Nov. 14, 2024

"God, the World, and Other Things"

"God, the World, and Other Things"
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Join Pastor Jimmy and his special guest Pastor Brian Mandel as they engage the culture through a biblical lens.

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We'll be right back.

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This is not Jimmy and Annette today.

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We want to welcome you to Living Up in a Down World.

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I have a very special guest with me, Pastor Brian Mandel from Bridge Church,

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Fritzburg, Texas.

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Brother, it's good to have you today.

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Man, thanks for having me back.

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It's been a minute.

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Super glad.

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Yeah, it has been a minute.

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Annette's been on a roll.

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She's been on fire, but she was very busy today and this week.

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She just said, why don't you get Pastor Brian back on the program?

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I said, glad to do it.

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Come on, I'm excited to be here.

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Welcome to the show, brother.

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We got a lot to talk about.

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A lot going on.

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A lot of moving parts in the world right now.

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I mean, just craziness.

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And before we just dive right in, just want to remind you to go to livingupinadownworld.com

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and feel free to jump on.

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You can subscribe to our podcast there.

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That way you can get a newsletter.

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Every time we release a podcast, I put out a newsletter about the same time,

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just so you know what's coming.

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And it just has pictures and information, some personal things,

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but we'd love to hear from you.

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You can always write us through that.

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You can always leave a review.

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And there's an opportunity from value for value to show your love

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by giving some value our way.

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It's all there at livingupinadownworld.com.

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Another thing I want to plug, and this is really exciting.

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This is something that I've been working on with Adam Curry.

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I mean, he's the brainchild.

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He's the visionary.

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He's got a team doing this.

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But I've been just giving input.

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We're beta testers.

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Bridge Church.

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We're that's code for guinea pigs.

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And it's been really cool just testing out this thing.

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It's called the Godcaster.

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And it's really a podcast player, but he's added an extra element to it,

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which is really 24 hour streaming music so that you can...

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I have it on my Sonos at home and we just play it all day long.

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In fact, it's playing right now at the house,

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just fill in the air with worship and Christian music.

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It's a great way to stay saturated in worship,

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the word of God and encouraging things throughout the day.

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Absolutely.

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So I want to encourage you to check it out.

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So here's an easy way to do it.

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You can go to bridgefbg.com, scroll about halfway down on that landing page,

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and you'll see it's called the Godcaster.

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You'll see a whole bank of podcasts that are available to you.

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But check out Hello Fred.

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That's the one I've really been leaning into.

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In fact, I just listened to Curry and the Keeper.

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They recorded last night after our class, our discipleship class,

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and they were on fire.

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They were fired up after the class.

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They went home and recorded.

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And I just listened to it on the Godcaster today.

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And it just works so well and it's easy.

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So go to bridgefbg.com, scroll about halfway down,

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and you'll see the Godcaster.

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And then you can click on any of those.

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But check out Hello Fred because this is something that Adam

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and two other guys have developed.

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And this is brand new technology.

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They actually wrote the code for this.

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They produced this.

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And this thing is going to go big.

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I was going to say, this feels like it's very much on the cutting edge

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of where things are going with media and news and music

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as radio begins to fade and even mainstream media

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as that begins to fade and things enter the streaming world.

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This is sort of a new expression of that.

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Absolutely.

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Isn't it amazing how God gives us creative ideas?

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It is.

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He is Elohim.

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No, not Elohim.

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It's El Shaddai.

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Is it El Shaddai?

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Oh my gosh.

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I totally lost it.

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God Almighty.

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Anyway, he is the creative God.

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I'll come up with it in a minute.

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I totally lost it.

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I'm tired too.

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I got a little brain fog this morning.

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But he's the creative God.

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He created the world.

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He created.

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So if he created all those things, and then in the New Testament

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we're told we have the mind of Christ,

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then doesn't it stand to reason that if we tap into the mind of Christ

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that we can in and through that come up with amazing and creative ideas.

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I believe God's people should be the most creative people on the planet

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because we have access to the one who created it all.

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Absolutely.

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Totally.

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100% agree.

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And so check out the Godcaster.

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It's amazing.

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Now, if you can't get to it through bridgefbg.com,

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you can also go to hellofred.fm and that'll get you there as well.

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So check it out.

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And so glad to have you with us.

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This is episode number 82.

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So we're getting a few under our belt.

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You're like a veteran at this now.

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Time flies when you're having fun, right?

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And so I'm excited to have you.

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Man, we again, so much to talk about.

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There's been a lot happened in the world over the last few months,

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but especially the last week and a half.

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And so we had an epic and historic election.

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I mean, what are your thoughts on that?

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I mean, you and I've been talking and we've been having these hallway

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conversations, you know, where it's just so much happening.

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So what's on your heart with that?

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Well, I mean, I know a lot of people feel this way,

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but, you know, I've just had this deep sense of I'm witnessing

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not just history happening before my eyes, but significant history.

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We're witnessing the tide turn in our nation in a way where...

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The best way I could describe it is God is opening a window for righteousness.

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He's opening a doorway for the church to step up,

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stand up, suit up, show up, and have the sort of access and ability

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to present the gospel and to bring Jesus into every sphere of society

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in ways that maybe we haven't in decades.

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In fact, I was reading in the Proverbs this morning out of Proverbs 14,

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and Proverbs 14, 34 stuck out to me and it says,

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righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

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And just watching what happened in this last election,

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this last week with Donald Trump coming in, you know, there are people out there

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who, you know, who think Donald Trump is the savior.

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We, of course, know he is not.

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He's a man, but God works through our leaders and he uses leaders

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to either open or close windows for his people,

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depending on how we've positioned ourselves, how we're praying,

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how we're seeking the Lord.

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And I believe God heard us.

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He heard the church over this last year, year and a half.

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And through a man, he's now beginning to open doors and opportunities

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for us to bring Jesus in ways that we haven't been able to before.

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I'm very excited.

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You better preach, man.

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I mean, that is just, you are spot on with that.

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I love that scripture.

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It's funny you mentioned that because I actually posted that scripture today.

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Oh, did you? I posted it on social media and just, just, just it's so,

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well, maybe I did, maybe I didn't.

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I'm going to post it.

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I made a, I made a canvas. It's going to happen.

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I made a graphic because that one stood out to me today as I read through chapter 14 of Proverbs.

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Here's another passage that stood out to me.

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This is the other day when I was reading in Proverbs chapter 11,

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when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.

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And when the wicked perish, there are shouts of gladness.

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It's like, oh, that's pretty heavy.

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But, but the first part of that, when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.

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And then the second verse after that, every time I pray for city council,

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or I pray for the mayor, or I open the county commissioner meeting,

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or when I prayed for the Senate twice, which I'll probably get back on the Senate floor

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to do the open up sessions this next year, by the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted,

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but by the mouth of the wicked, it is overthrown.

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Yeah.

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And what we have seen is that it appears to me that the left just opted for the second version here,

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but by the mouth of the wicked, it is overthrown.

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And I'm not saying everybody's on the left's wicked.

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I'm not even disparaging individuals, but there was such a negative bend to everything they said.

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And I remember listening to, you know, whether I was reading a news story or watching a film clip

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or watching a news clip, and just the disparaging things that were constantly said.

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Now, the right said stuff too. I mean, but it just seems like when in the larger picture of everything,

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one outweighed the other. And I always thought about this verse,

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that by the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted.

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Yeah.

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And anytime I speak to any of these city, and I'll probably say this tomorrow when I open up

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the Walmart, doing the grand opening for that, just to pray for them and pray about the city,

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pray for them and pray a blessing over them, but talk about the power of speaking life,

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the power of speaking words of life and hope, and how we actually, our words carry force.

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That's right.

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And I've seen that just through this whole election process.

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A lot of the, you know, the news pundits and the election commentators and the,

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and the self-proclaimed podcasts, you know, experts are all saying a lot of the same things

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that it was really the things that the left was projecting that cost them the election.

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It wasn't their platform, because they didn't have much of one,

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but just this sense of disparaging over 80 million Americans by calling them names.

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I won't even go into all that, but the name calling and the trash talking and 80 plus,

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you know, million Americans woke up and said, I'm done with this.

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Yes. And I feel like, man, one of the things that hit me watching it all happen,

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especially on election night is that the noise of the media finally got silenced

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and the American people were able to see in front of their eyes as results came in,

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that they're not alone, that they're not crazy for embracing conservative traditional values

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and feeling like the way things used to be didn't need to go away.

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You know, whether that be the idea of traditional marriage or that God made us male and female,

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or that, you know, our education system has gotten way out of hand and is overreaching the,

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you know, the authority of parents and the lives of their children.

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I mean, you go on and on and on. These were things that were not even up for discussion

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for centuries and millennia. And all of a sudden in the last five minutes of America,

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everything's been exploded and normal conservative, God fearing, biblically based people have been

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made to feel like they're isolated, that they're alone, that everybody's abandoned that except for

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them. And it's easy to feel alone in an environment like that. But we were reminded on that Tuesday

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evening that no, no, no, no, a vast majority of people in America still embrace these traditional

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values. And I think that was such a boost of encouragement for our nation.

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You know, we saw a lot of momentum in the last few weeks leading up to the election and yet

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different polls were coming out. Did you notice that over and over it would be like,

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it was like, oh, you know, Kamala Harris is winning, you know, Harris-Waltz, they're ahead,

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they're up in these states. And then it would be, oh, Trump looks like he's up a few points,

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you know, over the last election and, and back and forth. And depending on where that poll was

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coming from, every poll has a slant to it. Whether you're talking looking at surveys that have to do

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with food or medical field or whatever, they, I heard somebody talking about who was a professional

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in this and said they call it shelving. So, or drawing what they'll do though, they'll just,

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if they get a poll back, they don't like a survey back, they just put it in a drawer. They do another

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one. And they change the wording and they, so polls, that's the problem with polling is it can

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be manipulated. And so we were getting, you know, I know the big word is disinformation,

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misinformation. I'm ad nauseum on that, but it's very true. You cannot trust what you're getting.

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And I think one of the things that really came out through this election was the shock and awe

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of the mainstream media. Their minds are blown. If you, if you turn on the news right now,

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they're confused. There's mass confusion. They still don't understand how this happened

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because they were so certain that they were rooting for the winning side. Oh yeah. I mean,

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they were drinking their own Kool-Aid when it came to that. And you can see, and I've even

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noticed in some of the left-leaning media, some of them are starting to wake up a little bit

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and realize maybe I'm on the wrong side of this thing. And the question is, maybe I'm not reflecting

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the people. So my thought on that, cause I've noticed the same thing is that are they just

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walking things back because they're trying to save their tails. I mean, let's be real. Mark Cuban.

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All right. For example, Oh my gosh, he was disparaging Trump. He was saying Harris is the

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answer. And I mean, in disparaging people, disparaging voters, people who voted for Trump,

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this happened over and over among celebrities particularly, but it was interesting right after

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the election, he went on X and started deleting all of his posts about that. He completely walked

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it back. I mean, I'm like, you know, you could be bold if you think you're winning, but now you're

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losing and now you're a coward. That was not ever real boldness. That was cowardice from the beginning.

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I think people think things reached such a fever pitch in the lead up to this where people

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finally began to realize, why am I taking political cues from Taylor Swift?

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And Mark Cuban and Beyonce and George Clooney, George Clooney, who are these people?

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Where do they come from? What do they represent? What do they know? And why would we take our cues from them?

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And I'm not, I'm not here to disparage the acting profession or entertainment. I mean, I've, I've

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benefited and enjoyed entertainment all my life, but when it gets elevated over truth, I mean,

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think about what these people do. If you're a musician, you present a fantasy on stage, you create a show.

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It's a show. It's not reality. People don't dress like that in real life. They don't act like that in real life.

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It's an escape for people, movies, actors. Their whole point is to betray somebody that they're not.

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So why would we trust industries that are designed to falsify or, you know, make things fantastic?

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We should not. We should not, but yet for the weirdest thing, we have celebrity worship and

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idolatry in our culture where we're just wowed by these people because they're famous. And I think

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America, no, I don't think it's obvious America woke up. They did. We awakened from our slumber,

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which has been one of my prayers as much as I pray for revival. I pray more for awakening

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on every level. Well, and that's why I feel like this is now becoming such an opportune time

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for God's people, for the Church, because as people wake up to some of these more general

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realities of life, and as we're going to see the practical effects of changing policies in our nation,

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which whether people realize it or not, a lot of policies, a lot of government, and things that

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are going to happen are going to be brought back to reflect more of the original founding intent,

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more of the constitution, and in some ways more biblical traditional values, whether people realize

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that's where it's coming from or not. And in the context of that, as people see those things

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actually work, and they actually are a blessing to the nation and a blessing to families, and they

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heal aspects of society, it's such an opportunity to bring the gospel with it and help people

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understand this is why this works, because let me show you where this comes from. There you go.

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And I love what you said about original intent as well, because that's something that's more

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in my lane, in my heartbeat. Now I've had to address what's going on in the election from the

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pulpit, and so I've been doing that very boldly, very unashamedly talking about it. I even told

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the Church, I stepped out of the pulpit and said, this is Jimmy Pruitt, citizen Jimmy Pruitt,

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Church member Jimmy Pruitt, not Pastor Jimmy Pruitt, and I'm voting for the platform that is

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represented by Donald Trump. I didn't say I'm voting for Trump, I'm voting for the platform

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represented by him. He happens to be the face of it, but it's the platform that I'm voting for

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because it most aligns with biblical values. And people laughed about it, they clapped and cheered,

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it was kind of a fun moment. But it was true, I was stepping out of that role to say, as a citizen,

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as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, I have to vote for a platform that most aligns with

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my biblical worldview, my biblical worldview as I see it and as I read it. And so to be able to do

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that, so I've been very vocal about that. But now that we're past this, instead of now beating the

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drum on election and voting and all that, now that we're past it, we have to ask this question,

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so what now? And then I just riffed a little bit on that last week, but I want to hear from you,

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what do we do now going forward as the church, as followers of Jesus?

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Yeah, well, one of the things that we're working on here at The Bridge is bringing people back to

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the biblical concept of discipleship. We've got to get away from this idea that to be Christian

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means I go to church on Sunday and I'm pretty nice to people. It goes a lot deeper than that. And

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Jesus told us to count the cost before we follow Him. And that as disciples, we're called to make

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disciples both in the nation and of the nations that we find ourselves in, that we're to preach

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the message of the kingdom and to show people who Jesus is. And so we've got work to do,

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and we've been given fresh freedom to do it without fear of massive persecution. So much of the

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church has endured through so much of the last two millennia. And continues to, and continues to in

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other parts of the world. We live in such a unique time in history and in such a unique nation

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where we have the opportunity to be a beacon to the rest of the world of the gospel without

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almost any hindrance at all. And if we don't steward well what we've been given, that's when

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we should fear that it might be taken from us and given to somebody else who will steward it well.

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And so I think there's a heavy responsibility on the shoulders of the church right now

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to use the freedom we've been given in a way that glorifies Jesus. Absolutely agree Pastor Brian.

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That's, you nailed that. We keep saying we've been given this window. I mean I feel like it's

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the word that keeps coming to my mind. This is a window of opportunity. And now I love the word

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you use because one of my favorite words, we have to steward this moment. And this moment could be

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next four years. It could be, it could be the next eight. We don't know what that, what's going to

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come. I've got a lot of hope for the future now for what I would call the more conservative side

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of things. I've noticed and you can't help but notice the team that Donald Trump is pulling

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together. I mean it's an all-star roster. Oh my gosh. I mean it's an all-star roster. Oh my gosh.

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I mean it's it's rock star status type things. And the interesting thing I saw a comparison

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last night I read a comp and I showed it to Annette where it showed that the most of the ages of

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the people he's pulling in, he's pulling in 43 year olds, 48 year olds, 40 year olds, 39 year olds.

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I mean this is next-gen. Well everything is interesting. Everything that everybody has said

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that Donald Trump is the antithesis of is exactly what he's surrounding himself with including

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former Democrats, young people, lots of strong women. I mean you name it. That's who he's got

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around him. And people of color and different nationalities. I mean it's it's been remarkable

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and and I think all of that put together now sets us up for a very bright future and a real chance

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to turn this thing in the next four to eight years. Now as that now as that applies to the

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church to me I would have done the same thing anyway. Had had this thing gone the other way

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I would have woke up the next morning and got back into work and we're still on mission because the

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mission for us as followers of Jesus and you and I as leaders of a church we our mission doesn't

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change. All it does now is help us dial in and gives us more clarity in our mission as to what

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to do next. And I would say though... Defines the opportunities that we have. Exactly. Now we see

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avenues, roads, ways to go with this. And really it tells me it's pedal to the metal time.

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This is not where we and I said this a lot I've been saying this to a lot of people including our

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church but this is not where we go get a gallon of sweet tea, sit in a hammock and enjoy Indian

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summer in central Texas here in the whole country. This is the most beautiful time of the year.

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Temperatures like in the high 70s today no wind it's just like unbelievably gorgeous here but this

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isn't the time to relax. Celebrate absolutely man when you're working hard for something and there's

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a win you should celebrate the win. So I'm not disparaging people getting excited about winning

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but to me I'll never forget Coach Rivera in football. I mean we scored a touchdown.

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We're all man we're cheering and clapping we're on the field doing our victory dance

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and the other teams lining up. I mean they're like you still have to kick a field goal here.

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The clock is still running and I remember our coach yanking us to the sideline and all of us said

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yeah he said boys he said the game is not over. You scored a touchdown yay now get back out there

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and hit somebody. I mean that's right get back in the game. There wasn't time to celebrate

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extensively yeah yeah rah rah. Also when I got injured one time no I made a bad play I remember

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I missed a missed an assignment as a defensive back and the dude ran a deep pattern on me. They

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threw a touchdown right over my head. I can still see the ball in slow motion going over my head in

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a perfect spiral. He catches it the crowd goes nuts and I run over the side. I'm so mad at myself

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because I missed the it was me it was on me nobody else and I went up to one of my coaches and said

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I can't believe that and he said and I thought he was gonna yank me out of the game. He said

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get back out there they're running the next play because they were running the the uh the the extra

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point and I'm still I'm supposed to be on the field. I'm over there whining to my coach. He said

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get back out there there's another play to run. That's right and he wouldn't even let me lick my

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wounds and I would say that maybe maybe the election didn't go your way and you're listening

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this podcast and and we want you to know we don't disparage you as a person because you voted

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different from us. We don't disparage you. We may have disagreements on on certain ideologies and

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theology but we're not disparaging anybody and I would even say to you there's not lick your wounds

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a little bit but don't get out of the game right of your own. Same way had we have had our side

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loss that had it not have gone our way I wouldn't have spent a lot of time grieving because there's

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work to be done. If anything it probably would have kicked me into overdrive in that moment.

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Well I'll tell you one of the heartbreaking things I've seen the last few days is um people that are

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are making statements on social media and different platforms saying things like you know I'm not doing

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Thanksgiving or Christmas with my family this year because they voted in a different way than I did

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or you know they're all in different ways. Or encouraging others to do the same. Yeah. Yeah you need to cut off

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all your friends and your family. And that gets to the root of I think you know what what we've been

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looking for to change you know through the platform that we we did support here and that is the attack

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on the family. I mean and that's just another expression of it. You know the nuclear family was

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the unit that God designed at the beginning of this whole human experiment that he said this is

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going to be the nucleus from which all of his blessing flows all of his activity flows all of

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his workflows and there is nothing that Satan would love to destroy more than the family because it is

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the very fabric of society itself. You know when mothers and fathers and children are not whole

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units anymore that's where every evil thing stems from that. That's well said you know in the

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Abrahamic covenant you know Genesis he says that in you through all the families on the earth will

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be blessed. It was a reference to actually families it was a family statement the covenant of Abraham

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which is an everlasting covenant and is still in play and because we here Gentiles have been

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grafted into the vine of the Jews it's our covenant now too. We're not replacing the Jews

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replacement theology don't get me started. We're not replacing them we're added onto and brought

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into the family and the wall of separation in the New Testament tells us it's been broken down

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where there's no wall of separation anymore not replacement. Now we're unified we're together

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and we get to reap the blessing of that covenant but that covenant was a family blessing. It was.

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In you through all the all the families in the earth should be blessed and so we approach that

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as families and I you know we know and we have seen how certain things whether it's education

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low or high or middle whatever education you want it's all been infiltrated by those who want to

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decimate and destroy divide families the nuclear family and so the attacks on the family here's

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here's how I recognize the activity of the enemy who's under attack yes who's under attack what is

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being attacked and when I see that that tells me this is something that is the apple of God's eye

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this is something that God has daylighted or highlighted this is a good thing a right thing

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so whatever is under most attack is typically the center of where God is or the or the focus of where

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God is in that season of life and we've seen the family under massive attack which tells me the

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value of the family in God's heart and eyes or the enemy wouldn't be trying to destroy it and

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counterfeit it I mean you couldn't have said that any better and I love what you you said this last

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Sunday in church about what our responsibility is right now as the church and then you said it's to

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live holy and to show up you know complicated if we want to talk about what what does the church

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need to do right now you know congruent or alongside of all that's been happening politically

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this year we've we've witnessed a lot of judgment happening in the church a lot of leaders being

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exposed a lot of things that weren't as they should be being exposed across churches all over

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this nation and there's been a purging and a refining that God's been doing because I think

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he's trying to position us to live holy and to show up to be to be the bride without spot and

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blemish that he can really work through and show the world who he is accurately and I feel a burden

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or a fear of the Lord right now that more than ever I need to be an accurate reflection of Jesus

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an accurate reflection of the truth that is in scripture and that if I'm going to speak

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as a Christian as a believer I better do it accurately I better be saying what God's saying

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not my version of it not the way I'd like it to be not the way it's been morphed in popular culture

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or even in popular church culture but to get back to the book to get back to truth and to declare it

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regardless of the consequences or how people receive it or not. Very well said PB I mean

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literally not trying to shape the word of God to fit my template but I'm having to realign myself

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to say this is what God's word for just as an example one of the things I have been adamant

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about is continuing to support Israel. I mean not too many months ago it looked like the whole

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world was turning against Israel at least America I mean even even the the administration that was

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in charge was confused half of them were for Israel half were not they were divided on that

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and and they were saying different things in different environments and trying to speak to

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different people and I saw the I saw the the disparity between that and like oh no no no you're

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not in alignment and so one of the things I did boldly and I post it every Saturday I post hey

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here's the sermon and you know here's what's coming I post pictures I always post a picture

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of an American flag and a picture of a Jewish flag and I don't care I'm to a point where

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I'm with you I want my life to so align with God's word I don't want to make God's word align

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with my life. I just went through me and Annette together we went through and unfriended a ton of

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people on social media on our Facebook that are preaching another gospel. Hyper grace this this

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sense of of you know man you're okay I'm okay God's got it covered love covers a multitude of sins

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therefore therefore I mean this this easy believism or what's called a greasy grace easy grace. Well

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and where has that led I mean now you've got people in those camps talking about do we really

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need the book of James? Why don't we throw it out? That was the one I brought up the other day that

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just that's that was a tipping point for me where I realized uh they're moving away from the word of

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God now they're beginning to judge books of the Bible based on their interpretation of grace and

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and so I'm so with you I want to align my life with what God says irregardless of the temporal

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consequences or circumstances. My life has to align with Him and here's what I what I'm finding

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even in little incremental pieces little minutiae things little nuances where I'm doing that little

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adjustments there's massive blessing. Massive. And one of the blessings is confidence. Go there.

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There is there is something happens when you not only know you're righteous because Christ makes

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you the righteousness of God or God makes you the righteousness of Christ in righteousness of God in

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Christ Jesus the scripture says but when you're actually acting righteous that doesn't mean just

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pure externals it's the nuances it's who you are when no one's looking it's what you're thinking

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about when no one knows what you're thinking about it's the judgments you make when you're driving

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down the road and somebody pulls out in front of you and their car's all beat up and you just go

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down this this weird path of judging that individual just based on their car I mean I'm

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just being really authentic here and I'm just I'm learning to capture those thoughts you know

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the scripture says we can take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ so I'm

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I'm trying to be quick to repent in the moment like I mean as soon as I something comes in my

419
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:34,560
mind I'm the Holy Spirit's the more I lean into this I'll put it this way it's not about me

420
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:39,920
figuring it out it's really me trusting the Holy Spirit that with that flag that pops up that's a

421
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:45,280
signal wait you're judging that part you didn't even realize you went autopilot there and you've

422
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,920
you made a judgment on that individual by the clothes they're wearing or the other drink or

423
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:54,800
what they're eating at the dinner table because you're so righteous as a carnivore now you're

424
00:31:54,800 --> 00:32:01,360
judging what's in their food basket at at HEB at the grocery store so I love what you said there

425
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:06,560
because that's that's exactly what God's doing I think I think he wants to do that for the whole

426
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:12,240
church of Jesus here's how I know why we're not in the last of the last days his Bible says he's

427
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:18,320
coming back for a bride without spot or blemish she's got lots of spots and blemishes so I know

428
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:24,880
he's not coming back too soon so when we can get our act together and again it's not just about

429
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:29,360
focusing on the externals although that is an element of it that I think we've ignored for too

430
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:35,760
long well and then you know to understand what the scripture says about that God says that he's given

431
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:44,880
us his powerful grace and it's that grace it's his power that empowers us to become like Jesus to

432
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:50,320
change so you know we've been given this gift which has become a curse word in modern Christianity

433
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:56,080
which is repentance right you know it's not just a one-time entrance into the kingdom thing

434
00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:01,280
it's a daily thing exactly repentance isn't something to be ashamed about it's it's a thing

435
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:06,640
to rejoice about the lifestyle every day every moment as the Lord reveals to me where I'm out

436
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:12,800
of alignment with him he's granted me repentance to where I can come back into alignment with him

437
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:18,160
just through an adjustment of my heart and every time I do that there's an outpouring of grace

438
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:24,880
an enablement directly from him to follow through on that and to experience what you mentioned that

439
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:30,000
that washed and clean conscience which allows you to have confidence before the Lord there's

440
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:36,160
nothing worse than not feeling like you can boldly approach God with confidence you know to feel

441
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:41,040
ashamed like you can't enter his presence because you know there's a misalignment going on and he's

442
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:47,600
given us the tool to fix that at any moment. I love that I love that listen to this you prompted

443
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:52,000
me I mean right there you just you just triggered something and I mean use trigger in the best

444
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:57,440
possible way that's an overused word in our culture but in Proverbs chapter 10 verse 9

445
00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:04,400
whoever walks in integrity walks securely. I did a little word study on all those key words right

446
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:10,640
there the word walks means to live in to dwell in yeah it's also means behavior to act like so

447
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:16,480
whoever walks like whoever acts like whoever lives in integrity the word integrity means exactly what

448
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,920
you think it would the integration or wholeness in other words you in other parts of the Bible

449
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:28,960
you hear the word perfect or perfection it means complete sound whole well and and so whoever

450
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:35,840
walks in their in their integrity walks securely that word also means safety but it also means

451
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:44,560
confidence yes so I'm finding that when I'm having like insecure moments for example when I when I go

452
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,880
to pray when I'm outside of the church like I'm so confident in our pulpit because this is our

453
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:54,080
spiritual family so I'm like it's like family reunion every time we're together and I feel

454
00:34:54,080 --> 00:35:01,600
comfortable here and safe here and confident here when I go out and do things like pray for a city

455
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:06,240
commissioners meeting I walk in the room I know one person and there's a whole lot of people there

456
00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:12,480
that look like they mean business yeah that can be intimidating and I know if I'm walking in integrity

457
00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:19,680
I can walk in that room very confident very safe very secure same with praying for I mean could be

458
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:27,520
praying for the city council meeting stepping into environments where pastors used to actually be the

459
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:32,640
authority in the room that have now been marginalized by ourself we've removed ourselves

460
00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:39,360
we've capitulated our place but now we're stepping back into those places one other thing I want to

461
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:44,720
I want to key on I love what you said because you got me you just made me go off in 30 directions

462
00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:53,280
but one of them is this grace has become such a popular thing an overused uh terribly defined

463
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:58,800
and redefined word in our Christian culture right it just means basically anything goes these days

464
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:03,840
God's got it covered and and there's there's elements of truth in those statements sure but

465
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:11,040
the word I think that God is beginning to daylight or highlight is the word mercy wow so mercy and

466
00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:16,400
grace I see as like a hand in glove I mean like when I played baseball I had a catcher's mitt I

467
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:21,760
was a catcher during part of my career in baseball and that and the more I wore that glove through

468
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:26,720
the years the more it came molded to my hand and if anybody else tried to put my glove on they'd

469
00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:32,240
go I don't know how you even use this thing for me I put it on it's like it's like putting my skin

470
00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:38,240
on it's like a perfect fit because it has molded to my hand I see mercy and grace like that a hand

471
00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:45,200
in glove relationship where they mold perfectly together mercy by definition is that you don't

472
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:52,000
get what you deserve grace you could flip the you could flip the script and say grace is you do get

473
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:58,960
what you don't deserve I mean those that's a hand in glove relationship but when you over emphasize

474
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:04,160
one over the other I think you get out of balance with that and I think that's what we've seen I

475
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:10,960
believe and I heard lots of people say because I man on the on the heels of the election I'm pulling

476
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:17,120
up all my favorite preachers I'm pulling up people I I learned from that mentor me spiritually from a

477
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:23,120
distance whether it's YouTube or whatever podcast and I'm listening to what they're saying and

478
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:30,960
without fail almost every one of them I would say 99 percent of the people that I listen to all use

479
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:38,400
the same word to describe what happened in the election God's mercy God is being merciful it

480
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:47,680
wasn't spike the ball it wasn't slam on the left it was literally this is God's mercy God heard our

481
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:53,840
cries and he's being merciful in fact several that I love to listen to you even went so far as to say

482
00:37:53,840 --> 00:38:02,240
God stayed his hand of judgment I think we've had limited degrees of it but he actually heard our

483
00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:10,000
eyes and his state his hand when he when we deserve judgment right he gave us mercy what are your

484
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:16,080
thoughts on mercy and grace wow I think I man you know it's such a good way to put that as a as a

485
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:22,400
hand in glove relationship and it's hard to rightly understand one without the other agreed you know

486
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:31,840
because of his mercy his grace becomes available and because his grace becomes available I I'm

487
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:38,160
enabled to please him in ways that I couldn't before you know God asks a lot of his people

488
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:44,160
but he doesn't ask a lot without supplying even more there you go to be able to fulfill what he's

489
00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:50,720
asked us to do and asked us to be and I remember 15 I was about 15 years ago or so there was a

490
00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:56,800
study done in a segment of the American church that was surveying people's understanding of what

491
00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:04,480
grace was biblical grace and only two percent of those who were surveyed identified grace as God's

492
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:11,120
power and empowerment of believers only two percent and yet if you look in the New Testament

493
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:18,640
God's grace and his power are spoken of synonymously absolutely in the same verse often you know that

494
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,560
Paul will be talking about the grace of God and then simultaneously call it his power

495
00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:30,640
yes because his grace is powerful I mean it's it's what destroys the work of the enemy

496
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:37,680
in the culture but in our lives personally it demolishes the dominion of sin over our lives

497
00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:42,640
it's what enables us to walk in the freedom that's promised in the scriptures you know I

498
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:49,520
I've met so many Christians who see such a disparity between what they read in their Bibles

499
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:53,200
about what believers are like and what they experience in their own personal lives

500
00:39:54,400 --> 00:40:00,240
and a lot of that disparity starts with misunderstanding mercy like you said that God's

501
00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:06,000
not trying to put his thumb on me and give me everything I deserve if he did that I'd already

502
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:14,560
be a goner right that he's starting with me from a place of love and mercy as a father who wants to

503
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:20,240
adopt me as a son absolutely and then he wants to like any good father would with his son

504
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:27,120
give me everything I need to succeed and that's his grace beautiful hand in glove you know grace

505
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:31,920
sometimes people think grace is like a buffer right like it's the buffer between our sin

506
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:37,920
and God's judgment right that it's just somehow gives us a space of protection and covers

507
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:43,840
there's an element of that undeserved right undeserved sure but here's another thing I

508
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:49,760
did a deep dive study many years ago I remember when I did it because the idea of grace really

509
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:55,680
became started coming up strong when I was actually ministering to a lot of college students back in

510
00:40:55,680 --> 00:41:00,880
Brownwood Texas River of Life church a little church we planted we saw God move in some amazing

511
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:06,880
ways but a lot of the students I was dealing with they were just that was when among Christians

512
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:12,560
smoking cigars drinking alcohol just suddenly came on the scene from the Baptist church I mean

513
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:17,840
these Baptist kids were going ape nuts with freedom in Christ and grace God's grace they

514
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:23,040
were just my liberty they were running with it right you know and uh I mean they got a little

515
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:27,680
he gave them an inch they were taking a mile and uh and I was having to work with these students

516
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:32,480
and they kept bringing up grace grace grace and I finally just said I've got to go to God's word

517
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:37,680
I got to see what this really so I did a deep dive exegetical study went into the original

518
00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:44,000
language both in the Hebrew in the Aramaic and in the Koine Greek and when I came away from that

519
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:49,280
study I had the definition you've heard me use a jillion times I've heard you even preach it oh yeah

520
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:55,200
where where it is God's power God's here's what grace is I'll just say it in a very clear sentence

521
00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:04,480
grace is God's power God's strength God's authority God's ability and God's favor to do what you

522
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:11,200
cannot in and of yourself do that's the operative word there to do there it is it's grace it's power

523
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:18,400
to do authority to do favor to do I mean it's all of those to do you've been enabled the scripture

524
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:24,160
says that when the apostles were doing miracles like an early book of acts you know three and four

525
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:31,840
man they were going out and God was like showing up it says that they did it by his grace it says

526
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:38,240
it says the grace was on them to do this and as I pulled in all these elements and created that

527
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:45,920
definition I've never had a single person ever say uh that's not grace grace means grace means

528
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:51,440
I can kind of do what I want people never say that out loud but they sometimes practically do it

529
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:56,320
does that make sense their practice reveals that maybe their words don't because no one will ever

530
00:42:56,320 --> 00:43:02,640
say oh I don't believe that grace is a license to sin but if you're living like it is you don't have

531
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:08,560
to say it you're living it yeah because it's the in the doing that we see what you truly believe

532
00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:15,280
wow wow that's so good and if we could get a hold of the grace of God we would experience so much

533
00:43:16,240 --> 00:43:23,600
in our walk with the Lord that maybe we've been missing empowered yeah how empowered to do

534
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:30,480
I don't know about everybody listening out there but I want to experience God amen I want to be a

535
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:36,240
living Bible character come on you know if God is that's a heavy prayer right there brother oh yeah

536
00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:40,720
I know look what they went through to pick which one you're talking about there but yeah I mean if

537
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:45,520
God is the same today as he always was which is what the scripture says he's the same yesterday

538
00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:51,680
today forever that means he's still able he's still willing and he's still doing all the same

539
00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:57,440
things he's always been doing so the only real question is am I in on that am I a part of that

540
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:03,120
yeah and it sure looks like I'm invited and so are you gosh the invitations there isn't it yeah

541
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:08,240
he says get out of the boat come on what was happening in the boat well they were dry they

542
00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:14,640
were safe yeah they weren't drowning and he tells Peter Peter Jesus shows up on the water says hey

543
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:20,320
Peter looks at him everybody's freaking out Peter being the spokesman he's always the one hoof and

544
00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:26,640
foot and mouth disease right and he says if it's you Lord bid me come to you on the water and Jesus

545
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:33,040
says come come on come on and the beauty of it is that Peter got out of the boat man we can make fun

546
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:38,000
of Peter all day long he's fun to riff on right he's he's fun to make fun of he's kind of an easy

547
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:43,440
target because he was just such a go-getter such a doer and the fact that he got out of that boat

548
00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:50,640
and I've said this for years whether he took one step or five it was still a miracle he was the

549
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:56,320
only one of the disciples who walked on water exactly I don't care if he ended up sucking water

550
00:44:56,320 --> 00:45:01,440
and oh lord help me you know I mean you can you can make fun of what happened there I love the

551
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:06,880
way it was depicted in the chosen where he just grabbed hold of Jesus and said don't let go of me

552
00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:12,000
don't let go of me I mean it was powerful he said it was such man they did a great job on that

553
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:18,240
capturing the really what I believe is the heart of it as opposed to the obvious oops how did that

554
00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:23,200
work out for you Peter because we could make fun of it but that's I'm like you I want to be like

555
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:30,240
that I want to be like Jacob at the river Jabak when when the the man who says the man you know

556
00:45:30,240 --> 00:45:37,200
capital N showed up and he he grabbed hold of him he wrestled with God all night and said I won't

557
00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:45,520
let go until you bless me unless you bless me and that could have meant his death and he I'm sure

558
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:49,840
the angel lord took it easy on him because I mean he could have just dumped him off the planet

559
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:55,760
but he wrestled with him he allowed him to toil which is interesting to me that he even allowed

560
00:45:55,760 --> 00:46:02,000
that struggle for hours God seems to place a high value on persistence he does I think he was

561
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:09,120
welcoming uh Jacob's heart to wrestle yeah to wrestle for the blessing and the question is are

562
00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:16,960
we really willing to as you say become a Bible character but to become a to become a Daniel

563
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:24,480
to become a I'm already a lot like David I identify a lot with David like I'm quick to repent even

564
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:29,760
though I screw up I'm a big hot mess but I'm quick to repent but I mean when you start looking at are

565
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:36,000
we willing to to step into that and are we willing to wrestle are we willing to hang on even if it's

566
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:41,440
painful even if it's humiliating can you imagine how he's probably getting drug around and thrown

567
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:47,600
around you know back and forth can't even imagine what that looked like but I love the persistence

568
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:53,600
in the heart of Jacob to say I know I'm screwed up I know I've made mistakes but I'm not letting go

569
00:46:53,600 --> 00:47:00,400
he had obviously um decided in his heart before that moment transpired that that's the way he was

570
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:04,240
going to be because you don't you don't decide that in the moment you know in the moment of

571
00:47:04,240 --> 00:47:10,800
difficulty or trial you have to decide ahead of time who you're going to be how persistent you're

572
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:16,800
going to be and going after the Lord so that when it gets hard you've already decided I'm not going

573
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:22,640
to quit this is who I am and that maybe goes back to the moment we're in as a nation as a church in

574
00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:31,920
America in this space in this window of mercy we better fortify who we are and what we stand for

575
00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:38,720
and our commitment to truth and just speaking out so that that can be strengthened now

576
00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:44,320
before maybe it's more difficult later very well so I don't think we were ready for it to be as

577
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:48,960
difficult as it could have gotten it if it had gone another way I had already made up my mind

578
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:53,680
no matter which way this thing goes I will continue to speak out knowing full well had it

579
00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:59,120
gone the other way there could have been strength you know more strict rules and what we can say

580
00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:05,040
from the pulpit I mean things were starting to lean towards censorship and whatnot yeah I'd

581
00:48:05,040 --> 00:48:10,160
already made up my mind I had a talk with my wife and said Annette if things go the other way I'm

582
00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:15,360
not going to stop saying what I'm saying if we get pulled off of all platforms we'll at least still

583
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:21,600
have our website you direct people to our website and I am not going to back down and she said I'm

584
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:27,040
with you all the way and so we'd made up our mind no matter which way it went now I'm relieved

585
00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:33,120
me too but you know what it doesn't make me back off and now if anything it's what you said we need

586
00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:40,640
to fortify our our resolve now we've got this window I love what you said window of mercy

587
00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:46,960
we have a window of mercy now let's leverage this moment leverage this time to make the

588
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:52,080
make the decisions now before the before the pain before the tribulation before the trial comes

589
00:48:52,640 --> 00:48:59,520
as well said brother well and I and I mean I can't help but think that the revival that you're seeing

590
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:04,400
break out across the world and I love how you call it decentralized revival you know it's it's

591
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:10,560
pockets here it's pockets there it's not some big coordinated movement I believe God means for that

592
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:15,440
to increase you know we know if you read your Bible you know that there is a time coming in the

593
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:21,920
future where it's it's going to get a lot darker before Jesus comes and resolves everything it's

594
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:26,560
gonna be wild stuff but I believe what the scripture also tells us that before we hit that truly

595
00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:33,200
darkest of times we're gonna see a massive revival you're gonna see the church in its finest hour

596
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:39,920
and maybe just maybe God's getting us ready for that I'm all in I'm all in well I've got a title

597
00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:46,080
for today's show while we were talking oh yeah God the world and other things yeah we covered the

598
00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:50,800
gamut man hey thanks for being on the show today thanks for having Brian it's such a blessing I

599
00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:55,280
love I keep using the word riff because I'm a guitar player but I love riffing on these things

600
00:49:55,280 --> 00:50:00,720
with you because there's just an iron sharpens iron man it's like just an escalation I say

601
00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:05,040
something you key off of that you say something I'm like oh my gosh I think I'm gonna go 12 ways

602
00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:09,920
from here but thanks for being with me today and you're on the show that gave Annette she's at a

603
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:13,920
Bible study today with a bunch of ladies in our city and having a good time with that I wanted

604
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:18,960
to say thanks to Jen I just want to give some shout outs to people who blessed us with satoshis

605
00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:25,200
and boosts so Jen thank you so much at Jen also survives grace he's a dear friend of ours man just

606
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:30,960
a great brother in the Lord also boosted us and Eric PP I don't know you Eric but I want to say

607
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:35,920
thank you brother for boosting us encouraging us sending those satoshis and just just letting us

608
00:50:35,920 --> 00:50:40,080
know that you're listening letting us know that you're a part of this in fact I'm scrolling through

609
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:45,520
a lot here Randy Black Randy I don't know you brother but thank you brother for being with us

610
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:50,720
for hanging with us I noticed you boosted on curry and the keeper as well so thank you so much for

611
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:55,520
being a part of this and coming along for the ride and also got to say a big thank you to

612
00:50:55,520 --> 00:51:05,280
Adam Curry for a massive striper boost yeah 77,777 sats and love my brother and uh usually we talk a

613
00:51:05,280 --> 00:51:09,520
lot about Adam and Tina but I gotta tell you I just want to want to just give a big shout out

614
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:15,200
to Adam and Tina Curry just such great friends of ours you should check out their podcast curry and

615
00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:21,760
the keeper you can actually get it on the godcaster so just man go to the godcaster you can go to um

616
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:28,400
hellofred.fm and you'll find their podcast on there do check it out and uh just a big thanks to

617
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:34,400
Adam for developing he really felt like God gave him a vision for this godcaster and he feels like

618
00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:39,440
this is his purpose he said you know when he invented podcasting him and another guy named Dave

619
00:51:40,240 --> 00:51:47,280
tag teamed on this thing now 20 years ago he said it felt good it was exciting we felt carried along

620
00:51:47,280 --> 00:51:52,960
by a wind he said but I didn't know God I didn't know Jesus and I knew it was for a bigger thing

621
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:59,040
than me but I didn't realize what that was or who that was and now whenever he speaks and tells his

622
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:04,800
story he always tells people hey man I didn't invent podcasting God did I just happened to be

623
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:10,400
the vehicle he's very humble about that and now with this new the godcaster which is a new

624
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:16,640
a whole new platform which is has the potential to revolutionize radio stations and uh

625
00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:22,160
radio stations I see it it's coming and and he's he's going to be speaking at the national religious

626
00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:27,760
broadcasters uh annual event this year which is a massive event he'll be talking about this he will

627
00:52:27,760 --> 00:52:33,040
be talking he'll be doing a breakout session specifically on hellofred the godcaster but also

628
00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:38,080
he'll be talking around this foundationally as a keynote speaker there and he'll be talking about

629
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:44,160
so man just so proud of him but uh just just thankful what God is doing in people's lives

630
00:52:44,160 --> 00:52:50,960
who have these unique skills and again tapping into the creative nature of God it's amazing

631
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:56,400
amazing actually it's the word Elohim that's the creative nature of God the Elohim element I

632
00:52:56,400 --> 00:53:01,760
remember so brother man what's what's next on your sketch you're actually preaching this Sunday

633
00:53:01,760 --> 00:53:06,080
preaching this Sunday we got a men's breakfast coming up on saturday that you're going to be

634
00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:10,800
speaking legacy men legacy men we want to we want to raise up strong men of God and they're they're

635
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:14,480
coming out of the woodwork yeah here's a short little hint of what I'm going to be talking about

636
00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:20,640
is that we as legacy men have been have been charged by God to not be the ceiling for the

637
00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:26,080
next generation but to be the platform for the next generation and I'm going to go all in on

638
00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:30,640
that word I'm going to beat that drum hard so I'm looking forward to it so you'll be preaching this

639
00:53:30,640 --> 00:53:35,440
Sunday yes super excited about that what's your what's your main topic you're going to be we're

640
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:40,480
going to be talking about baptism but not like people have ever heard it before there's a lot

641
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:45,680
more going on in the scripture about what baptism really is and we're going to go deep on it and you

642
00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:50,560
know very few people actually unpack that topic on Sunday morning to me I have an offshoot class

643
00:53:50,560 --> 00:53:57,440
we do a class on before baptisms but we all felt just this this lean into it's one of those things

644
00:53:57,440 --> 00:54:02,240
because we have such a mixture of people at our church we're we're not I would even say

645
00:54:02,240 --> 00:54:07,840
non-denominational we're more inner-denominational and so we have people who from different faith

646
00:54:07,840 --> 00:54:13,520
you know origins and faith families and faith traditions that maybe have a different thoughts

647
00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:18,720
on baptism and for to bring clarity from God's word is going to be huge for people well the title

648
00:54:18,720 --> 00:54:23,920
the message is going to be called the immersed life I love that I saw the graphic I was like dude

649
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:29,360
that's an awesome graph I told faith I want to be there because that picture was amazing so anyway

650
00:54:29,360 --> 00:54:35,120
thanks again for being with me brother it's a joy to do this life with you and nomers Naomi your wife

651
00:54:35,120 --> 00:54:41,040
such a jewel and we get to do this we get to do this all right God bless you my brother man have

652
00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:47,360
an amazing amazing week hey y'all live it keep living up in a down world and God's good even if

653
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:52,080
it had gone the other way we'd still be living up in a down world either way but we are out of here

654
00:54:52,080 --> 00:55:05,920
God bless you