We'll be right back.
This is not Jimmy and Annette today.
We want to welcome you to Living Up in a Down World.
I have a very special guest with me, Pastor Brian Mandel from Bridge Church,
Fritzburg, Texas.
Brother, it's good to have you today.
Man, thanks for having me back.
It's been a minute.
Super glad.
Yeah, it has been a minute.
Annette's been on a roll.
She's been on fire, but she was very busy today and this week.
She just said, why don't you get Pastor Brian back on the program?
I said, glad to do it.
Come on, I'm excited to be here.
Welcome to the show, brother.
We got a lot to talk about.
A lot going on.
A lot of moving parts in the world right now.
I mean, just craziness.
And before we just dive right in, just want to remind you to go to livingupinadownworld.com
and feel free to jump on.
You can subscribe to our podcast there.
That way you can get a newsletter.
Every time we release a podcast, I put out a newsletter about the same time,
just so you know what's coming.
And it just has pictures and information, some personal things,
but we'd love to hear from you.
You can always write us through that.
You can always leave a review.
And there's an opportunity from value for value to show your love
by giving some value our way.
It's all there at livingupinadownworld.com.
Another thing I want to plug, and this is really exciting.
This is something that I've been working on with Adam Curry.
I mean, he's the brainchild.
He's the visionary.
He's got a team doing this.
But I've been just giving input.
We're beta testers.
Bridge Church.
We're that's code for guinea pigs.
And it's been really cool just testing out this thing.
It's called the Godcaster.
And it's really a podcast player, but he's added an extra element to it,
which is really 24 hour streaming music so that you can...
I have it on my Sonos at home and we just play it all day long.
In fact, it's playing right now at the house,
just fill in the air with worship and Christian music.
It's a great way to stay saturated in worship,
the word of God and encouraging things throughout the day.
Absolutely.
So I want to encourage you to check it out.
So here's an easy way to do it.
You can go to bridgefbg.com, scroll about halfway down on that landing page,
and you'll see it's called the Godcaster.
You'll see a whole bank of podcasts that are available to you.
But check out Hello Fred.
That's the one I've really been leaning into.
In fact, I just listened to Curry and the Keeper.
They recorded last night after our class, our discipleship class,
and they were on fire.
They were fired up after the class.
They went home and recorded.
And I just listened to it on the Godcaster today.
And it just works so well and it's easy.
So go to bridgefbg.com, scroll about halfway down,
and you'll see the Godcaster.
And then you can click on any of those.
But check out Hello Fred because this is something that Adam
and two other guys have developed.
And this is brand new technology.
They actually wrote the code for this.
They produced this.
And this thing is going to go big.
I was going to say, this feels like it's very much on the cutting edge
of where things are going with media and news and music
as radio begins to fade and even mainstream media
as that begins to fade and things enter the streaming world.
This is sort of a new expression of that.
Absolutely.
Isn't it amazing how God gives us creative ideas?
It is.
He is Elohim.
No, not Elohim.
It's El Shaddai.
Is it El Shaddai?
Oh my gosh.
I totally lost it.
God Almighty.
Anyway, he is the creative God.
I'll come up with it in a minute.
I totally lost it.
I'm tired too.
I got a little brain fog this morning.
But he's the creative God.
He created the world.
He created.
So if he created all those things, and then in the New Testament
we're told we have the mind of Christ,
then doesn't it stand to reason that if we tap into the mind of Christ
that we can in and through that come up with amazing and creative ideas.
I believe God's people should be the most creative people on the planet
because we have access to the one who created it all.
Absolutely.
Totally.
100% agree.
And so check out the Godcaster.
It's amazing.
Now, if you can't get to it through bridgefbg.com,
you can also go to hellofred.fm and that'll get you there as well.
So check it out.
And so glad to have you with us.
This is episode number 82.
So we're getting a few under our belt.
You're like a veteran at this now.
Time flies when you're having fun, right?
And so I'm excited to have you.
Man, we again, so much to talk about.
There's been a lot happened in the world over the last few months,
but especially the last week and a half.
And so we had an epic and historic election.
I mean, what are your thoughts on that?
I mean, you and I've been talking and we've been having these hallway
conversations, you know, where it's just so much happening.
So what's on your heart with that?
Well, I mean, I know a lot of people feel this way,
but, you know, I've just had this deep sense of I'm witnessing
not just history happening before my eyes, but significant history.
We're witnessing the tide turn in our nation in a way where...
The best way I could describe it is God is opening a window for righteousness.
He's opening a doorway for the church to step up,
stand up, suit up, show up, and have the sort of access and ability
to present the gospel and to bring Jesus into every sphere of society
in ways that maybe we haven't in decades.
In fact, I was reading in the Proverbs this morning out of Proverbs 14,
and Proverbs 14, 34 stuck out to me and it says,
righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
And just watching what happened in this last election,
this last week with Donald Trump coming in, you know, there are people out there
who, you know, who think Donald Trump is the savior.
We, of course, know he is not.
He's a man, but God works through our leaders and he uses leaders
to either open or close windows for his people,
depending on how we've positioned ourselves, how we're praying,
how we're seeking the Lord.
And I believe God heard us.
He heard the church over this last year, year and a half.
And through a man, he's now beginning to open doors and opportunities
for us to bring Jesus in ways that we haven't been able to before.
I'm very excited.
You better preach, man.
I mean, that is just, you are spot on with that.
I love that scripture.
It's funny you mentioned that because I actually posted that scripture today.
Oh, did you? I posted it on social media and just, just, just it's so,
well, maybe I did, maybe I didn't.
I'm going to post it.
I made a, I made a canvas. It's going to happen.
I made a graphic because that one stood out to me today as I read through chapter 14 of Proverbs.
Here's another passage that stood out to me.
This is the other day when I was reading in Proverbs chapter 11,
when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.
And when the wicked perish, there are shouts of gladness.
It's like, oh, that's pretty heavy.
But, but the first part of that, when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.
And then the second verse after that, every time I pray for city council,
or I pray for the mayor, or I open the county commissioner meeting,
or when I prayed for the Senate twice, which I'll probably get back on the Senate floor
to do the open up sessions this next year, by the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted,
but by the mouth of the wicked, it is overthrown.
Yeah.
And what we have seen is that it appears to me that the left just opted for the second version here,
but by the mouth of the wicked, it is overthrown.
And I'm not saying everybody's on the left's wicked.
I'm not even disparaging individuals, but there was such a negative bend to everything they said.
And I remember listening to, you know, whether I was reading a news story or watching a film clip
or watching a news clip, and just the disparaging things that were constantly said.
Now, the right said stuff too. I mean, but it just seems like when in the larger picture of everything,
one outweighed the other. And I always thought about this verse,
that by the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted.
Yeah.
And anytime I speak to any of these city, and I'll probably say this tomorrow when I open up
the Walmart, doing the grand opening for that, just to pray for them and pray about the city,
pray for them and pray a blessing over them, but talk about the power of speaking life,
the power of speaking words of life and hope, and how we actually, our words carry force.
That's right.
And I've seen that just through this whole election process.
A lot of the, you know, the news pundits and the election commentators and the,
and the self-proclaimed podcasts, you know, experts are all saying a lot of the same things
that it was really the things that the left was projecting that cost them the election.
It wasn't their platform, because they didn't have much of one,
but just this sense of disparaging over 80 million Americans by calling them names.
I won't even go into all that, but the name calling and the trash talking and 80 plus,
you know, million Americans woke up and said, I'm done with this.
Yes. And I feel like, man, one of the things that hit me watching it all happen,
especially on election night is that the noise of the media finally got silenced
and the American people were able to see in front of their eyes as results came in,
that they're not alone, that they're not crazy for embracing conservative traditional values
and feeling like the way things used to be didn't need to go away.
You know, whether that be the idea of traditional marriage or that God made us male and female,
or that, you know, our education system has gotten way out of hand and is overreaching the,
you know, the authority of parents and the lives of their children.
I mean, you go on and on and on. These were things that were not even up for discussion
for centuries and millennia. And all of a sudden in the last five minutes of America,
everything's been exploded and normal conservative, God fearing, biblically based people have been
made to feel like they're isolated, that they're alone, that everybody's abandoned that except for
them. And it's easy to feel alone in an environment like that. But we were reminded on that Tuesday
evening that no, no, no, no, a vast majority of people in America still embrace these traditional
values. And I think that was such a boost of encouragement for our nation.
You know, we saw a lot of momentum in the last few weeks leading up to the election and yet
different polls were coming out. Did you notice that over and over it would be like,
it was like, oh, you know, Kamala Harris is winning, you know, Harris-Waltz, they're ahead,
they're up in these states. And then it would be, oh, Trump looks like he's up a few points,
you know, over the last election and, and back and forth. And depending on where that poll was
coming from, every poll has a slant to it. Whether you're talking looking at surveys that have to do
with food or medical field or whatever, they, I heard somebody talking about who was a professional
in this and said they call it shelving. So, or drawing what they'll do though, they'll just,
if they get a poll back, they don't like a survey back, they just put it in a drawer. They do another
one. And they change the wording and they, so polls, that's the problem with polling is it can
be manipulated. And so we were getting, you know, I know the big word is disinformation,
misinformation. I'm ad nauseum on that, but it's very true. You cannot trust what you're getting.
And I think one of the things that really came out through this election was the shock and awe
of the mainstream media. Their minds are blown. If you, if you turn on the news right now,
they're confused. There's mass confusion. They still don't understand how this happened
because they were so certain that they were rooting for the winning side. Oh yeah. I mean,
they were drinking their own Kool-Aid when it came to that. And you can see, and I've even
noticed in some of the left-leaning media, some of them are starting to wake up a little bit
and realize maybe I'm on the wrong side of this thing. And the question is, maybe I'm not reflecting
the people. So my thought on that, cause I've noticed the same thing is that are they just
walking things back because they're trying to save their tails. I mean, let's be real. Mark Cuban.
All right. For example, Oh my gosh, he was disparaging Trump. He was saying Harris is the
answer. And I mean, in disparaging people, disparaging voters, people who voted for Trump,
this happened over and over among celebrities particularly, but it was interesting right after
the election, he went on X and started deleting all of his posts about that. He completely walked
it back. I mean, I'm like, you know, you could be bold if you think you're winning, but now you're
losing and now you're a coward. That was not ever real boldness. That was cowardice from the beginning.
I think people think things reached such a fever pitch in the lead up to this where people
finally began to realize, why am I taking political cues from Taylor Swift?
And Mark Cuban and Beyonce and George Clooney, George Clooney, who are these people?
Where do they come from? What do they represent? What do they know? And why would we take our cues from them?
And I'm not, I'm not here to disparage the acting profession or entertainment. I mean, I've, I've
benefited and enjoyed entertainment all my life, but when it gets elevated over truth, I mean,
think about what these people do. If you're a musician, you present a fantasy on stage, you create a show.
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.
It's an escape for people, movies, actors. Their whole point is to betray somebody that they're not.
So why would we trust industries that are designed to falsify or, you know, make things fantastic?
We should not. We should not, but yet for the weirdest thing, we have celebrity worship and
idolatry in our culture where we're just wowed by these people because they're famous. And I think
America, no, I don't think it's obvious America woke up. They did. We awakened from our slumber,
which has been one of my prayers as much as I pray for revival. I pray more for awakening
on every level. Well, and that's why I feel like this is now becoming such an opportune time
for God's people, for the Church, because as people wake up to some of these more general
realities of life, and as we're going to see the practical effects of changing policies in our nation,
which whether people realize it or not, a lot of policies, a lot of government, and things that
are going to happen are going to be brought back to reflect more of the original founding intent,
more of the constitution, and in some ways more biblical traditional values, whether people realize
that's where it's coming from or not. And in the context of that, as people see those things
actually work, and they actually are a blessing to the nation and a blessing to families, and they
heal aspects of society, it's such an opportunity to bring the gospel with it and help people
understand this is why this works, because let me show you where this comes from. There you go.
And I love what you said about original intent as well, because that's something that's more
in my lane, in my heartbeat. Now I've had to address what's going on in the election from the
pulpit, and so I've been doing that very boldly, very unashamedly talking about it. I even told
the Church, I stepped out of the pulpit and said, this is Jimmy Pruitt, citizen Jimmy Pruitt,
Church member Jimmy Pruitt, not Pastor Jimmy Pruitt, and I'm voting for the platform that is
represented by Donald Trump. I didn't say I'm voting for Trump, I'm voting for the platform
represented by him. He happens to be the face of it, but it's the platform that I'm voting for
because it most aligns with biblical values. And people laughed about it, they clapped and cheered,
it was kind of a fun moment. But it was true, I was stepping out of that role to say, as a citizen,
as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, I have to vote for a platform that most aligns with
my biblical worldview, my biblical worldview as I see it and as I read it. And so to be able to do
that, so I've been very vocal about that. But now that we're past this, instead of now beating the
drum on election and voting and all that, now that we're past it, we have to ask this question,
so what now? And then I just riffed a little bit on that last week, but I want to hear from you,
what do we do now going forward as the church, as followers of Jesus?
Yeah, well, one of the things that we're working on here at The Bridge is bringing people back to
the biblical concept of discipleship. We've got to get away from this idea that to be Christian
means I go to church on Sunday and I'm pretty nice to people. It goes a lot deeper than that. And
Jesus told us to count the cost before we follow Him. And that as disciples, we're called to make
disciples both in the nation and of the nations that we find ourselves in, that we're to preach
the message of the kingdom and to show people who Jesus is. And so we've got work to do,
and we've been given fresh freedom to do it without fear of massive persecution. So much of the
church has endured through so much of the last two millennia. And continues to, and continues to in
other parts of the world. We live in such a unique time in history and in such a unique nation
where we have the opportunity to be a beacon to the rest of the world of the gospel without
almost any hindrance at all. And if we don't steward well what we've been given, that's when
we should fear that it might be taken from us and given to somebody else who will steward it well.
And so I think there's a heavy responsibility on the shoulders of the church right now
to use the freedom we've been given in a way that glorifies Jesus. Absolutely agree Pastor Brian.
That's, you nailed that. We keep saying we've been given this window. I mean I feel like it's
the word that keeps coming to my mind. This is a window of opportunity. And now I love the word
you use because one of my favorite words, we have to steward this moment. And this moment could be
next four years. It could be, it could be the next eight. We don't know what that, what's going to
come. I've got a lot of hope for the future now for what I would call the more conservative side
of things. I've noticed and you can't help but notice the team that Donald Trump is pulling
together. I mean it's an all-star roster. Oh my gosh. I mean it's an all-star roster. Oh my gosh.
I mean it's it's rock star status type things. And the interesting thing I saw a comparison
last night I read a comp and I showed it to Annette where it showed that the most of the ages of
the people he's pulling in, he's pulling in 43 year olds, 48 year olds, 40 year olds, 39 year olds.
I mean this is next-gen. Well everything is interesting. Everything that everybody has said
that Donald Trump is the antithesis of is exactly what he's surrounding himself with including
former Democrats, young people, lots of strong women. I mean you name it. That's who he's got
around him. And people of color and different nationalities. I mean it's it's been remarkable
and and I think all of that put together now sets us up for a very bright future and a real chance
to turn this thing in the next four to eight years. Now as that now as that applies to the
church to me I would have done the same thing anyway. Had had this thing gone the other way
I would have woke up the next morning and got back into work and we're still on mission because the
mission for us as followers of Jesus and you and I as leaders of a church we our mission doesn't
change. All it does now is help us dial in and gives us more clarity in our mission as to what
to do next. And I would say though... Defines the opportunities that we have. Exactly. Now we see
avenues, roads, ways to go with this. And really it tells me it's pedal to the metal time.
This is not where we and I said this a lot I've been saying this to a lot of people including our
church but this is not where we go get a gallon of sweet tea, sit in a hammock and enjoy Indian
summer in central Texas here in the whole country. This is the most beautiful time of the year.
Temperatures like in the high 70s today no wind it's just like unbelievably gorgeous here but this
isn't the time to relax. Celebrate absolutely man when you're working hard for something and there's
a win you should celebrate the win. So I'm not disparaging people getting excited about winning
but to me I'll never forget Coach Rivera in football. I mean we scored a touchdown.
We're all man we're cheering and clapping we're on the field doing our victory dance
and the other teams lining up. I mean they're like you still have to kick a field goal here.
The clock is still running and I remember our coach yanking us to the sideline and all of us said
yeah he said boys he said the game is not over. You scored a touchdown yay now get back out there
and hit somebody. I mean that's right get back in the game. There wasn't time to celebrate
extensively yeah yeah rah rah. Also when I got injured one time no I made a bad play I remember
I missed a missed an assignment as a defensive back and the dude ran a deep pattern on me. They
threw a touchdown right over my head. I can still see the ball in slow motion going over my head in
a perfect spiral. He catches it the crowd goes nuts and I run over the side. I'm so mad at myself
because I missed the it was me it was on me nobody else and I went up to one of my coaches and said
I can't believe that and he said and I thought he was gonna yank me out of the game. He said
get back out there they're running the next play because they were running the the uh the the extra
point and I'm still I'm supposed to be on the field. I'm over there whining to my coach. He said
get back out there there's another play to run. That's right and he wouldn't even let me lick my
wounds and I would say that maybe maybe the election didn't go your way and you're listening
this podcast and and we want you to know we don't disparage you as a person because you voted
different from us. We don't disparage you. We may have disagreements on on certain ideologies and
theology but we're not disparaging anybody and I would even say to you there's not lick your wounds
a little bit but don't get out of the game right of your own. Same way had we have had our side
loss that had it not have gone our way I wouldn't have spent a lot of time grieving because there's
work to be done. If anything it probably would have kicked me into overdrive in that moment.
Well I'll tell you one of the heartbreaking things I've seen the last few days is um people that are
are making statements on social media and different platforms saying things like you know I'm not doing
Thanksgiving or Christmas with my family this year because they voted in a different way than I did
or you know they're all in different ways. Or encouraging others to do the same. Yeah. Yeah you need to cut off
all your friends and your family. And that gets to the root of I think you know what what we've been
looking for to change you know through the platform that we we did support here and that is the attack
on the family. I mean and that's just another expression of it. You know the nuclear family was
the unit that God designed at the beginning of this whole human experiment that he said this is
going to be the nucleus from which all of his blessing flows all of his activity flows all of
his workflows and there is nothing that Satan would love to destroy more than the family because it is
the very fabric of society itself. You know when mothers and fathers and children are not whole
units anymore that's where every evil thing stems from that. That's well said you know in the
Abrahamic covenant you know Genesis he says that in you through all the families on the earth will
be blessed. It was a reference to actually families it was a family statement the covenant of Abraham
which is an everlasting covenant and is still in play and because we here Gentiles have been
grafted into the vine of the Jews it's our covenant now too. We're not replacing the Jews
replacement theology don't get me started. We're not replacing them we're added onto and brought
into the family and the wall of separation in the New Testament tells us it's been broken down
where there's no wall of separation anymore not replacement. Now we're unified we're together
and we get to reap the blessing of that covenant but that covenant was a family blessing. It was.
In you through all the all the families in the earth should be blessed and so we approach that
as families and I you know we know and we have seen how certain things whether it's education
low or high or middle whatever education you want it's all been infiltrated by those who want to
decimate and destroy divide families the nuclear family and so the attacks on the family here's
here's how I recognize the activity of the enemy who's under attack yes who's under attack what is
being attacked and when I see that that tells me this is something that is the apple of God's eye
this is something that God has daylighted or highlighted this is a good thing a right thing
so whatever is under most attack is typically the center of where God is or the or the focus of where
God is in that season of life and we've seen the family under massive attack which tells me the
value of the family in God's heart and eyes or the enemy wouldn't be trying to destroy it and
counterfeit it I mean you couldn't have said that any better and I love what you you said this last
Sunday in church about what our responsibility is right now as the church and then you said it's to
live holy and to show up you know complicated if we want to talk about what what does the church
need to do right now you know congruent or alongside of all that's been happening politically
this year we've we've witnessed a lot of judgment happening in the church a lot of leaders being
exposed a lot of things that weren't as they should be being exposed across churches all over
this nation and there's been a purging and a refining that God's been doing because I think
he's trying to position us to live holy and to show up to be to be the bride without spot and
blemish that he can really work through and show the world who he is accurately and I feel a burden
or a fear of the Lord right now that more than ever I need to be an accurate reflection of Jesus
an accurate reflection of the truth that is in scripture and that if I'm going to speak
as a Christian as a believer I better do it accurately I better be saying what God's saying
not my version of it not the way I'd like it to be not the way it's been morphed in popular culture
or even in popular church culture but to get back to the book to get back to truth and to declare it
regardless of the consequences or how people receive it or not. Very well said PB I mean
literally not trying to shape the word of God to fit my template but I'm having to realign myself
to say this is what God's word for just as an example one of the things I have been adamant
about is continuing to support Israel. I mean not too many months ago it looked like the whole
world was turning against Israel at least America I mean even even the the administration that was
in charge was confused half of them were for Israel half were not they were divided on that
and and they were saying different things in different environments and trying to speak to
different people and I saw the I saw the the disparity between that and like oh no no no you're
not in alignment and so one of the things I did boldly and I post it every Saturday I post hey
here's the sermon and you know here's what's coming I post pictures I always post a picture
of an American flag and a picture of a Jewish flag and I don't care I'm to a point where
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
with my life. I just went through me and Annette together we went through and unfriended a ton of
people on social media on our Facebook that are preaching another gospel. Hyper grace this this
sense of of you know man you're okay I'm okay God's got it covered love covers a multitude of sins
therefore therefore I mean this this easy believism or what's called a greasy grace easy grace. Well
and where has that led I mean now you've got people in those camps talking about do we really
need the book of James? Why don't we throw it out? That was the one I brought up the other day that
just that's that was a tipping point for me where I realized uh they're moving away from the word of
God now they're beginning to judge books of the Bible based on their interpretation of grace and
and so I'm so with you I want to align my life with what God says irregardless of the temporal
consequences or circumstances. My life has to align with Him and here's what I what I'm finding
even in little incremental pieces little minutiae things little nuances where I'm doing that little
adjustments there's massive blessing. Massive. And one of the blessings is confidence. Go there.
There is there is something happens when you not only know you're righteous because Christ makes
you the righteousness of God or God makes you the righteousness of Christ in righteousness of God in
Christ Jesus the scripture says but when you're actually acting righteous that doesn't mean just
pure externals it's the nuances it's who you are when no one's looking it's what you're thinking
about when no one knows what you're thinking about it's the judgments you make when you're driving
down the road and somebody pulls out in front of you and their car's all beat up and you just go
down this this weird path of judging that individual just based on their car I mean I'm
just being really authentic here and I'm just I'm learning to capture those thoughts you know
the scripture says we can take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ so I'm
I'm trying to be quick to repent in the moment like I mean as soon as I something comes in my
mind I'm the Holy Spirit's the more I lean into this I'll put it this way it's not about me
figuring it out it's really me trusting the Holy Spirit that with that flag that pops up that's a
signal wait you're judging that part you didn't even realize you went autopilot there and you've
you made a judgment on that individual by the clothes they're wearing or the other drink or
what they're eating at the dinner table because you're so righteous as a carnivore now you're
judging what's in their food basket at at HEB at the grocery store so I love what you said there
because that's that's exactly what God's doing I think I think he wants to do that for the whole
church of Jesus here's how I know why we're not in the last of the last days his Bible says he's
coming back for a bride without spot or blemish she's got lots of spots and blemishes so I know
he's not coming back too soon so when we can get our act together and again it's not just about
focusing on the externals although that is an element of it that I think we've ignored for too
long well and then you know to understand what the scripture says about that God says that he's given
us his powerful grace and it's that grace it's his power that empowers us to become like Jesus to
change so you know we've been given this gift which has become a curse word in modern Christianity
which is repentance right you know it's not just a one-time entrance into the kingdom thing
it's a daily thing exactly repentance isn't something to be ashamed about it's it's a thing
to rejoice about the lifestyle every day every moment as the Lord reveals to me where I'm out
of alignment with him he's granted me repentance to where I can come back into alignment with him
just through an adjustment of my heart and every time I do that there's an outpouring of grace
an enablement directly from him to follow through on that and to experience what you mentioned that
that washed and clean conscience which allows you to have confidence before the Lord there's
nothing worse than not feeling like you can boldly approach God with confidence you know to feel
ashamed like you can't enter his presence because you know there's a misalignment going on and he's
given us the tool to fix that at any moment. I love that I love that listen to this you prompted
me I mean right there you just you just triggered something and I mean use trigger in the best
possible way that's an overused word in our culture but in Proverbs chapter 10 verse 9
whoever walks in integrity walks securely. I did a little word study on all those key words right
there the word walks means to live in to dwell in yeah it's also means behavior to act like so
whoever walks like whoever acts like whoever lives in integrity the word integrity means exactly what
you think it would the integration or wholeness in other words you in other parts of the Bible
you hear the word perfect or perfection it means complete sound whole well and and so whoever
walks in their in their integrity walks securely that word also means safety but it also means
confidence yes so I'm finding that when I'm having like insecure moments for example when I when I go
to pray when I'm outside of the church like I'm so confident in our pulpit because this is our
spiritual family so I'm like it's like family reunion every time we're together and I feel
comfortable here and safe here and confident here when I go out and do things like pray for a city
commissioners meeting I walk in the room I know one person and there's a whole lot of people there
that look like they mean business yeah that can be intimidating and I know if I'm walking in integrity
I can walk in that room very confident very safe very secure same with praying for I mean could be
praying for the city council meeting stepping into environments where pastors used to actually be the
authority in the room that have now been marginalized by ourself we've removed ourselves
we've capitulated our place but now we're stepping back into those places one other thing I want to
I want to key on I love what you said because you got me you just made me go off in 30 directions
but one of them is this grace has become such a popular thing an overused uh terribly defined
and redefined word in our Christian culture right it just means basically anything goes these days
God's got it covered and and there's there's elements of truth in those statements sure but
the word I think that God is beginning to daylight or highlight is the word mercy wow so mercy and
grace I see as like a hand in glove I mean like when I played baseball I had a catcher's mitt I
was a catcher during part of my career in baseball and that and the more I wore that glove through
the years the more it came molded to my hand and if anybody else tried to put my glove on they'd
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
on it's like a perfect fit because it has molded to my hand I see mercy and grace like that a hand
in glove relationship where they mold perfectly together mercy by definition is that you don't
get what you deserve grace you could flip the you could flip the script and say grace is you do get
what you don't deserve I mean those that's a hand in glove relationship but when you over emphasize
one over the other I think you get out of balance with that and I think that's what we've seen I
believe and I heard lots of people say because I man on the on the heels of the election I'm pulling
up all my favorite preachers I'm pulling up people I I learned from that mentor me spiritually from a
distance whether it's YouTube or whatever podcast and I'm listening to what they're saying and
without fail almost every one of them I would say 99 percent of the people that I listen to all use
the same word to describe what happened in the election God's mercy God is being merciful it
wasn't spike the ball it wasn't slam on the left it was literally this is God's mercy God heard our
cries and he's being merciful in fact several that I love to listen to you even went so far as to say
God stayed his hand of judgment I think we've had limited degrees of it but he actually heard our
eyes and his state his hand when he when we deserve judgment right he gave us mercy what are your
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
hand in glove relationship and it's hard to rightly understand one without the other agreed you know
because of his mercy his grace becomes available and because his grace becomes available I I'm
enabled to please him in ways that I couldn't before you know God asks a lot of his people
but he doesn't ask a lot without supplying even more there you go to be able to fulfill what he's
asked us to do and asked us to be and I remember 15 I was about 15 years ago or so there was a
study done in a segment of the American church that was surveying people's understanding of what
grace was biblical grace and only two percent of those who were surveyed identified grace as God's
power and empowerment of believers only two percent and yet if you look in the New Testament
God's grace and his power are spoken of synonymously absolutely in the same verse often you know that
Paul will be talking about the grace of God and then simultaneously call it his power
yes because his grace is powerful I mean it's it's what destroys the work of the enemy
in the culture but in our lives personally it demolishes the dominion of sin over our lives
it's what enables us to walk in the freedom that's promised in the scriptures you know I
I've met so many Christians who see such a disparity between what they read in their Bibles
about what believers are like and what they experience in their own personal lives
and a lot of that disparity starts with misunderstanding mercy like you said that God's
not trying to put his thumb on me and give me everything I deserve if he did that I'd already
be a goner right that he's starting with me from a place of love and mercy as a father who wants to
adopt me as a son absolutely and then he wants to like any good father would with his son
give me everything I need to succeed and that's his grace beautiful hand in glove you know grace
sometimes people think grace is like a buffer right like it's the buffer between our sin
and God's judgment right that it's just somehow gives us a space of protection and covers
there's an element of that undeserved right undeserved sure but here's another thing I
did a deep dive study many years ago I remember when I did it because the idea of grace really
became started coming up strong when I was actually ministering to a lot of college students back in
Brownwood Texas River of Life church a little church we planted we saw God move in some amazing
ways but a lot of the students I was dealing with they were just that was when among Christians
smoking cigars drinking alcohol just suddenly came on the scene from the Baptist church I mean
these Baptist kids were going ape nuts with freedom in Christ and grace God's grace they
were just my liberty they were running with it right you know and uh I mean they got a little
he gave them an inch they were taking a mile and uh and I was having to work with these students
and they kept bringing up grace grace grace and I finally just said I've got to go to God's word
I got to see what this really so I did a deep dive exegetical study went into the original
language both in the Hebrew in the Aramaic and in the Koine Greek and when I came away from that
study I had the definition you've heard me use a jillion times I've heard you even preach it oh yeah
where where it is God's power God's here's what grace is I'll just say it in a very clear sentence
grace is God's power God's strength God's authority God's ability and God's favor to do what you
cannot in and of yourself do that's the operative word there to do there it is it's grace it's power
to do authority to do favor to do I mean it's all of those to do you've been enabled the scripture
says that when the apostles were doing miracles like an early book of acts you know three and four
man they were going out and God was like showing up it says that they did it by his grace it says
it says the grace was on them to do this and as I pulled in all these elements and created that
definition I've never had a single person ever say uh that's not grace grace means grace means
I can kind of do what I want people never say that out loud but they sometimes practically do it
does that make sense their practice reveals that maybe their words don't because no one will ever
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
to say it you're living it yeah because it's the in the doing that we see what you truly believe
wow wow that's so good and if we could get a hold of the grace of God we would experience so much
in our walk with the Lord that maybe we've been missing empowered yeah how empowered to do
I don't know about everybody listening out there but I want to experience God amen I want to be a
living Bible character come on you know if God is that's a heavy prayer right there brother oh yeah
I know look what they went through to pick which one you're talking about there but yeah I mean if
God is the same today as he always was which is what the scripture says he's the same yesterday
today forever that means he's still able he's still willing and he's still doing all the same
things he's always been doing so the only real question is am I in on that am I a part of that
yeah and it sure looks like I'm invited and so are you gosh the invitations there isn't it yeah
he says get out of the boat come on what was happening in the boat well they were dry they
were safe yeah they weren't drowning and he tells Peter Peter Jesus shows up on the water says hey
Peter looks at him everybody's freaking out Peter being the spokesman he's always the one hoof and
foot and mouth disease right and he says if it's you Lord bid me come to you on the water and Jesus
says come come on come on and the beauty of it is that Peter got out of the boat man we can make fun
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
target because he was just such a go-getter such a doer and the fact that he got out of that boat
and I've said this for years whether he took one step or five it was still a miracle he was the
only one of the disciples who walked on water exactly I don't care if he ended up sucking water
and oh lord help me you know I mean you can you can make fun of what happened there I love the
way it was depicted in the chosen where he just grabbed hold of Jesus and said don't let go of me
don't let go of me I mean it was powerful he said it was such man they did a great job on that
capturing the really what I believe is the heart of it as opposed to the obvious oops how did that
work out for you Peter because we could make fun of it but that's I'm like you I want to be like
that I want to be like Jacob at the river Jabak when when the the man who says the man you know
capital N showed up and he he grabbed hold of him he wrestled with God all night and said I won't
let go until you bless me unless you bless me and that could have meant his death and he I'm sure
the angel lord took it easy on him because I mean he could have just dumped him off the planet
but he wrestled with him he allowed him to toil which is interesting to me that he even allowed
that struggle for hours God seems to place a high value on persistence he does I think he was
welcoming uh Jacob's heart to wrestle yeah to wrestle for the blessing and the question is are
we really willing to as you say become a Bible character but to become a to become a Daniel
to become a I'm already a lot like David I identify a lot with David like I'm quick to repent even
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
we willing to to step into that and are we willing to wrestle are we willing to hang on even if it's
painful even if it's humiliating can you imagine how he's probably getting drug around and thrown
around you know back and forth can't even imagine what that looked like but I love the persistence
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
he had obviously um decided in his heart before that moment transpired that that's the way he was
going to be because you don't you don't decide that in the moment you know in the moment of
difficulty or trial you have to decide ahead of time who you're going to be how persistent you're
going to be and going after the Lord so that when it gets hard you've already decided I'm not going
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
America in this space in this window of mercy we better fortify who we are and what we stand for
and our commitment to truth and just speaking out so that that can be strengthened now
before maybe it's more difficult later very well so I don't think we were ready for it to be as
difficult as it could have gotten it if it had gone another way I had already made up my mind
no matter which way this thing goes I will continue to speak out knowing full well had it
gone the other way there could have been strength you know more strict rules and what we can say
from the pulpit I mean things were starting to lean towards censorship and whatnot yeah I'd
already made up my mind I had a talk with my wife and said Annette if things go the other way I'm
not going to stop saying what I'm saying if we get pulled off of all platforms we'll at least still
have our website you direct people to our website and I am not going to back down and she said I'm
with you all the way and so we'd made up our mind no matter which way it went now I'm relieved
me too but you know what it doesn't make me back off and now if anything it's what you said we need
to fortify our our resolve now we've got this window I love what you said window of mercy
we have a window of mercy now let's leverage this moment leverage this time to make the
make the decisions now before the before the pain before the tribulation before the trial comes
as well said brother well and I and I mean I can't help but think that the revival that you're seeing
break out across the world and I love how you call it decentralized revival you know it's it's
pockets here it's pockets there it's not some big coordinated movement I believe God means for that
to increase you know we know if you read your Bible you know that there is a time coming in the
future where it's it's going to get a lot darker before Jesus comes and resolves everything it's
gonna be wild stuff but I believe what the scripture also tells us that before we hit that truly
darkest of times we're gonna see a massive revival you're gonna see the church in its finest hour
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
for today's show while we were talking oh yeah God the world and other things yeah we covered the
gamut man hey thanks for being on the show today thanks for having Brian it's such a blessing I
love I keep using the word riff because I'm a guitar player but I love riffing on these things
with you because there's just an iron sharpens iron man it's like just an escalation I say
something you key off of that you say something I'm like oh my gosh I think I'm gonna go 12 ways
from here but thanks for being with me today and you're on the show that gave Annette she's at a
Bible study today with a bunch of ladies in our city and having a good time with that I wanted
to say thanks to Jen I just want to give some shout outs to people who blessed us with satoshis
and boosts so Jen thank you so much at Jen also survives grace he's a dear friend of ours man just
a great brother in the Lord also boosted us and Eric PP I don't know you Eric but I want to say
thank you brother for boosting us encouraging us sending those satoshis and just just letting us
know that you're listening letting us know that you're a part of this in fact I'm scrolling through
a lot here Randy Black Randy I don't know you brother but thank you brother for being with us
for hanging with us I noticed you boosted on curry and the keeper as well so thank you so much for
being a part of this and coming along for the ride and also got to say a big thank you to
Adam Curry for a massive striper boost yeah 77,777 sats and love my brother and uh usually we talk a
lot about Adam and Tina but I gotta tell you I just want to want to just give a big shout out
to Adam and Tina Curry just such great friends of ours you should check out their podcast curry and
the keeper you can actually get it on the godcaster so just man go to the godcaster you can go to um
hellofred.fm and you'll find their podcast on there do check it out and uh just a big thanks to
Adam for developing he really felt like God gave him a vision for this godcaster and he feels like
this is his purpose he said you know when he invented podcasting him and another guy named Dave
tag teamed on this thing now 20 years ago he said it felt good it was exciting we felt carried along
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
than me but I didn't realize what that was or who that was and now whenever he speaks and tells his
story he always tells people hey man I didn't invent podcasting God did I just happened to be
the vehicle he's very humble about that and now with this new the godcaster which is a new
a whole new platform which is has the potential to revolutionize radio stations and uh
radio stations I see it it's coming and and he's he's going to be speaking at the national religious
broadcasters uh annual event this year which is a massive event he'll be talking about this he will
be talking he'll be doing a breakout session specifically on hellofred the godcaster but also
he'll be talking around this foundationally as a keynote speaker there and he'll be talking about
so man just so proud of him but uh just just thankful what God is doing in people's lives
who have these unique skills and again tapping into the creative nature of God it's amazing
amazing actually it's the word Elohim that's the creative nature of God the Elohim element I
remember so brother man what's what's next on your sketch you're actually preaching this Sunday
preaching this Sunday we got a men's breakfast coming up on saturday that you're going to be
speaking legacy men legacy men we want to we want to raise up strong men of God and they're they're
coming out of the woodwork yeah here's a short little hint of what I'm going to be talking about
is that we as legacy men have been have been charged by God to not be the ceiling for the
next generation but to be the platform for the next generation and I'm going to go all in on
that word I'm going to beat that drum hard so I'm looking forward to it so you'll be preaching this
Sunday yes super excited about that what's your what's your main topic you're going to be we're
going to be talking about baptism but not like people have ever heard it before there's a lot
more going on in the scripture about what baptism really is and we're going to go deep on it and you
know very few people actually unpack that topic on Sunday morning to me I have an offshoot class
we do a class on before baptisms but we all felt just this this lean into it's one of those things
because we have such a mixture of people at our church we're we're not I would even say
non-denominational we're more inner-denominational and so we have people who from different faith
you know origins and faith families and faith traditions that maybe have a different thoughts
on baptism and for to bring clarity from God's word is going to be huge for people well the title
the message is going to be called the immersed life I love that I saw the graphic I was like dude
that's an awesome graph I told faith I want to be there because that picture was amazing so anyway
thanks again for being with me brother it's a joy to do this life with you and nomers Naomi your wife
such a jewel and we get to do this we get to do this all right God bless you my brother man have
an amazing amazing week hey y'all live it keep living up in a down world and God's good even if
it had gone the other way we'd still be living up in a down world either way but we are out of here
God bless you