Ambassador Sam Brownback of The Brownback Group
National Religious Broadcasters Convention 2024
Transcription completed by AI software, please excuse any misspellings or typos present.
Leray Heyne 0:24
Hello, I'm Leray Heyne, the founder of windows a heaven and our Jesus Christ CEO ministries. Today I'm here at the Museum of the Bible, an amazing tribute to the Holy Bible. Teresa and I are honored to be founding members of the Museum of the Bible. And I'm here to encourage Christian business owners to enroll in our Jesus Christ CEOs Bible Institute. When you visit the Museum of the Bible, you will get to view biblical artifacts you will not get to see anywhere else. It is the same when you enroll in our Jesus Christ CEOs Bible Institute. As a Christian business owner, you will learn things you have not and will not learn anywhere else as it relates to your holy calling as a Christian business owner. The Museum of the Bible is all about the Holy Bible. Jesus Christ, CEOs habitually abide in the Holy Bible with their body, heart, mind, soul and spirit, business owners that are ready to do the same. Enroll today in our Jesus Christ seal Bible Institute. And together as authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, let's transform the nation's public squares of business with the Holy Bible as our manual for life and our companies.
Ambassador Sam Brownback 1:38
Welcome back, we are at the National Religious broadcasting convention, we are on the convention floor, introducing our new virtual reality studio. And I have with me the Esteem ambassador, Senator and Governor Brown back thank you for taking a few minutes to sit down with me and share a little bit happy to do it. All right, good to see you. And I love the time Oh, thank you. That's really tasty. Lauren's to we gotta go, we got like that brightness.
Leray Heyne 2:05
So we're gonna get a chat head IRF a couple of weeks ago, and one of the questions I wanted to talk to you about is, you know, our business, our ministry is to business owners. And our whole idea with TV is telling the world what Jesus is doing in business. But there is a flip side in business. And the flipside is, is how businesses are using their businesses to achieve their objective or you've been using this word on our meetings, squashing things squash in our face quite often. suffocating is Yeah, and you experienced that firsthand with Chase Bank, de bank in your organization. So talk a little bit about that term. And where are you coming from with that in your experience with Chase,
Ambassador Sam Brownback 2:49
but happy to and thank you for doing this and telling people what Jesus is doing in business. I mean, because I think a lot of people look at and say, Well, yeah, Jesus is probably in the marketplace. And he's probably in the public sector, but actually in business. Yeah. And he gone. Yes. Yeah. And you know, and you've got the experience to be able to so thank you for doing that. Thank what what happened to us is we opened up the National Committee for religious freedom. It was a 501 C 4 organization opened up a bank account at Chase Bank. And within less than 45-50 days, got notified, I went to put her to deposit in and they said, Hey, your accounts been closed? It was done at the corporate level. It's irrevocable. And we can't talk about it. Wow. And you know, what, what did we do? Yeah. And they said, We can't tell you. It's just, it's closed.
Leray Heyne 3:40
Wow. It's so you know, that's the flip side of who, you know, we're trying to manifest Christ in this as we're trying to show the love and, and and the fellowship of Christ in business. And now you have businesses kind of using their businesses to say, you know, what, we don't agree with that. And now they're getting rid of us. And, you know, how were you seeing that? Is that is that a growing movement?
Ambassador Sam Brownback 4:09
Well, it sure seems like it now. We know. We ended up getting five different reasons from Chase Bank as to why we were de bank, Dan Enigmail. Was you're a politically exposed person, were concerned about money laundering. You know, and to me, none of that does seem accurate and why so quickly, right, then we hadn't done anything. So you just kind of go in. We don't know why, but it did happen. And then as we got D banked I started getting connected, contacted by a number of mostly social conservative groups with traditional values saying, we were de bank. We were deep platformed Wow. So it is happening. And we really need to push back on we need more disclosure taking place by these banks, I believe. And I think we need to also say you can't de bank somebody because of religious purposes or because you disagree. Am on values, right? So Well, we'll see how this moves. The other thing that we need to do really, people need to start voting their stocks with their values. Instead of via we always just looked at it. I think I did. Yes, Thailand stocks as an investment. Right. But people on the other side look at stocks as a way to move their social issues. Yes. And I think we've just got to start saying, and asking companies, why are you doing this diversity, equity and inclusion program? That's not in your best financial interest? Yeah. stockholders. Yep. Writing your CEO? Why are we doing this as a company? And if so why? Yeah, talk to me.
Leray Heyne 5:47
Yeah, we have some Jesus Christ CEO said, our financial planners, and all they do is biblically based financial investing. And, and not so in into companies that are doing harm, and not aligning with our values.
Ambassador Sam Brownback 6:01
You know, we didn't even use to think about this. Yeah. And we just thought businesses business, I do financial issues. They're trying to maximize their income for their shareholders. That's that. But then you started seeing all these businesses start moving towards a social agenda that they were doing often against a traditional values agenda, and you're going, why are you doing this? Why are you using the business to do this? Why did Bud Light but this given out? Yeah. And, and why didn't you put a can out with a cross on it? Right, right. I didn't even think about that one.
Leray Heyne 6:35
I liked. I liked that marketing ploy right there. Yeah. That's awesome. So tell you, you have been putting these different banks in these different other people that have been sharing their experiences. On the website, tell them a little bit about National Committee for religious freedom, where they can find that out and use that as a resource of what you're, what you're sharing what others have experienced. We've
Ambassador Sam Brownback 6:58
got two ones, a National Committee for religious freedom, that's a 501 C four bank, and then there's a National Council for religious freedom, that's a C three organization, they can go on the website, vncrf.org gang, and look and see what they want to associate. But what we're really trying to do is connect people that are in this fight for religious freedom. We we work with all people of faith, or none at all, that are willing to support religious freedom. And we're, we're saying we've got to stand up for this free exercise right in the public square in the marketplace and school boards, and state legislatures and City Council's in Congress, and stand up and fight for this right now that you have as a constitutional right as a citizen, to believe what you want to believe. As long as you're peaceful about it. You have every right to exercise. And we need people to help us with that.
Leray Heyne 7:55
Amen. Amen. Well, good. Well, I wanted you to share that that was one of my conversations I wanted to have a couple of weeks ago. But now I want to shift completely into business. And and I want to use your actual world experience in being an ambassador. Right? The Bible says that we are ambassadors of Christ. And we have an ambassador that has lived out this role around the world as an ambassador. And so I want to see if we can link to things. How do you define an ambassador,
Ambassador Sam Brownback 8:27
as a representative, I as ambassador, I was an ambassador for the President of the United States and the United States of America. So what I said, was as if the President was saying this, what I do, is standing for the United States of America. So in essence, you're really not your own. You're, you're saying some for somebody else, but your words carry the value of the President of the United States of it. So when you say it, you've got to be certain that this is what the president the United States stands for? Because you're no longer representing yourself. You're representing the president, the United States of America
Leray Heyne 9:07
So now let's take that for every business owner. They're supposed to be living as an ambassador of Christ. What in your experience? What would what would give us an experience that you experienced in and your role as ambassador with maybe a nation or something? And then how would you equate that to a business owner exhorting them to be that ambassador for Christ in their business?
Ambassador Sam Brownback 9:31
You know, probably the biggest line I ever delivered. As soon as an ambassador was I was in China, I was in Hong Kong. This is when I could still go to China I'm banned now. And I delivered a speech to the international press in Hong Kong gave a speech and I stated there, China is at war with faith. Wow, it is a war they will not win. And the room just kind of falls hush and people start kind of sleeking down in their chairs. Lucky for how do I get into the next meal? That's it. That's bold. Well, it is really bold. It is bold and met people and Oh, President Trump. No, that's the way he works.
Leray Heyne 10:20
So I see. Okay, now I see a correlation, right? You're speaking for me, you had to be bold. That's a that's a nice example.
Ambassador Sam Brownback 10:27
Well, that evening, I had a dinner that a friend of mine was organizing with 22 or 23 different people that did work in Hong Kong and China. One showed up at evening. And they said, Yeah, there's an old saying here that Hong Kong, at that time, is a tree that begins before the wind blows, kind of anticipating where it's coming from, and they were looking at that going. I don't want to be around this guy. Now, but that since then that line has been repeated and repeated because it's truth l down. And it is wrong, that China is like that. Yeah. And they view religious freedom as an existential threat. You mean, and we look at it as a core principle. Yeah. It just diametrically different views of the dignity the individual has, does the individual have the right to choose their faith or no? Yeah.
Leray Heyne 11:23
Well, you know, Ambassador, that is, I mean, I've just, holy spirit's just hitting me when I think about the boldness of what you did in the natural that is about as a bold statement in the ad environment. And if you could do that, I want you to, you know, what does that look like for a business owner? Where would you be encouraging business owners as an ambassador of Christ, to be that bold with their famous?
Ambassador Sam Brownback 11:48
Just pray? I think, you know, really, people should be praying, but if they felt called, to say something to their employees, the people they work with, or their customers, or suppliers. And it seems consistent with the Bible and what they know that say it because what I find a lot of people. I know what the Word says, I know what I should do here. But I'm scared. Yeah, I'm scared. Somebody's gonna be offended. I'm scared. Somebody's going to oppose
Leray Heyne 12:22
when were you scared when you delivered that message?
Ambassador Sam Brownback 12:27
I was afterwards. I had an Elijah. afterwards. I did. What I said, I'm flying back to Washington in a few days. And I'm going, what if I'm fired? Yeah. Because the Chinese didn't like that. Yeah. And what if an Oh, what if? And if so I go into State Department in that first day, I'm back. And I'm kind of going. I wonder how this is going to go. And I had one of the top people there say, that was one of the best lines of the administration. And I'm going Oh, good. Praise God. Okay. And I had one of my intelligence briefers that they're all non partisan, but they're hardworking, and they're very pro American. That intelligence briefers. He closed the briefing up. And he looked at me, he said, I'm so proud of you. Oh, way to go. That's all I know. Because, I mean, I just I am in China, I am delivering a word of truth. And the other is gonna be consequences with this. But you got to do it. Our life is so short here. Yeah. And we know it, we're going to die. And we got to then face God and explain to him what we did with the assets we were given. Yeah. And I want to be able to have a good answer.
Leray Heyne 13:42
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I just, I just, I just love what came out. If you were listening in you had been wandering into, you've been sitting on the sidelines, I just don't think you could have a better example, a bolder example. Ambassador, thank you for sharing your faith. You are with Jesus, we say that Jesus Christ CEO TV exists for what Jesus is doing in business. You are what Jesus is doing and government. So thank you.
Ambassador Sam Brownback 14:08
Thank you, sir. Yeah, your word.
Leray Heyne 14:10
So I hope that you will be I hope this will encourage you to be a bold ambassador of Christ in Jesus name. Thank you.
Ambassador Sam Brownback 14:20
Thank you.
Leray Heyne 14:20
Yeah.
