 this is hope today and join us so that we can bring that hope and encouragement to you. And Tom, we've got some good stories and conversations coming up. Well, you know, it's president's day, right? It's president's day. And of course, our two greatest presidents are Washington and Lincoln. And we're going to be talking about Lincoln today. Pastor Bill Gallis is with us today. He's written a book called Lincoln's Ghost and it's subtitled shadows from the past still speak in the present. And we're gonna hear so much. You know, Anna, nobody faced a problem like Lincoln did of holding the nation together. And we're going to talk about his faith and his belief in the word of God and just some of the things that he did that are so applyable to our own lives of taking the truth from the scripture and understanding what was needed in the country at that time. So it's I listen, I love history. Maybe you do too. Maybe you don't. But you whether you do or you don't, you're gonna love the application that Pastor Bill is going to bring to us. Yeah, there's always wisdom in looking at the leaders who have gone before us so that we can see how to walk through the confusing difficult times that we face. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, as you know, it is Monday, so that means it is time for our meaningful Monday story. Actors Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Rumi appeared together on Ash Wednesday to have a powerful conversation about faith, prayer and honoring God. Mark Wahlberg is recognizable thanks to his long standing career as an actor. But he's also well known for his faith, something he's shared openly for many years. Jonathan Rumi has also made quite a name for himself playing the role of Jesus in the popular show that maybe you have seen the chosen for both Jonathan Rumi and Mark Wahlberg. Their Christian faith is a cornerstone of their lives. They appear together in a Super Bowl commercial for a new prayer app called Hallow. And the app went viral after the ad aired and even ranked ahead of Netflix on the app store charts. Mark went on to explain how he enjoys using the platform he has to drive people to a relationship with God. He said we just want to continue to encourage people to grow closer to God. We thank Mel Johnson from GodUpdates.com for the article. I love it. I love, first of all, I love when a Christian app goes beyond Netflix. But I just love, you know, they're both Catholic brothers and they, you know, they have the ashes on for Ash Wednesday. And I just like that they're taking a stand. They're taking a stand to stand for God when in an increasingly secular society, they're taking a stand, Anna, that says this is important. This matters. I saw Jonathan Rumi interviewed recently on, oh, what's the view? Thank you on the view. And he's, you should have seen the reaction when he walks out. It's like Jesus walked out onto the set, you know, but people said how much the chosen has meant to them, but also apps like Hallow means it means a lot to people. Yeah, to have that prayer foundation for our lives. And yeah, it is. It's awesome to see such big names talking about God and sharing their faith. It draws a lot of people to the right place. Absolutely. I just want to say this. If you need prayer, we always have prayer partners standing by. We don't have them on an app. We have them on the phone and you can call one of our prayer partners at the number on the screen and get somebody that will pray with you, will walk with you to the throne room of God. We'll encourage you through the Bible. We're going to hear a lot about the Bible lately and how I've been coming up shortly and how it encouraged President Lincoln to do the right thing. The Bible can encourage you today. So why don't you call prayer partner and get some prayer today? All right. And yeah, so we also have a little bit more coming up, but we have a break and we've got a good guest coming up. So stay with us. We'll be back with Pastor Bill Gallas and Lincoln's Ghost. Are you tired of just getting bills in your mailbox? Find inspiration instead by subscribing to the Cornerstone Television's Hope Today newsletter. Each month we'll deliver good news about what God is doing in our region and world through CTVN's ministry. We'll keep you in the know about our latest special programming and our full program guide will keep you connected to all your favorites. You'll also find a new Dashing Dish recipe every month. As you read our Hope Today newsletter, stay encouraged knowing your generosity and giving to CTVN is making a difference and building God's Kingdom. We can't do it without you. Sign up today to receive your inspirational free Hope Today newsletter every month in your mailbox. Go to our website at ctvn.org slash news or call us at 888-665-4483. Thank you for being a part of our Cornerstone Television family. Hope happens here. Well, we heard that many of you are responding to the spot that you just saw about our free Monthly Hope Today newsletter. This month is all about love, loving God, loving people, and so if you don't get this in your mailbox every single month, all you have to do is give us a call. It's actually the same number as our prayer partners 888-665-4483. Not only does it have inspirational articles, but it will also have our full program guide, has a delicious Dashing Dish recipe in it every month, and it's actually something good that comes in your mailbox besides a bill. So give us a call. We'll send it your way. That is so good. Newsletter has such great stuff in it. Well, today, as we mentioned before, is President's Day and one of our most well-known presidents, most well-beloved presidents was our 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. We know that he was a strong leader that he had had to be because the Civil War was happening. I'm sure it's the most challenging time for him or for our country. One of the most challenging times any country has ever seen. We're joining us now to talk about Lincoln and how his faith played a crucial role in his life. His pastor and author, Bill Gallus, his new book is called Lincoln's Ghost. Shadows from the past still speak in the present. Bill, welcome to Hope Today. Great to be here. Thank you. Well, let me ask you, why write a book about Lincoln? I mean, why, you know, it reads so much almost like a devotional, but you know, with such historical context, why go that direction? Well, that was actually birthed out of COVID. You know how that affected the world there in 2020 and a lot of shutdowns and a lot of churches went remote and our church went remote and so more time at home and to focus on other things. And I began to read more and as I said earlier, I'm a World War II buff, but I find myself focusing on the Civil War and Ken Burns series. It was powerful. I went through that whole series and began to read other books on Lincoln and I just became fascinated with that subject and his challenges during that war and how much it relates to what we're going through as a nation. And so it turned into a blog and that blog turned into a book. Yeah. Well, I think it's a great subject. I know I love that Ken Burns series and you know, I've been called a history buff. I don't exactly know what a buff is, but I'm sure you've been called a history buff as well. But let me let me ask you about Lincoln. Let's do, let's get the elephant in the room here. Was Lincoln a Christian or where do you see, where do you come down on that? Where do you see his faith? I think he was a nominal Christian. His parents were Christians. They got involved in the revivals that were going on at that that day. Lincoln sort of was not really involved in any church knowing denomination, but he had a respect for the word of God. He believed in God, whether he was a born again Christian at that point in his life, I'm not sure, but he had a respect for the word of God. He believed in the God of the Bible and you see in his writings, especially during the war and his speeches, he brings the Bible in it. He brings God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into it a lot. So I think he evolved is what happened. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's interesting that I've read so many quotes by Lincoln like the national day of prayer, a proclamation where he uses stuff like verbiage that a preacher would use, you know, that someone that was really calling us to repentance would use. Well, let me ask you about the title. Why Lincoln's Ghost? Because I think to know where you're going in the future, you have to know what the past was like. There's a quote by a that says it's not by Lincoln, but another man that said, if we forget the sins of the past, we are condemned to repeat them. And so I see so much of the Civil War, what they were going through, such a divided nation that his words, his wisdom, even though he's long gone, it still speaks to our future. It's like a ghost still present. Yeah. Let me ask you, what things surprised you? What things stood out to you as you began to dig into Lincoln and his writings and trying to apply them? And I love how you've applied them so often in the book. Ha, what things kind of stood out to you? I used the word evolve. We see Lincoln evolve during that war. In the beginning, his main purpose was to restore the union, to bring the Confederate States back into the union. He was sort of pragmatic. He was a politician for sure. But you start to see him evolve. It became less about restoring the union and more about the slavery issue. Even at the beginning, he was willing to take the Confederate States back in and say, and let them keep slavery. And so you see this evolution to ultimately, he ennobled the war, made it less about making the union back together and more about we need to get rid of this sin of slavery. This is sin. He saw some of the problems of the nation at the time. Actually, it's God's judgment of allowing slavery to continue in our country. So I saw him evolve from a pragmatic politician to someone who actually made it about the human being, the slaves, and people themselves. You know, I thought of the quote that I'd never heard before to I read it in your book where he says, how can we say that we believe in the, where God judges Adam and says by the work, by the sweat of your brow, you will, you will raise up, you know, this crops out of this land. But then make it by the work of someone else's brow, the sweat of someone else's brow against slaves. You know, how can we say we believe that when we're basically condemning other people to do that. But you have other characters in the book as well. Can you tell me about Joshua Chamberlain? I mean, most of us didn't even know who he was until the Gettysburg movie came out. But tell me about him. Yeah, they feel that this, this commander at Gettysburg, he is being overwhelmed by the Confederates. They're about to lose that position on a little round top, which would have actually just caused the outcome of that battle to swing to the Confederate side. A lot of people see that his decision to fix bayonets and charge his mendon the hill in front of these overwhelming odds as the turning point, because they did push back the Confederates. They did hold that position. And that actually, many people who study that war feel that that particular part of the battle Gettysburg was a turning point in the battle and actually a turning point in the war. So just the courage to charge down a hill against muskets and just with bayonets, you know, I don't know how many people could do that or would do that. So Pastor Bill, you had mentioned, you did a lot of this reading and research during COVID, which was such a time of fear. There was the division over the different political conversations that came up, a lot of confusion. So as you were reading and studying what lessons really spoke to you and how we as a country can navigate not just COVID, but even those any dark confusing times that we walk through. Well, as I said, I started as I read that during COVID. You know, the Civil War was a divisive time in our nation. I mean, we had 10, 11, 13 states, you know, either in on the side of Confederacy or kind of, you know, on the fence on that divided nation and Lincoln had to weather that. And if I can read a quote, can I do that? I think it answers the question. There's so many great quotes in this book. I find myself dog-earing and underlining at so many points because there's so many that seem to stand out. Yeah, this is at the beginning of the war. This is March 4th, 1861. And this is Lincoln basically saying what we need to overcome this difficulty. He says we need intelligence. I say that's common sense, right? We need intelligent patriotism. Boy, do we need that in our country now. He said we need intelligence, patriotism, Christianity. Funny he brings that in. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity and a firm reliance on him who has never yet forsaken this favored land and is still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty. So he was saying, you know, we need to be patriots. We need to use common sense, but it's God ultimately going to get us through this. And that was then, that's now too. You know, one of the things that strikes me about Lincoln is that he, after the war, a lot of Northerners really wanted to punish the south in many ways. And in one of your chapters that Mercy triumphs over over judgment, you know. Can you just speak to that? What was his thoughts about how the south, again, is defending slavery is not a thing that you can justify, but about how to bring them back. Yeah, you know, the Republican party at that time, and many of the Northerners, they were angry. I mean, there was almost 700,000 men lost in that war, killed. And how many wounded? Probably a million or more. And so they wanted to really punish the south and say, let's take all their land and let's arrest all the leaders and you know, let's have all these court marshals and hangings and just make them pay for everything. And he said, no, that is not what's going to heal this land. Forgiveness is going to heal this land. Mercy is going to heal this land. Patience is going to heal. And I think whatever we're going through in life, when there's an obstacle or there's a hurt, it is forgiveness. It is mercy. It is patience that ends up ultimately heal rather than that hard fist of I want to get my way. I want to punish that person who's hurt me. And the Lord says in his word, he said, it's kindness that leads us to repentance. And he had kindness, God had kindness, where he could judge us, he could have punished us, but he showed mercy toward us. Well, I love that and I love the, I mean, I again, I highly recommend this book, Lincoln's Ghost, because of how important it is in understanding the present day, because don't we need that now? Don't we need that? We fall, we fall so easily. We don't car ourselves north and south anymore, but we fall so easily into division, you know? And I think God wants us to be kind of that saff, that balm of Gilead, if I could use another biblical expression to heal those wounds. Yeah. You have another book that you've written that's, I wanted to bring it out because we didn't necessarily plan on talking, but what's the other book? Well, this one is going to be out the end of this month. It's called Where Fireflies Never Die. It's about our, you know, beautiful memories of the past and so what it is, it's writing, growing up in Pittsburgh in my, from kindergarten years, the sixth grade, and all the wacky, funny things did here in Pittsburgh. So it's all, if you were a baby boomer, if you were a Pittsburgher, if you grew up in an urban setting, you're going to love this book. If you like to leave it the beaver or Dennis the Manus or the Wonder Years, this is that book you enjoy. The only difference between this is this is actually, these things I did, this is, this is non, this is non-fiction. This is my life. And I said, go ahead. Let me ask you about that because I know a little bit of your story. I mean, you've been a pastor for many years. You're my parents' pastor, my sister's pastor. Tell me about your story. Where'd you come to faith? Well, I, I went to church, a Presbyterian church until I was about 13 years old. I went to church because I was forced to go to church. But when I was 13, I said to my parents, I don't want to go anymore. And so I stopped going to church and got in trouble, got in trouble with drugs and ended up, this was during Vietnam. I ended up running away from home, going, joining the Navy, getting involved at the Vietnam War. But I was not saved, still struggling with drugs and alcohol. And when I got out in 1975, came back to Pittsburgh, basically to say goodbye to my family folks here and live in California. And I came home and I met a good friend of mine who had been a drug addict. And he said, Bill, can I talk to you? He said, I'm not on drugs anymore. He said, I found Jesus. And I was like, how do you find Jesus? I didn't know Jesus was lost, you know? And he began to share how Christ had changed him, invited me to the light of life rescue mission. He said, oh, you're like, there's a preacher down there, you'll enjoy him. I said, I would go. But in my mind, I said, I'll go, but I don't want, I was going to say, I'm glad Jesus worked out for you. He's not for me. And go live in California. Well, I went to that service. And it's never happened since I had a vision. The pastor was preaching. All of a sudden, he disappeared. I mean, he was there, but in my mind, he disappeared. And there was a blackboard, a chalkboard. And on it was all kinds of scribbling. And I heard a voice. And the voice said, Bill, this is your life. It's a mess. But if you allow me, this is what I'll do. And I saw a hand and an eraser, erase it. He said, I'll make you new. I'll make you clean. And I heard the pastor say, if any man being a Christ, he's a new creation. Old things pass away, new things come. And he said, anybody want Jesus? And I ran to the altar because I hated my life. And I didn't know how to pray. And he said, pray, tell God what you want. And I said, God, I didn't know, again, I didn't know King James language prayer. I said, God, I'm driving the car of my life. And I'm wrecking it. I'm going to get in the back seat. I'm going to let you drive. And that was in the second Sunday of July, 1975. He immediately took me off drug, set me free, changed my life, began me on a road to ministry and ultimately into pastoring. So that's, yeah, us gracious. His kindness leads us to repentance. You know, it's so true that I love hearing these testimonies because it reminds us, and even as you're listening to us at home, that God will go the distance to rescue us. And as we're even praying for our loved ones who don't yet know the Lord, and you feel like, Lord, they're so far away from you. How will they ever, how will they ever find you? Well, here's the cool thing. The Father God is constantly pursuing your heart. He's constantly pursuing the hearts of your loved one. And oftentimes, if we're praying for our loved ones, he calls us to just continue to be faithful in prayer and then watch God work. And Pastor Bill is awesome. Truly how he just, he just took your heart and he spoke a very unique and powerful word to you. And you were just instantly like, I'm going to get in the back seat and God let you drive. And that changes everything. Maybe you could just look into the camera over there and just speak to someone else about how they can come to know Jesus as their Savior. Well, I made my testimony short, but God was chasing me. You know, God chases us. I think of Jonah. You know, here's a man running from God and God caused a whole Mediterranean ocean of people to get ahold of his wayward profit. And maybe God's chasing you because I can look back and see points in my life where God was speaking and I ignored him. And God was speaking again. I ignored him. And maybe he protected me from something. I realized it was him, but I ignored him. And, you know, but he's a patient God and he's a loving God and he does chase after us. And so maybe there's some moments in your life where you felt God was calling you to bow your knee and say, come into my heart and Lord, I want you to be my Savior and be my King. But you put it off. Well, thank God he gives us time and chance and chance again. So if God spoke to you in the past and you've said no, but he's speaking now, say, yes, it will be the best thing. I always say this, Jesus Christ was the best thing that ever happened to my life. And you wouldn't go back, right? Amen. Nothing to go back to. Nothing to go back to. Nothing no reason to turn away. Right. Yeah. Let me, let me, I have a Lincoln quote. This is a great quote. I want to read this to you. We're going to put it up on the screen for you. It says, in regard to this great book, he's talking about the Bible, I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we would not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare here and hereafter are to be found portrayed in it. That's a quote from Abraham Lincoln. What a powerful quote. One that we might not hear in our political grandizing today, but tell me what that quote says to you. We just have about a minute. Well, it tells me that we can't do anything without God. For him, you know, almost everything in our life and every struggle we reach through encounter, he's going to be with us too. And could I read one more quote? Sure. It's, it's, it's a title of the chapter was named as a weapon. In Gettysburg, as, as the Confederates are approaching, the union troops began to shout out the word Fredericksburg Fredericksburg, because a few months earlier, they had had a devastating defeat there. And it was like they used Fredericksburg as a weapon. Word, words are a weapon. Jesus, the name of Jesus is a weapon. So when we're going through hard times, we need to speak the name of Jesus. I tell my children, if they're ever afraid, they wake up in the middle of the night, just call out the name of Jesus because it's a weapon. And they did that. They did that at Gettysburg and they won the day. Amen. Pastor Bill, thank you so much for being with us. I know the books are available. Well, the first one is Lincoln's Ghost is available on Amazon. Amazon. Yes. I'm sure the other one will be there eventually. Yeah. Yeah. Well, as we look to the lessons of the past, don't forget that God's word has lessons from history. Even looking at the Israelites and how God rescued them and took them to the promised land, but they had to walk this long journey through hardship and face giants to get into that place of milk and honey. Well, God wants to rescue you too. He wants to take you to that land that's flowing with love, with joy, with peace. And just as we learn from the Israelites, what God calls us to do is trust him. Trust in the powerful name of God of Jesus who will lead you, who will guide you, who will work all circumstances for your good. Thanks for being with us on Hope Today. Have a good one. On tomorrow's Hope Today, unlock your purpose and begin to achieve success through solitude. Speaker and author Terry Savelle Foy explores how incorporating more alone time in your schedule can be the key to accomplishing your biggest dreams. That's tomorrow on Hope Today. Cornerstone Television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.