Father, what a privilege it is to be before you
with my friend, my brother Adam, as we simply
have conversations about what's going on in culture,
what's going on in life. And Father, we put on
the lens, we put on the glasses of a biblical
worldview that we may see accurately and see
rightly what is happening around us. We ask that
you would speak to us, guide our conversation
today. For those that will be listening, Father,
bless them, encourage them. put some lift under
their wings, Lord, encourage them by your Spirit
and the wind of your Spirit. We give all this
to you. We dedicate it to you in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. It's Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
We get to do this. This is episode number 12.
We get to do this Hey brother, how you doing?
I'm doing great, man. I'm just I'm waking up.
I've got coffee in my cup I just took a one of
those e Energy things what those little the little
balls. Yeah, Tina has in the fridge. Yeah little
tiny ones Did you get energy out of that? placebo
effect, maybe? I'm not sure. It kind of makes
the water taste good, you know? It tastes good,
but I don't know. I'm so over caffeinated all
the time. I drink a lot of coffee. I do too.
In fact, Annette's like, I can't believe you
want more energy. You want even more energy.
It takes a lot to keep this going with all the
help I can get. We were quote unquote partying
last night. Yeah, yeah. Over at the house. And
by the way, happy Thanksgiving to everybody who's
listening. Maybe you're on your way as this drops
on the day before Thanksgiving or maybe you're
listening on your walk after the turkey or maybe
on your way home. Before I even get to the partying
last night for such party animals. I grew up
saying Thanksgiving. Right. But I hear in Texas,
I hear people say Thanksgiving. Wait a minute.
The emphasis being on Thanksgiving instead of
Thanksgiving. Oh, so you grew up how? Thanksgiving.
Okay. Which I think is kind of confusing and
wrong. If you really think about it. If I think
about it, I can't say it. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving.
Yeah, Thanksgiving. That's how I've always said
it. But I've never noticed... I think it just
comes from a secular world, like Thanksgiving,
like, you know, giving, give me, give me stuff,
giving, instead of Thanksgiving, with the emphasis
on the thanking part. I don't know. It's just
one of those things I noticed. That's one of
those little things, right? Yeah, but I just
noticed it. I'm like, I wonder why I've always
said that. It just doesn't make any sense. I'm
sure someone's going to write in and say, oh,
this is why you do secular, probably. I'm fairly
observant, but I have not caught that nuance
there. So that's pretty nuanced. We had a nice
dinner at the house last night. Ray and Heather
were over. I think I have to say pretty perfectly
cooked filet mignons. That was about to be my
next brag point was to boast on your K &C tenderloins
filets so good. Yeah, I mean it's really it's
all in the cow. I mean the K &C beef is just
spectacular. Phenomenal. Once we use our meter
Thermometer probes, you almost can't go wrong.
I mean, it's just it's so fantastic. I think
it's pronounced METOR. Is it METOR? It's O -R.
METOR. Oh, is it an O -R at the end? Isn't that
weird? METOR. I know, METOR. I know, it's weird.
It's an outstanding product. It is a fantastic
product. Everybody who grills needs to have this
product. Definitely needs to have this. There
are little issues with it, like I accidentally
speared through my fillet and I didn't know it
and so it was totally off. I was like, what is
going on? Fortunately, I had speared Annette's
Filet perfectly, so I just queued off of number
one. You got real lucky. Yeah, you know, you
learn those little things, right? So I'm a little
fuzzier than I might have been because we did
have some wine. At least, you know, Ray brought
this really nice, fantastic Tuscan wine. And
I really drink maybe one glass at dinner, so
I had, I think, three. You're a little fuzzy.
Especially if you're an older dude like me now.
I didn't have to drive, so that was good. It
was a wonderful evening. Great wine, obviously,
with that, which was a perfect pairing with that.
Fantastic. Tina made some killer vegetables.
Yes, with the pear. I could have had more of
that. Surprise pear. So yeah, I mean just a great
evening. You know, what's so fun is if you think
about it, Jesus, Pastor Brian was bringing this
out a couple weeks ago that Jesus always did
things around food, always. Disciples are always
sitting around a table. He was always making
food for thousands of people with plenty left
over. So I mean, There is something about sitting
around a table and just having random conversation
that's so life -giving. Absolutely. That was
Pastor Brian's message that was on point. That
was pretty funny. I think the term Costco Christian
is stuck in my head for the rest of my life.
We just go get little snacks. That's true. Hunger
games. Hunger games. Harkening back to youth
ministry title days. When he threw up the AI
image though, I almost lost it. I'm like, oh
man, oh no, he's using AI. He copied it though.
Was that for the, for the background? Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. If you eat ding -dongs, what was it? If
you eat Twinkies. Don't be surprised if you turn
into a ding -dong. Wow. He was taking it to places.
He's on fire. It was interesting. He's on fire.
So regarding Thanksgiving, so here's what happened
to me. First of all, Tina had horrible cramps
during the night in the top of her feet, which
is odd. So I was kind of awake. She's jumping
around. I'm waiting for her to come back in.
And then I wake up at 4 a .m. And this is not,
I mean, I sleep. You've been up since 4? I went
back to bed at five, but I woke up at four. It
was like, download from Throne Central. Because
I had been really asking the Lord, like, what
am I going to do on the show before Thanksgiving?
What are we going to talk about? And I really,
I just, you know, especially because we had you
guys coming over and there were other things
I was doing. I had meetings and I just didn't,
nothing really jumped out. And I'm like, well
Lord, I presume you're going to give it to me
tomorrow morning. Funny enough, he thought 4
a .m. was tomorrow morning and what he gave to
me just blew me away. And it's about the history
of Thanksgiving. Wow. Yes. So now John C. Dvorak
every year goes through the history of Thanksgiving.
I make him do it. He repeats the same thing.
But when I went to look at certain things, I'm
going to play a clip that kind of sets it up.
This is when God just went like, don't you recognize
what this is? So I'm going to play this. This
is from the Chicago Museum of History. This is
a report from last year. about the history of
Thanksgiving. Long after the Pilgrims landed
at Plymouth Rock in 1621 and celebrated a successful
harvest with a three -day gathering that became
the first Thanksgiving, it was the first president
of the United States, George Washington, who
declared November 26th, 1789 a day of public
Thanksgiving. While a lot of people trace the
origins of the celebration of Thanksgiving in
the United States back to the Pilgrims and Plymouth
in the 17th century, Our kind of contemporary
understanding of it really has to do more with
these proclamations that were made by various
presidents. Chicago History Museum Director of
Exhibitions Paul Derica says the holiday was
observed on and off for years. President James
Madison proclaimed a Thanksgiving Day in 1814
and 1815. Thanksgiving as a national holiday
really kind of takes shape and then becomes part
of American culture in the 1860s. But it wasn't
until October 3rd of 1863, in the midst of the
Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln made
what is now regarded as the Thanksgiving Proclamation.
He wrote, the year that is drawn to a close has
been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields
and healthful skies. He called the nation's people
in its prosperity, quote, gracious gifts and
said, it has seemed to me fit and proper that
they should be gratefully acknowledged. I do
therefore invite my fellow citizens in every
part of the United States to set apart and observe
that last Thursday of November next as a day
of Thanksgiving. Lincoln's proclamation took
effect just one week after his most famous speech,
the Gettysburg Address. Even though the United
States is in the midst of this great civil war
and there are all of these challenges that the
nation is facing, there's still a lot to be thankful
for. It was the culmination of a decades long
campaign by a prominent magazine editor named
Sarah Josepha Hayes. She lobbied Lincoln for
the holiday. Thanksgiving and establishing it
as a national holiday certainly stands as one
of his enduring accomplishments. And in the 1940s,
Congress issued Joint Resolution 41, forever
making Thanksgiving a public holiday. So here's
the path I took. So first I was like, I got the
word, look up the history of Thanksgiving. I'm
like, okay, I know exactly where to find that.
And then I found this clip and I'm listening
to this clip. I'm like, I want to read the whole
proclamation. This is what blew me away. So I
took the liberty of dissecting Abraham Lincoln's
proclamation. This was a crazy time. This was
right in the middle of the Civil War. I mean,
the country's being torn apart. It's 1863. And
as I'm reading this proclamation, like, oh man,
this is all from the Bible. The whole thing,
did you know any of this? Yes. And I took the
liberty—I didn't know this. So in the clip you
just played— You could already hear it. Very
little, though. That was really what marked it.
I was going— Well, this is Chicago. I mean, they're
not going to give you all the Scripture. Well,
and just being thankful to God, that's the thing.
So that was what jumped out to me. While I appreciated
the history and the dates and what, I'm going,
but we have to direct our gratitude somewhere.
He wrote this proclamation literally from the
Bible, literally from scripture. So I'll read
his language is kind of King James. And I have
the King James where I'm like, I'll do an NIV
version just to make a little more palpable.
So he starts by saying, the year is drawing towards
its close has been filled with the blessings
of fruitful fields and healthful skies. Well,
that comes from Psalm 65. And I just took 9 through
13 you care for the land and water it you enrich
it abundantly The streams of God are filled with
water to provide the people with grain for so
you have ordained it You drench its furrows and
level its ridges you soften it with showers and
bless its crops You crown the year with your
bounty and your carts overflow with abundance
the grasslands of the wilderness overflow The
hills are closed clothed with gladness The meadows
are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled
with grain. They shout for joy and sing." He
goes on, this is the blessings that they're a
gift. No human counsel hath devised nor hath
any mortal hand worked out these great things.
They are the gracious gifts of the Most High
God. I didn't know any of this. James 1, 17,
every good and perfect gift is from above. coming
down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows. Then
he goes on, who, while dealing with us in anger
for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
And this is, praise the Lord my soul, which I
immediately hear Wendy singing. All my emos being,
praise his holy name, praise the Lord my soul,
forget not all his benefits, who forgives all
your sins and heals all your diseases. who redeems
your life from the pit and crowns you with love
and compassion. The Lord is compassionate and
gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He
will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his
anger forever. There it is. He does not treat
us as our sins deserve or repay us according
to our iniquities." So then he goes just completely
verbatim. When their herds and their flocks multiply,
When their heart be lifted up and they forget
the Lord their God and say in their heart my
power and the might of my hands have gained me
this wealth. Deuteronomy 10 18. When you have
eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your
God for the good land he has given you. Be careful
that you do not forget the Lord your God. When
your heart will become proud and you will forget
the Lord your God, you may say to yourself, self,
my power and the strength of my hands have produced
this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your
God for it is he who gives you the ability to
produce wealth." I'm like, he was, I mean, this,
I don't, this is just not known. I had no idea.
There's a little more. Fervently implore the
interposition, this is Lincoln again, of the
almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation
with humble penitence for our national perverseness
and disobedience. This is actually what got me
on this path. When I read this, I'm like, I know
this. Chronicles 7 -14, if my people who are
called by my name will humble themselves and
pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will
forgive their sin and will heal their land. And
then he closes it out, praise to our beneficent
father who dwelleth in the heavens, commend to
his tender care all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners, and sufferers. Psalm 104 -5.
enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts
with praise give thanks to him and praise his
name for the lord is good and his love endures
forever his faithfulness continues through all
generations in them psalm 68 a father to the
fatherless a defender of widows is god in his
holy dwelling i'm just like i have i mean all
60 thanksgivings in my lifetime no actually 61
No, this will be my 61st. I didn't know any of
this. You know, I've never read that on Thanksgiving.
I think that would be something really cool.
We're going to be at the Maseranos. Thank you
for saying that. I was actually going to ask
if you think that's appropriate. I think it's
absolutely appropriate. It is so amazing when
you hear that. And this was Lincoln. This was
our president. He was copying and citing the
Bible, the Word. And I can only imagine how Back
in the day, this was just different, man. It
wasn't even that long ago, 140 -some years ago,
that people were speaking this way and talking
this way. It was the norm. And so I'm like, thank
you, Lord. Of course, I had some help from Chad
GPT to find the right scripture. I'm like, find
a scripture that says this. Whoa, there it is.
And it wasn't even a choice. It was like, this
is it. This is the one and I go back and look
and I of course I read the pay them Yeah, the
King James is much closer to it But I you know,
it's so early in the morning that can't get the
half and with enough can't get all that out of
my mouth So I figured I'd do an IV But I was
it was just that was a delight mind -boggling.
That is amazing I really and I thank you Lord
because he woke me up for that You know all my
years of being a follower of Jesus. We've never
actually thought about going back to that proclamation
because I too did not know this. Think about
how I grew up in a public school system where
we just did not go down that road. I had great
teachers that were godly and loved the Lord,
but it's been so segmented and categorized and
then set over in a corner that it's just accepted
culturally, we just don't do that. No. We think
about pilgrims with funny buckles on their shoes
and turkeys and maize. What about corn? I love
corn. She's like, okay, I'm not sure. The president
pardons two turkeys. By the way, he made a funny
joke about that. The last year's turkeys were
pardoned by AutoPen, so it wasn't legal. Good
to take that back. Of course. But I was just
really surprised that I never ever had even read
the full proclamation. Wow, thank you for bringing
that. Well, that's already made my Thanksgiving
better. It's partially your fault that this happened.
You had a daily grind yesterday, which was Isaiah
30 verse 21. And this is whether you turn to
the right or to the left, your ears will hear
a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk
in it. And I love this so much because I realize
that myself included, but in general, we are
so dulled by screen noise that we don't even
hear God talking to us. And so I'm really making
an effort. And when I hear something, I just
go for it right away. It may be a dead end. Maybe
I heard it, misheard it, but nine times out of
10. It's great. He's like, no, no, don't skip
that. Go look at that. And, you know, and I used
to think that was just my own brilliant inner
voice because of course, pod father, I'm brilliant.
And now I know it's like, he's literally directing
me and I think he does it all the time. You know,
but there's so much noise. I call it screen noise
now because that's really what it is. It just
fills up your head with stuff. And so when I
hear these things, I'm like, OK. And I just follow
it. That's what I was also not worried about
today. I'm like, I know you'll bring it to me.
I know you'll show me something. Again, he's
like, OK, 4 AM. Come on. Up you get. Now it's
5. Can I please go back to bed? Can I please
go back to bed? Wow. So my morning routine has
shifted significantly in just the last little
bit since we've been having these conversations.
And I'm not throwing my phone out the window.
I mean, these things are helpful. But I'm learning
to prioritize when I put energy into it, when
I allow it to have my attention. And two, always
trying to treat it like a tool instead of you
being the tool. So my morning has shifted where
now when I get up, Of course, I'd let Chevy do
his thing. I got to feed him. I got to take care
of him for 15 minutes. We all have a sequence.
Oh my gosh. It's all about him in the morning.
Of course. So I get up and then once I get him
taken care of, I go into my office. By then,
I've had my little cube heater going, so it's
really nice in there. Toasty. A little hum, a
little brown noise it sounds like. And so I'm
very relaxed when I get into my morning routine,
sit down with my coffee. And I used to, first
thing, even before I sat down, just open my computer
as I'm sitting down, right? Yeah, just automatic.
Yeah, just like auto. And now it's like I'll
reach and go, whoa, wait. Yeah. Sit down. Sit
down. And now I'll either put my earbuds in and
put on some really, really just relaxed music,
just to have that going. And then I do a little
morning, kind of a morning meditation thing,
just a relaxation thing. Very simple. It's like
five minutes. It's an app, right? Yeah, yeah.
What's it called? It's called Simple Habit. Simple
Habit, okay. Kate James, she's from Australia,
obviously. I'm prone to Australians. They're
just soothing, and she just walks you through
being mindful of your physical body. Just totally
relaxes me, but also... If my mind was trying
to spin up, it just spins it down like immediately.
Yeah. So then I'm sitting there and I'm like,
gosh, I don't even really want to open my screen
right now. But I want to I need to do my daily
grind. I want to do that. And so so I'll jump
in on that. But it's been really very peaceful
and helpful and starting my day better and better.
And I'm getting now that's becoming a habit.
Yes. Instead of reaching for it now. Right. Now
I'll do this first. I need to just. Be still
mm -hmm. There is a Cronus to feel hurry in the
mornings because you gotta get the day going,
you know, I gotta get to the office I always
staff me. All right, we're recording I need to
at least think about I mean, I need to go I need
to get the shower, you know, and and that's buzzing
around we both work your back timing your morning
like I got a fair day and that you already have
a schedule just Unwritten you need to I got any
20 minutes for the shower. I need this and that
that so now We've had a little downtime, which
is nice, because we were supposed to be on the
beaches right now. We are, brother. We're on
the beach of podcast land. We were actually going
to do a podcast from the beach. But then with
all the government shutdown, the plane issues,
we were like, I don't really want to lose $3
,600 in plane tickets at our hotel bill. So anyway,
we put all that off. But it's been good because
In my mind, I was just going to come to work
and Annette goes, no, no, let's take this time
off. Yeah, right on. And so it has been, it's
actually been better for me than my summer vacation
because we had a flood on July 4th. And all of
that threw me into chaos mentally, whether I
was actually having to go do anything. It was
mostly feeling phone calls and feeling the weight
and sorrow and all that. So. I've actually been
more at peace, more relaxed, more rested during
this little accidental vacation, staycation,
than I was in my whole summer vacation. I think
personally, because it was going to be pretty
short, it was like five days, we were going to
zip it out and back. I personally think that
we would have come back tired. flights and connections.
That was the main reason. I'm like, I don't think
this is going to work very well with these connections.
And it does wear you out. And it's been good
for me too. I've been, I've been like, Oh, I'm
not really doing much, you know, except, uh,
downloading scripture. You know, we do our little
morning thing like, hey, here's what's happening
today. There's not a lot to write right now.
I went to HEB. Going to the gym, Planet Fitness
and temple care. You know, it's just not a lot
to write and it's really great. It's been good.
Regarding the, you know, the morning routines
and by the way, I recognize now as a believer
that you're so vulnerable when you wake up. And
I always immediately try to get right into the
Lord's Prayer right away because I will wake
up and like have these thoughts running through
my head and like, I know what you're doing. No,
you're not going to start because I know how
that used to be. I'd wake up, these thoughts
are coming to my head. I'd be preoccupied with
it. It was probably something stupid or dumb
or old or whatever. I was annoyed. I get that
out of my head right away. But I learned something
It's kind of unrelated, although I can come back
to it about Marjorie Taylor Greene quitting Congress.
Right. That's important. That's a big deal. Well,
what's interesting about it is, so I actually
got a note from a lobbyist in Austin who laid
out for me, did we talk about this on the last
show? No. Oh, okay. This is good. Well, what's
interesting, so the interesting part comes first,
because I mentioned this on the No Agenda show
and John says, hold on a second. Why don't you
tell everybody what's going on? Like, doesn't
everybody know about Marjorie Taylor Greene?
I got several emails from people saying, hey,
man, I work in Detroit and I listen to you guys
to kind of catch up on some of that stuff. I
have no idea what's going on with her. And then
I started to do the math. If you really look
at the podcast and the actual size of X and the
actual amount of it's a small portion of the
country that is and indirectly kind of spun up.
I mean, we're all kind of on it, you know, like,
oh, what's going on? It's so not important. In
fact, I believe the president is really trying
to build a new Republican party for the working
class, you know, which will be much better if
all of this pans out and all the manufacturing.
that is supposed to come actually comes and we
should pray for that because a country that doesn't
produce anything isn't really a country. So anyway,
so that really reset my mind. I'm like, wow,
it's really not all that big a deal. And it's
only we're only kind of in our own little circle
spinning around. And it's really a luxury. issue,
because I guess I'm a knowledge worker. I don't
have to get in my car every day and drive somewhere
and be at Ace Hardware helping people all day.
So I just put it in perspective for me that,
no, it's really not that big a deal. Thank you
for saying that. Because what I have seen, the
further I take a step back from trying to be
in the know on everything, What's Candace Owens
up to today? Who's upset with her? Who's not?
Marjorie Taylor Greene. Oh my gosh, she's walking
away. She's taking her toys and going home. I'm
not mocking, but it is laughable in a sense that
we get so... This reminds me of my grandmother,
Miss Virginia Sims, where she read The Daily
Star. the National Enquirer, and she believed
it. She actually would talk about celebrities
on a first name basis, because she felt like
she knew them. Angelina. I'm like, who? Jolie.
She'd get into it, and I would just sit back
trying not to laugh out loud. That had become
her world. And so in her mind, she assumed that's
everybody's world. See what I'm saying? And this
is what happens with a lot of the influencers,
a lot of what's going on with podcasting. They
just assumed that everybody's swimming in this
water. Especially now that the podcasters, the
big -name podcasters are all going on each other's
podcasts, talking about what they talked about
on that podcast with that podcast. Throwing the
grenade over the fence back and forth. I'm calling
it the circularity. There it is. That's a good
word. That's exactly what it is. Circularity.
Just briefly, just because it was interesting
that we have a friend who's a lobbyist in Austin.
So you recall that we talked about these, all
of a sudden it's going viral. The Muslims are
in Texas, 48 mosques in two years, et cetera,
et cetera. First of all, I looked up how many
churches that are in Texas. Oh brother, there's
over three and a half thousand in the Dallas
area alone. So 48 mosques, not to worry about
it. But what turns out, you recall that Governor
Abbott made a proclamation and he said, I'm proclaiming
Muslim Brotherhood and Council on American Islamic
Relations, terrorist groups, they won't be able
to buy any land, no Sharia law. So he announced
his candidacy for running for governor again
on November the 9th, I believe, October 9th.
And according to this lobbyist who knows people
who run his campaign, This was no accident. This
was no coincidence. Now, there was no accusation
of him actually paying influencers to jack this
up and talk more about this particular issue
in Texas, which by the way, this was done in
Tennessee many years ago. And the same thing
was like, oh, Tennessee is going to be Sharia
law and under a Republican governor. I don't
think Tennessee has become a hotbed of Sharia
law. But It's no accident that he comes out with
this proclamation right kind of at the peak of
this virality of the mosques and fear mongering.
And it's all political. Yeah. And I thought first
maybe it was against him, but no, it seems like
it really was his campaign. taking advantage
of something that just happened to be viral at
that very moment. So when I started hearing about
all this, I found myself getting a little worked
up. Oh no, here they come. The reason I did that
is because my point of reference was being in
Paris in 2019 and having to step over on the
Louvre, having to step over people that were
dropping, stop, drop and roll, you know, three
times a day. Yeah. Cause of the Bataclan nightclub
shooting. Yeah. So they were everywhere. And
it's even worse now. A friend that went back
and he said, man, I'll never go back again. He
said, it's, it's not even the same place. So
same way with London. So, so there is, there
is some reason for being aware and saying, okay,
Lord, what's going on? Told it in the car. I
don't know if I should say this out loud. I said,
can't blame them. They're just doing what we're
trying to do as Christians. We're trying to take
over the world. Isn't that what we're doing?
It's kind of like, wow, I kind of get it. I mean,
not that we're trying to take over the world,
but you know what I mean. propagate what we believe,
they're doing the same thing. And there's interesting
things, there's dynamics around Islam that most
people don't understand. There's a lot of fear.
Yes. And you know, when Muhammad originally got
his download from Gabriel in the cave, when he
was meditating, it was actually peaceful. The
initial writings were very peaceful. I've read
some of that, and it sounds a lot like Christianity.
I mean, a benevolent God or forgiving God, a
loving God, that is not what we're hearing today.
No. And I lived around and with many Muslims
in the Netherlands when I moved back in the end
of 99. And they have their sugar festival, what
do they call it? The Ramadan. And then they'd
say, hey, man, you should come over tonight and
we'll eat. And really, there was never any issue.
So we got two things going on. We have fear -based
things going on. And there are things that have
happened that promote that. With Christianity,
too. Oh my god. Well, I'm just thinking what's
going on in Nigeria right now. 30 Christians
beheaded in the last few weeks. I mean, that's
really happening. I will have to say I've been
looking into this. I don't believe it's just
targeting Christians in Nigeria. It's regional,
and this is all geopolitical resource -based.
It's not specifically, as far as I can tell,
because I've been following this story for many
years as well. It's played here as they're targeting
Christians specifically. Are they killing Christians?
Yes, they're also killing Muslims. They're killing
all kinds of people. So here on Christianity
Report today, Christians targeted in wave of
Islamist violence across Africa. It's resource
related, it's gang related, it's who has access
to the minerals, to the oil, it's location based.
there happen to be a lot of Christians in that
area. And so I'm a little apprehensive. Right.
To just jump on, beat that drum. Yeah, I'm a
little, you know, because it kind of comes back
to the, be careful, the evil Muslims are coming.
So that begs the question, you know, you're usually
throwing a question at me, so I'm throwing at
you as a conspiracy therapist. So how do we find
that balance in these things? Because it is to
read enough. Read Christian a report for quite
a while and I found it to be very helpful very
informative. So why How do we take this this
kind of news because this does Sound alarm bells.
Oh my gosh Christians are getting slaughtered.
Yeah in the Congo and in Mozambique For their
faith and in Syria and yeah in China and yeah
all over the world. There's a lot of Christians
Right. So it's, you know, when a group of people
is attacked, you know, well, okay, so I just
always look at everything from all angles. My
initial, of course, my initial reaction is, what?
They're targeting Christians? I mean, the Scripture
talks about this. We have to pray for our brothers
and sisters who are in dire circumstances, even
though ours are great. I don't think that even
that any Christian publication is no more or
less prone to using this to get clicks and draw
people to the story. I doubt they have boots
on the ground in the region really doing the
reporting. So I really dive into this very, very
deeply and that's kind of what I do. So specifically,
the mosques here in Texas and the targeting Christians
in Nigeria, I went real deep. And when you really
look at what it's about, it's not about, hey,
we want to go kill some Christians. No, it's
like, we want this land because of the minerals
that are here and the oil resources. And we have
an army. Now, these are always financed by other
nation states, which could easily be France.
I don't have any proof on who it is, but China
is the big one financing a lot of things. And
then look at the weapons. What weapons are they
using? Oh, they got Kalashnikovs. Okay. So you
can kind of figure out where that's coming from.
So there is no sure... Well, what does Scripture
say about discernment? I mean, there's... I'm
looking at you with like, looking up on perplexity,
quick. No, it just literally talks about like
the men of Issachar who understood the times
and knew what to do. So there's a sense of understanding
the times, being aware, which is why we're having
these conversations, right? So with this issue,
we have to be wise and aware, but not running
around with their hair on fire, like what we
named last episode. So how do we intelligently
engage these things and help people not just
lose their mind over it? Well, I wasn't prepared
for this particular issue. Next week, I will
bring in some information about Nigeria, what's
actually happening. I just wasn't prepared for
it, but I have looked into it. It's a hot topic
in Christian Of course. Influencer land, you
know, everyone's talking about it. Everyone's
beating the drum. Yes. And it's, it feels very
fear based, fear, you know, just, oh my gosh,
it's coming. You know, what we've been warned
about. Oh yeah, no, okay. I mean, all these different
guys talking about it, Josh Howerton, some of
these big investors. Well good, then this is
probably part of our calling here together is
to do just that. It doesn't make the killing
any better. Right, of course. It doesn't make
any, but it's not just Christians. You know,
the whole, the kidnap schoolgirls, I mean...
This thing, you've been hearing this for many,
many years. It all comes back around. It's all
kind of the same system. Africa, honestly, is
a mess. And it's been kept a mess purposely by
many. In fact, the United States has actually
done the least damage, in my opinion, in Africa.
If you look at the Belgians in the Congo, they
slaughtered millions and millions and millions
of people. The Chinese, in the past. And when
I say the Chinese, I mean, the Chinese Communist
Party, the government, you know, and their industry.
I mean, it's not just Xi Jinping isn't just the
guy. You know, they've they've come in, they've
they built infrastructure and then said, oh,
you can't pay it back. OK, well, then it's just
ours and we'll bring our people in. And so that's
what they've been doing. So this has been happening.
It's been going on for a long time, but it takes
different nuances, depending on who's reporting
it. Of course. So how do we, I'm going to ask
you, the conspiracy therapist, because it's easy
for me to read these things and just find my
blood pressure blowing up, going, oh my gosh.
Oh my God. It's coming. It's here. They've been
warning us about it, and now it's here. Now it's
Epic City. It's McKinney, Texas. It's Plano.
all these things. So how do we watch it? OK,
when I played football for many years, growing
up, I was a defensive back. So what they taught
us every time the ball is snapped, we have to
take our recognition steps. That's a fray. That's
an actual fray. That means you take you move
your feet and you bounce back about two or three
steps. And it's called recognition steps. And
what they're training you to do is evaluate what's
going on. You're keying off the tackle. You're
keying off the end. You're keying off the center
quarterback. Where's he going? So you it's like,
as soon as the ball is snapped, you step back.
You don't go forward. Now, the guys on the line
got to go forward. But as backs, because we're
trying to protect the long game, the long passes,
the passes across the field. So I remember our
coaches drilling into us. Take your recognition
steps. Take. So this sense is this feels the
same. It's exactly the same. Instead of just
firing off the line and hitting somebody, we
need to take a few steps back and go, what's
really going on? So first of all, don't immediately
go on social media looking for other answers.
Oh my gosh. You'll find something. You'll find
something. I like this idea of recognition steps
because this is pretty much what I always do.
Oh my God, have you heard this? Can you believe
this? This is going on. And the first thing I'd
say is, hmm, I'll have to look into that. Yeah.
And energy recognition. And it's so easy to hit
like, share. That's too easy. Comments. Send
it to a friend. This is horrible. Send it to
your text group. That is, in fact, the entire
purpose of this. You have to remember. few million
people who are on these social networks, there
are multiple actors at play with bot farms. And
it's really true. I mean, it's very sophisticated.
Once the internet came in, propaganda from all
over the world became much easier, much easier.
And so you just have to step back, calm down.
First of all, I mean, I just take nothing at
face value, except the word. That's the only
thing. The only thing like, okay, I believe this,
this is good. It's nothing. And you just have
to understand that there is propaganda going
on all the time. So there's an actual war taking
place, a gang -related resource war in Nigeria,
very resource -rich region. Of course, there
are all kinds of victims, but I would say that
in this case, this is probably riling up a group
of Christians in the United States specifically
to maybe garner some support for an attack, and
it's gotten to the president. The president's
like, this is an outrage, and he's not immune
from this stuff. Right. It's obvious, yeah. He
may have other reasons for saying, well, you
know, this is going on. We have some interest
there. This is what's happening. I want to intervene.
I'll do it under this cloud that's already there.
So that's like a double whammy. And he will not
tell you that that's what he's doing because
he understands he understands how to play the
public. Right. So so we got to take our recognition
steps, recognition steps. And all that is basically
it's three steps back. But you're not just taking
steps back to do it. You're actually surveying
the field. You're looking at all the moving parts.
So you've got all these players, you've got 24
players on the field, 12 on each team. You're
surveying and you're looking for cues of what's
really going on because as you know, a quarterback
may fake. a handoff and run it the other way.
So you've got a cue off of all that. So that
just, that makes sense to me as a guy who played
sports. I can't believe we're talking sports
ball, brother. I know, right? So out of my league.
But it works if you think about it. It's a simple
principle and really you can apply that to just
about anything. So the next time you, I would
liken it to the ball being snapped, but I get
something that drops. You know, I'm on several
text lists as you are, and there's no way to
unsubscribe from, you know, just leave not being
rude. Right. And these are people I love and
do life with. But, you know, I'll get two or
three or four or five, sometimes more a day,
you know, these hot, hot topic, you know, something
from X that somebody said, and, oh, here's the
link. Click on it. And then you click on it.
And then so then there's taking that step back.
So then there's the second part is we now have
an entire cottage industry which is deconstructing
these things and showing you what the connections
like basically the the board with the pins and
the red yarn and making all these connections
and it has become a very profitable industry.
I've been doing this for 18 years and because
I don't do it that way, jumping up like, wow,
and here we can pull this in and these guys and
that. And then there's always an Israeli and
blah, blah, blah, blah. Because I don't do that,
I think that I have a much more sustainable audience
in general because they know that, OK, there's
probably a lot more behind this. And it's just
it's not healthy to go looking for these people.
And they are everywhere. and they'll show you
maps, and they'll show you flight data, and they'll
show you ships, and they'll show you all these
things. Do not conform to the ways of the world.
Just please don't. That's your recognition. It's
easy to do because you've got a lot of people
who, you know, this title, influencers, and they're
people that I'm thinking in terms of some pastors.
When I listen to them preach and teach the scripture,
boom, man, amazing. But then you get them behind
a mic where they can kind of take the boundaries
off, take the little gutter guards off of the
kiddie lane at the bowling alley. They take everything
off. And then it's like they're saying things.
And I'm thinking, man, is this going to be good?
So I looked it up. It's 1 Chronicles 12 -32 of
Issachar. Men who had understanding of the times
to know what Israel ought to do. And that's what
these guys were. They understood what was going
on. They could read the times. And that's really
where I feel like we need more help from the
Holy Spirit. Not more, we just need to listen
to him. I think he's always, we talked about
that you started saying this, he's always talking,
but are we always listening? And the answer is
no, because I think what happens once the alarm
goes off, you know, that the latest Candice Owens
controversy. The chemicals in your brain have
changed. You're hooked. You're in it. Because
you don't want to miss out that FOMO fear of
missing out. And so I need to get on this. And
I've talked about this on this program before
and I talk about often how there's a lot of pressure.
on me as a pastor who I want to be a man of Issachar.
I want to understand the times and know what
to do. So that leads me toward being susceptible
to all these news hits. So tell me about the
men of Issachar. Because it wasn't a man, it
was men, so it was multiple men. It was a hundred,
I think? Two hundred chiefs and all their kinsmen
under their command. So that could have been
a lot more than two hundred. These were a certain
select group of people who really, they understood,
they were wise on what was happening. I'm looking
to see if my, I'm looking for my So here's my
rule of thumb while you're looking that up. Whenever
there was something going on, I always look for
oil, pipelines, gold, money, and drugs. I look
for those things, and you can literally go into
perplexity and say, tell me what oil resources
and pipelines are in Nigeria, where they run,
and what groups surround them. And you'll be
astounded. when you see, oh, well, this pipeline.
I mean, that's what Afghanistan was. Right. Big
pipeline into Pakistan. It was, you know, a very
important unicorn, very important oil resources
that kept getting jacked by some guys down there
in South Afghanistan in the name escapes me now.
That's where we had drones circling all day.
Well, here we go. We're coming back to where
we seem to always end up. And that's following
the money because resources. Yeah. is money.
And so, we may think something is religiously
motivated, because on the surface it appears
to be. We know the root of all evil is the love.
Is it all evil? No. For the love of money is
the root of all evil. There you go. Thank you.
So, I was looking up about these... This is some
interesting biblical context around these men
of Issachar. So, they were listed, they were
200 chiefs and their kinsmen, but unlike other
tribes described in Scripture in terms of troop
numbers and military readiness, Issachar's contribution
is highlighted by their discernment rather than
their martial strength. So, this is interesting
that they're actually... Wow. And they're a smaller
group than most, but others are like 50 ,000.
I was just looking through that. Right, just
a couple hundred dudes. Yeah. These are a small
number, but there was something about them that
was trusted and they carried some kind of wisdom.
So the meaning of Understood the Times, which
is really important, it means it's commonly taken
to mean that these leaders could read the political,
social, and spiritual situation of Israel and
recognize that God's purpose was now to establish
David as king, because that's where they were
moving. Yep. This was some of David's mighty
men. Their knowledge of what Israel should do,
quote, suggests they offered strategic, wise
counsel that helped guide the nation at a critical
transition point. We need, we need men of Issachar.
Well, and women. We all should be. Absolutely.
We should strive to be the men of Issachar. And
we have the helper. We have the Holy Spirit,
the prayer of Klaitos, the one called alongside
to help to give us. There's a wonderful spiritual
gift called the Word of Wisdom and the Word of
Knowledge. There's different ones. These are
called manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit,
which means I can know nothing, but if the Holy
Spirit manifests to me a word of knowledge, I
now know something I didn't know before. And
it's supernatural. And can you imagine if we
spent as much time asking the Lord to speak to
us as we did? sifting through news feeds. Can
you imagine how much wiser we would be? We would
be men of this car. Take a look at how much text
messaging you write on a daily basis. You could
write a book. The same amount of writing you
do on a daily basis in your text messages. You
could write a book. Just so you know, since we've
been talking. Okay, a small book. My book is
getting smaller because as I'm not throwing my
into the wind, they're not coming back. Very
few. It's interesting to bring this all around.
Yes, it's good. If we if we reduce our screen
noise, we will be able because this is what happens
to me. I just gave like the four things pipelines,
oil. gold or minerals and drugs. I mean, that
really makes this broken world go round. And
I usually, I think now in hindsight that when
I'm looking into these things, this is when I
need to hear the helper. And the helper will
say, type this in, look for this. I mean, this
can't just be coming out of thin air into my
head, like, okay, some of it's practice, and
I look for those four things. But if we can reduce
the screen noise, i .e. I've seen this, okay,
instead of going full on, full bore to find every
article about it, do your recognition steps.
Take your recognition steps. Listen, listen,
because He will help us. That's exactly what
the men of Issachar were doing. They were listening
and they were aware of what was really going
on. I love the way this said it. This is neat
how it was worded that they could read the political,
social, and spiritual situation. Spiritual being
a big one right there. Of the landscape and know
what to do. That word of knowledge, spiritual
gift, is ours as sons and daughters of God. Do
we ask for it? Do we actually lean into it? Do
we say, Lord, I really need wisdom here? And
now I do that kind of just on an ongoing basis
because I just need it to drive down the road.
Lord, give me wisdom. That should be the definition
of recognition steps. Lord, give me wisdom. Give
me wisdom. So take that pause. So maybe just
to help people who are listening, who are quick
to jump on board. They're on a text chain. We
all are. We all are prone to this. Everybody
is. So the first thing when something drops into
your, I was at the gym yesterday and I'm in this
long text chain with guys and one thing dropped
and it was just like alarm bells, you know, breaking
news, alert, alert, you know, all that stuff,
you know, sirens. And it frustrated, I got a
little bit like, really? I was having a great
workout, I'm listening to some good music. I'm
having such a good effect on you, I'm so proud
of this. Oh man, brother, I'm telling you, I'm
tainted. I am not just saying. This is good,
this is good. So what it's doing, and now I felt
like, gosh, that was an intrusion, you know,
cause it popped up on my screen while I'm working
out. So I was like, oh yeah, there's, and I went,
ugh. You know, not only that, there's 18 to 20
TVs. In the gym at Planet Fitness. All blasting
the same messages. Yeah, they're all different
stations, but they're all saying some version
of the same thing. Remember, he is the prince
of the air. Oh my gosh. The prince of the air
waves. It is so hard not to look up because of
course they've got, you know, the CC, you know,
closed caption. So I can tell what's going on.
I mean, we got the view going on here. We got
MSNBC over here. We got Fox Nation over here.
And I'm just going. Stop looking. It's work.
Because these things so clamor for our attention.
And at the end of the day, John Hale just talked
about how what the world, what the enemy is trying
to do, the enemy of your soul. We're not talking
about Islam. We're not talking about some ideology
or whatever. The actual prince of the power of
the air, he's after your heart. He wants you
to lose heart. It's in fact your heart that jumps
when you read these exactly these headlines.
Oh, oh my it's a spike Yeah, you get a flutter.
What is that flutter? It's adrenaline. It's dopamine.
It's you know, that's something just happened
Yeah, and the sad thing is it feels good sometimes
to get a little that's why people watch horror
movies and go on roller coasters Sure, they like
that flutter that that pump. Yeah, they get and
we've got to be able to take our recognition
steps and go Let that calm down for a minute.
Now I need to come in with wisdom. What is really
going on? Lord, Holy Spirit, help me see. Would
you grant to me the gift of wisdom, the spiritual
gift of wisdom and the word of knowledge so that
I can be like a son of Issachar or a woman of
Issachar, that I will be able to discern the
times and know what to do? Can you imagine if
we just took a pause, this recognition step thing?
all day long, can you imagine how we would stop
forwarding and reposting things that come through?
I mean, when I see something that's been reposted,
I just go, oh man, somebody just took the bait.
Facebook would go out of business. Nah, X2. Thank
you for saying that, brother. Hopefully everybody
will rewind that and listen to that. what you
just said, listen to that again. That's a perfect
instant prayer. The minute you read, the minute
you feel the spike like, Holy Spirit, I'm taking
my recognition steps. I'm backing off. Give me
wisdom. And you might not even want to immediately
investigate, but... Take a pause. Yes. Yes. And
just to say, just to encourage people who are
listening, Don't get fancy with your prayer on
this. This is an ongoing conversation with God.
You don't have to do an intro and an outro. I
talk to our staff. Every time we pray, it goes
really long because everybody thinks they've
got to have an intro and an outro and a setup,
and I'm glorious. Just pray the topic. I can't
get them to do it. It's crazy. Simple things.
It's something that you passed on to me very
early on. You pray a lot. And it doesn't have
to be long, just get to the point. And every
time you, you don't have to reintroduce yourself
to God every time you talk to Him. Hey, God,
it's me. It's Adam. Hey, I'm just thinking about
you, Lord. And yeah, thank you for this beautiful
day. I mean, you don't have to do all that. Just
say, Lord, I need wisdom. I need, thank you for,
thank you, Holy Spirit. And then by faith, receive
it. This is a little help. Just assume that when
you asked for it, He's given it to you. And then
you, so you thank Him. for what you believe He
just gave you, even if you don't feel any different
or see anything different, but it will change
your lens and the grid through which you see.
Take your recognition steps. That's it. That's
the title and we're going to land it right there.
Look at that 58 minutes and 25 seconds. Does
it get much better than that? Thank you, brother.
Happy Thanksgiving. Right back at you, my friend.
We'll be here next week. We get to do this.