Issues And Ideas: News Commentary & Analysis With Chris DeBello April 5 2026

Join us for expert honest and fearless analysis and commentary about today's issues, news, politics, economy, healthcare and current events.
 
(00:00) Michael O'Neill, VP of Legal Affairs with the Landmark Legal Foundation, gives his analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, the arguments made by both sides and what's actually established by the U.S. Constitution along with related immigration laws.

(12:56) Tracy Byrnes, Financial Advisor with Lebenthal Global Advisors and host of the Women Wealth & What Matters podcast, offers tax filing tips for last minute filers and those planning ahead as well as information on what's required when filing a tax filing extension.

(24:00) Ed Hajim shares stories from his life which took him from orphanages to the heights of Wall Street and explain how his Life Design Course provides school students with direction for their lives.

(39:18) Dr. Donald Small discusses the state of Faith in America today, why people are turning away from worship and what the goals of the Prayer At The Heart program are.

(49:56) Chris DeBello examines how the Bible reveals the importance of the resurrection of Jesus.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, welcome to Issues and Ideas Time,
Christopher.
Regarding the U.S.
Constitution, the framers workto define its various ideas and
elements as best as possible.
Their original intent can berealized in the words of the
document, along with thenumerous notes and letters that
the framers addressed their workthrough.
Additionally, numerous timesover the years, the U.S.
Supreme Court reinforced theConstitution when it was being

(00:22):
challenged.
Last week, the Trumpadministration took aim at the
idea of birthright citizenship,which is established by the 14th
Amendment.
This is certainly not the firsttime the U.S.
Supreme Court has been called onto examine immigration and
citizenship issues.

(00:43):
And whether legal historysupports either is Vice
President of Legal Affairs withthe Landmark Legal Foundation.
Michael O'Neill, Michael.

SPEAKER_03 (00:53):
I'm good, Chris.

SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
Good to be with you.org is the website starting
as a foundation for utility tosection one of the 14th
Amendment.
All persons born or naturalizedin the United States, subject to
the jurisdiction thereof, orcitizens of the United States
and of the state wherein theyreside, those states shall make

(01:16):
or enforce any law which willabridge the privilege or
immunities of citizens of theUnited States Act, or shall any
state deprive any person of thelife, liberty, or property
without due process of law, nordeny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equalprotection of the law.
So that's the foundation we'reworking with here.
What was the case that the Trumpadministration is making?

(01:39):
It seems like they're hanging onthe phrase subject to the
jurisdiction of the UnitedStates.

unknown (01:45):
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (01:46):
President Trump issued an executive order
interpreting the birthrightcitizenship clause of the 14th
Amendment, which you justspecified, as to meaning more
than subject to the jurisdictionthereof means more than mere
territorial presence.
And now the commoninterpretation of that
provision, again, subject to theborn in the United States and
subject to the jurisdictionthereof.

(02:08):
The common interpretation ofthat for the past 70 or so
years, at least since we've hadthe advent of all of the
immigration, has been thatanybody who's born within the
territorial confines,territorial jurisdiction of the
United States is sub is a isconveyed automatic birthright
citizenship.
Simply being born here makes youa citizen.
Now, they they are challengingthat interpretation, subject to

(02:30):
the jurisdiction thereof, andthat's what a lot of the
arguments focused on earlierthis week is.
What does that mean?
And so what do you how do youtry to define, how do you try to
understand what is subject tothe jurisdiction thereof mean?
Well, the court tried to youstand in the shoes of the
individuals, the ratifiers andthe drafters of that provision
of the 14th Amendment.
You start with, well, what wasthe time frame where where the

(02:50):
14th Amendment was ratified?
Well, you're talking about thisis post-Civil War, this is the
Reconstruction era.
So the y the first thing youderive from that is, well, this
was past post-slavery, right?
The 13th Amendment outlawedslavery, and the 14th Amendment
wanted, what was the goal ofthis?
Who was this who is this toapply to?
And I think you could start withthe argument that this was

(03:12):
originally the drafters neverconsidered immigrants, right?
They never, that wasn'tsomething on their mind.
What was the forefront of theirmind?
Well, that was the children, theslav uh former slaves and their
children and their descendants.
They didn't want to see effortsby recently readmitted or in the
process of readmitted statesmaking efforts to denaturalize
those individuals who wereformer slaves or their children.

(03:33):
So the application, of course,was for former slaves.
The it was never intendedoriginally for to apply to
immigrants.
And I think that's where youstart with.
But a lot of the argumentscentered on that term.
What does subject to thejurisdiction thereof mean?

unknown (03:46):
Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 (03:46):
Now, just hypothetically, if the Supreme
Court were to agree with that,would that not mean they were
disagreeing with the 1898decision, U.S.
versus Wong Kim Ark, which theSupreme Court then said a child
born in the U.S.
to non-citizen parents was aU.S.
citizen under the 14thAmendment.

SPEAKER_03 (04:03):
Right.
That's a fantastic question.
And there was a lot of qu therewas a lot of discussion about
the applicability and whatexactly Wong Kim Arc means.
And what's there's an outthere's a sophisticated, if you
listen to oral arguments or readthe transcript, there's a really
an in-depth analysis of thatcase.
And you can read, you can readit's funny when you read these
cases 100 years, 130 years afterthe fact, is you you you read it

(04:23):
and you try to, if you're anadvocate and it's against you,
you try to find how you couldinterpret the case to maybe be
beneficial to you.
And I think the SolicitorGeneral took that, took that to
heart and noted that there's aextensive discussion, and
actually the issue in front ofuh the court, and they what they
were called upon to decide waswhether a domiciliary, and this

(04:44):
is somebody who was if you thinkabout it, you could distinguish
the case, or you can use thecase to help you, or you can
find language that helps you, oryou can just offer the argument
that it was wrongly decided.
I think here the SolicitorGeneral said, look, number one,
the the the children, the childin Wong Kim Mark, who was found
to have birthright citizenship,a right to it, was here legally,
right?
His parents were here legally.
And also, he was a domiciliary,and that was a lot that was an

(05:07):
issue that can came uprepeatedly in Wong Kim Mark,
whether you had to be a dom youhad to have a domicile in the
United States to establishjurisdiction.
And that I think they said theword domicile comes up about 22
times in the opinion here.
So I think what the SolicitorGeneral was kind of hanging on
with regards to finding supportfrom Won Kim Ark was the simple
fact that the the court assumedthat a domiciliary, somebody who

(05:30):
is a domicile who made theirresidence in the United States,
was subject to the jurisdictionthereof.
And you can distinguish thatfrom the executive order where
you're talking about people whoare here illegally and who are
who you know might simply crossthe border to have a child.
You're talking about anchorbabies, or you're talking about
birth tourism.
There's no establishment of thatdomicile.
Therefore, there's noestablishment of jurisdiction.

(05:51):
So that's that's a jump that thecourt was actually, that the
solicitor general was asking thecourt to make.
But I think they were taking uhWong Kim Ark, the case you you
you mentioned, Chris, head onand trying to say, hey, look,
rather than interpreting this tohurt us, you can actually
interpret this in a manner thatactually helps the president's
arguments.

SPEAKER_00 (06:08):
While the Solicitor General of the Trump
administration wants to expandthe limitations of the
Fourteenth Amendment, doesn'tthe phrase subject to the
jurisdiction thereofautomatically set the bar for
limitations of the FourteenthAmendment, primarily uh
residents of uh any NativeAmerican under the uh
reservation laws, uh diplomatscome to mind too.

SPEAKER_03 (06:30):
Yeah, exactly.
What you're saying there is, andand that goes back to the time
of the enactment of theratification and the enactment
of the uh the 14th Amendment, isthat the drafters carved out
exceptions and they knew thatthere were that that this wasn't
an all-encompassing right toconvey to anyone and everyone,
and so they they knew that therewere limitations in place here.
That means they never meant thatsubject to the jurisdiction

(06:51):
thereof encompassed every personwho was born in the United
States.
You know, obviously, subject,you know, you're talking about
uh individuals who were NativeAmericans at the time, and then
you're talking about uh childrenof diplomats.
So that was kind of used, andJustice Thomas explored that a
little bit.
Well, what was the common threadof those exceptions?
Well, they all they all lackedthe domicile uh effort.
So that was kind of what we weretalking about.
So therefore you could say,again, we're talking about, you

(07:14):
know, we're trying to what arewe trying to do?
We're trying to, what was thecourt trying to do here?
What is the court trying to do?
It's trying to discern the bestmeaning of subject to the the
jurisdiction thereof.
One other thing that I don'tknow if it was discussed
yesterday, one other interestingthing is you read the you read
the entire uh section one of the14th Amendment.
There's another part in thereyou said uh regarding equal
protection and due processrights is uh extended to

(07:36):
individuals, people, persons whoare within the jurisdiction.
So look at that.
So you actually actually seewithin the 14th Amendment, you
see two terms.
You see subject to thejurisdiction, and you actually
also see within thejurisdiction.
I think you can make an argumentthat within the jurisdiction is
territorial, uh, territorialpresence, because within, I
think that's clear what thatmeans.
So anybody within theterritorial, territorial uh

(07:58):
jurisdiction of the UnitedStates is within the
jurisdiction.
And you could say, well, why arethere two different words mean?
You know, if if the drafterswanted to use within the
jurisdiction earlier in the inthe 14th Amendment, we're i.e.
in the birthright citizenshipclause, in the birth in the uh
the citizenship clause, theycould have said within the
jurisdiction.
Instead, they use subject to thejurisdiction.

(08:18):
I know this is a lot of lawyer-ytalking about here, but words
have meanings, and that's whatwe're trying to get at.
What is the meaning of the termsubject to the jurisdiction?
So there's a little bit oftextual support for the
interpretation of the president.
Um now let me be clear here.
I I I don't think that thereare, you know, a lot of
commentators are making thiscase, and it's probably
something you haven't alreadyheard, but it's very skeptical.

(08:39):
The the court, the generaltakeaway was the court was
probably skeptical about theauthority of the president to do
this.
And I think that at some pointthe the odds certainly are in
favor of those who arechallenging this executive
order.
In other words, there's athere's a fairly decent chance,
a fairly large chance, honestly,that the president loses.
Now, the degree which he losesis something that to remains to

(08:59):
be seen about how how the courtcrafts its opinion.
But let me be clear, you know,I'm making a lot of good cases
for why that why Donald Trumpand the Trump administration
should win.
There were a lot of argumentsthat were proper on the other
side that were saying why heshould lose.
And I think the court might havebeen more, a majority of the
justices might more might havebeen more amenable than some of
those arguments.

SPEAKER_00 (09:16):
And certainly the court, as well as the opponents
of the what the Trumpadministration is trying to do
here, they can along with theConstitution, if they want to
further the argument, they hadthe Immigration Nationality Act
of 1952, which just reinforcesthe narrow exceptions of the
Fourteenth Amendment versustrying to expand the limitations
of the 14th Amendment.

SPEAKER_03 (09:34):
Yeah, let me talk about the implications there
because I think this is probablyan interesting take on this.
Now, there's when I talk aboutlosses, there's there's there's
degrees of loss here that we'retalking about, and there's also
degrees of victory.
Now, if the court engages in aconstitutional analysis and
simply concludes, now that's ahigh stakes, right?
If you're if you somehow, if thethe Supreme Court is saying that

(09:55):
the Fourteenth Amendment conveysa birthright a birthright
citizenship, in other words, aright to citizenship by virtue
of your territory of birth inthe United States.
If they find that if they findthat that's a right, that that
right is enshrined within the14th Amendment, just like our
right to free speech isenshrined in the First
Amendment.
That means if you're going topass, you can't, any law that

(10:16):
contradicts that, you know,seeks to limit that that right
is unconstitutionally andunconstitutional, and the only
way to amend it is byconstitutional amendment.
Now, if the court simply limitsits analysis to the law, and you
just you just posited the law,it's the in INA of 1940 and
1952, which even though thelanguage largely mirrors it, if

(10:37):
the court simply says, and theydon't get into uh a a
constitutional analysis, if theysimply limit their analysis to
the law, and how does the courtdo that?
Well they say, okay, well, theintent of the the draft the of
Congress in 1952 was that thisapplies to anybody born here.
We're not gonna we're not gonnaget into what what they meant
with the 14th Amendment.
We're just gonna simply say theexecutive order is contrary to
the law, i.e.

(10:58):
the INA that you just talkedabout, and the president's
executive order is is isvacated, is null and void.
So they throw that out.
But what does that do?
That preserves a political uhresolution of this.
In other words, Congress passeda law in 1952, as you just said,
Chris, they can pass a law in2027 saying that birth tourism
is illegal.

(11:19):
And so there is thatpreservation.
So what happens here is we'retalking about high stakes here.
We're talking about stakes.
The stakes are if there's aconstitutional analysis and a
constitutional decision, amajority of the justices
determine that.
The only way to make any changeafter that interpretation is via
a constitutional amendment.
If they only rule on the law,then you have the political
branches that can make a change.

(11:39):
Now, again, we're talking I'mI'm aware of Congress and how
inept they are.
But the court can kind of washits hands and say, hey, look,
look, we've preserved thepolitical process here.
If the political branches wantto solve this problem, then it's
their problem that they cansolve.
And so we're only going to ruleon the law on this.
We're not gonna we're gonnautilize what is known as the
canon of constitutionalavoidance and not get into

(12:00):
saying what the what the 14thAmendment means.
Now, again, the co Trump couldwin huge, right?
He could say, no, no, no,subject to the jurisdiction
thereof means this is limited,and Trump's executive order is
consistent with that.
He could win big, but he couldalso lose big, or he could lose
little or win little.
You see what I'm saying?
It's complicated, but it's it'simportant to understand these
distinctions.

SPEAKER_00 (12:20):
And plus the implic implications of whatever the
ruling happens to be, therestill could be a path into what
the in some part what the whatthe goal of the executive order
was.
We have to wrap up here, but theexpected ruling is going to be
sometime toward the end of June.
If you want to keep an eye outfor that.
Learn more about this issue andother legal issues of the

(12:43):
landmark legal foundationfocused.
Landmarklegal.org.
Here's the Vice President ofLegal Affairs, Michael O'Neill.
Michael, thank you for theinsight.
Always appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 (12:54):
Take care, Chris.
Have a good day.

SPEAKER_00 (12:56):
Imagine that you're in a casino at the blackjack
table.
Had a great run.
I stack a hundred dollar chipsin front of you.
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(13:16):
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(13:39):
Wealth and What Matters.
Tracy Burns.
How are you today, Tracy?

SPEAKER_01 (13:43):
I'm actually Chris, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 (13:45):
Good to have you here.
And TracyBurnsWealth.com isTracy's website.
We do have the link at herhomepage as well.
Check out her book.
More importantly, get her bookbecause you're you are amazing,
Tracy.
254 trips uh tips, and your bookis not the size of a Nelson
Deville novel, which thosethings usually ran like 700
pages, so well done on that.

SPEAKER_01 (14:06):
Thank you very much.
And I actually I'm I'm a littlebit of a movie buff, so there's
a bunch of movie references inthere too.
I tried very hard to make it asfun as possible, even though I
realize tax isn't fun as acomplete oxymoron.
Um but you gotta it's it's oneof those things in life we have
to get through, so we might aswell have a good time doing it.

SPEAKER_00 (14:24):
Let's start with some basics because when you sit
down and do your file uh do yourtax filing, it's even at the
last minute when you might berushing, you're even more prone
to missing out on on the blatantand the obvious.
Some of the the basics like uhdeductions and credits, what's
the major ones someone has tolook at in this last minute,
last few days of filing?

SPEAKER_01 (14:46):
Well, I think the good news is the standard
deduction is higher, so you youmight not have to go through the
itemized deductions on ScheduleA, depending on your income
level.
I think a lot of people miss outon um things around their kids,
right?
The dependent care deduction.
Do you send your kid to summercamp so you can go to work?
That's a deduction, believe itor not.

(15:07):
There's a lot of things forfamilies in the One Big
Beautiful Bill Act, believe itor not.
I think tax on tips has been alittle misleading out there.
You have to report all yourtips.
You want to pay into SocialSecurity and Medicare, even
though I don't know if I'm gonnaget it, but I'd like to believe
my my parents are.
So um, but you still need toreport it, and then you see if

(15:29):
you qualify for this$25,000deduction.
Same with overtime.
Again, misleading.
Please report all your overtime.
You don't want to have to payback uh interest and penalties
on income you haven't reported.
Report it all, then see if youqualify for the$12,500 uh dollar
deduction.
So there's a lot in there, but Ithink my biggest tip is to take

(15:51):
your time and flip through thebook.
That's why we did it in thatlittle bits and pieces.
Flip through, see if thingsapply to you, then read the tip,
either take it to your preparer,or if you're like me, I actually
use the online preparationprograms or your pour your drink
of choice, sit down, be patient,walk through it, answer every
single question, because thenyou'll then you'll be able to

(16:13):
see what you actually qualifyfor.

SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
Help the person, especially new homeowners,
understand the salt deductionbecause up until everything was
finalized, it seemed like oneday it was going to be one
thing, another day was gonna beanother thing, and it was gonna
go up, it was gonna goexpectations versus reality.
How did it all land and what'sit mean for the for for those
taking the salt deduction?

SPEAKER_01 (16:35):
I mean, for New Jersey, New York, Connecticut,
California, it's it's greatnews.
You get this 40, it could be upto$40,000 depending on your
income limits, uh your income,uh, your gross adjusted gross
income.
That's the thing with just abouteverything, right?
There is a cutoff.
Nothing is unlimited.
And if you make a lot of money,unfortunately, you're you don't
get a whole heck of a lot out ofthis tax uh tax code these days.

(16:59):
That is why it it fascinates methat you know we think the rich
are getting away with murder,but meanwhile, they don't
qualify for anything.
So there's an income limit.
You're depending on youradjusted gross income, you may
or may not be able to deduct upto forty thousand dollars on of
your state and local taxes.
That's great news.

SPEAKER_00 (17:17):
When it comes to saving, can saving save you a
tax time, meaning catch-updonate uh contributions, uh
Roths and Iris.
What what are some of the theprimary points for focus that a
uh a saving a saver should havein their current and future
planning for the best taxbenefits?

SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
Right.
So everyone forgets the saverscredit.
Pay attention to that.
This year going forward now, ifyou are over 50, so myself and
all my cohorts, that extracatch-up contribution for your
401k, it is now going into aRoth.
So if you max out your 401k andyou still are putting in that
catch-up contribution for thoseof us 50 and older, it is going

(17:58):
into a Roth.
On some level, people might beannoyed about that because that
means your take-home pay will bea little higher because that's
after tax dollars.
But I think you'll be very happyin retirement when you get to
pull that money out.
All the growth, all thecontributions tax-free.
So that's a big that will be abig deal.
And I think for a lot ofcompanies, especially the

(18:20):
smaller ones, they may or maynot be prepared for this.
So be patient with them becausethat but that's going to happen.

SPEAKER_00 (18:27):
So Tracy Burns, Financial Advisor, Leventhal,
Global Advisors, Columns of theDaily Signal, host of the
podcast Women, Wealth and WhatMatters.
Deduct Everything, her new book.
Learn more about the world ofTracy Burns at
TracyBurnsWealth.com.
And you are listening to It'sChoose and Ideas.
How much of a tax benefit canyour vehicle be?
I'm thinking, I'm reading thatsection.

(18:48):
I'm thinking back to my days inradio advertising sales and man,
that's uh that mild, milddeduction.
I thought I was gonna get a redflag because the amount was
literally astronomical, but thatjust made made me from a
taxpayer to a return receiver.

SPEAKER_01 (19:06):
Look at but that that's the thing with all these
things, right?
If you qualify, take it.
So many people are afraid totake deductions because it looks
too big and they think they'regonna red flag the IRS.
If they do, they do.
If you have the backup for itand you qualify for it, you
should take it.
So if you drive, make sure youtake the mileage deduction.
If you use your car for work,make sure you take the

(19:27):
deductions for that.
The new thing in the One BigBeautiful Bill Act is this
potential to deduct up to$10,000in interest on a car loan.
Again, very misleading.
Has to be an American-made car.
Again, you have to hit certainincome limitations.
And it is the only the intereston the loan.
It is not the actual loan.
But again, if you bought a brandnew American car, not a used

(19:50):
vehicle, make sure you tell yourtax repairer and have them run
the numbers to see if youqualify.
And like and like you just said,if you do a lot of driving, then
you deserve that deduction back.

SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
As well as for unreimbursed workplace expenses,
too.
A lot of people, I think,overlook that one.

SPEAKER_01 (20:06):
Totally, totally.
If your employer doesn't rereimburse you, make sure you
keep track of these things.
If you are a 1099 employee,please, please, please keep
track of all your stuff becauseman, there's a lot of
opportunity there to deductthings because you are
self-employed and you're doingit on your own, and the
government actually appreciatesyour hard work.

(20:27):
And so make sure you keep track.
You're keep good records.
I will say also that the IRS hasfinally become entered the
digitized world and would prefereverything be digital.
So don't send the IRS a shoeboxfull of receipts.
Don't just they don't want that.
They don't even want your papercheck anymore, quite frankly.
They would rather you went onthe IRS's site and paid that way

(20:49):
or had it deduct out of yourbank account.
But keep track, keep track ofall your expenses online.
That way, if, God forbid, I'mCecilia, we say God forbid, God
forbid, the IRS does ask forproof, you have it.
And that's it.
Don't be afraid.
If the IRS questions you andyou're right, you're right.
They are not always right.
They're wrong often, too.

SPEAKER_00 (21:10):
Although, even though your title, your book
title does say DeductEverything, don't go crazy.
Don't start declaring your dogas a security system.

SPEAKER_01 (21:19):
A hundred percent.
That's what I'm saying.
If it's a legit deduction,deduct it.
Take it, and make sure you getyour money back.
But you're right, people pushthe envelope, right?
Someone tried to deduct theirwedding because they thought it
was a networking event.
I've heard of people trying todeduct their pools because it's
uh it's for medical reasons.
But if your doctor didn't writeyou a note, it's not a medical

(21:39):
reason.
So just be careful with pushingthe envelope on stuff.

SPEAKER_00 (21:43):
Final question, and especially with the last minute
filers, if you can't pay whatyou owe or think you're going to
owe, the biggest mistake youcould possibly make that you
can't that you need to reallyavoid.

SPEAKER_01 (21:58):
Yeah, pay something.
Pay something.
So, first of all, if you're notgoing to be ready by April 15th,
that's fine.
File an extension of form 4868.
Just file it.
I would say the IRS is like alittle kid.
Just wants a little attentiononce a year.
Give it the attention it wants,send the form and say, I know I
owe you something, but I'm notready.

(22:18):
That's it.
Then you have till October 15thto prepare your return.
You do not have till October15th to pay.
So if you ballpark as best youcan, if you don't know the exact
number, send something.
And I will say the IRS is prettylenient when it comes to gunning
on payment plans, and they offerall different methods of paying

(22:38):
now.
Take advantage of all of it.
You can use your credit card,which is I think is a terrible
idea, but if you need to use it,but pay something because
otherwise you will be hit withinterest, late payment
penalties, you don't want allthat.
That stuff adds up so quickly.

SPEAKER_00 (22:54):
And if you really annoy them, they might slap you
with another just because theycan.

SPEAKER_01 (23:00):
Unfortunately, it it's you know what?
That's the problem.
Everyone's scared of the IRSbecause they sort of do things
out of left field sometimes, andyou're like, wait, I'm an
upstanding citizen, I workreally, really hard, and now
you're coming after me when youknow Joe Schmoe down the street
is making a zillion dollars.
Yes, yes, it happens,unfortunately.

(23:20):
But just document everything anddon't be afraid.

SPEAKER_00 (23:23):
Well, if you're a last-minute filing or if you
want a better plan because youpaid and you realize, oh, I I
deserve better than that,Tracy's book is the go-to.
Deduct everything, hundreds oftax tips, legal write-offs,
credits, and loopholes.
Find more, find out more aboutTracy at tracyburnswealth.com.
Tracy, you are alone with beinga jersey girl.
We like that around here.

(23:43):
You are indeed a savior for taxtime and tax stress.
Thank you so much for being heretoday.

SPEAKER_01 (23:50):
It was my pleasure, and I do love being a Jersey
girl.

SPEAKER_00 (23:54):
If you're listening to us on your favorite podcast
platform, don't forget to followor subscribe to us.
Back in 1967, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
spoke to students at BarrettJunior High Schools in
Philadelphia and delivered ateaching asking those youths,
what is your life's blueprint?
It was unplanned stop, and oreven the film of that speech is

(24:16):
because a student took it uponthemselves to film it, and that
still holds a lesson.
But I believe my next guestgreatly expands through his work
of helping youths find anddevelop a direction for their
lives by embracing a passion andbuilding a plan for their lives,
taking advantage of situations,like a high school student in
Philadelphia did, taking anopportunity and taking it.

(24:37):
His life.
It's certainly a testimony, bythe way, to how this can be done
for and the rewards that comefrom that focus and drive
determination.
His life took him fromorphanages to military service
to Wall Street leadership.
He's developed a life designcourse that's been adopted by
many schools and universities.
He tells his story in the book,The Road Let's Travel, The

(24:59):
Unlikely Journey from theOrphanage to the Boardroom.
He's also written a companionbook which presents the ideas of
his life design course.
That's called The Four P's,Modern Fables of Preparing for
Your Future.
Ed Hey Jim, how are you today,sir?

SPEAKER_05 (25:13):
I am great.
Nice to be on your show.

SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Well, thank you for providing such a great uh
guidance for so many youth whoare in such need as we see and
survey and poll and survey afterpoll.
Go to the website, Ed Hajim at HAj I M.com.
And we'll also find moreinformation.
At our homepage as well.

(25:36):
It is often said Ed that ouryouth years determine our lives
and who we'll wind up being.
And to say the least, your lifeis quite the argument against
that theory.
Talk about your early years andsome of the things you had to uh
endure and even survive.

SPEAKER_05 (25:52):
Well, it's a little bit of a long story, but uh I
basically, my first uh uh 18years, I spent time in hotels,
motels.
My father and mother gotdivorced when I was three.
Mother basically got custody,took me from Los Angeles to St.
Louis.
My father got visiting rights onSunday uh and five dollars a
week of alimony and childsupport.

(26:13):
He came a couple months after Iwas in St.
Louis, picked me up, and insteadof taking me to the movie or in
a park, he basically kidnappedme and took me back to Los
Angeles, told me that my motherbasically passed away.
He told her not to look for us.
You want to find out whathappened, you have to read the
book.
But anyway, over the next 15years, I basically spent my time

(26:33):
in hotels, motels.
When the uh war broke up, myfather was drafted in as a radio
operator on a merchant ship, andI spent the entire war in five
different foster homes.
After the war, we came to NewYork, New York, and I spent the
summer in the YMCA of 34thStreet, and then a hotel room in
Tony Island.
I did pretty well at PS 106 whenmy father couldn't find last

(26:54):
land-based work, so I ended upgoing back to sea, and I ended
up in a couple of orphanages,one in by Rockaway, which I did
very well with, but I aged outof there, and my father totally
disappeared, which was a verylong story, and I became a ward
of the state, ended up gettingput in another orphanage in the
Awkers, New York, which wasclose to a very good high
school.

(27:15):
And from there I had a lot ofluck.
I did well in school, and I theonly three, four scholarships I
could get.
I got the Naval Scholarship,NRTC.
That changed my life.
And that's basically why uh oneof the reasons I'm very strong
on scholarships for kids.
They can get to a certain pointin their life and need a small
amount of funding to take themover that next hurdle.
That's where I'm spending mostof my philanthropy.

(27:36):
I spent my life in edu inaddition to Wall Street in
education, boys' school, and thebusiness school, and I also
became the chairman of the Boardof Trustees at the University of
Rochester.

SPEAKER_00 (27:46):
What do you see missing in kids today in youth?
Because uh I remember thecomedian Jerry Lewis.
He he said there is variousstages of life infancy,
adolescence, and adulthood.
But between adolescence andadulthood, he called it there's
an age of stupid.
And how long that age exists isreally based upon the
individual.

(28:07):
What what what you see in youththat compelled you, motivated
you to come up with the lifedesign course?

SPEAKER_05 (28:15):
Well, see, I I believe there are two kinds of
education.
One teaches you how to make aliving, and a lot of our schools
do a pretty good job of that.
The second type of education isto teach you how to make a life.
That was left to religion andparents and so forth in the old
days.
And with the change in thesociety, the advent of AI, the
advent of social media, thebasically, you know, the

(28:36):
geopolitical reconfiguration,the game is starting to be very
complicated.
So I think that I have acrusade, it's presumptuous, but
I want to add a dimension tohigh school and college
education, where kids sit aroundand think about who they are,
where they want to go, how theyexpect to get there, and if
they've got time to find out ifthey get there, are they going
to be happy about it?
That's what my life designcourse does.

(28:57):
And it's a simple course, it'sit's been basic as I've taken it
out to universities and highschools.
I have nobody turn me down sofar.
They all agree that today'syouth need time spent formally.
Now, it used to be done in thedining room and in dormitories
and so forth, conversation.
Formally in a freshman year, astudent sits down, goes through
this life design course, ends upwith a plan, which he tries to

(29:21):
execute over the next fouryears, testing various things.
So when they graduate, they endup with a diploma and a roadmap
for life.
Now, by the way, the diploma hasa lot of parts of it which
become useless in a very shortperiod of time, like my slide
rule capability when I was anengineer in a few years ago.
It was worthless, you know.
But this life, this roadmap forlife, can last a lifetime.
And I use that because I usedit.

(29:42):
I had these yellow pads, which Iwent through the what I call my
four P's, finding your passions,finding your principles, find
your partners, and find yourplans.
But, you know, this thing canlast a lifetime, and I really
believe people should startthinking about it.
And it's only because the systemhas gotten much more complex.
You know, grandpa went to wentto school, learned something,
spent his whole life in onecompany, and died.

(30:04):
Today, kids have to pivot anumber of times.
What I'm trying to give thesekids is a vocabulary for their
inner voice, which will allowthem to handle change.
And that's basically what thelife design course is.
And it's simple, basically, justsaying, Who am I?
You know, and where do I want togo?
And what's what does that roadlook like?
And I go back through my life,and in many cases, I I did those

(30:25):
tests my sophomore year.
I wanted to be a physicist.
So I, as I was an engineer, Itook an advanced physics course.
Well, in a very short period oftime, I realized that this was
not for me.
And you know, testing thesethings, these these words you
you give people.
What is an engineer?
You know, what is a what is alawyer?
What do you do Monday morning?
And getting those questionsanswered early on so you don't

(30:46):
make too many mistakes in yourlife, I think is very important.
But it is really because thesystem has gotten to be very
complex now.
As I've taken this out toschools, they say, absolutely,
we need this.
And it's been very interesting.
I now have it in 10 schools, andI have it at both ends of the
spectrum, as I call it.
I have one where there's a veryupscale, you know, a secondary
school, and then I have one inNewark, which is basically

(31:06):
mostly first gen.
And they both seem to acquire aninterest in it and find it very
fascinating.
I mean, let me take a simpleexample.
You know, when a kid is 16, 16,18 years old, is a combination
of her his or her genes andtheir environment over which
they have no control.
So, in a sense, you have nocontrol of who you are.

(31:27):
And somewhere in that period,18, 19, but what Jerry Lewis
said, you come up, wake up onemorning and you say, This is who
I am.
These are the parts of me I wantto keep.
These are the part of me I'dreally like to get rid of or
eliminate, reduce significantly,and these are the parts of me I
want to add.
And that's what I want kids todo.
And I want it to be overt wherethey say, I really want to learn
this because.
And so that's my my crusade.

(31:49):
Uh, you know, it's I spent mylife, I say, and besides the
Wall Street, I I spent my time,my life in education, being the
chairman of the board oftrustees of a boys' school,
being the the uh HarvardBusiness School, taking up being
the on the Dean's AdvisoryCommittee, which is the board
basically, and then of courseRochester.
I spent uh 30 years as a trusteeat the University of Rochester.
So I've really been immersed ineducation.

(32:10):
This is what I see is needed.
This this you you gotta givethem money to get over that
little hump there between 17 and18.
I gotta go to college, cost alittle bit of money, so I
basically concentrate on myphilosophy, philanthropy, and
and and and and basicallyscholarships.
But on the other hand, we've gotto take these young people and
say, here's some just take alittle time off formally to ask

(32:30):
the questions which are veryimportant for you for a
lifetime.
And that's what Martin LutherKing said.
I think it's absolutelyterrific, exactly correct.
And I think it can really helpyoung people get that first step
right, and that's mostimportant.
Sorry for the long answer.

SPEAKER_00 (32:45):
No, no, I I love long answers because that's how
we all learn.
I I'm here to learn from you asa listener right now.
I don't I'm not one of thesehosts who come in thinking I'm
gonna know all and compete withyou.
I'm certainly not gonna do that.
We're talking with Ed Hai Jimand uh his story, his life at
edhagym.com.
We have the link of thehomepage, you're listening to
it, students and ideas.
I think the key to your uh yourprogram to it is that uh it's uh

(33:08):
it doesn't have one point offocus to have passions,
principles, partners, plans,because so many programs, so
many education systems have justone direction, and that
direction doesn't work for thatone specific student.
Well then what?
And with with passion, Zed, doyou find because I I know I
found this over over time, thetoughest question you can ask

(33:30):
someone of any age is what's thewhat are your what's your
passion?
Not one not what you like.

SPEAKER_05 (33:36):
Passion is an overused word.
You know, it's true your youryour your interests, your
talents, and your and basicallyalso your context.
I mean, today in Kiev and andand and and and New Jersey are
two different contexts.
They've got to be your passionsare very different.
But you should dig down deeplyand say, what do I really like?
And also, I make it very clearto people, passions change over

(33:56):
time.
So you've got to check in withyourself on a regular basis.
I I kid about this, but highschool is when the first passion
saw a real passion.
If you want to be an ice creamtruck driver or something when
you're four years old, butsomewhere in that that again,
that period Jerry Lewis talkedabout, you start to come with
real passions.
My work, math, science,baseball, basketball, and girls.
And you know, those are mypassions.

(34:17):
And you know, then I went tocollege, those sort of morphed.
Baseball and basketball diedafter my freshman year, and it
moved into extracurricularactivities.
And math and science haveevolved into chemical
engineering.
But even in now, when I movedinto extracurricular activities,
I in my junior year I started amagazine.
And basically I found my realpassion was putting people

(34:37):
together to solve a problem.
I really loved doing that.
And that taught me that I had Ireally wanted to be a manager.
So these are the kinds of thingswhen you start testing yourself,
you start to feel excitement.
In fact, inside that I foundwhat I really got a kick out of,
and I didn't find it until 10years later, basically, I really
got a kick out of helping peopledo better than they thought they
could.
And that's really veryinteresting because that makes

(34:59):
you a very good manager becauseyou're really interested in
other people, and that's whatreally drives the system.
And I think that was my success.
Actually, I I got a young fellowtold me that someone middle
career said, I really likeworking for you.
And I said, you know, why?
He said, Because you really wantme to succeed.
So these are the kinds ofthere's there are subtle
passions.
I have to play baseball.

(35:19):
There are other passions whichare deep-seated, and I think
people have to keep sortingthose things out.
What's my passion now?
I mean, my passion used to bestock market, you know, managing
people.
Now I'm trying, my passion istrying to get an idea out in
which is going to be veryimportant.
I always find this one sentenceI love is, you know, you're not
gonna live forever, but try tomake things that will.

(35:39):
And this course could go on tobecome, you know, very
important.
If it gets important, I mean, Ihave a few years left in my life
and I'll do the best job I can.
I'm hoping I'll create some uhsome, you know, some some some
other people which will take itand run with it.
And I've, you know, my coursebasically is not my course.
I tell every one of the schools,here it is, you've got to make
it your course because you havea unique population.

(36:01):
Each population needs differentthings.
You know, Sacred Heart, they'regonna spend more time on
principles than they may be onpassions and and partners.
You know, a place like uh NewJersey Technical Institute is
gonna spend more time probablyon passions, and other people
are gonna start saying your mostimportant thing is your
partners.
But I think these this is avocabulary.
Keep asking yourself, what aremy passions?
Have my principles changed?

(36:22):
And principles are veryimportant.
I mean, there's some basicprinciples, as you know, do unto
others.
But as life goes on, one of myprinciples on Wall Street was to
live happy was to live hidden.
No, it's don't go in the press.
I had a company run, I was aCEO, so I didn't, I didn't know
press, no TV, no magazines,nothing.
Now, of course, when I'm sellingideas and and books, I've I've

(36:43):
gone.
My Instagram, it scares me todeath, and you know, it's
LinkedIn and so forth.
But you have to change yourprinciples as well.
And that's what I say, you know,once every couple of years you
sit down with yourself and say,let's go through this thing.
But it's nice because you have avocabulary to go back and
reference.
It's not just starting all overagain.
Long answer short question.
Sorry, Chris.

SPEAKER_00 (37:02):
I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_05 (37:03):
My daughter says, sort of my weaknesses.

SPEAKER_00 (37:06):
No, I'm I'm I'm learning it's your passion too,
what you're doing here, andthat's important because it's we
have to wrap up here, but it's ait's uh not just doing
something, but watching whatyou're doing to make sure that
it's working for you and it'swhat you want to be doing, and
you always have to keep a levelof awareness about yourself as
you're going through life.
Just to wrap up, talk uh how doschools bring you your program

(37:26):
in?
What do they have to do?
How can how can they get to you?

SPEAKER_05 (37:29):
Well, you know, I I I go to the school and I show
them the program, and there'susually somebody in the either
development or career careercounseling or one of the one one
co one schools in the Englishdepartment, somebody who's a
zealot, you know, catches on andsays, Hey, I want to do this,
and they go for it.
Recent Stony Book picked it upand was picked up by uh the the
career the career the careercenter.

(37:49):
At Rochester, the the careercenter is doing over 200 kids in
ten different sections.
Uh Hobart has it as a requiredfreshman course.
Uh Brunswick School has arequired senior course.
So each school is a little bitdifferent.
You have you have to find theperson that's really interested.
And of course, you know, somecan't, you know, they need
funding and so forth.
I do a little bit of funding uhto help out because when you're

(38:10):
starting something new, youknow, somebody's got to say, how
am I gonna upset the cost?
So that's a problem.
Some schools just can't do it,period.
But no, I said I've I'veapproached 10 schools as I'm
operating right now and haveanother 10 schools that are in
various stages of interest.
So I'm having fun with it, and Ithink it's real because it's I'm
getting people, you know, I'mgetting feedback from schools
saying kids have really changed.

(38:32):
They really have, they'vechanged their direction.
They've they've changed theirinterests by by by studying
themselves.
So that's kind of fascinating tome.

SPEAKER_00 (38:41):
You can find out more at Ed's website at Hey Jim,
H A J I M.com.
Learn more about his books, TheRoad Less Traveled, as well as
the four P's, the modern fame ofpreparing preparing for your
future.
We have the link over to ourhomepage as well.
Ed, when it comes to building alegacy that makes a difference
long term, you have certainlysucceeded in that, as you have

(39:02):
in so many points of of yourlife.
Your life is indeed a lesson tolearn from.
And thank you for sharing thatthat wisdom, that knowledge,
that experience, and thanks forbeing here today.

SPEAKER_05 (39:11):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
It's always good to talk tosomebody who who likes what
you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 (39:18):
I hope you don't need me to tell you today is
Easter, the day of faith, a dayof prayer and praise.
Sadly, this is one of only twodays, and that's even maybe the
other being Christmas, that agrowing number of people turn
to.
Faith, prayer, and praise.
As we see all measures of hopeand happiness decline among
Americans for a variety ofreasons, our next gift is

(39:40):
leading an effort to bringpeople to what lifts spirit
strengthens and guides us prayerand faith.
This effort is called Prayer atthe Heart, and joining us to
explain how its goals will beachieved, as well as the role
that you can play in theprogram, is the founder and
executive director, Dr.
Douglas Mohl.
How are you today, Doctor?

SPEAKER_04 (39:59):
Well, Chris, thank you so much for having me.
Well, thank you with you.

SPEAKER_00 (40:04):
Thank you for doing this.
And the website to find outmore, we do have this link at
our homepage, prayer at theheart.org.
I want to start with a fewstatistics.
This is from a variety ofsources, so I pretty much
averaged out the numbers.
U.S.
adults who pray daily rangebetween 44 to 55 percent.
An additional 21 to 23 percentprey either weekly or a few

(40:26):
times a month.
And if you look at thedemographics, as they call them,
women more likely to be to preythan men, 50 to 37 percent, and
older adults meaning sixty-fiveand older, much more likely to
pray daily than those under 30,65 to 41 percent, respectively.

(40:47):
What was your motivation,Doctor, for creating the Prayer
with the Heart program?
What were you seeing that youthink you can have with the
power of the people behind you,have the answer to respond?

SPEAKER_04 (40:59):
Well, Chris, there there's so many ways I could
answer that question.
Your your statistics uh focus ongeneral prayer.
In some ways, it focuses on whatJames, the brother of Jesus,
would call caucus prayer, a badprayer.
It's self-interested prayer.
And what we're trying to do issay to the nation, you don't

(41:20):
understand how critical yourrole is in intercessory prayer,
in redemptive prayer, ininviting God to come to America.
We've closed the door in manyways to him.
And so this effort, we we took3,000 people to the heart of the
nation six years ago.

(41:40):
All 50 states were represented.
It was a six-hour event, theysay a million people tuned into
some part of it.
Then the goal was to go to theheart of every state and every
city and every county until outuntil everywhere there's outside
public gatherings of prayer,crying out for a fresh spiritual

(42:02):
awakening.
That's what the nation uhreally, really needs.

SPEAKER_00 (42:09):
I say it's an old joke and it's it's meant that
way, but uh after a schoolshooting, people will say to a
Christian, Well, where is yourGod?
And the Christian says back tothose people, he's trying to get
into the school, but you keepslamming the door in his face.

SPEAKER_04 (42:25):
Yeah, we have uh we have for uh 60 years now uh just
watched the dominoes fall toexclude uh God, but there is a
resurgence that began to happenfrom Asbury forward, college
campuses where you get athousand or more kids being

(42:45):
baptized, the uptick in uh uh asearch for God, a search for
meaning.
In many ways, Chris, I thinkwe're not post-Christian.
We may be pre-Christian in thesense that you have a whole
generation now in America thatdoesn't know anything about
Christ.
They're walking into churchesand saying, I've never been in a

(43:08):
church before.
Where do I go?
What do I do?
There's a hole in their heartthat only a father, uh, a a good
father, a loving father, aforgiving father, can uh can
heal.
So a part of our uh thrust is iscome home.
Come come home to church.
Come home, go home you've neverbeen to before.

(43:29):
Come home to God, come home toyour father.
And uh and we're hoping that amillion Christians will share
their faith by Pentecost Sunday.
We're saying pray for ten, carefor five, share Christ with
three, win one, and and and doit with two other people so

(43:51):
you're not alone, you're notdiscouraged.
In in the 3.2 billion people whocame to Christ in Billy Graham's
Crusade, 80% were saved by thismethod.
Eighty percent were onsomebody's what they called the
Operation Andrew uh guide.
And this person and two of hisfriends were praying together

(44:12):
every week, you know, for Johnand Sally and Sue and whatever
else.
And and and they brought them tothe crusade and they came to
Christ.
That's what we're praying.
But on Pentecost Sunday churcheswill be full of people.
We've got seven weeks to do thisfull of people who have given
their heart to Christ or they'reready to give their heart to to

(44:33):
Christ.

SPEAKER_00 (44:35):
And that certainly does please God when one sinner
can be reformed.
And you mentioned people walkinginto church now not knowing what
to do the same thing withprayer.
How do I pray?
What do I pray?
And the answer is is very clearin Matthew 6, 5, 15 God first,
our true needs, forgiveness, andrefusing to temptation.

SPEAKER_04 (44:56):
And and Paul gives us another thing in Timothy too.
He says he talks aboutpetitionary prayer and then
worship and then intercessoryprayer which means to meet with
the king in behalf of anotherperson and then Eucharistia
thanksgiving.
And this is really Paul'sconcise theology of prayer.
I think the part we've beenleaving out is we don't

(45:20):
understand that we are the gapbetween God and lost people
around us.
We've confused intercession withspiritual warfare it certainly
does involve that, but it it'sthat's only incidental.
The real issue in inintercession is reconciliation.
The first movement in evangelismis prayer where you step in the

(45:41):
middle Halloween said you'relike a satellite dish.
You catch the beam of heaven anddirect it here and here and
there and there.
Brugelman the theologian says wepray here and God moves there.
We pray now and God moves in.
We're that indispensablemysterious link in the middle
even though we don't thinkanything's happening the Holy

(46:02):
Spirit is witnessing with us thebook of Acts says and waking up
their their their heart toChrist to the reality of who God
is and his love.

SPEAKER_00 (46:12):
So how are you having people involved is it a
matter of the individuals orchurches organizations?

SPEAKER_04 (46:20):
All the above you can go to prayer at the heart
and there's actually a guidethat you can pull down it's a
50-day prayer guide but there'salso a kind of a kind of an
organizational thing just foryou and then there's one for the
church and then there's one forthe county and then there's one
for the state so we're lookingfor a kind of layered
participation.
Our prayer going into this isthat is that all 50 states would

(46:43):
be involved and we now have all50 states where we have a state
leader or state advocate wewanted all um uh 3100 uh
counties involved I think we'regoing to get to a little less
than half of that this yearwe'll repeat this next year and
then uh our goal is to see25,000 churches involved I know
that there are 25 to 30Christian denominations or

(47:08):
organizations involved inpromoting this on their own.
But the big thing Chris is isI'm asking people I'm asking
your listeners to be one of amillion reaching one of a
million one of a millionreaching one of a million pray
for 10 care for five share withthree win one and a million

(47:29):
would be twice as many as we'veseen saved in recent years among
all denominations for an entireyear.
A million would be like a itwould it would be a domino we
would feel it's not the we need35 million we need a tithe of
the nation we need we need toget to a tipping point here but

(47:51):
that's too many to begin with soa million would get us twice as
far down the road in 50 days aswe've been getting down the road
but and because we're afraidwe're intimidated we're fearful
of sharing our faith so I'm justasking Christians to break your
silence and and it's not aboutconfronting people or quoting

(48:15):
but the scripture it's it'sreally about hearing their story
and and then letting them hearyour story about how God changed
your life and and then lettingthem hear his story.
It's a blessing the first wordof God to us in the Bible the
Father was blessing the lastword of Jesus was blessing.
Even the crucifixion could notquiet could not quench that

(48:37):
blessing that's what we speakAaron spoke it over the people
we're we're speaking we havethis extraordinary privilege of
saying to people God bless youhe wants to bless you and and he
said to Aaron if you'll speakthe blessing I'll do the
blessing.

SPEAKER_00 (48:57):
Which is why Jesus says too if you think that
you're you're introverted or youdon't want to impose or you're
going in unarmed for a lack of abetter word Jesus in Matthew
1820 says where two or three aregathered together in my name I
am there in the midst of them.
You are not alone you're not inthis alone and for those who are
seeking answers let them knowthat they're not alone through

(49:19):
prayer they can make theconnection and feel God's love
and be blessed in every way thatthey're in true righteous need
of find out more at prayer atthe heart dot org it's it's time
the time is now the programstarts today the goals are set
your efforts your prayer effortsyour spiritual efforts are
needed to make this whole thingwork again prayer at the heart

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dot org Dr.
Douglas Mall thank you for thisinspirational opportunity for
all those who are giving prayerthose who receive prayer thank
you for being here today thankyou Chris thank you so much
reading from Matthew chaptertwenty eight verses one through
eight now after the Sabbath asthe first day of the week began
to dawn Mary Magdalene and theother Mary came to see the tomb

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and behold there was a greatearthquake for an angel of the
Lord descended from heaven andcame and rolled back the stones
from the door and sat on it.
His countenance was likelightning and his clothing as
white as snow and the guardsshook for fear of him and became
like dead men.
But the angel answered and saidto the women Do not be afraid

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for I know that you seek Jesuswho was crucified.
He is not here for he is risenas he said, Come, see the place
where the Lord lay, and goquickly and tell his disciples
that he is risen from the deadand indeed he is going before
you into Galilee there you willsee him, behold, I have told
you.
So they went out quickly fromthe tomb with fear and great joy

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and ran to bring his disciplesword.
Today on this Easter Sunday wecelebrate the resurrection of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christby taking very careful note of
the three most important wordsin verse six He is risen.
Not he has risen, not He wasrisen, he is risen.

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It's important to understandthis in order to understand and
acknowledge that Jesus isforever.
As Jesus declares in Johnchapter eight verse fifty eight
Jesus said to them Mostassuredly I say to you before
Abraham was I am this is whyJesus could foretell and reveal
to his disciples what was tofall upon him.

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We read his words in Lukechapter 9 verse 22 the Son of
man must suffer many things andbe rejected by the elders and
chief priests and scribes and bekilled and be raised the third
day.
This prophecy by Jesus is alsorevealed in the eighth chapter
of Mark with an extra messagefor those who cast doubt at the

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resurrection in Mark after Jesusreveals what's to come Peter
rebuked him here's how Jesusresponded in Mark chapter 8
verse 33 but when he had turnedaround and looked at his
disciples he rebuked Petersaying Satan for you are not
mindful of the things of God butthe things of men.

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Did you know that theresurrection of Jesus means the
resurrection of us we'respiritually dead with him we are
brought to a resurrected life asit explained to us in first
Peter chapter one verses threethrough five blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord JesusChrist, who according to his

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abundant mercy has begotten usagain to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled andthat does not fade away reserved
in heaven for you who are keptby the power of God through
faith for salvation ready to berevealed in the last day.
Paul goes even further and moredirect in Romans chapter six

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verses four through sixtherefore we were buried with
him through baptism into deaththat just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory ofthe Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
For if we've been unitedtogether in the likeness of his
death, certainly we also shouldbe in the likeness of his
resurrection, knowing this thatour old man was crucified with

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him, that the body of sin mightbe done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves ofsin.
Discussions of the resurrectionof Jesus will often lead to a
discussion about the shroud ofTurin, the burial cloth of Jesus
is it real?
Is it fake?
Yeah that debate has gone on forcenturies, hasn't it?

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In fact this past week I readtwo news articles one said that
nuclear scientists have proventhat the shroud is legitimate
another news report the verynext day said that the
authenticity of the shroud can'tbe proven because of all the
foreign matter it's picked upover the centuries.
Let me ask you this question.

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Did God allow the shroud to beturned into a test of faith?
Do you need the shroud of Turinto be authentic in order for you
to believe that the resurrectionof Jesus is true.
Are you what doubting Thomas?
You remember Tom don't youThomas was one of the disciples
when Jesus appeared to hisdisciples after his death and

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resurrection Thomas wasn't inthe room he was on the coffee
run that morning when the otherstold Thomas about what he missed
didn't believe them.
Well Jesus took care of thismatter in John chapter twenty
verses twenty six through twentynine and after eight days his
disciples were again inside andThomas with them.
Jesus came the doors being shutand stood in the midst and said

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Peace to you then he said toThomas reach your finger here
and look at my hands and reachyour hand here and put it into
my side do not be unbelievingbut believing and Thomas
answered and said to him MyLord, my God Jesus said to him
Thomas because you have seen meyou have believed blessed are

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those who have not seen and yethave believed part of living a
resurrection life involvesliving the words found in 2
Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7for we walk by faith not by
sight.
So rejoice on this Easter for heis risen.
Say it with me for he is risen.

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Always thankful for your timeand attention very special and
important to us look forward tobeing with you right here this

(55:59):
time for our next edition ofIssues and ideas.
Have a happy and blessed Easter