Citizen Legislator with Bert Jones-CMAW029

What You’ll Hear:

• Bert Jones gave his life to Christ at the age of 8 at a Grady Wilson crusade at the football stadium in Reidsville, NC. Later in life he recommitted his life many times
• As a boy and young man, Bert had a lot of jobs, he worked mowing yards, bagging groceries, bussing tables, and spent summers working for the local Parks and Rec and for the local can plant. He also was a substitute teacher teaching all grades and did inventory for drug stores and grocery stores.
• Bert went to UNC-Chapel Hill for undergraduate and dental school and returned to his hometown to start up a dental practice and has lived there his whole life
• It's important to be an active part of your local community.  God created us to serve and there's a lot of opportunities out there to benefit others and benefit your community.
• Bert has been active with the RCBE - Rockingham Council of Bible Education.  It's the fundraising arm for Bible education in the public schools. It gives an opportunity to have a Bible teacher in middle school and high school.  At the elementary school it's a bus ministry.  It's been in operation for almost 100 years.
• Bert was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout and an Eagle Scout and was a leader with his son.  He's not sure what the future is for Scouts.
• Putting the Lord first is the key to a great marriage and parenting.  Be honest.  If you always tell the truth you don't need to remember what you said. Be always ready to forgive.  Think about how much the Lord has forgiven us.  Show mercy and grace and love. Follow what the Bible says about how to treat our wife and children.
• Bert had been the County Commissioner and a lot of people were encouraging him to run for the state legislature. The Lord called him to run. Around 2009 Bert left the Republican party because they were not following conservative principles with the stimulus package and other decisions. An unaffiliated candidate had never won but Bert beat an 8 term incumbent by 12%. It seemed like a miracle at the time. The Lord did it. With God all things are possible.
• Bert has been reelected with large margins and served for 4 terms but has decided not to run again. He feels strongly about being a citizen legislator and wishes Washington and Raleigh were term limited.
• This year Jerry Carter, a fine conservative Christian is running to replace Bert.  He is being raised up by the Lord and Bert is at total peace about it.
• Bert has been a leader to pass a resolution in NC for the Convention of States.  Article 5 of the Constitution allows both the states and congress to call for a constitutional amendment. This effort has 3 main goals, to impose term limits on federal officials, to impose fiscal restraint, and to shift power from the federal government to the state.
• Our country will go down in bankruptcy if difficult decisions are not made to address the federal debt.
• Our founders would turn over in their grave if they knew we were choosing out of fear not to use this option they gave us. It's an urgent need
• Bert is most proud of the things he has been a part of in the legislature that have eternal consequences including marriage and life.  In addition, from a fiscal standpoint they inherited a 3 Billion deficit and now have surpluses.  We were the most liberal state in south.  We were ranked near the bottom in terms of ratings for being business friendly and jobs friendly and now we're near the top. We honored Billy Graham and his statue will be at statuary hall in Washington.
• Starting in 2019, Bert will be the next State Chaplain for the Capital Commission.  Brad Harbaugh, the current state chaplain will become the national president for this organization. The Capital Commission provides chaplain service for the State and Federal Capitals. It includes Chapel service once a week, monthly prayer breakfasts, prayer walks, and much more.
• We are commanded as Christians to not just talk the talk but walk the walk. If we're going to be telling others our faith is in Christ, hopefully we have something in our life that they want. God has entrusted you with a job. You have an opportunity to reach the people around you. We are created to glorify God, and if we're going to glorify God we need to be a faithful witness in the world.
• Work is what we do to make a living. Work is a blessing. Work is a good thing. People are often conditioned to think that work is bad and play is good. Work is life and life is work. Go to work with the idea that you're not just on a treadmill earning a paycheck, but that God really does have a higher purpose for our work. God gave Adam work to do in the garden before sin. I believe God is going to have work for us to do in heaven and He's certainly given us work to do here on this earth.
• It's good to have other interests outside of work, spending time with your family or a hobby. We should have a spiritual balance and a physical balance and a mental balance.
• You need to build relationships with people before you talk about more important things.  You can then tell them you're concerned about their soul and share the Gospel. God gives us opportunities and hopefully we can take advantage of them.
• Bert's favorite verse is Matthew 6:33 - "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be given to you"
• Good things to listen to while commuting are the BBN - Bible Broadcasting Network and Christian music. it really sets the tone for the day.
• Contact Bert at www.ncleg.net and look him up