WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.919 I have that song on my playlist. So this coffee 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:09.199 cup, hold on, ready, three, two, one. There we 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.619 go. So this coffee cup was gifted to us by the 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:14.539 boys of Mercy Me. You really got, you got that 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:17.660 directly from, no way. Okay. Yeah. That's cool. 00:00:17.780 --> 00:00:21.019 Quick story. They reached out to me, John Schuser. 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:22.820 He's the lead guitar player. One of them. There's 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:25.079 two, two lead guitar players. He reaches out 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.440 through Facebook of all places. He goes, Hey, 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:29.199 I know, I know you don't know me, Pastor Jimmy, 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:32.520 but, Darren Tyler up at Conduit Church in Nashville 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:37.060 is my pastor. I know Darren. That church is growing 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:40.700 big time out there. Great guy. And he said, I'm 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.340 one of the guitar players for Mercy Me. I was 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:46.420 like, oh, that's cool. And he said, hey. So he 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:49.820 was trying to get to Adam. So he knew I baptized 00:00:49.820 --> 00:00:51.740 him. Well, Adam was telling me that they were 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:55.060 fans of Adam's, that they watched his No Agenda 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:57.460 voice. No way. So anyway, that's how that happened. 00:00:57.479 --> 00:00:59.659 So we ended up with these cups. In fact, I'll 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:02.020 just show it around here. Nice. I actually like 00:01:02.020 --> 00:01:04.040 it. I like what it says. Wake up and do my happy 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.079 dance. We should make happy dance the theme song. 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:09.519 Come on now. Oh, man, they rocked that out. So 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:12.019 you'll notice over there, too. Got the tavern 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:15.200 mug on set with us. Excellent. Excellent. I have 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.359 the props. Yes. And, of course, one of my favorites. 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:21.000 Nice. That has become something that is so important 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:23.879 to me. Somebody reached out to Adam Curry recently, 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:27.319 and he forwarded me the email. She lives right 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:29.319 around the corner from the monument. No kidding. 00:01:29.420 --> 00:01:32.040 And she wrote the book on the monument. Oh, wow. 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.719 And she had heard Adam on. Oh, is she the one 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:37.760 that did the book? We carry that book. Okay. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.390 In the Patriot Academy. story yeah she's actually 00:01:39.390 --> 00:01:41.709 sending me and adam both a copy of it because 00:01:41.709 --> 00:01:44.090 he was talking about it she saw him on rogan 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:46.950 and said i actually wrote the book on that i'm 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:48.549 going to send you a couple of copies of that 00:01:48.549 --> 00:01:51.010 nice and maybe someday we could meet up because 00:01:51.010 --> 00:01:52.750 we want to go back there at some point you know 00:01:52.750 --> 00:01:54.609 well go you can't go with us easter because you 00:01:54.609 --> 00:01:56.010 got to be here for easter but we're gonna know 00:01:56.010 --> 00:01:57.890 yeah we're gonna go for the shot heard around 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:00.250 the world 250th birthday right there in lexington 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:02.400 and then drive over to Plymouth and do a little 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.280 Easter service at the monument. Powerful, powerful. 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:06.560 So let's say a word of prayer as we get started. 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:08.979 I'd like to kick off right. Father, in Jesus' 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:12.340 name, what a privilege it is to be here with 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:16.180 Rick, just a man who's so influenced my life 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:18.580 on so many levels and so thankful for his friendship, 00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:21.639 but also thankful for his coaching and his mentorship 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:24.580 in regards to all things constitutional, all 00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:28.180 things about loving our nation well, and also 00:02:29.210 --> 00:02:31.270 pulling this nation back to where it needs to 00:02:31.270 --> 00:02:34.169 be. And so thank you for Rick and the Patriot 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:36.870 Academy, for Kara, the kids, and the interns 00:02:36.870 --> 00:02:39.430 out there, just an amazing team doing amazing 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:42.930 work. And so bless him, encourage him. And today 00:02:42.930 --> 00:02:44.889 we just put before you what we're doing here. 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:47.330 We give it to you, consecrate ourselves, our 00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:49.629 thoughts, our conversation. You take it where 00:02:49.629 --> 00:02:53.150 you want it to go, and we'll riff on it as you 00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:55.669 bring it to us. We trust you in it. And Father, 00:02:55.729 --> 00:02:58.139 for our hearers. And for those who are watching 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:00.860 and joining us, Father, would you encourage them, 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:03.520 give them the grace to live up in a down world. 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:45.830 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. This is our first 00:03:45.830 --> 00:03:49.110 inaugural video version. Uh -oh. We've never 00:03:49.110 --> 00:03:50.389 done it before. You should have picked somebody 00:03:50.389 --> 00:03:51.969 better for that. It's going to be the first. 00:03:52.449 --> 00:03:55.610 Man, we just went downhill. We're going down, 00:03:55.849 --> 00:03:57.349 not up. We're supposed to be living up. We're 00:03:57.349 --> 00:03:58.729 supposed to be living up in a down world, right? 00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:02.009 So I want to welcome you to the inaugural video 00:04:02.009 --> 00:04:04.650 version of this. And we're stepping into a new 00:04:04.650 --> 00:04:07.289 space with this on YouTube and others. And just 00:04:07.289 --> 00:04:09.310 super excited to have you today, brother. You 00:04:09.310 --> 00:04:11.379 bet, man. We're getting to do life together. 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:13.259 You hear me say this a million times. We get 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:15.379 to do this. Well, right now we're in a season 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.339 where we're getting to do life together in this 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:20.040 season. So excited about having you and Kara 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:23.540 and the kids and the whole Patriot Academy crew 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:26.860 and team here in Fredericksburg, Texas. You guys 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:28.959 moved from Dripping Springs. So I want you to 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:31.420 just kick this off by telling us a little bit 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:33.420 about your background. I'll probably ask some 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:35.660 pointed questions. If I interrupt you, just flow 00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:39.199 with me. Just for people who are watching or 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:41.160 listening, because we'll have this both audio 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.779 and video, I want them to get to know who you 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:46.439 are, and I really want them to connect with the 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:49.120 Patriot Academy. So tell us how it started. Just 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.819 give us a quick background on that, and then 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:53.019 why you ended up in Fredericksburg instead of 00:04:53.019 --> 00:04:55.379 Dripping Springs. I think you and Annette are 00:04:55.379 --> 00:04:58.019 a big reason. I think God was bringing us together, 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:00.639 man. This church, this whole environment, this 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.379 whole group, I've never felt more at home. I 00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:06.980 mean, there's no way to tell all the different 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:10.100 times you have said something that my family 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:11.620 looks, we all look around and look at each other 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:13.800 and go, we've been saying that for years. He 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:15.779 said it exactly like we say it, you know, and 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:17.459 just over and over and over again. I mean, even 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:20.839 the title of your show, you know, we re -produce 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:25.750 or re - I guess, did Zig Ziglar's Raising Positive 00:05:25.750 --> 00:05:27.170 Kids in a Negative World. It's just like the 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.410 same kind of theme, right? It's like all this 00:05:29.410 --> 00:05:30.889 other stuff's going on in the world that's bad. 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:33.050 We'll show you how God's going to make good out 00:05:33.050 --> 00:05:34.970 of it. It's just that same attitude. So anyway, 00:05:35.629 --> 00:05:37.689 it's like brother from another mother, man. I 00:05:37.689 --> 00:05:39.649 mean, that's all the time. Even the other day, 00:05:39.670 --> 00:05:41.529 there was one of your sermons. It was probably 00:05:41.529 --> 00:05:44.149 three weeks ago. You said something about your 00:05:44.149 --> 00:05:47.230 mom being a teller and talking about the whole... 00:05:47.449 --> 00:05:49.569 you know, fake, uh, not, you don't handle fake 00:05:49.569 --> 00:05:51.209 money. You handle the real thing. So you recognize 00:05:51.209 --> 00:05:53.389 the fake money, exact same thing with my mom, 00:05:53.430 --> 00:05:55.870 bro. Exact same thing. I even tell that story 00:05:55.870 --> 00:05:58.069 in one of my constitution classes. Cause I use 00:05:58.069 --> 00:06:00.310 the example of study the actual constitution, 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:02.470 not the Supreme court opinions that are not the 00:06:02.470 --> 00:06:04.790 real thing. And I tell, and I'm like, you're 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:06.290 telling that story and cameras looking back at 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:09.689 me going. that's gaga too that's gaga story it 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:12.750 is just amazing it happens all the time and so 00:06:12.750 --> 00:06:15.589 yes i'm telling you man and it's just a holy 00:06:15.589 --> 00:06:16.930 spirit thing adam and i were talking about the 00:06:16.930 --> 00:06:19.050 other day it's like all these things where the 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:20.689 holy spirit just brought so many of us together 00:06:20.689 --> 00:06:23.470 for such a time as this and it's almost like 00:06:23.470 --> 00:06:25.850 it it saves time it's i don't know it's like 00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:27.589 we're starting in the same place we don't have 00:06:27.589 --> 00:06:30.600 to try to figure out how to work together It's 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.240 just been a natural dovetail. Oh, good way to 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:35.220 put that. My word for this year is convergence. 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.639 That's it. And it literally is this merging, 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:42.019 this converging of people, place, things, time, 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:45.100 season, culture, what God's doing in the earth 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:47.959 right now. It's like this convergence of streams, 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:51.500 and I'm just catching the waves. I always say 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:53.720 I don't generate the waves, just catch them when 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:55.459 they come by. And then when you ride that one 00:06:55.459 --> 00:06:57.680 out, you paddle back out and catch another one. 00:06:57.779 --> 00:06:59.819 And that's really what we're in right now. not 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:01.500 having to fight it you know you've ever been 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:03.060 in a season where it's like you're trying to 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:05.379 make it happen trying to make it it's just not 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:07.500 working it just won't come together it's the 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:09.660 opposite of that It's like everywhere we're turning, 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:11.920 it's just smooth. It's hitting that wave exactly 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.519 right. It's so natural as breathing because we're 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:16.579 not trying to generate or make things happen. 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:19.100 It's just God is putting these things in front 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:21.819 of us. I always have called it, for years, the 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:24.480 favor factor. He's putting these things in front 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.480 of us. We simply step into them. And the door 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.000 opens, you step through it. It's like when he 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.300 got Peter out of jail, right? Or Paul, Paul and 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:35.540 Silas, when they were in jail. And the door's 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:37.540 open. What do you do? You walk through the door. 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:40.019 door that's open right no effort they weren't 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:41.360 having to bang on the wall they weren't they 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.439 didn't have a file trying to right right they 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:44.860 had bars back there i don't know how they did 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:47.100 it back in the first century but but they were 00:07:47.100 --> 00:07:49.079 able to just walk out because the doors open 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:50.540 and i feel like that's what we're doing right 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:54.339 now on every level amen well that's uh that's 00:07:54.339 --> 00:07:55.680 the way we feel being here you know we've been 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:57.360 over in dripping springs for 30 years my wife 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.560 grew up there i grew up in the dallas area and 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.300 wiley and um you know when i came down here for 00:08:02.300 --> 00:08:05.120 law school and we met got married it was only 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.060 three years in that I ran for the legislature. 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:10.040 And so we ended up in the state house at a very 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:11.639 young age. And so all of a sudden we're thrust 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:15.399 into this political world and trying to figure 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.839 it out. And what really shocked us was how many 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:21.930 people in that arena We're just constantly finger 00:08:21.930 --> 00:08:24.269 to the wind, kind of blown by whatever was going 00:08:24.269 --> 00:08:26.850 on with no real conviction, no plumb line of 00:08:26.850 --> 00:08:28.930 this is what I'm here for. This is what I'm fighting 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:31.769 for. And so we decided, you know what, we need 00:08:31.769 --> 00:08:33.950 to raise up a generation that has a conviction 00:08:33.950 --> 00:08:37.649 oriented compass of what right and wrong is and 00:08:37.649 --> 00:08:40.110 how to walk that out in the political arena. 00:08:40.149 --> 00:08:42.309 That was where our passion was. And so that's 00:08:42.309 --> 00:08:43.730 when we started Patriot Academy. So it's been 00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:47.149 25 years of training young people. And just a 00:08:47.149 --> 00:08:49.059 few years ago, we started. training old people 00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:51.840 too. So all of us, every age, you know, yeah, 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:53.759 that's right. That's right. It was because people 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.320 our age were saying, where's our program? You 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:58.000 know, we're watching these kids get this foundation. 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:01.000 What can we do to come participate? So now we've 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:02.840 got the coach program. We got the youth leadership 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.179 program and we'd always wanted to have a campus, 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:07.419 but we, you know, we'd, cause we'd bounce around 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:09.159 to state capitals. We do the programs in state 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.080 capitals around the country. And we always wanted 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:12.580 to have a campus cause we knew we've had the, 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:14.100 we get the kids for one week at a time and you 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:15.500 can only do so much. And a lot of the kids would 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:17.120 come back three, four or five years in a row. 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:19.409 So we could build. on it, but we always dreamed 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:21.509 of having them for a year. Our kids went through 00:09:21.509 --> 00:09:24.110 a program like that over the last, I guess, five 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:26.350 years. We were sending them to Hot Springs, to 00:09:26.350 --> 00:09:30.009 Tim Brooks' church there. Paul Kern had them 00:09:30.009 --> 00:09:32.269 for a year. What I saw him do with them when 00:09:32.269 --> 00:09:35.009 he had that year, and we think we're pretty decent 00:09:35.009 --> 00:09:36.870 parents. We're not the best, but we're not terrible. 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:39.470 Like I was saying with Zig Ziglar's Raising Positive 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:41.690 Kids in a Negative World, we did all of that. 00:09:42.190 --> 00:09:44.830 But by sending them to Paul and what they call 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:46.909 Leaders Academy up there in Hot Springs and watching 00:09:46.909 --> 00:09:48.909 their growth over that year, the interaction 00:09:48.909 --> 00:09:51.309 they had with other kids, the iron sharpening, 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:54.330 the grounding, the focus on the Lord. I call 00:09:54.330 --> 00:09:57.909 CBI's casual but intentional meetings. Yes. Those 00:09:57.909 --> 00:09:59.889 are the ones you have after class. Yeah, around 00:09:59.889 --> 00:10:02.169 the fire or just at lunch or whatever it might 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:04.889 be. Yeah, in the dorm or whatever, or in your 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:08.570 case, the mini home. Yeah. To me, that's where 00:10:08.570 --> 00:10:10.789 a lot of life happens. I always say a lot of 00:10:10.789 --> 00:10:13.009 what we do in church is an excuse to get us together. 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:15.029 Exactly. I mean, all the programming, all that 00:10:15.029 --> 00:10:16.889 is all great, and it's important. It has good 00:10:16.889 --> 00:10:19.690 content, but it's really the interaction and 00:10:19.690 --> 00:10:22.149 the conversation to happen after you've been 00:10:22.149 --> 00:10:23.789 in an environment where you've been taught, where 00:10:23.789 --> 00:10:25.549 you're learning something, where your mind gets 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:27.210 pumped, and you're like, I've got to talk to 00:10:27.210 --> 00:10:30.370 somebody about this. Even our Constitution classes 00:10:30.370 --> 00:10:31.950 are like that. I tell everybody the magic happens 00:10:31.950 --> 00:10:34.190 after the video. Play the video. That's the excuse 00:10:34.190 --> 00:10:35.570 to come together, kind of like what you're talking 00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:37.169 about, but then it's the fellowship. afterwards 00:10:37.169 --> 00:10:39.590 where the iron sharpening iron happens and and 00:10:39.590 --> 00:10:41.370 even we tell people at the campus you know we're 00:10:41.370 --> 00:10:42.570 building independence hall we're doing all this 00:10:42.570 --> 00:10:44.669 stuff but the buildings are the carrot man that's 00:10:44.669 --> 00:10:46.730 just getting them there so that you can do exactly 00:10:46.730 --> 00:10:48.350 what you're talking about do life together and 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:50.870 have those moments of inspiration so we saw that 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:53.250 in our own kids saw the result of what happened 00:10:53.250 --> 00:10:55.009 when they did that one year program said we've 00:10:55.009 --> 00:10:56.750 got to do this for these patriot academy kids 00:10:56.750 --> 00:10:58.769 that are coming through the program so that's 00:10:58.769 --> 00:11:00.730 the reason we ultimately wanted to have a campus 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:02.820 And Kara said Fredericksburg from the beginning. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:04.659 I mean, even when we first started looking, she's 00:11:04.659 --> 00:11:06.179 like, Fredericksburg, I mean, the Holy Spirit 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:07.440 was just drawing us here. I was going to ask, 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:09.120 is it something she felt like the Lord was leading? 00:11:09.179 --> 00:11:11.080 We hadn't even been here that much. I think we 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:13.559 had visited here maybe once or twice over 30 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:15.659 years, but she just knew this was the place. 00:11:15.820 --> 00:11:17.759 And, of course, my reaction was, too expensive, 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:19.539 there's no way, you know, it's not going to work. 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:21.480 And so we looked all over the state. She looked 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:23.539 at 200 different places, ranches, you know, and 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:25.759 we did a whole tour of Comedy and Constitution 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.500 every night, 17 nights all around Texas, and 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.059 every night I'd say, Somebody wants their ranch 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:33.919 to be the legacy of Patriot. We got a couple 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.720 offers, like down at the border, no thanks. Midland, 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:39.659 we love Midland, Odessa, but not that much. And 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:42.220 then the Lord opened up Fredericksburg and gave 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:44.940 us this place. And man, it's been fast and furious 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:48.500 for the last, it's only been 26 months now. But, 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:51.100 man, it's been amazing. I literally live two 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:54.220 miles past you. So you've seen us every step 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:56.059 of the way. I've seen it every step of the way, 00:11:56.059 --> 00:11:57.559 driving by there. At first, it was like, what 00:11:57.559 --> 00:11:59.679 is going on over there? I mean, because when 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.240 you drive a road every day, you notice everything. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:02.860 Right, right. Especially if it's something different. 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:05.460 And we were like, man, something's going on there. 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.100 And we watched and watched. I actually remember 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:11.259 hearing you the first time, Rick, was at the 00:12:11.259 --> 00:12:13.200 Lincoln Reagan dinner. Oh, yeah. That's three 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:14.519 years ago. That's right, before we even had the 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:17.289 land. Yeah, the first time you spoke there, I 00:12:17.289 --> 00:12:18.750 think it was the first one they had here, it 00:12:18.750 --> 00:12:21.289 was an inaugural. And I remember, of course, 00:12:21.289 --> 00:12:24.429 I love Laura and everybody else, but I was like... 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:27.740 That guy, I don't know what he does, but I need 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:30.820 to be in his proximity. And I look for that. 00:12:30.899 --> 00:12:33.460 That's something all my life. I always look for 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:35.559 people that had something I wanted. Then I just 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:38.360 go after it. You know, whatever. I look them 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:39.919 up online nowadays. You can do a lot of things 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:41.940 digitally. I got mentors all over the world. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.440 They don't even know they're my mentor. Right, 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.360 right. But that's the beauty of the digital world. 00:12:45.850 --> 00:12:47.929 There's negative and positive. There's positive 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:50.370 a lot if you use it right. But I just remember 00:12:50.370 --> 00:12:52.830 when you all were talking about coming to Fredericksburg. 00:12:52.850 --> 00:12:54.629 Yeah, yeah. That night, I mean, we literally 00:12:54.629 --> 00:12:56.149 threw it out there. You threw the carrot out. 00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:57.990 Yeah, so we'd love to be. In fact, one of the 00:12:57.990 --> 00:13:00.309 guys came up that night, Steve Morosevich lives 00:13:00.309 --> 00:13:02.889 here, and he came up and said, if you come to 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:05.159 Fredericksburg. I'll write the first $10 ,000 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:07.600 check. So I have that piece of paper. He wrote 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.059 it on a piece of paper, and I texted him the 00:13:09.059 --> 00:13:10.580 other day, and he did. As soon as we got the 00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:12.259 place, he donated. And I told him the other day, 00:13:12.259 --> 00:13:13.820 I said, man, I found that piece of paper where 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:15.299 you wrote that down. I said, we're going to frame 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:17.019 it and put it at the campus. But anyway, so that 00:13:17.019 --> 00:13:18.820 night we didn't have the place yet. I think it's 00:13:18.820 --> 00:13:20.299 interesting, though, that you felt that draw. 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:22.799 I think we might have met briefly that night. 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:24.220 I can't remember. I know you did the prayer that 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:25.600 night because I was the same way. I was like, 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:28.240 man, that guy's on fire. So think about that. 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:31.820 That would have been another year and a half. 00:13:32.529 --> 00:13:35.049 before we came and visited the bridge. And I 00:13:35.049 --> 00:13:37.889 remember that first Sunday in November of 2020. 00:13:38.169 --> 00:13:41.350 That would have been November of 2023. And we 00:13:41.350 --> 00:13:44.269 sat there. It was Cameron and Kara and me. We 00:13:44.269 --> 00:13:45.610 were the only three out of the family that was 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:48.250 there. And they were on both sides of me. And 00:13:48.250 --> 00:13:50.830 your sermon, man. I'm telling you, they're elbowing 00:13:50.830 --> 00:13:53.830 me, bruising every rib. Every five minutes you're 00:13:53.830 --> 00:13:55.049 saying something, they're like, did you hear 00:13:55.049 --> 00:13:56.490 that? Did you hear that? And I'm looking around 00:13:56.490 --> 00:13:58.330 for a camera going, is this Candy Camera? What's 00:13:58.330 --> 00:14:00.470 going on? Who is this guy? Everything you said. 00:14:00.629 --> 00:14:02.750 And then you put John Cooper's book up, Wimpy, 00:14:02.750 --> 00:14:04.929 Weak, and Woke. I took a picture, sent it to 00:14:04.929 --> 00:14:06.710 him, and I'm like, this guy's preaching from 00:14:06.710 --> 00:14:09.720 your book. And it was just, I mean, it was so 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:12.559 obvious. I mean, we knew that Sunday. It took 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.139 that one sermon. We said, this is done now. We 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:17.299 waited. We were like, okay, let's just make sure. 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:18.980 Yeah, we'll make sure he's for real. Yeah, make 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:20.340 sure he's for real. He didn't just do that for 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:22.240 us. Right, right. And you didn't even know who 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:23.620 I was. I mean, you wouldn't have known. Well, 00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:25.639 think about it. In a real sense, and I say this 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.980 a lot, I say, if you come to this church, you're 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:29.960 jumping on a moving train. Exactly. I mean, so 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:31.320 you kind of got to get up to speed a little bit 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:33.500 to jump on it, right, or rip your arms off. So 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:36.919 you guys came in as we were really moving down 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:40.220 the street. track. Um, God had just so arrested 00:14:40.220 --> 00:14:42.659 my heart about what's going on in culture, not 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:45.059 just politics, culture in general. Politics is 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:47.320 a part of a much, you know, it's a cog in a big 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.759 wheel, right? Or a spoke in a big wheel. And, 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.220 um, but it just so happens that was more in the 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:55.000 line with what you were doing. And so I can't 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.700 not talk about that thing. The Lord really convicted 00:14:57.700 --> 00:14:59.840 me of a number of years ago. We were in Abilene, 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:04.159 Texas. I i called up the mayor of abilene texas 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.919 back then it was mayor grady barr and i asked 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:09.679 his the gatekeeper his secretary and she was 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.500 the gatekeeper i said i'm a pastor at you know 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:15.080 a church in town just moved here and i would 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:17.000 like to meet with the mayor and she's like well 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:18.779 what would this be about i mean she just was 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:21.039 like a total gatekeeper and it was interesting 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.409 because i got a sense of pushback like I got 00:15:24.409 --> 00:15:26.669 the feeling that when pastors called the mayor, 00:15:26.789 --> 00:15:28.649 it was probably for a negative thing. Yeah, just 00:15:28.649 --> 00:15:29.889 chewing him out for something. It was a complaint. 00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:31.990 Yeah. And I just told her, I said, I just want 00:15:31.990 --> 00:15:34.029 to meet with him and just be a blessing to him 00:15:34.029 --> 00:15:35.970 and encourage him and thank him for his leadership 00:15:35.970 --> 00:15:38.269 in the city. She said, oh, well, we got an opening 00:15:38.269 --> 00:15:40.450 this week. And I mean, it happened that quick. 00:15:40.529 --> 00:15:43.370 The defenses came down. Oh, totally. And I walked 00:15:43.370 --> 00:15:45.250 into the office. She was super sweet. I met her. 00:15:45.350 --> 00:15:47.529 I sat down with Mayor Barr. And I was a little 00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:49.809 nervous. I'm younger. I was a lot younger. And 00:15:49.809 --> 00:15:52.769 I'm like, I felt really led by the Lord to go 00:15:52.769 --> 00:15:55.600 be a blessing. How can we support instead of 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:58.659 always tear down, right? And so I stepped into 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:00.879 his office. He has a guard up a little bit because 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:02.799 he's like, what's this guy want? And I just sat 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.940 in his chair. And by the way, the chair like 00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:07.120 set me a foot lower than him. It was really bizarre 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.639 because he's a short man of stature. So he had 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:11.759 this tall chair. He arranged the room so he could 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.659 feel. His chair popped up and everything. And 00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:16.080 I'm sitting there looking up at him like a little 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:21.039 kid. Alice in Wonderland. Totally weird. But 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:22.919 I was much younger than him. I would have done 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:25.360 that anyway. Posturing is sit below him to honor 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.779 him. But I just said, I'm just here. I'm a new 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:29.779 pastor in town and I want you to know our church, 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:31.720 we've been praying for you and praying for our 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:35.019 city, praying for our city council. And we want 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:37.519 to know how, I'd like to take back to our church 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.799 just some prayer points so that we can remember 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.139 to be lifting you up. And I said, because I don't 00:16:42.139 --> 00:16:44.720 think that government and churches should be 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.679 at odds. I think we can work together to make 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.259 this a better place. And I sang his song apparently 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:52.259 because he invited me. Wow, man. Met with him 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:54.940 for the next year, every month, at least once 00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:58.230 a month to go pray. in his office. I gave him 00:16:58.230 --> 00:17:00.230 the scripture that first day. It was a Proverbs 00:17:00.230 --> 00:17:02.289 11, 11. It says, by the blessing of the upright, 00:17:02.509 --> 00:17:09.390 the city is exalted, but by the blessing of the 00:17:09.390 --> 00:17:12.309 upright, the city is exalted, but by the mouth 00:17:12.309 --> 00:17:15.130 of the wicked, it is torn apart. Man, you were 00:17:15.130 --> 00:17:18.210 way ahead of the game. Oh, wow. He said, do you 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:20.549 have that on a piece of paper? And he took out 00:17:20.549 --> 00:17:22.369 a sticky note, and I wrote it down for him. He 00:17:22.369 --> 00:17:25.190 stuck it on his desk. And I didn't even know 00:17:25.190 --> 00:17:27.109 if he's a believer or not, a Christian. He said 00:17:27.109 --> 00:17:29.109 he sometimes prays, but, you know, you just don't 00:17:29.109 --> 00:17:32.390 know. Is it God fear or what? So we built this 00:17:32.390 --> 00:17:34.769 relationship together. And what he did, he started, 00:17:34.910 --> 00:17:36.410 I'd go, I'm coming to his office. He's ready 00:17:36.410 --> 00:17:38.829 for me next time. He had blueprints of the city, 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:42.289 city plats and rolling them out saying, here's 00:17:42.289 --> 00:17:44.210 our flood issues. And here's where we got issues. 00:17:44.430 --> 00:17:46.950 We got to fix these creeks. And we've got a no 00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:49.750 smoking ban coming up, being placed before city 00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:52.230 council. It's going to be a war. I mean, so he 00:17:52.230 --> 00:17:53.779 started laying out everything. Well, that was 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:57.140 my first step into engaging culture outside the 00:17:57.140 --> 00:17:59.779 four walls of the church. And that did something 00:17:59.779 --> 00:18:02.940 in me. The day that he resigned, he was going 00:18:02.940 --> 00:18:04.920 to resign. He was getting older. He was ready 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.539 to take. take his leave. He called me. He said, 00:18:07.579 --> 00:18:09.180 you're the first. I haven't even told my wife. 00:18:09.579 --> 00:18:11.880 He said, I'm calling you, Jimmy, because you've 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:14.599 walked with me this last year and a half, two 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.720 years. And he said, I want you to be the first 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.160 to know, and I want to invite you. I'm going 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.140 to make it public tomorrow. I'm going to do a 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:23.759 press conference, and you'll be the only non 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.720 -press in the room. Would you come with me? And 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:29.140 so I stepped in there, and I realized all that 00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:31.579 did for me as a young man is it ignited something 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:35.130 in my heart to say, You know, we had a small 00:18:35.130 --> 00:18:37.930 church. We didn't have a big footprint, but we 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:40.730 had, because of this, we had big influence. And 00:18:40.730 --> 00:18:43.630 I realized if you can influence the influencers, 00:18:43.690 --> 00:18:45.589 it doesn't matter how big your footprint is. 00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:48.009 Yeah. And that's being salt and light. If you 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:51.089 can get their ear, get their heart, you can influence 00:18:51.089 --> 00:18:53.450 the world, right? Amen. So that started me down 00:18:53.450 --> 00:18:54.950 that track. So that's my background. That's a 00:18:54.950 --> 00:18:57.910 totally different mindset than most. what most 00:18:57.910 --> 00:18:59.369 are taught in seminary, right? It's like that 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:01.670 separation is truly a separation. We don't even 00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:03.910 go in that arena. We stay inside the four walls 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:05.609 of the church. Yeah, you're going to run off 00:19:05.609 --> 00:19:07.230 your tithers. You're going to run off people. 00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:10.900 And I just remember... And that was before I 00:19:10.900 --> 00:19:12.779 did this, obviously. I did go to seminary, and 00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:14.480 I heard those kind of things. Fortunately, my 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:17.339 undergrad was with the Doug MacArthur Academy 00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:20.000 of Freedom at Howard Payne University. They were 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.220 all poli -sci, and they were pro get involved, 00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:24.960 get your hands dirty. So I think that was probably 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.980 where that seed was planted in me. So anyway, 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:31.059 good things. I love it, man. So why Patriot Academy? 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:32.799 I want to ask you this question. I was a youth 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:35.579 pastor for 15 years. I'm still one. I don't tell 00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:39.369 anybody. I'm totally still that mindset. older 00:19:39.369 --> 00:19:41.190 now helps to be a guitar player you know the 00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:45.089 whole package right total total youth pastor 00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:46.950 guy all these a clipboard and a whistle and i'm 00:19:46.950 --> 00:19:51.589 good to go but uh so so the next generation generational 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.089 transfer is a big thing in my heart always has 00:19:54.089 --> 00:19:57.069 been uh i remember we had a saying touch the 00:19:57.069 --> 00:20:00.599 camp touch the campus touch the world yeah Or 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:02.180 touch the campus, reach the world. One of those. 00:20:02.220 --> 00:20:03.680 Reach the campus, touch the world. I think that's 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.700 what it was. There it is. And that was one of 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:08.480 our mottos. And so we did a lot of campus ministry 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.660 back in the day, whether it was junior high, 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:13.700 middle school, junior high back then, middle 00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:16.200 school and high school. But then we went on college 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:18.980 campuses all over the place. And so I'm curious 00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:21.779 about what led you to begin to think about the 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:24.380 next generation. You know, it really was frustration 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:29.039 at the Capitol and realizing. I'm probably not 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:31.059 going to change hearts and minds here. They're 00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:32.799 already dug in. They're already kind of in their 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:35.000 way. So how do we raise up the next generation 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.160 better? And Psalm 78 started kind of being a 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:42.059 guidebook. It was like, okay, that whole chapter 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:44.680 is essentially how to pass the torch of freedom 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:47.410 and not... fumble the baton as you're as you're 00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:49.049 passing it and what what the negative effects 00:20:49.049 --> 00:20:51.029 are if you don't pass it well and how you can 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:53.029 get the positive if you do and so we even named 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:55.430 we're called Patriot Academy today but the foundation's 00:20:55.430 --> 00:20:57.690 actually called the Torch of Freedom Foundation 00:20:57.690 --> 00:20:59.329 because it's literally about passing the torch 00:20:59.329 --> 00:21:01.549 and then Patriot Academy is just a DBA of of 00:21:01.549 --> 00:21:04.170 that so that that image in my mind was there 00:21:04.170 --> 00:21:06.509 of okay how do we do this well how do we pass 00:21:06.509 --> 00:21:08.630 the torch intact so we got to preserve it to 00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:11.230 do that And then how do we teach them how to 00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:14.430 receive the torch and then inspire them to preserve 00:21:14.430 --> 00:21:17.269 it? So that sort of became the whole idea. And 00:21:17.269 --> 00:21:19.250 that's why initially it was with the youth. But 00:21:19.250 --> 00:21:21.670 then there was this quote by John Jay. He was 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:23.509 the first chief justice of the U .S. Supreme 00:21:23.509 --> 00:21:26.970 Court. And he said that you've got to have every 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:30.130 generation know. And if they know their rights, 00:21:30.269 --> 00:21:31.650 then they'll perceive when they're violated and 00:21:31.650 --> 00:21:33.289 be the better prepared to defend and assert them. 00:21:33.390 --> 00:21:35.910 But he had this phrase. He said, teach the rising 00:21:35.910 --> 00:21:38.960 generation to be free. And I thought that was 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.099 always, for the first 10, 15 years of what we 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:42.519 were doing, I thought, well, that's the youth. 00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:45.059 And then I started realizing, actually, every 00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:47.400 generation, there's a rising generation in our 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:50.519 generation, in every generation, and just how 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:53.019 civically ignorant we were and how the church 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:54.960 had become civically ignorant too. Well, biblically 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.740 ignorant too, right? You got 9 % reading the 00:21:56.740 --> 00:22:00.059 Bible, but very civically ignorant and going, 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:02.380 okay, we can change that. Ignorance is curable. 00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:04.640 We just have to... be willing to take the time 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:06.440 to dive in, study these things. And when we do, 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:08.180 and that civic literacy goes up and biblical 00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:11.240 literacy goes up, then truth, actually people, 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:13.099 you know, we always say truth will set you free, 00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:15.819 but you got to know the truth. So finding that 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:18.759 truth, raising that literacy just became a total 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.940 mantra for us. Wow. I love that. When I met you, 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:23.579 well, actually the first time I heard you speak, 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:24.920 and you were talking about Patriot Academy, I 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:27.519 was like, this was exactly my mentality for so 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:30.019 many years is we've got to continue to raise 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:31.920 up. Of course, being in the church world, I'm 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:33.579 a professional Christian, as Alan Jackson says. 00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:36.460 Being in the church world, we've watched churches 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:39.740 grow old, not so into the next generation, not 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:42.000 raise up the next generation, train them in the 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.759 way they should go, right? And when you're old, 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:45.299 you won't depart. They didn't do that. And so 00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:47.480 what happened was these churches grew old, and 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:49.940 then their light went out. Yeah. They were gone. 00:22:49.980 --> 00:22:52.700 They started to literally die, die off. And you 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:55.619 saw that generation getting essentially stolen 00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:57.559 by the enemy because they weren't taught those 00:22:57.559 --> 00:22:59.839 things. So when they go into the college or wherever 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.200 and all of the negative about the church, negative 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:04.839 about God, and they're challenged. I mean, a 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:07.039 lot of those professors, they literally set that 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.440 out as their goal to basically rob you of your 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:10.900 faith. I'm going to show you why you've been 00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:13.099 lied to. And then if you're not ready to give 00:23:13.099 --> 00:23:15.450 an answer like we're supposed to be. You feel 00:23:15.450 --> 00:23:18.269 stupid, you feel unequipped, you know, and then 00:23:18.269 --> 00:23:19.630 you're mad at your parents and your pastor and 00:23:19.630 --> 00:23:21.630 everybody else for not equipping you, so you 00:23:21.630 --> 00:23:23.170 walk away. So that's why you ended up with... 00:23:23.289 --> 00:23:26.029 I mean, I saw studies that said 80 % of Christians 00:23:26.029 --> 00:23:27.609 were walking away from the faith in college, 00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:30.750 and it's because we failed to prepare them to 00:23:30.750 --> 00:23:32.589 be ready to give an answer. Wow. You know, I've 00:23:32.589 --> 00:23:35.029 always heard this statement, because that's so 00:23:35.029 --> 00:23:37.589 spot on. You know, we're one generation away 00:23:37.589 --> 00:23:40.210 from whatever. That's right. Paganism. That's 00:23:40.210 --> 00:23:42.490 right. Loss of our freedoms. We're one generation 00:23:42.490 --> 00:23:45.289 away, which means if we're not willing to, as 00:23:45.289 --> 00:23:48.660 those forefathers had these great... vivid imagery 00:23:48.660 --> 00:23:52.019 of laying down in the mud so that the next generation 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:55.500 can walk over them. And so we've got to be, and 00:23:55.500 --> 00:23:57.819 I've always said it this way, we can't be the 00:23:57.819 --> 00:23:59.859 ceiling for the next generation. We got to be 00:23:59.859 --> 00:24:02.220 the floor. We got to be the launching pad. So 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:06.349 we hand them the baton. And at this level where 00:24:06.349 --> 00:24:09.410 they continue to rise and run. And so I brought 00:24:09.410 --> 00:24:13.210 on Pastor Brian, as you know, a year and a half 00:24:13.210 --> 00:24:16.069 ago. And everybody's goo -goo over him. And here's 00:24:16.069 --> 00:24:18.569 the deal. It's so exciting to me is I saw the 00:24:18.569 --> 00:24:20.730 call of ministry on his life 20 -plus years ago 00:24:20.730 --> 00:24:23.450 and invited him to come aboard. And he became 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:26.009 our youth pastor and just took off. And he's 00:24:26.009 --> 00:24:27.750 one of those guys that I've been willing to lay 00:24:27.750 --> 00:24:30.089 down in the mud for because I see this greatness 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:32.650 in him. Him and others like him. We've got others 00:24:32.650 --> 00:24:35.829 in ministry all over the place. But to be able 00:24:35.829 --> 00:24:38.730 to have him here close now, you know, I've hired 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:42.119 him three times. I said, dude, you cannot leave 00:24:42.119 --> 00:24:45.380 three times. This is it, man. This is it. But 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.619 it's because we've walked together. Anytime he 00:24:48.619 --> 00:24:51.079 left, he left with blessing. He left with honor. 00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:53.599 And he's returned with honor. There were seasons 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:55.720 probably that he needed. Absolutely. That convergence 00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:57.460 you were talking about, all those things he went 00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:59.119 and did, I bet I have no idea what he was doing. 00:24:59.180 --> 00:25:00.640 Nine years of business. There's no doubt. In 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.259 the business world. And military and all of that. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.319 All of it came back together. And so I just see 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:08.839 that. That's so important that we continue to 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:11.180 raise up the next generation and pour into them. 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:13.980 So thank you. Too much of ministry dies because 00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:16.180 we don't, right? You get these personality types, 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:19.500 and God does great things through them, but then 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:21.380 when they're gone, that whole thing dies because 00:25:21.380 --> 00:25:23.059 they didn't pass the torch well. They hang on 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:25.660 to it. Yeah. They're not willing to let go. And 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:27.819 that's where I'm at with Pastor Brian. I'm just 00:25:27.819 --> 00:25:30.700 giving him more and letting him run with WWJD, 00:25:30.779 --> 00:25:33.759 our discipleship core class. Dude, those Wednesday 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:36.400 nights, man, I've been bragging about on y 'all 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:39.339 all over the country because it's exactly what 00:25:39.339 --> 00:25:41.740 the church needs. Because that depth that y 'all 00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:44.539 are going into is preparing us as the congregation 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:46.859 to be able to go be ready to answer whenever 00:25:46.859 --> 00:25:49.319 these things come up and to just be better disciples 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:51.460 to go live that stuff out. So y 'all are doing 00:25:51.460 --> 00:25:53.859 a phenomenal job. know I've told you this in 00:25:53.859 --> 00:25:57.079 front of other people at church, but... It always 00:25:57.079 --> 00:25:59.200 seems like everywhere I've been before, if the 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.400 pastor's not there and the second guy gets up, 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:04.079 you're like, but not here, man. It could be either 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:05.740 one of y 'all walking up on Sunday morning. You 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.779 know you're going to be fed well. You're just 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:11.180 blessed to have him as your assistant pastor. 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:13.059 What's his official title? I don't even know. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:14.880 Executive pastor. Executive pastor. Okay, got 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:16.880 it. Yeah, yeah. No B team here, brother. No B 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.819 team. That's exactly right. And that's it, empowering 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.619 people to rise up and lead. I was taught by good 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:24.779 leaders that the best thing you can do is bring 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:27.000 smarter. better people around you. Exactly. And 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.000 then that'll elevate you as well. So iron sharpens 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.380 iron, right? Amen. Amen. So let's continue. Let's 00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:34.319 get back on with you because, man, just super 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:36.319 excited to have you. And this won't be the first 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:38.839 time, brother. We're going to have you on as 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:40.799 a regular because I think it's important. So 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.460 you've been called America's constitutional coach. 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.480 How did that title come about and where did that 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:49.380 come out of? We just, man, we made it fun actually 00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:51.700 to study the constitution. So more people were 00:26:51.700 --> 00:26:54.259 willing to, which was a boring topic to me in 00:26:54.259 --> 00:26:56.049 high school. in college. I hated history. I hated 00:26:56.049 --> 00:26:58.970 government. I slept through that. Then I found 00:26:58.970 --> 00:27:00.750 David Barton. Somebody gave me a cassette tape 00:27:00.750 --> 00:27:02.089 of David Barton. I'm going to show my age here, 00:27:02.150 --> 00:27:04.329 cassette tape. All of a sudden, I was looking 00:27:04.329 --> 00:27:06.490 at history through the eyes of the people that 00:27:06.490 --> 00:27:08.390 experienced it. He was so good at telling the 00:27:08.390 --> 00:27:10.150 stories, making you feel like you were going 00:27:10.150 --> 00:27:13.789 in a time machine. I adopted that from him. Then 00:27:13.789 --> 00:27:15.750 being raised on Zig Ziglar and him being one 00:27:15.750 --> 00:27:19.410 of my mentors, more his style of teaching. David 00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:21.589 was so good at this. When I first went to work 00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:25.460 for David, Wow, 2001, so 24 years ago. He said, 00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:28.500 Rick, you don't need to be me. Don't try to just 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:30.759 duplicate exactly what I'm doing. Take what I've 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:33.400 got and then put your style on it, right? Go 00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:36.880 be you. Just use the content, but do it in your 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:38.779 style, which my style is very different. I'm 00:27:38.779 --> 00:27:40.960 more of a Zig Ziglar type, motivational exhorter. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:43.839 David's more professor -like, right? And so we 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:45.279 had two totally different styles, which ended 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:47.079 up for wall builders being great because it made 00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:50.160 our radio show alive. And then I'd go talk to 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.319 these Amway groups and big conventions and sales 00:27:53.319 --> 00:27:55.779 groups and people that wanted it to be more of 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:57.960 a motivational thing. Anyway, so that turned 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:01.099 out to be a really good combination for what... 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:03.869 made the Constitution classes entertaining and 00:28:03.869 --> 00:28:05.549 exciting. And then we went to the historical 00:28:05.549 --> 00:28:08.490 sites and brought it to life. And so we put, 00:28:08.490 --> 00:28:10.130 man, we put so many people through the Constitution 00:28:10.130 --> 00:28:13.470 classes. And then it became during COVID, that's 00:28:13.470 --> 00:28:14.930 when we got the moniker America's Constitution 00:28:14.930 --> 00:28:17.150 Coach because all these people were going, okay. 00:28:17.529 --> 00:28:19.529 Can they do this to us? You know, does government 00:28:19.529 --> 00:28:20.950 have the power to do this? What's constitutional? 00:28:21.109 --> 00:28:23.130 What's not? People, for the first time, really 00:28:23.130 --> 00:28:25.210 start asking questions. You know, they actually, 00:28:25.349 --> 00:28:27.390 instead of trying to get them to pay attention, 00:28:27.470 --> 00:28:28.869 it was at their front door. This is why I say 00:28:28.869 --> 00:28:30.589 we don't chase politics. It showed up at our 00:28:30.589 --> 00:28:31.930 front door. It showed up at our front door. Exactly 00:28:31.930 --> 00:28:33.990 like you said. So that really opened the door. 00:28:34.089 --> 00:28:36.250 We went from, I think right before COVID, we 00:28:36.250 --> 00:28:38.450 had about 200 Constitution coaches. Oh, my. We 00:28:38.450 --> 00:28:41.029 now have 30 ,000. Oh, my. So it just exploded 00:28:41.029 --> 00:28:44.640 because of. The first time that most people had 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.279 experienced the Buddha government on their neck 00:28:46.279 --> 00:28:49.259 in America and became so close to seeing everything 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:51.839 crumble that all of a sudden people woke up and 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:53.420 said, you know what? Like you said, it's one 00:28:53.420 --> 00:28:56.079 generation away, and I haven't done a good job 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:58.240 of learning this myself, and I certainly haven't 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:00.259 done a good job of teaching my kids. Where can 00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:02.059 I go to learn it? And so that's where Patriot 00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:03.839 Academy was. I think God had been preparing us, 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:06.200 obviously, for 20 years to be ready for that 00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:09.140 moment and step into that gap and teach that. 00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:12.559 And it's been fun, honestly, to see those light 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.579 bulbs come on, see people get excited. People 00:29:14.579 --> 00:29:16.839 hungry for it. Yeah, yeah. It's one thing to 00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:19.380 teach a crowd that's not really hungry. You're 00:29:19.380 --> 00:29:22.099 working. Oh, yeah, man. But when you teach people 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:24.400 who are hungry, it pulls it out of you. I'm telling 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.299 you. That's when a teacher, a coach. You're in 00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:31.309 the sweet spot. Because normally, and you probably 00:29:31.309 --> 00:29:33.329 like this too, when I go speak at a group, I 00:29:33.329 --> 00:29:34.829 always have to tell myself, okay, if just one 00:29:34.829 --> 00:29:37.029 person gets it. If one person gets it, that's 00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:38.730 why I'm here. Get yourself going. Yeah, and that's 00:29:38.730 --> 00:29:41.099 enough for me to do it. But now it's like. I 00:29:41.099 --> 00:29:43.359 mean, everybody's really into it. Well, listen, 00:29:43.539 --> 00:29:46.339 we did biblical citizenship here, and, bro, that's 00:29:46.339 --> 00:29:48.640 one of the best things we ever did. By the way, 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:50.819 I don't know if I even told you this, but we 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:54.420 actually leveraged the energy from biblical citizenship. 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:57.180 We did eight weeks here at the church, had phenomenal 00:29:57.180 --> 00:29:59.440 turnout for that. Yeah, that was awesome. Nearly 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:02.759 200 people every night. And that's when we were 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:05.619 like, this is the time to drop the WWJD because 00:30:05.619 --> 00:30:07.319 we've got people in the habit of coming. So you 00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:10.200 just segued right off. Springboard from that. 00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:13.740 We call that movement in church world where you 00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:15.380 want to move from one thing to another and not 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:17.700 let this gap happen because people lose momentum, 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:21.619 get out of the habit. But that class was so... 00:30:22.549 --> 00:30:24.569 For me, this is where I learned about the National 00:30:24.569 --> 00:30:26.710 Monument to the Forefathers. Kirk Cameron did 00:30:26.710 --> 00:30:30.349 a phenomenal job teaching around that thing. 00:30:30.430 --> 00:30:32.470 I had not seen the movie Monumental. I've seen 00:30:32.470 --> 00:30:35.710 it now since. But he basically took what he learned 00:30:35.710 --> 00:30:38.190 from that and compressed it into a phenomenal 00:30:38.190 --> 00:30:41.309 teaching on this amazing monument. He's such 00:30:41.309 --> 00:30:43.849 a gifted teacher, too. He really is. Again, making 00:30:43.849 --> 00:30:46.720 it fun, making it entertaining. applicable to 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.000 our lives right instead of just this old monument 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:50.980 it's like what do these things mean and then 00:30:50.980 --> 00:30:52.480 he takes it and goes okay here's what we need 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:55.000 to do with it i love kirk man he's so good at 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.029 that So good. So I do have some paraphernalia 00:30:57.029 --> 00:30:59.349 on here for a reason. Awesome. And one is because 00:30:59.349 --> 00:31:02.569 when I started really reengaging culture and 00:31:02.569 --> 00:31:05.170 stepping into the space, I realized how much 00:31:05.170 --> 00:31:07.869 I didn't know or had just forgotten from college 00:31:07.869 --> 00:31:10.049 and high school. It's been a minute. So at my 00:31:10.049 --> 00:31:12.869 age, and I was like, I need resources. I need 00:31:12.869 --> 00:31:16.170 help. And with you coming along, so I'm going 00:31:16.170 --> 00:31:18.750 to show some things. First of all, I like this 00:31:18.750 --> 00:31:24.089 book pretty good. I might recommend this. You 00:31:24.089 --> 00:31:26.029 better stay away from that guy, man. You'll be 00:31:26.029 --> 00:31:28.670 on Right Wing Watch's most hated list. I read 00:31:28.670 --> 00:31:30.009 this on the airplane. I thought we were going 00:31:30.009 --> 00:31:35.309 down. So this is a great book by Rick. What moved 00:31:35.309 --> 00:31:37.529 you to write this book, by the way? Because everyone 00:31:37.529 --> 00:31:40.690 needs to read this book, literally. If you're 00:31:40.690 --> 00:31:42.730 stepping into this space for the first time and 00:31:42.730 --> 00:31:45.650 you're beginning to relearn and re -remind yourself, 00:31:46.009 --> 00:31:48.789 this is one of the best books out of everything 00:31:48.789 --> 00:31:50.309 I've read. Thank you, man. I'm not just blowing 00:31:50.309 --> 00:31:53.539 smoke. I really mean that. It helped Lee. actually 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:55.819 turned me on to this and lit him up. And I said, 00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:57.900 if it's lighting Lee up, I got to read this book. 00:31:57.940 --> 00:32:00.180 And I did. In fact, I read most of it on an airplane. 00:32:00.740 --> 00:32:03.940 And so what, what inspired you to, to get this? 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.299 Well, two, two things. First of all, Newt Gingrich 00:32:06.299 --> 00:32:08.440 gave a talk on the declaration of independence 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:11.720 that just lit me up. Like that made me want to 00:32:11.720 --> 00:32:16.000 break down. what I call in the book, the frame, 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:19.339 freedom's frame, and really understand how to 00:32:19.339 --> 00:32:21.779 apply the Declaration to today. And then David 00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:25.140 Barton's book, Original Intent, is so good, but 00:32:25.140 --> 00:32:28.319 it's so big and so thick and so scholarly that 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:31.079 I knew that most people like me... would not 00:32:31.079 --> 00:32:32.880 get through it. Which that would be me. Yeah, 00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:35.660 so I was like, I need a dumbed -down version 00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:38.420 of Barton's original intent. Remember those yellow 00:32:38.420 --> 00:32:40.579 books? Yeah, it was like the Cliff Notes, right? 00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:43.980 For dummies. Constitution for dummies. That's 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:45.799 what I should have called it. Declaration for 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.279 dummies. Put a little cover on it. Yeah, so those 00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:51.220 two things converged to write that book. And 00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:53.660 I had actually kind of, you know, we talked about 00:32:53.660 --> 00:32:56.529 Zig. I had sent Zig back in... I don't know, 00:32:56.589 --> 00:33:00.430 93, 94. I had sent him a book that I had written, 00:33:00.569 --> 00:33:03.490 and I sent him the book, and I asked him to do 00:33:03.490 --> 00:33:05.269 the foreword on it. And he calls me, and he says, 00:33:05.349 --> 00:33:07.910 he said, Rick, I know three things. There is 00:33:07.910 --> 00:33:10.849 a God, I'm not him, and neither are you. Burn 00:33:10.849 --> 00:33:14.470 the book. I was like, what? I was like 25 years 00:33:14.470 --> 00:33:17.730 old, and it was such an arrogant book. Honestly, 00:33:18.009 --> 00:33:20.549 I'd gotten into Tony Robbins and a lot of this 00:33:20.549 --> 00:33:24.049 stuff, and a lot of it was humanist, almost new 00:33:24.049 --> 00:33:28.029 age. I had my scripture in there, but it was 00:33:28.029 --> 00:33:30.109 very clear I was leaning too far into that stuff, 00:33:30.190 --> 00:33:32.490 and Zig knew. He instantly recognized it, and 00:33:32.490 --> 00:33:34.970 he was like, Rick, I'm telling you, when you 00:33:34.970 --> 00:33:36.710 get a little older, you're going to wish you 00:33:36.710 --> 00:33:38.490 hadn't written this book. Of course, I hang up 00:33:38.490 --> 00:33:39.690 the phone, and I'm thinking, oh, the old man 00:33:39.690 --> 00:33:42.259 just doesn't get it. Jimmy, it wasn't six months. 00:33:42.339 --> 00:33:43.960 I was trying to get every copy and burn it. I'm 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:46.559 not kidding you, man. And so 10 years later. 00:33:46.859 --> 00:33:48.240 No, it would have been longer than that. It would 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:51.460 have been almost 13 years later. I had been seeing 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:53.660 Zig on the circuit. Like, I got to open for him 00:33:53.660 --> 00:33:56.000 at this event. And I'm doing all these. And when 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:57.839 I opened for him at this big event in Houston. 00:33:58.890 --> 00:34:01.029 Well, I was nervous because it was a big crowd. 00:34:01.109 --> 00:34:02.829 It was like 7 ,500 people. I'd never spoken in 00:34:02.829 --> 00:34:05.109 front of that many people. And I'm going on right 00:34:05.109 --> 00:34:07.769 before Zig Ziglar. And so I'm backstage, nervous 00:34:07.769 --> 00:34:10.409 as I can be, and Zig could tell. And so he comes 00:34:10.409 --> 00:34:12.289 over and he prays for me. And so I go out and 00:34:12.289 --> 00:34:13.969 give the speech. I get a standing ovation. I 00:34:13.969 --> 00:34:15.969 come back, and he comes over to me, and he goes, 00:34:16.070 --> 00:34:18.250 now you're ready to write that book. Wow. And 00:34:18.250 --> 00:34:20.849 so I'm in tears, you know. Oh, my gosh. I write 00:34:20.849 --> 00:34:23.670 Freedom's Frame. I send it to him. And actually, 00:34:23.789 --> 00:34:25.510 it was a couple years later because every time 00:34:25.510 --> 00:34:26.750 I'd see him, he'd be like, how's that book coming, 00:34:26.849 --> 00:34:28.719 Rick? How's that book coming? I'm working on 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:30.820 it. I'm working on it. We need people to go to 00:34:30.820 --> 00:34:32.900 us. Don't we? Yes, no doubt. And I, and I probably, 00:34:32.980 --> 00:34:34.179 I don't know if I would have actually finished 00:34:34.179 --> 00:34:36.019 if it hadn't been for him continuing. Cause he's 00:34:36.019 --> 00:34:37.420 my hero. You know what I mean? This is like the 00:34:37.420 --> 00:34:40.320 guy that I was raised on. Yes. I mean all of 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.260 that. And so anyway, when I sent him the book 00:34:42.260 --> 00:34:46.139 and he sent me back the forward. Bro, I don't 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:47.800 remember where I was in the country, but I remember 00:34:47.800 --> 00:34:50.519 being in a hotel room, and I was bawling like 00:34:50.519 --> 00:34:53.780 a baby. It was just like that. For him to write 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:57.320 that forward 15 years later, after he had told 00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:00.539 me with that first book I wasn't ready, it was 00:35:00.539 --> 00:35:04.420 a big deal. Anyway, so that all led to writing 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:06.659 that book so that people would rediscover these 00:35:06.659 --> 00:35:08.300 principles and declaration. And like Zig says 00:35:08.300 --> 00:35:10.360 in the foreword, it's basically for every citizen. 00:35:10.940 --> 00:35:13.099 just to understand the principles that made America 00:35:13.099 --> 00:35:15.119 great. It's very much like the monument. And 00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:16.699 then what can you do about it? So a lot of it's 00:35:16.699 --> 00:35:19.159 action steps too. It's beautiful. And tell us 00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:22.579 where anybody's watching or listening. PatriotAcademy 00:35:22.579 --> 00:35:24.860 .com. There you go. PatriotAcademy .com, easiest 00:35:24.860 --> 00:35:27.400 place to get it. And in fact, we've got a new 00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:29.719 course coming out later this summer. We're going 00:35:29.719 --> 00:35:31.820 to launch it on July 4th, of course, because 00:35:31.820 --> 00:35:34.469 we're... As of today, while we're recording, 00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:38.269 we're 411 days from the 250th birthday of the 00:35:38.269 --> 00:35:41.190 nation. So it's the countdown is there. Yeah. 00:35:41.250 --> 00:35:43.369 And so we want to launch this new course. We're 00:35:43.369 --> 00:35:46.730 going to call it a blueprint for rebuilding liberty 00:35:46.730 --> 00:35:49.630 with truth, justice, and the biblical way. So 00:35:49.630 --> 00:35:51.269 I'm a Superman fan, right? Truth, justice, and 00:35:51.269 --> 00:35:53.190 the American way. But the American way is essentially 00:35:53.190 --> 00:35:55.010 the biblical way. That's how the nation was built. 00:35:55.210 --> 00:35:58.889 And so it'll basically be an upgrade to Freedom's 00:35:58.889 --> 00:36:01.269 Frame, but in a video course that'll kind of 00:36:01.269 --> 00:36:03.349 like biblical citizenship, but a shorter one, 00:36:03.389 --> 00:36:05.130 like a four -week one. Something you can do online, 00:36:05.349 --> 00:36:08.030 too. I mean, that's beautiful. And the goal is 00:36:08.030 --> 00:36:10.750 to just talk about for the next year the Declaration 00:36:10.750 --> 00:36:13.750 so that on the 250th, July 4th, everybody can 00:36:13.750 --> 00:36:16.289 revive those principles of the Declaration. Some 00:36:16.289 --> 00:36:18.510 of the most inspirational words for me stepping 00:36:18.510 --> 00:36:21.949 back into this world after being... out of it 00:36:21.949 --> 00:36:24.210 for so long and then when the lord totally brought 00:36:24.210 --> 00:36:26.469 me back in where the declaration of independence 00:36:26.469 --> 00:36:28.769 is that preamble i mean that opening is like 00:36:28.769 --> 00:36:31.769 it's genius i've it's one of those beautiful 00:36:31.769 --> 00:36:34.289 pieces of literature i've ever read to where 00:36:34.289 --> 00:36:37.369 when i read it i get emotional yeah i can barely 00:36:37.369 --> 00:36:39.789 read i think i think jefferson was absolutely 00:36:39.789 --> 00:36:42.329 god inspired to do it i was at a rotary club 00:36:42.329 --> 00:36:44.730 this morning and i had forgotten that their first 00:36:44.730 --> 00:36:46.250 thing that they you know they do their little 00:36:46.250 --> 00:36:48.570 their four step thing that they put and the first 00:36:48.570 --> 00:36:53.099 one is first Is it true? And so after they did 00:36:53.099 --> 00:36:54.519 that, I just springboarded off that, and I was 00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:56.219 like, you guys realize we're about to celebrate 00:36:56.219 --> 00:36:58.679 the Declaration of Independence. We hold these 00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:01.599 truths. And if you don't build on truth, the 00:37:01.599 --> 00:37:03.420 whole culture falls apart. And that's what happened 00:37:03.420 --> 00:37:05.519 to us as we started buying into moral relativism. 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:08.519 There is no truth. Anything goes. Everybody has 00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:11.280 their own truth. Now, wait a minute. UBU. Yeah, 00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:13.780 UBU, whatever that is. Whatever, it's okay. So 00:37:13.780 --> 00:37:16.139 getting back to we hold these truths. truths 00:37:16.139 --> 00:37:18.559 to be self -evident is critical. Not my truth. 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:21.260 Not my truth. These truths. The truth. Oh, brother. 00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:23.619 Oh, get me going on that. Here's another good 00:37:23.619 --> 00:37:25.500 one. I want to get some resources to people. 00:37:25.659 --> 00:37:27.780 This was recommended to me by another pastor 00:37:27.780 --> 00:37:31.920 friend. America's God and Country by William 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:34.500 Federer. Bill Federer is a national treasure. 00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:37.519 That guy, when I have him on radio, you ought 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:38.960 to get him on your show, man. When I have him 00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:41.719 on, I just ask one question, and 30 minutes later, 00:37:41.780 --> 00:37:43.659 the show is full of incredible information. I'm 00:37:43.659 --> 00:37:45.840 telling you. You've got to be intimidating. He's 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:48.719 like Barton, walking encyclopedia, man. I'd be 00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:51.199 like a little kid, you know. He's great, but 00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:53.739 great guy, and he has the most random stuff. 00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:55.679 Like, you want to know about St. Nick and how 00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.300 Christmas and all that? He will just, he's got 00:37:58.300 --> 00:38:00.019 it all, man. He just gives that whole history. 00:38:00.019 --> 00:38:01.980 He's got some good Instagram shorts right now 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:03.980 where he does these little shorts like that. 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:06.000 He's great. Totally awesome. Now, here's another 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:08.719 great one. David and Tim Barton. Yeah, man. This 00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:12.679 one is, man. I got to get you the volume two. 00:38:12.780 --> 00:38:14.989 So they've got volume two out. I knew that. And 00:38:14.989 --> 00:38:17.329 they're working on volume three. But, man, that's 00:38:17.329 --> 00:38:19.130 gold right there, the American story. I mean, 00:38:19.170 --> 00:38:21.869 what I do, they're doing it in sections. They're 00:38:21.869 --> 00:38:25.469 doing it in sections of time. And, again, so 00:38:25.469 --> 00:38:30.690 good, so rich, chock full. I mean, you can't 00:38:30.690 --> 00:38:32.289 go wrong on this. It responds to so many of the 00:38:32.289 --> 00:38:34.710 lies about who we are as a people and our history. 00:38:34.769 --> 00:38:37.250 It's just really good. Here's one. This is by 00:38:37.250 --> 00:38:39.329 Gary DeMar. Yeah, Gary's great. Another great 00:38:39.329 --> 00:38:41.590 book, America's Christian History, The Untold 00:38:41.590 --> 00:38:44.309 Story. Love is Approach. Actually, this was one 00:38:44.309 --> 00:38:46.050 that Kurt Cameron was recommending. And it's 00:38:46.050 --> 00:38:48.150 so unusual for Gary to have a book that's less 00:38:48.150 --> 00:38:50.409 than six inches thick. So that's a great one 00:38:50.409 --> 00:38:52.869 to have because most of his are anchor weights. 00:38:53.690 --> 00:38:55.610 And there's pictures. And there's pictures. For 00:38:55.610 --> 00:38:57.969 guys like us. So the country boy, I can get through 00:38:57.969 --> 00:39:00.510 it, yeah. And I have to tell you, one of my favorites 00:39:00.510 --> 00:39:03.269 that is my go -to ongoing, and this thing is 00:39:03.269 --> 00:39:06.250 a beast, it's the Founder's Bible. Oh, man. And 00:39:06.250 --> 00:39:08.570 this was, I mean, it's the New American Standard 00:39:08.570 --> 00:39:11.710 text of the Bible, but interspersed throughout 00:39:11.710 --> 00:39:16.530 it are vignettes and short articles on all things 00:39:16.530 --> 00:39:19.829 founding fathers, all things original documents. 00:39:20.349 --> 00:39:22.889 Biblical application. I mean, it really is based. 00:39:22.989 --> 00:39:24.469 Basically, I think it's the best thing David 00:39:24.469 --> 00:39:26.610 Barton... has put out in his whole life because 00:39:26.610 --> 00:39:28.250 when I read that and I read through it every 00:39:28.250 --> 00:39:31.190 year and I'm able to read the scripture and then 00:39:31.190 --> 00:39:34.010 read about somebody in history using that scripture 00:39:34.010 --> 00:39:37.429 in life, then it makes me start thinking, okay, 00:39:37.489 --> 00:39:39.829 how can I use this scripture in life? So it just 00:39:39.829 --> 00:39:42.389 gets us in the right mindset. The Bible's practical 00:39:42.389 --> 00:39:44.630 for everyday life. I love his treatment of the 00:39:44.630 --> 00:39:46.969 monuments too. He has some great things on the 00:39:46.969 --> 00:39:49.309 monuments. If you've ever been to DC, which I've 00:39:49.309 --> 00:39:51.610 been many times. And even the artwork, there's 00:39:51.610 --> 00:39:53.409 such good, the artwork in there is incredible. 00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:57.179 highly recommend how can people get this patriot 00:39:57.179 --> 00:39:59.239 academy .com or wallbuilders .com you get it 00:39:59.239 --> 00:40:00.880 either place and there's a digital version too 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:02.719 so you can get it on your you know like when 00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:04.400 i'm on the plane i read it on because that thing's 00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:06.539 heavy because it's mine's hardback too so it's 00:40:06.539 --> 00:40:09.179 even heavier uh but the yeah so you can do the 00:40:09.179 --> 00:40:11.179 app or you can um get that at patriot academy 00:40:11.179 --> 00:40:13.420 .com and it's a great present, too, to just give 00:40:13.420 --> 00:40:15.639 to people. Just like Adam giving it to Rogan. 00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:17.440 That was huge, man. This was a gift from Jonathan 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:19.159 Edwards gave this to me. Did he really? Oh, I 00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:20.780 love it. Such a blessing. And he did a great 00:40:20.780 --> 00:40:22.760 job with Biblical Citizenship, man. He did. He 00:40:22.760 --> 00:40:26.219 did. So, man, we're talking about a lot. You 00:40:26.219 --> 00:40:29.219 guys, we had you here to do the Comedy and Constitution 00:40:29.219 --> 00:40:32.719 show. That was fun, yeah. That was amazing. Brad's 00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:35.300 a master. He's a master communicator. Brad Stein, 00:40:35.519 --> 00:40:38.019 he knows how to, he's a master of rhetoric, and 00:40:38.019 --> 00:40:40.659 he's so good at having you laugh in one minute 00:40:40.659 --> 00:40:43.099 and then just, oh. Punching you in the gut with 00:40:43.099 --> 00:40:46.920 some truth. Love Brad. Twice I was on my guard. 00:40:47.019 --> 00:40:48.559 I was like, something's coming. Right, right. 00:40:48.719 --> 00:40:51.059 He is that good, and he is brilliant. He is a 00:40:51.059 --> 00:40:52.840 great thinker. You should have seen him with 00:40:52.840 --> 00:40:55.980 the Moms for Liberty. We had 150 of them out 00:40:55.980 --> 00:40:58.239 at the campus a couple weeks ago. Oh, my God. 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:01.670 That was the week we were out. You know how he 00:41:01.670 --> 00:41:03.969 picks on everybody? It was just hilarious, man. 00:41:04.030 --> 00:41:06.829 Just imagine him and 150 Moms for Liberty. I 00:41:06.829 --> 00:41:08.489 was going to say, in that environment, I can 00:41:08.489 --> 00:41:11.809 imagine. I've got thoughts. We love them, though. 00:41:11.969 --> 00:41:14.349 We're so thankful that their leaders come to 00:41:14.349 --> 00:41:16.829 our church. And God has done something really 00:41:16.829 --> 00:41:18.590 unique in this convergence thing we were talking 00:41:18.590 --> 00:41:21.409 about. The Lord brought you guys here, and we 00:41:21.409 --> 00:41:24.070 just knit together. We knit hearts. But he also 00:41:24.070 --> 00:41:26.030 brought the Moms for Liberty here. He's brought 00:41:26.030 --> 00:41:27.969 the J6ers here. A lot of the J6ers here, yes. 00:41:28.210 --> 00:41:30.809 And I got to meet Luke Cooper. Coffee or Cooper? 00:41:31.210 --> 00:41:35.070 Coffee or Cooper. Yeah, coffee. But Luke and 00:41:35.070 --> 00:41:36.730 we're going to go get coffee and get some time 00:41:36.730 --> 00:41:38.530 together. He's doing a podcast now with Laura 00:41:38.530 --> 00:41:40.510 Logan. I didn't know that. Yeah, they just started 00:41:40.510 --> 00:41:42.730 this. He's moved here. That's awesome. Yeah, 00:41:42.789 --> 00:41:46.360 he lives here now. When you stop and look at 00:41:46.360 --> 00:41:50.500 who God has brought here, Justice Devine, he 00:41:50.500 --> 00:41:52.059 pops in and out of here. Yeah, great guy. He 00:41:52.059 --> 00:41:53.280 loves coming over here. He comes out and hangs 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:54.900 out. My favorite judge in the whole country. 00:41:55.179 --> 00:41:57.980 Even more than, well, Clarence Thomas and Justice 00:41:57.980 --> 00:41:59.900 Devine are close, but he's on our Texas Supreme 00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:02.880 Court. We need him. Stay in the course. Even 00:42:02.880 --> 00:42:05.019 the body of church, even the church here, I don't 00:42:05.019 --> 00:42:07.519 think there's a profession. or a background not 00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:09.099 represented in this church. I agree. You know 00:42:09.099 --> 00:42:11.760 what I mean? I agree. It's just a wealth of experience. 00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:13.920 We've got an international arms dealer. I mean, 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:17.440 we've got a guy who sells jets to Nicaragua and 00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:21.840 Brazil. It's mind -bending. Every Sunday I stand 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:23.619 up there and, first of all, I think, I get to 00:42:23.619 --> 00:42:25.539 do this. This is such a privilege. Well, I think 00:42:25.539 --> 00:42:27.579 that, too, is going to be part of the next chapter, 00:42:27.659 --> 00:42:30.880 is those people within our church that have so 00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:33.619 much to give and so much wisdom. And the reason 00:42:33.619 --> 00:42:35.599 Patriot Academy is here is to bring the kids 00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:38.260 here for those people to mentor. And I don't 00:42:38.260 --> 00:42:39.920 know how it's all going to work out or exactly 00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:43.460 how it's going to play out, but I just see that, 00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:46.679 man. Because you can see the... it's almost like 00:42:46.679 --> 00:42:49.119 they're pregnant with purpose that they that 00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:52.139 not not for themselves right like i i tell kids 00:42:52.139 --> 00:42:54.619 sometimes you're pregnant with purpose but That's 00:42:54.619 --> 00:42:56.179 for what God's going to do in their life. These 00:42:56.179 --> 00:42:58.719 people are pregnant with purpose to pour into 00:42:58.719 --> 00:43:00.179 those kids. You know what I'm saying? It's like, 00:43:00.260 --> 00:43:01.780 anyway, I don't know how that's all going to 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:04.659 play out. In our men's breakfast, our legacy 00:43:04.659 --> 00:43:08.159 men's breakfast, we had like 127 at the last 00:43:08.159 --> 00:43:11.920 one. And then of all people, Pastor Leon Benjamin 00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:15.860 from the White House Office of Faith shows up 00:43:15.860 --> 00:43:18.880 randomly because he had done a podcast. He was 00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:20.519 here with Laura, right? Yeah, he was with Laura. 00:43:20.659 --> 00:43:24.619 So Joe Burkett and David Young. Drag him to a 00:43:24.619 --> 00:43:26.380 men's break. Poor guy was probably wiped out. 00:43:26.619 --> 00:43:28.219 And who are these people you're going to take 00:43:28.219 --> 00:43:30.719 me to? Yeah. And then he shows up, and he kept 00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:32.659 turning me. I brought him up on the platform, 00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:34.119 let him share a thing. He kept turning me, going, 00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:37.719 there's fire in this room. There's fire. There's 00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:41.239 fire. Revivals. I mean, he got it. He got what 00:43:41.239 --> 00:43:43.519 we know. And I'm telling you, those guys, he 00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:45.880 and Paula White and all those on that faith council. 00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:47.800 In fact, Barton and I were just talking last 00:43:47.800 --> 00:43:49.219 night. He was just at the White House yesterday 00:43:49.219 --> 00:43:52.289 with all of them. And he said, Rick, I've never 00:43:52.289 --> 00:43:55.730 seen people of faith have this much access and 00:43:55.730 --> 00:43:58.090 direct work with the president of the United 00:43:58.090 --> 00:44:01.389 States. So that's not just some figurehead. It's 00:44:01.389 --> 00:44:03.090 not like President Trump said. which is what 00:44:03.090 --> 00:44:04.610 I'm cynical about some of that stuff. It's like, 00:44:04.630 --> 00:44:06.610 oh, he's just giving them lip service. He's giving 00:44:06.610 --> 00:44:08.030 them a little name, a little office way over 00:44:08.030 --> 00:44:10.550 there in the West Wing or whatever. No, man, 00:44:10.610 --> 00:44:12.489 they are literally in the middle of everything. 00:44:12.849 --> 00:44:15.150 So that whole thing that's happening right now 00:44:15.150 --> 00:44:18.269 is being bathed in prayer. It's phenomenal. I 00:44:18.269 --> 00:44:20.590 mean, I haven't seen it in my lifetime, so I 00:44:20.590 --> 00:44:22.269 don't know what God's plan is for all of this. 00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:25.039 But he's moving, bro. Conversions, brother. It's 00:44:25.039 --> 00:44:27.139 all coming together. These streams are merging 00:44:27.139 --> 00:44:31.880 and becoming a force. Amen. A force. Force multiplies, 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:34.550 you say. I love that term. Love that term. Tell 00:44:34.550 --> 00:44:36.750 us what's the best way for us to see you. I mean, 00:44:36.789 --> 00:44:38.650 you've got a great podcast called The Tavern. 00:44:38.730 --> 00:44:41.050 Thank you, thank you. Which has been huge. We're 00:44:41.050 --> 00:44:43.489 working on getting it onto our Godcast. Yeah, 00:44:43.489 --> 00:44:45.030 we've got to get that and Wall Builders. You 00:44:45.030 --> 00:44:47.530 know, Wall Builders radio is daily. It's only 00:44:47.530 --> 00:44:49.849 about 30 minutes, and it's David Barton, Tim 00:44:49.849 --> 00:44:51.869 Barton, and myself, and every day is some sort 00:44:51.869 --> 00:44:54.550 of biblical, basically what we always say is 00:44:54.550 --> 00:44:56.190 biblical, historical, constitutional perspective. 00:44:56.230 --> 00:44:58.090 So whatever's going on, whatever the hot take 00:44:58.090 --> 00:45:00.139 is that's going on in the world. We'll break 00:45:00.139 --> 00:45:01.559 it down and say, here's the biblical perspective 00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:03.260 on it. Here's what's happening in history. So 00:45:03.260 --> 00:45:05.039 we know what works, doesn't work. And here's 00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:06.400 how it plays out constitutionally. Because with 00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:08.880 this administration, there's a lot of, Trump's 00:45:08.880 --> 00:45:11.059 moving so fast with so many of these things. 00:45:11.659 --> 00:45:13.300 There's a lot of questions about what's constitutional, 00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:15.440 what's not. And so for us to be able to come 00:45:15.440 --> 00:45:17.380 in and bring that history, and especially with 00:45:17.380 --> 00:45:19.780 some of these judges that are trying to stop 00:45:19.780 --> 00:45:21.659 what the president's doing. Perfect example would 00:45:21.659 --> 00:45:25.039 be taking these 250 gang members, put them on 00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:26.719 a plane, sending them back where they came from. 00:45:26.780 --> 00:45:29.090 And this judge is trying to stop it. And there's 00:45:29.090 --> 00:45:31.210 very clear constitutional authority for the president. 00:45:31.289 --> 00:45:33.250 And there's even a congressional act, the Alien 00:45:33.250 --> 00:45:35.849 Act, where the Congress gave that power to the 00:45:35.849 --> 00:45:37.829 president and said the courts can't even review 00:45:37.829 --> 00:45:40.269 it. We call it positive exception in Article 00:45:40.269 --> 00:45:43.489 3. And so the court doesn't even get to say whether 00:45:43.489 --> 00:45:45.630 or not the president can take them out. Anyway, 00:45:45.789 --> 00:45:48.750 that kind of education. I love that, too, the 00:45:48.750 --> 00:45:50.769 way President Trump said, oh, sorry, they're 00:45:50.769 --> 00:45:53.590 already out of U .S. airspace. Anyway, there's 00:45:53.590 --> 00:45:55.630 a lot of takes like that. That's called The Wall 00:45:55.630 --> 00:45:57.630 Builders Show, and you can get that at wallbuilders 00:45:57.630 --> 00:46:01.650 .show or at wallbuilders .com. And then The Tavern 00:46:01.650 --> 00:46:05.010 you can get on patriotu .com or hopefully soon 00:46:05.010 --> 00:46:09.070 on Hello Fred. And then American Family Association, 00:46:09.429 --> 00:46:11.190 they've got about 300 stations around the country, 00:46:11.250 --> 00:46:13.610 and I do a live call -in show for them twice 00:46:13.610 --> 00:46:17.400 a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 2. So that's 00:46:17.400 --> 00:46:21.579 AFR .org. But also Flashpoint. Oh, yeah, and 00:46:21.579 --> 00:46:25.440 then Flashpoint. Yeah, huge. Bro, 10 to 1, people 00:46:25.440 --> 00:46:28.440 will tell me. And I used to do Newsmax and Just 00:46:28.440 --> 00:46:30.179 the News, and I'd just do all these shows, and 00:46:30.179 --> 00:46:32.340 I'd get worn out. But 10 to 1, people say, I 00:46:32.340 --> 00:46:34.179 saw you on Flashpoint. So Carrie and I were like, 00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:36.320 let's stop doing all the other shows and let's 00:46:36.320 --> 00:46:38.300 just do Flashpoint. And so I do that one Monday 00:46:38.300 --> 00:46:40.880 and Tuesday nights, so 7 to 8. I love that. We 00:46:40.880 --> 00:46:43.019 try to keep up with it. There's so many of them. 00:46:43.039 --> 00:46:45.059 There's so much. The Lord's blessed that big 00:46:45.059 --> 00:46:47.400 time. It was kind of that convergence thing because 00:46:47.400 --> 00:46:50.239 it was a lot of different. You got prophet -type 00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:53.480 guys and other guys, and then here I come with 00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:55.280 a kind of constitutional country boy coming in. 00:46:55.579 --> 00:46:57.400 It's just been an interesting mix that people 00:46:57.400 --> 00:46:59.880 love. And I love that, too. At first, I was taken 00:46:59.880 --> 00:47:01.420 aback by it. little bit. And then I watched it 00:47:01.420 --> 00:47:03.460 a few times. I thought, Oh, I get it, man. I 00:47:03.460 --> 00:47:05.800 see what God's doing here. It's a tapestry. He's 00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:09.000 pulling it all together. So I've really, really 00:47:09.000 --> 00:47:13.699 dug in and enjoyed that. So, um, last thing I 00:47:13.699 --> 00:47:15.139 want to do before we land the plane, cause I'm 00:47:15.139 --> 00:47:16.679 glad we, I wanted to get your information out 00:47:16.679 --> 00:47:20.059 there, but, um, Man, you know, they just dropped 00:47:20.059 --> 00:47:24.059 80 ,000 -plus documents on JFK. Yeah. And social 00:47:24.059 --> 00:47:26.780 media is going berserk. I spent a little bit—I 00:47:26.780 --> 00:47:29.139 try not to, but I spent a little time last night. 00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:31.699 Yeah, I tried to last night, too. We just sat 00:47:31.699 --> 00:47:34.860 and watched—got on and reading stuff back and 00:47:34.860 --> 00:47:37.699 forth. And what's your hot take on that? Because, 00:47:37.739 --> 00:47:40.480 I mean, already people are already pointing the 00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:42.300 finger at Israel, saying, you know, Mossad was 00:47:42.300 --> 00:47:45.699 involved. You know, I mean, LBJ. I mean, you 00:47:45.699 --> 00:47:48.750 go down the list. Bush. I mean, boom, boom, boom, 00:47:48.849 --> 00:47:50.690 boom, boom. All these dominoes are starting to 00:47:50.690 --> 00:47:52.750 tip and fall. So what's your hot take on just 00:47:52.750 --> 00:47:54.849 what's happening? You know, I don't know what 00:47:54.849 --> 00:47:56.789 the specifics are going to be that come out, 00:47:56.869 --> 00:48:01.010 but I love the transparency. I mean, I am so 00:48:01.010 --> 00:48:04.090 excited about what Elon Musk is doing and what 00:48:04.090 --> 00:48:07.070 Trump is willing to do, what RFK has been pushing 00:48:07.070 --> 00:48:09.679 for. I think we've been hungry for that for a 00:48:09.679 --> 00:48:11.760 long time. Part of the reason there's been this 00:48:11.760 --> 00:48:15.019 lack of patriotism and cynicism is because of 00:48:15.019 --> 00:48:16.860 all the cover -ups and because of this kind of 00:48:16.860 --> 00:48:19.059 stuff that they've hidden from us. So I don't 00:48:19.059 --> 00:48:20.280 know what's actually going to come out. I remember 00:48:20.280 --> 00:48:22.280 Anna Paulina, whatever her name is, from Florida, 00:48:22.380 --> 00:48:25.480 the first thing she said was, this evidence will 00:48:25.480 --> 00:48:27.920 prove there was a second shooter. So that, right 00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:29.519 off the bat, was like, okay, this is going to 00:48:29.519 --> 00:48:31.179 rock everybody's world a little bit because it 00:48:31.179 --> 00:48:33.039 just proves there was a cover -up. So whatever 00:48:33.039 --> 00:48:36.510 was there that wasn't let out. We'll see. Second 00:48:36.510 --> 00:48:39.849 shooter, was it all backed by LBJ? I mean, LBJ, 00:48:39.869 --> 00:48:44.769 he was a nasty character. I mean, even the church 00:48:44.769 --> 00:48:49.530 today is impacted by his 1954 Johnson Amendment 00:48:49.530 --> 00:48:51.550 when he was a senator, and his whole reason he 00:48:51.550 --> 00:48:54.329 did that was retaliation against pastors in Texas, 00:48:54.409 --> 00:48:56.070 because they had campaigned against him in the 00:48:56.070 --> 00:48:57.750 Senate race, they knew he was not an ethical 00:48:57.750 --> 00:49:00.449 guy, and so he was doing that to hurt the church. 00:49:00.780 --> 00:49:02.880 And we're, what, 70 years later, man, and it's 00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:05.119 still hurting the church? Anyway, he was a nasty 00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:07.639 character. Wouldn't shock me a bit if he was 00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:09.639 involved in that. One of those recordings is 00:49:09.639 --> 00:49:12.460 already out that this guy's at least, he's talking 00:49:12.460 --> 00:49:14.599 to this Billy Saul Estes guy, and he's literally 00:49:14.599 --> 00:49:17.730 saying that. that Johnson wanted to hit on. Anyway, 00:49:17.849 --> 00:49:19.309 so I don't know how much of that's going to end 00:49:19.309 --> 00:49:21.650 up getting proven, but I remember one of my other 00:49:21.650 --> 00:49:23.389 mentors was a guy named Dr. Charles Jarvis. He 00:49:23.389 --> 00:49:26.670 was kind of a comedy after dinner speaker, actually 00:49:26.670 --> 00:49:29.030 lived right over here in San Marcos, Texas. And 00:49:29.030 --> 00:49:31.230 I grew up listening to him with my dad when we'd 00:49:31.230 --> 00:49:33.590 be driving on the road. And so half my comedy, 00:49:33.650 --> 00:49:35.929 I stole from him, jokes that I even use today. 00:49:36.190 --> 00:49:39.090 But he used to joke about the Billy Saw Estes 00:49:39.090 --> 00:49:41.829 case and the most motivated suicide in history. 00:49:42.300 --> 00:49:44.199 Because there was a guy that literally had five 00:49:44.199 --> 00:49:46.699 gunshot wounds and a wound to the head, and they 00:49:46.699 --> 00:49:48.800 ruled it a suicide. Right. That's a motivated 00:49:48.800 --> 00:49:50.360 suicide right there, brother. Of course it's 00:49:50.360 --> 00:49:53.239 a suicide. But it was something to do with Johnson. 00:49:53.239 --> 00:49:55.019 Wow. I don't know what's going to come out, man, 00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:57.360 but I love the fact that it's coming out. And 00:49:57.360 --> 00:50:00.500 I think the Epstein stuff, all of that, I try 00:50:00.500 --> 00:50:02.139 not to go too far down the rabbit hole and get 00:50:02.139 --> 00:50:03.460 too caught up in a lot of that stuff because 00:50:03.460 --> 00:50:06.099 you can live there. Yes. But I want people to 00:50:06.099 --> 00:50:08.960 be able to have that. at their fingertips. And 00:50:08.960 --> 00:50:11.219 I get national security, and the Constitution 00:50:11.219 --> 00:50:13.500 even has a clause in there about it doesn't have 00:50:13.500 --> 00:50:15.500 to go in the journal if there's national... So 00:50:15.500 --> 00:50:18.900 I understand that, but... 70 years? I mean, the 00:50:18.900 --> 00:50:21.940 MLK stuff, the JFK stuff, the RFK stuff, all 00:50:21.940 --> 00:50:23.619 of that should have been released a long time 00:50:23.619 --> 00:50:25.699 ago. And it's now history, and it needs to be 00:50:25.699 --> 00:50:27.980 a part of our history, good or bad. Yeah, that's 00:50:27.980 --> 00:50:29.280 right. Good or bad needs to be there. We can 00:50:29.280 --> 00:50:31.239 handle it. I mean, the American people are mature 00:50:31.239 --> 00:50:32.739 enough to handle the good, the bad, and the ugly. 00:50:32.820 --> 00:50:34.179 And if we would teach it like that, that's one 00:50:34.179 --> 00:50:36.099 of the things David taught me early on. Don't 00:50:36.099 --> 00:50:38.860 run from the bad. We're not these Pollyanna wave 00:50:38.860 --> 00:50:40.920 the flag just to feel good people. We're going 00:50:40.920 --> 00:50:42.019 to tell the good, the bad, and the ugly because 00:50:42.019 --> 00:50:44.980 we know on... On par, when you compare the American 00:50:44.980 --> 00:50:47.480 story to any other nation in history, it is the 00:50:47.480 --> 00:50:50.300 greatest nation that has ever been. And so we 00:50:50.300 --> 00:50:52.280 don't mind telling the ugly. Because we can tell 00:50:52.280 --> 00:50:53.820 the good with that. That's so good. I'm going 00:50:53.820 --> 00:50:56.519 to steal this from you. Where are people trying 00:50:56.519 --> 00:50:58.539 to come? Where are they trying to get in? That's 00:50:58.539 --> 00:51:00.900 right. There's no tunnels trying to get into 00:51:00.900 --> 00:51:03.500 North Korea. There ain't no Cuban dream. There 00:51:03.500 --> 00:51:05.699 ain't no North Korean dream. It's the American 00:51:05.699 --> 00:51:08.739 dream. And they're not going the other way. There's 00:51:08.739 --> 00:51:11.280 a reason for that. American exceptionalism is 00:51:11.280 --> 00:51:13.739 alive and well. I think we're in for some of 00:51:13.739 --> 00:51:16.760 our best days. I really am. Six months ago, I 00:51:16.760 --> 00:51:18.780 heard you stand in front of a crowd at a Remnant 00:51:18.780 --> 00:51:20.760 Alliance meeting and say, we could be looking 00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:24.429 at... the end. of an empire yeah and i remember 00:51:24.429 --> 00:51:26.889 that day we were over in lano texas and i and 00:51:26.889 --> 00:51:30.449 i i felt i felt your weight yeah and because 00:51:30.449 --> 00:51:32.610 it was resonating because we were all starting 00:51:32.610 --> 00:51:34.369 to wonder it's probably seven eight months ago 00:51:34.369 --> 00:51:36.409 now yeah and we were all starting to wonder because 00:51:36.409 --> 00:51:38.570 it was looking real bad there for a minute oh 00:51:38.570 --> 00:51:41.469 but god oh but god man we were we were bible 00:51:41.469 --> 00:51:44.530 suddenly yeah immediately yeah i love those yeah 00:51:44.530 --> 00:51:46.889 they're still possible we've just seen one walked 00:51:46.889 --> 00:51:48.670 out and he's doing he's doing it beyond anything 00:51:48.670 --> 00:51:50.730 i would have dreamed i mean i when i was giving 00:51:50.730 --> 00:51:52.539 that speech i was thinking okay, we're teetering 00:51:52.539 --> 00:51:54.780 between liberty and tyranny, and if we put our 00:51:54.780 --> 00:51:56.579 shoulder in, we can hopefully save this thing 00:51:56.579 --> 00:51:59.920 and push it back into liberty. He's done... Far 00:51:59.920 --> 00:52:03.539 more. I mean, God has moved in such a mighty 00:52:03.539 --> 00:52:06.199 way. He's changing hearts. The harvest you were 00:52:06.199 --> 00:52:08.340 talking about Sunday, I mean, these kids that 00:52:08.340 --> 00:52:10.079 are coming to the Lord, these college campuses, 00:52:10.219 --> 00:52:12.579 all this stuff, this interest in the Bible, you 00:52:12.579 --> 00:52:14.559 just go down the list. I mean, God is moving 00:52:14.559 --> 00:52:16.780 in a powerful, powerful way. And I think what 00:52:16.780 --> 00:52:18.400 you said, I think America's best days are ahead 00:52:18.400 --> 00:52:21.000 because of that. And if we will restore, and 00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:22.239 we see it in the Old Testament over and over 00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:24.659 again, when they came back to God, when they 00:52:24.659 --> 00:52:26.579 came back to the truth, they were blessed, and 00:52:26.579 --> 00:52:29.179 they experienced a season of prosperity. and 00:52:29.179 --> 00:52:30.800 all those things. And I think we're in for that, 00:52:30.840 --> 00:52:34.000 man. I think we're rediscovering those truths 00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:36.559 and falling in love with them again. And as a 00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:39.119 result, our kids are going to live in a better 00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:41.420 place. Beautiful, Rick. Thank you. One last thing 00:52:41.420 --> 00:52:42.900 before we go. This is what I want you to end 00:52:42.900 --> 00:52:44.860 with. There are people who are going to watch 00:52:44.860 --> 00:52:47.900 this or listen, and they're going to say, where 00:52:47.900 --> 00:52:51.460 do I start? The resources are overwhelming. And 00:52:51.460 --> 00:52:53.840 it's kind of like going to eat at, what's that 00:52:53.840 --> 00:52:58.679 one place? Cheesecake Factory. You got a 30 page 00:52:58.679 --> 00:53:02.059 menu. Right. You get frozen. You're doing headlights 00:53:02.059 --> 00:53:03.900 because it's too much. That happens to this. 00:53:04.039 --> 00:53:05.920 Yeah, absolutely. Go to In -N -Out Burger and 00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:08.239 it's like. Simple. I'll take it. I'll take that. 00:53:08.500 --> 00:53:10.539 You know, just add some grilled onions. Yeah, 00:53:10.579 --> 00:53:12.400 that's it. I mean, it's that simple. But so what 00:53:12.400 --> 00:53:15.119 would you tell people who are like. I want to 00:53:15.119 --> 00:53:17.280 be informed, but I don't know where to go. There's 00:53:17.280 --> 00:53:19.139 so many news outlets. I don't know who to believe. 00:53:19.480 --> 00:53:21.739 What's a good kind of just a real simple step 00:53:21.739 --> 00:53:24.579 in? Give them an on -ramp into getting resourced. 00:53:24.760 --> 00:53:27.440 Well, it sounds very self -serving, but no kidding. 00:53:27.539 --> 00:53:30.300 Go to patriotacademy .com. Start with that book, 00:53:30.420 --> 00:53:32.280 Freedom's Frame. It's the simplest, easiest place 00:53:32.280 --> 00:53:35.269 to go. And if you don't want to get together 00:53:35.269 --> 00:53:37.570 with a group to do biblical citizenship, at least 00:53:37.570 --> 00:53:39.610 walk through those videos by yourself, but I 00:53:39.610 --> 00:53:41.570 highly recommend doing it with friends and family 00:53:41.570 --> 00:53:43.630 because, again, it's when the video's over and 00:53:43.630 --> 00:53:45.789 you can talk about it. So make that commitment 00:53:45.789 --> 00:53:47.869 of two hours a week to just get with some friends 00:53:47.869 --> 00:53:50.389 once a week, have some coffee and cake or whatever 00:53:50.389 --> 00:53:52.570 in the living room, watch the video, and then 00:53:52.570 --> 00:53:54.369 sit around and talk about it. That's a great 00:53:54.369 --> 00:53:57.329 on -ramp because there's so much there and there's 00:53:57.329 --> 00:53:58.989 a lot of depth, but you'll figure out when you 00:53:58.989 --> 00:54:01.269 go through that class. Which direction do I want 00:54:01.269 --> 00:54:03.030 to go with this? What's God putting on my heart? 00:54:03.170 --> 00:54:04.929 So that's the two things I start with, freedom's 00:54:04.929 --> 00:54:07.329 frame and biblical citizenship. Great. Fantastic, 00:54:07.550 --> 00:54:09.309 Rick. Rick, thank you, brother. Love you, man. 00:54:09.349 --> 00:54:14.929 Amen. Good to be with you. Yes. At least once 00:54:14.929 --> 00:54:17.769 before we go out of here. Listen, go to Living 00:54:17.769 --> 00:54:19.989 Up in a Down World. We want to get you connected. 00:54:20.050 --> 00:54:23.269 Go to livingupinadownworld .com and you can subscribe 00:54:23.269 --> 00:54:25.289 there. And that way we'll get our newsletter 00:54:25.289 --> 00:54:27.630 out to you. You can always know when to get a 00:54:27.630 --> 00:54:29.849 heads up when a new podcast is going to drop. 00:54:30.250 --> 00:54:34.329 And we'll also be converting our carnivore rev, 00:54:34.630 --> 00:54:39.469 eat, pray, wait. meet pray love channel and we're 00:54:39.469 --> 00:54:41.150 going to flip it over to living up in a down 00:54:41.150 --> 00:54:43.190 world now so we're going to make that happen 00:54:43.190 --> 00:54:45.789 and and so you'll be able to see this this video 00:54:45.789 --> 00:54:48.630 there and other places so anyway thanks for joining 00:54:48.630 --> 00:54:51.369 us today just always annette and i from our heart 00:54:51.369 --> 00:54:53.449 we love you guys and we want to help you live 00:54:53.449 --> 00:54:56.250 up in a down world have an amazing day on purpose