21.563 --> 00:22:22.898
And he talks often now about how god--he says, "god saved me for
00:22:22.898 --> 00:22:26.268
This purpose."
00:22:26.268 --> 00:22:27.602
Greg: yeah, he has said that.
00:22:27.602 --> 00:22:28.970
Mike: and i believe it, and i believe he does, too.
00:22:28.970 --> 00:22:30.439
Greg: what kind of--how much of a threat is china compared
00:22:30.439 --> 00:22:33.608
To russia?
00:22:33.608 --> 00:22:34.943
Equal, different?
00:22:34.943 --> 00:22:36.845
Is one more imminent than the other?
00:22:36.845 --> 00:22:39.347
Mike: well, the problem is, there is a new axis of evil.
00:22:39.347 --> 00:22:41.550
It really is.
00:22:41.550 --> 00:22:42.884
It's china, russia, iran, north korea who are coordinating in
00:22:42.884 --> 00:22:45.654
Many ways.
00:22:45.654 --> 00:22:46.988
Greg: so still north korea you would think of in that axis?
00:22:46.988 --> 00:22:48.590
Mike: oh, yeah, and they actually do have the capability
00:22:48.590 --> 00:22:51.026
To fire weapons of mass destruction.
00:22:51.026 --> 00:22:53.195
And of the threats, china is the greatest in terms of
00:22:53.195 --> 00:22:56.798
Military threat.
00:22:56.798 --> 00:22:59.100
Since i came to congress eight years ago, we've referred to
00:22:59.100 --> 00:23:01.236
China as a near peer-to-peer adversary just because of their
00:23:01.236 --> 00:23:04.039
Size and scope and what they've been doing.
00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:05.474
Greg: is that fairly recent, would you say, or has
00:23:05.474 --> 00:23:07.476
That been--
00:23:07.476 --> 00:23:08.810
Mike: it's emerged, you know, over the last decade or
00:23:08.810 --> 00:23:10.545
So, and--
00:23:10.545 --> 00:23:11.880
Greg: they're building their navy up, and--
00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:13.248
Mike: oh, yeah, it's a serious problem.
00:23:13.248 --> 00:23:15.083
Now they are almost a peer-to-peer adversary,
00:23:15.083 --> 00:23:17.919
And if--
00:23:17.919 --> 00:23:19.254
Greg: did you say russia is, too?
00:23:19.254 --> 00:23:20.622
Mike: no, they're far distant, and, of course, they've been
00:23:20.622 --> 00:23:23.625
Mired in the unjust war against ukraine, and they've exhausted a
00:23:23.625 --> 00:23:27.662
Lot of their capability and resources and soldiers for
00:23:27.662 --> 00:23:30.932
That matter.
00:23:30.932 --> 00:23:32.501
By some measures, over a half a million soldiers--russian
00:23:32.501 --> 00:23:35.303
Soldiers have been killed in that conflict.
00:23:35.303 --> 00:23:37.339
Maybe much higher, we don't really know.
00:23:37.339 --> 00:23:38.874
But china is a serious threat, and this trade war is just sort
00:23:38.874 --> 00:23:43.678
Of a bellwether of what more to come, and that's why this--the
00:23:43.678 --> 00:23:47.649
Outcome of this is so important.
00:23:47.649 --> 00:23:49.918
It is the principal military threat to us, and in every other
00:23:49.918 --> 00:23:52.854
Way as well.
00:23:52.854 --> 00:23:54.189
And china is building--they're working on a long plan to be the
00:23:54.189 --> 00:23:57.058
Great imperial power again.
00:23:57.058 --> 00:23:58.393
That's what xi believes.
00:23:58.393 --> 00:23:59.861
And they set up outposts--
00:23:59.861 --> 00:24:01.196
Greg: have you met him?
00:24:01.196 --> 00:24:02.564
Mike: no, i haven't met him, and i have no desire to.
00:24:02.564 --> 00:24:07.602
He's--it's a real threat, and i think the president understands
00:24:07.602 --> 00:24:10.405
That threat.
00:24:10.405 --> 00:24:11.773
In fact, he was ahead of most people.
00:24:11.773 --> 00:24:13.975
In 2015 in the campaign when he first ran for president, they
00:24:13.975 --> 00:24:17.612
Mocked him for saying, "china, china, china."
00:24:17.612 --> 00:24:19.447
You know, and he was a--he knew.
00:24:19.447 --> 00:24:20.815
He saw the threat coming before others did, as he has so many
00:24:20.815 --> 00:24:23.418
Other issues.
00:24:23.418 --> 00:24:24.753
So it's--it'll be interesting.
00:24:24.753 --> 00:24:28.423
That issue requires a lot of prayer as well.
00:24:28.423 --> 00:24:30.125
Greg: yeah, so speaking of prayer, i would like to just
00:24:30.125 --> 00:24:32.294
Pray for you right now because, you know, there's no question,
00:24:32.294 --> 00:24:35.664
Mike, that--and you said it's okay to call you mike.
00:24:35.664 --> 00:24:38.133
I don't want to think people are--think i'm
00:24:38.133 --> 00:24:39.901
Disrespecting you.
00:24:39.901 --> 00:24:41.236
Mike: sure, greg. greg: mr. speaker.
00:24:41.236 --> 00:24:45.173
Mike: okay, pastor. no, we're friends.
00:24:45.173 --> 00:24:46.841
That's certainly appropriate.
00:24:46.841 --> 00:24:48.810
Greg: but i want to pray for you because god has placed you here
00:24:48.810 --> 00:24:52.948
For such a time as this, and as i listen to you, you are so just
00:24:52.948 --> 00:24:57.752
The right man for the right moment.
00:24:57.752 --> 00:25:00.121
And you, know, i've heard it said, "if you see a turtle on a
00:25:00.121 --> 00:25:03.391
Fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself," right?
00:25:03.391 --> 00:25:06.227
And god's put you here.
00:25:06.227 --> 00:25:07.596
Mike: god chooses the lowly things to confound the wise.
00:25:07.596 --> 00:25:09.831
Greg: well, he does, doesn't he?
00:25:09.831 --> 00:25:11.166
And--but i can see he's given you also the wisdom, and the
00:25:11.166 --> 00:25:15.937
Temperament, even, to do this unusual job that you're called
00:25:15.937 --> 00:25:19.307
To do.
00:25:19.307 --> 00:25:20.642
So i'd like to--on behalf of a lot of believers out there that
00:25:20.642 --> 00:25:23.211
Appreciate you, i'd like to pray for you right now.
00:25:23.211 --> 00:25:25.714
Mike: i'd be honored, thank you.
00:25:25.714 --> 00:25:27.048
Greg: okay, father, thank you for mike.
00:25:27.048 --> 00:25:28.383
Thank you for raising him up.
00:25:28.383 --> 00:25:30.251
Thank you for his life, and i pray, first of all, that you'll
00:25:30.251 --> 00:25:33.254
Bless him and his family, lord, his children, of course,
00:25:33.254 --> 00:25:38.293
His wife.
00:25:38.293 --> 00:25:39.661
And there's so much responsibility that he bears,
00:25:39.661 --> 00:25:42.697
But yet, lord, his faith is guiding him, and you're using
00:25:42.697 --> 00:25:46.801
Him and directing him, and i pray that he'll receive the
00:25:46.801 --> 00:25:50.038
Wisdom he needs.
00:25:50.038 --> 00:25:51.406
You tell us in scripture if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of
00:25:51.406 --> 00:25:54.776
You, and you'll give it generously.
00:25:54.776 --> 00:25:56.945
Give to speaker johnson the wisdom he needs to do the job
00:25:56.945 --> 00:26:01.282
You've called him to do, and thank you for the relationship
00:26:01.282 --> 00:26:05.420
He has with our president and that he can say things to the
00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:09.090
President very few people could say, and so continue to use him
00:26:09.090 --> 00:26:13.228
There as well.
00:26:13.228 --> 00:26:14.562
So thank you for him, bless him, and we commit him to you.
00:26:14.562 --> 00:26:17.799
In jesus's name we pray, amen.
00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:19.834
Mike: amen.
00:26:19.834 --> 00:26:21.202
Greg: thank you so much for this time.
00:26:21.202 --> 00:26:22.537
I've enjoyed it so much.
00:26:22.537 --> 00:26:23.905
Mike: absolutely, glad you're here.
00:26:23.905 --> 00:26:25.240
Greg: thank you.
00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:26.875
Greg: hi, i'm greg laurie.
00:26:30.478 --> 00:26:31.813
I've got some good news for you: god loves you, and god has a
00:26:31.813 --> 00:26:35.383
Plan for your life.
00:26:35.383 --> 00:26:36.985
Here's the problem: we're separated from god by our sin
00:26:36.985 --> 00:26:40.622
Because we've all broken his commandments.
00:26:40.622 --> 00:26:43.425
But the good news is, is 2,000 years ago, god sent his son,
00:26:43.425 --> 00:26:47.929
Jesus christ, to die on the cross for your sin and then to
00:26:47.929 --> 00:26:51.566
Rise again from the dead.
00:26:51.566 --> 00:26:53.535
The same jesus who died and rose is alive and ready to come into
00:26:53.535 --> 00:26:57.706
Your life right now.
00:26:57.706 --> 00:26:59.474
Would you like your sin forgiven?
00:26:59.474 --> 00:27:01.509
Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven?
00:27:01.509 --> 00:27:04.479
If so, pray this simple prayer with me right now.
00:27:04.479 --> 00:27:07.782
Just say, "lord jesus, i know i'm a sinner, but i believe
00:27:07.782 --> 00:27:11.352
You're the savior who died on the cross for my sin.
00:27:11.352 --> 00:27:14.789
I turn from my sin now, and i choose to follow you from this
00:27:14.789 --> 00:27:19.094
Moment forward."
00:27:19.094 --> 00:27:20.729
Did you just pray that prayer with me?
00:27:20.729 --> 00:27:22.664
If you did, god in heaven has heard you.
00:27:22.664 --> 00:27:25.934
Congratulations, and welcome to the family of god.
00:27:25.934 --> 00:27:25.934

Greg Laurie - TGLS - Speaker Mike Johnson

May 31, 2026 | 27:29

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