Father, in Jesus' name, it's always a privilege
to be before you as a son, before a good father.
So Adam and I come to you this morning. We pray
for all of our friends and listeners that will
be hearing this podcast. We ask, Lord, that you
would open their hearts to a deeper and more
meaningful relationship with you as they continue
on their journey of faith. And Lord, we say this,
we mean it. It's become the title of this podcast,
but we get to do this and we're thankful for
it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. It's Wednesday,
March 11th, 2026. We get to do this. This is
episode number 24. We get to do this. You notice
how pro we are now. We just come in. We sit down.
You're still cleaning your screen. Boom. We pray.
We're into the show. It's like we're just rocking
and rolling here, brother. Rocking and rolling.
I'm telling you. Is that the sound of a pro?
Yes. It reminds me a little bit of... back in
my radio days, you know, you come in two minutes
before, you got all your stuff. The other guy's
still there. You know, he's like cleaning his
stuff out of the desk. That's what Matt Long
does. Totally. Matt's like, oh, yeah, we got
30 seconds. We should go in. Go sit down. They're
in a container, which makes it even funnier.
I love those studios. I do too. It's old school.
Patriot FM here in the Hill Country. Yeah, yeah.
I love it's old school because it's got dirt
on everything, and then all kinds of stuff on
the walls. It's nasty. It really is. It's a shed.
Yeah, and it's lived in. It's just lived in.
But you know what? Those guys, they do a great
job with what they got. And of course, Matt Long's
daily podcast on the Godcaster, Bridge Church.
Hello, Fred, whichever station you choose. It's
all there. Brother, what a week it's been. It
has been quite, especially for you and Dave Manette
and Mr. Chevy. Mr. Chevy's had a rough go of
it. You know, we came off of being sick three
weeks. I mean, we're just like in recovery mode,
right? Getting our back in the office, which
I loved being back. And then he jumps off the
bed on like Thursday, which he's done for 10
years of his life. About two days later, it didn't
happen immediately, but I know how this goes
because I have back issues too. Not anymore.
I mean, very rare. Stop jumping off the bed,
Pastor Jimmy. I need to quit jumping off too,
or off the back of the couch. Anyway, he's a
little poodle mix. He's called a have a Sean.
So he's a poodle mix, white, little fragile guy,
10 years old, but thinks he's one and a half.
He loses his mind, runs off. So he jumps off
the bed in the morning. As you know, in the morning,
we're a little creaky, you know? Snap, crackle,
pop. That's what I sound like. Exactly. Exactly.
So anyway, a couple of days after that, we just
noticed him acting weird. I mean, he was like
starting to whimper and then he just diminished
quickly. I mean, like so by the weekend, it was
getting bad. Sunday, Annette had to stay home
with him. It was awful. He didn't even come to
church. It was awful. He was screaming. You know,
I've only heard a dog scream a couple of times
and it was when I was younger and I had to put
a dog down and it was heartbreaking and hard.
There's a sound. Humans make it too. I've been
in hospitals when my brother got hit by a car
and broke his femur and I just remember the sound
coming out of him. Never had heard it before,
haven't heard it since. Same way with a dog,
you know, or any animal that's Feels like they're
dying in the moment, you know, so he was screaming
out in pain He lost the use of his back legs
Then how do you take him out to go to the bath?
I mean it just got bad. Yeah, and so by Sunday
Sunday night was terrible. So She stayed home
Monday. We're thinking all right, we're gonna
turn the corner because we did have meds from
he did the same thing last year But this was
way worse. Last year was the first injury. But
you know, you know this about a human body or
an animal. The more you do it, the more it's
going to hurt, the longer it'll take to recover.
Now he's prone to that, right? And at his age.
So we had meds. We had methyl carbinol. We had
pain med. We had prednisone. I mean, stuff -
You were giving your dog meth? Really? Methyl
carbinol. Oh, I'm sorry. It's a really good muscle
relaxer that doesn't make you loopy. Sorry, I
digress. I revert. So anyway, So we started doing
that on Saturday or Sunday and we knew it would
work because we know what's going on. He has
a bulging disc that's hitting his spinal cord
so he's losing the use of his back legs and paralyzing.
Yeah, basically. And so we knew what was going
on and we knew if we could get the inflammation
down. So I reach out to Lauren Horster who is
a veterinarian at the vet where we go, the vet
hospital. So she knows and she was gracious and
wonderful and helped calm us down a little bit.
So Annette stays up with Chevy or sleeps on the
couch with Chevy. I couldn't even move him. This
poor dog didn't pee for 22 hours. I was getting
the running commentary. I bet you were. Annette
was texting Tina and, you know, we're watching
some things like phone. I see the phone light
up, pause. Okay, what's going on? We would literally
stop and pray for him and for you guys and then
continue. And then, oh, I mean, we're dog people.
We know how this feels. Exactly. And you and
I are probably even more connected to our dogs
than our wives are. I'm just thinking that there's
somehow a boy and his dog. It's a deep thing.
Yeah. So that night we go to bed and every two
hours he'd wake up and start screaming for no
reason. I mean, she wasn't touching him. He was
nothing. I don't know if he was just in the night.
It was getting worse. I'm up most of the night,
Monday night. We're going to go to the doctor
the next morning because I talked to Lauren.
She said, yeah, take him in, let Dr. Lindner
look, check him out, since he knows him because
he treated him last year. But you were already
fearing the worst at this point. This is where
I'm going. So we made our decision. We've never
done this, one of us sleep on the couch ever.
We're not those kind of people. So we don't fight
and go, oh, you're sleeping on the couch. We
don't do that. So this is weird. I'm in the other
bedroom, no sound machine, no earbuds. I wear
Oslo's at night cause I love the, just the inner
ear and the alarm and everything. So it all works
for me. So I'm, I'm totally out of my element.
My way better half's not with me and he's not
with me cause he sleeps in between us. So everything's
off. We're worried about him and I start praying
and I say, Lord, I'm willing to let him go because
I do not want this dog to suffer. If this is
what we're looking at and this is the rest of
his life, then I would rather put him down. And
I just gave it to the Lord. I said, otherwise
show me a sign because if not, this is what we're
doing. She made the same decision in the middle
of the night. We hadn't talked about it at all.
She came to that same resolution where you just
resolve to something. Doesn't mean you like it.
You just resolve to it. I read Psalm 23 through
Psalm 34 at 4 a .m. and the Lord just ministered
to my soul. It was amazing actually. I haven't
had a nighttime read like that in decades where
he was just speaking to me. Obviously not audibly,
but just the scripture was speaking to me. So
get up the next morning. I'm afraid to go in
there. I let them sleep in remember I said they're
not even awake Yeah, I just I snuck into my office
turned on one light didn't get coffee I just
sat down because I was wide awake and just let
him sleep as long they slept till like 930 because
it was a rough night rough I Get up and go in
there she gets up and we're looking at Chevy
like what you know just heartbroken and he perks
up And he looks like the life is back in him.
His ears are perking up. His eyes are bright
again. He's panting, like he's smiling. And we're
like, Chevy. And he's responsive. Do you want
to go outside? Tilts his head like, yes, I do.
I can't, but I want to, you know? So all of a
sudden it was like, oh, right. What's going on
here? And all that more, we couldn't get into
130. We thought we'd go in the morning, but we
called and they couldn't see him till 130. every
hour upon the hour, he got better and better.
But what it was, prayer of the saints, but also
the medication, I think mixed with prayer. That's
why I wrote meds are good, but prayer is greater.
But both together, that's how it should be. And,
you know, that disc could begin to come down
because that was his third day on meds. We had
done some research and it said the third day,
well, that's when the inflammation really starts
to kick in. Hallelujah for Jesus and chat GBT.
What a combo. Oh my gosh. No kidding, right?
Well, it was comforting. And it gave us a goal
kind of like, if he doesn't make the turn today,
and he did, I was able to pick him out. No more
crying. He hasn't cried since. You sent me a
picture of when you were feeding him with a water
dropper the night before and the next morning
and he's like sitting up sitting up hello looks
normal right unbelievable no actually very believable
there we go hey i don't tell me god doesn't do
miracles and that he doesn't care about our fur
babies he does i mean you can tell me that but
i won't believe you it was we were everybody
was relieved and you know because we were just
I couldn't get to sleep, man. I'm like, come
on, Lord, come on. That's kind of cool. That's
what I love about my church. You know, I mentioned
this in the pulpit on Sunday. I was swarmed.
Yeah, with people. Not just ladies. I thought
ladies would come say it was men. It was manly
men coming to me going, bro, I know exactly where
man is killing me too. I mean, I'm going to pray
for your little dog. I mean, it was like... That's
beautiful. I left the parking lot lifted. Just...
Thankful. Always am thankful. But I left the
parking lot going, we have the best church on
the planet that I can get up there and bleed
out about my dog. And 50 people come to me and
tell me they're praying for him. So that just,
gosh, it was such a lift, you know, in the middle
of all that. And it didn't get the value of that.
But I came home lifted, even though it was harder
after that. Actually, we had to get through the
hard season, but took him to the doctor. He did
do the x -ray just in case to check for fracture
and to see the disc itself when you could see
it all very clearly what was happening. And he
said, man, that thing's really diminished where
it's not hitting on the core, barely hitting
on the cord. He said, another couple of days,
just don't let him jump off of anything. So anyway,
got up this morning, he's doing good. So we're
just so thankful. You were so excited and buzzing.
You know, and you were over texting, which is
like, okay. Yes. All right. All right, brother.
I realize. Oh my gosh. And they're like, yeah,
I'm sparring with people on Facebook. I'm like,
okay. All right. I needed that. I needed to come
back. You know, I was so focused on this dog.
I was like, I need to get back in the game. So
I'm just going to throw out a little, little,
a little post about Talarico. Just a little something.
Wow. Boy, the claws came out. But you know what?
It was actually good for me. I laughed about
it because I was like, I needed that. That felt
good. After about an hour and a half I said,
all right, I'm done. After the last minute he
called me a hypocrite and said I shouldn't be
a pastor doing politics. So I just thought, okay,
time to stop. Well, the thing about Talarico
specifically is that his entire Christian, air
quotes, church life He's all about politics.
And we're going to prove that. And it's important
because from two perspectives, one, he is now
the senatorial candidate for Texas. And now I
don't think it was that hard for him to beat
Jasmine Crockett. Exactly. Low bar. Yeah, pretty
low bar. Because she just literally says she
hates white people. I mean, you can hear her
saying it. It's just crazy, which makes no sense.
Apparently he does too. Well, so it's not only
because—and this is politics. It is. But he's
bringing it, and we're going to show that to
you, but also just his understanding of what
being a Christian means is— I mean, he did this
thing in a church, and I have some clips from
that, and you hear people going, amen. I'm like,
wow, man, it's really confusing. And I can see
where a lot of Christians may feel like, oh,
OK, I'm a good Christian, and I don't have to
stand by certain things that God says that are
written in the Bible, so I feel even better about
my faith now. And I've seen this with... with
many different people. So before we get into
this particular sermon that he did somewhere
in 2023, this all started, you sent me a, I think
an Instagram post, and there were two clips in
there that kind of that set you up and like,
Oh, wow, we got and I think you even said like,
I got to find a long form of this guy because
I need to make some clips for the show. So here
he is. These are just very short. These are like,
you know, less than 20 seconds. In the Gospel
of Thomas, which was later omitted from the Bible,
the Gospel of Thomas quotes Jesus... Should we
just stop there? The Gospel of Thomas that was
later omitted. Is this true? It was never part
of the canon. It was denied straight up by the
early church fathers. And the reason is... because
it was written 150 to 200 years after the Gospels.
So it would be considered an extra biblical writing.
Another thing that's interesting is Thomas didn't
write it. So the Gospel of Thomas... Who wrote
it? We don't know who wrote it. It wasn't Paul.
He wasn't there. No, it was not one of the biblical
writers. So it's interesting because it's 114
sayings. It's broken down. It's like a... Sort
of like a Proverbs, but a Jesus version of Proverbs.
That's what the gospel of Thomas is. Yeah, 114
sayings. We'll talk more about, I'll read number
114 to you later, but first of all, what he says,
it was never in the Bible, period. So he starts
off on the wrong foot. First of all, he's going
to quote an extra biblical source as gospel.
And he's going to say it was in and later omitted.
It was never in. Okay. In the Gospel of Thomas,
which was later omitted from the Bible, the Gospel
of Thomas quotes Jesus as saying, when you make
the male and female one in the same, when the
male is not male, when the female is not female,
then you will enter the kingdom of God. Wow.
So when the male is not male and the female is
not female then you will enter the kingdom of
God that's in Thomas in this somewhere writings
He didn't say where it was and by the way, Tallarico
before Congress Stated that there are six genders
and science has proven it. Yes. I don't know
if this is part of that clip I think is both
masculine and feminine and everything in between
God is non -binary. That was good enough for
me. Who is non -binary? Okay. So let me read
to you saying number 114 straight out of the
gospel of Thomas. Simon Peter said to them, it
sounds like the Bible. Simon Peter said to them,
let Mary leave us for females are not worthy
of life. Jesus said, See, I shall guide her so
that I will make her male, in order that she
also may become a living spirit resembling you
males. For every woman who makes herself male
will enter the kingdom of heaven." So what he's
doing is he's saying this book that was part
of the Bible but got left out actually proves
the fact that God was non -binary because he
didn't care about male or female. I mean, how
does this he's he went to seminary? I'm not sure
which seminary he went to a Presbyterian seminary
in Austin, Texas Okay, it doesn't get much more
progressive than that. So they just making stuff
up out a whole cloth. They did not realize that
there's agendas that drive this and we know there's
a progressive agenda that is extremely left extremely
liberal and the sad thing about it is People
believe this stuff. That's what's so hard. I
think he believes it. I think he truly believes
what he's saying. Well, he's very winsome, but
so was Bill Clinton. He's very, um, Attractional.
He's sharp and confident, but so was Obama. I
mean, so you can be winsome, secure, intelligent,
articulate. And wrong. And it doesn't take much
for people to go, that's got to be true because
a very intelligent person wouldn't be saying
these things. Yes. Well, it's mind boggling.
So he did... That was the Presbyterian Church
in Austin where he was preaching there in 23.
Oh, okay. So I got a couple of clips from that
sermon. And right off the bat, well, actually,
let's just get into just the intro and then I
can set it because, you know, I have very strong
opinions about what he's doing here. But if I'm
being very honest, sometimes I hesitate before
telling someone I'm a Christian. There is a cancer
on our religion until we confess the sin that
is Christian nationalism and exercise it from
our churches. Our religion can do a lot more
damage than a six pack of Lone Star So he so
he loaded rights who calls out Christian nationalism
and This is a term that you know, I've had my
eye on for quite a while now and it's bandied
about It's often And I looked up as many different
definitions as possible. His is absolutely mind
-boggling Maybe I should ask you. What do you?
Because it's a label, right? But what to you
is a Christian nationalist? What does that mean
in your mind? Well, first of all, semantics matter
and the order of the words matter. I am a Christian.
A nationalist, in my understanding, is someone
who believes in what their country has stood
for and stands for. I tend to go back to our
founding fathers, to the original years, to the
original pastors like the Reverend Jonas Clark
from Lexington and others who stood the Black
Robe Regiment. I go back to those and say, this
is what created what we call America, the United
States. Tallarico's coming along and saying,
hey, this Christian nationalism stuff has got
to go. It's a cancer. And I'm thinking, no, heresy
is a cancer. Heresy from a pulpit is a cancer,
and it was denounced by the Apostle Paul. It
was denounced by Jesus. It was denounced by the
biblical writers. And actually, in the early
years in some of the early Catholic Church and
all, I mean, if you were a heretic, you could
be killed for it. Before we get into the heresy.
But Christian nationalism, okay, that has become
a term. So if you think about it, The Bible says
that they were first called Christians at Antioch.
By the way, it was a negative term. It was a
slur. It was derogatory. But it stuck. The British
coined a phrase for the pastors who fueled the
fire of freedom and freedom from tyranny in the
American Revolution. They called them the Black
Road Regiment, and it was a disparaging term,
and it took. It stuck. I can't remember, you
probably, I'm sure you've played the clip before
of the broadcaster, the journalist, slash journalist,
quote journalist, who said, talked about Christian
nationalism. It became kind of a term thrown
out on the air at one point, and no one really
knows where it actually came from. She just said
it out loud, these Christian nationalists. Yeah,
yeah. It was on CNN, I think. And it caught.
So when I hear the word Christian nationalist,
I take it as a compliment. I'm not a nationalist
who happens to be a Christian. I'm a Christian
who happens to stand for my country and believe
that. Here's a couple of definitions that I found.
Sure. And these are all cited. There's a sociological
definition, which is the fusion of identities.
The concept there is a Christian nationalist
blurs the distinctions between religious and
national identity, believing the nation's history,
sacred symbols, cherished values and public policies.
are intrinsically tied to a cultural expression
of Christianity. Sounds pretty good, actually.
That comes across as then the critical definition.
And so there's actually groups out there, pastor,
like Christians Against Christian Nationalism.
It's like Ron Reagan Jr. I think he would fit
in this category. They define it as political
ideology that seeks power at the expense of religious
pluralism. So, that would be a Christian symbolism
as a permission structure to acquire political
power and enforce social control. So, I think
that's odd. And I wonder if... Well, I think
that's what the term means to a lot of people.
Then we have the proponent and self -described
definition. Okay, so this is supposedly what
we would think. Proponents believe that a nation
has a distinct historically Christian identity
that must be preserved. They argue the purpose
of government is to protect the Christian understanding
of civilization, orient public policy around
a biblical worldview, and reject secularism without
necessarily forcing individual religious conversions.
Also doesn't sound all that bad to me. And we
have the receipts on the origin of our country.
I mean, all these early founders, the forefathers,
they all were biblical men. Everything they wrote
had God in it and scripture in it. Then there's
the global definition. I did some work here,
brother. I got some stuff for you. Thank you,
ChadGBT. Hungary, Poland, Brazil, Ghana, a Christian
nationalist is part of a political coalition,
often uniting conservative Catholics and evangelicals
that seeks to embed social conservatism into
law, uphold the nation's traditional Christian
heritage. and actively curb the influence of
Western progressivism, moral relativism, or secular
liberalism. There's also pieces in there that
I agree with. But it doesn't necessarily... I
felt this way before I was saved. Exactly. It
doesn't really come from my faith. Well, I felt
some of these ways before there was an actual
word for it, you know? Yeah. And really, a lot
of us who have said, okay, you want to call me
that? Fine, I am. but by my definition, not yours.
And so that's the thing is when we get into definitions
and categorize - And labels. And labels. Labels,
yeah, that was really where I was looking for.
When we get into labels, that's when we get in
trouble because now if I can label you, I can
put you over here. Yep. I can push you off of
this - That is exactly what's happening. You
over here, you over here. So now that we need
to get rid of this cancer, Christian nationals,
and exercise them from the church, I'm like -
Trust me, in that church, there's not a one sitting
there that is already. So they've already been
exercised from that church, I'm certain. Two
more definitions. The theological definition.
A Christian nationalist in this context believes
Christians have a divine mandate to exercise
dominion over all spheres of society. I would
say that's the seven mountain mandate, including
government, media, education, that a nation's
civil law should be directly modeled after biblical
laws. Also, Kind of our founding fathers said
the same thing. Then the heritage or the patriotic
definition, in this colloquial definition, a
Christian nationalist is someone who believes
their country was founded on Judeo -Christian
principles, loves their country, and believes
society functions best when it broadly respects
Christian moral values, even if they do not advocate
for an official state religion. Also in there.
So, except for the very first one, which was
that we blur the distinction between religious
and national identity, which obviously you can't.
We have so many different religious identities.
Talarico's not blurring the line. Well, let's
listen to his definition of Christian nationalism.
There is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism.
It is the worship of power. social power, economic
power, political power, in the name of Christ.
And it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth. He
told us we would know them by their fruits. Jesus
includes. Christian nationalism excludes. Jesus
liberates. Christian nationalism controls. Jesus
saves. Christian nationalism kills. Jesus started
a universal movement based on mutual love. Christian
nationalism is a sectarian movement based on
mutual hate. Jesus came to transform the world.
Christian nationalism is here to maintain the
status quo. They have co -opted the Son of God.
They've turned this humble rabbi into a gun -toting,
gay -bashing, science -denying, money -loving,
fear -mongering fascist. And it is incumbent
upon all Christians to confront it and denounce
it. But these are some pretty harsh words he's
saying here, and he's saying it with conviction.
Very. Virtue signaling out the wazoo. This is
all about their moral, his version of moral superiority,
and that he is somehow walking out the pure Christian
faith. That's just arrogant. Listen to some examples
he has of Christian nationalism at work in our
country. Christian nationalism is on the rise.
Two years ago, Christian nationalists stormed
the U .S. Capitol, killed— Wow. Hold on. I cut
it off too soon. Wait, wait, wait. Christian
nationalists stormed the U .S. Capitol, killing
police officers. Okay. No one killed a police
officer. Police officers had heart attacks and
had other things happen to them, but that's just
a lie. And to say that Christian nationalists
stormed the capital. I don't even think that
term was a term then. That wasn't even a word.
No, there were some... What was the flag? Besides
the Gadsden flag, there was also the... Oh, come
on, we talked about it. The white flag with the
pine tree. Yes, I see it. Yeah, okay. I can't
remember the words. We are bad Christian nationalists,
Pastor Jimmy Pruitt. We're no good. We're not
pure. We're not doing it right. Christian nationalists
stormed. the U .S. Capitol, killing police officers
while carrying crosses and signs reading, Jesus
saves. Last year, Christian nationalists on the
U .S. Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade,
allowing states like ours to outlaw abortion,
even in cases of rape and incest. Very loaded
what he's doing. Wow. No kidding. So, you know,
it was a It was a majority of the Supreme Court.
And it's also factually untrue that they overturned
Roe versus Wade. Technically, there was no, there's
opinions. So the whole thing is, so here's where
the politicization just comes in so hard. I'm
like, okay, why don't you just say vote Democrat?
Because that's what he's really trying to tell
a group of people in a church. And as we speak,
two Christian nationalist billionaires are trying
to replace public schools in Texas with private
Christian schooling. Also not true. No one's
trying to replace public schools. No, they're
just giving equal access. So when people push
back on you about, you know, stay in your lane,
pastor, don't get political, this is what it
is. I mean, politics, as you say, arrives on
your doorstep. You have to be involved in this
according to our Christian nationalist mantra
and the rules that we were given once we were
saved. This is what we have to do. Maybe you'll
be able to help me parse and understand because
he goes way back now to the roots of Christian
nationalism, the real roots of it all. The book
of Acts tells us that the first Christians were
persecuted for turning the world upside down.
But 300 years after Jesus was executed by the
Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine made Christianity
the official state religion of that very same
empire. Constantine was the first Christian nationalist.
I'll just stop there for a second. Wow. So what
is he trying to do here? Well, he is defining
terms is what he's doing. And he's building a
case. It sounds very much like what a legal person
attorney would do. Building a case with very,
very clear semantics and very intentional wording.
And like I said, this is virtue signaling to
another level. He's good at it. But what, so
is he comparing Constantine to President Trump
and saying, you know, Constantine made it the
official religion, which of course we don't have
an official religion in America. Nor do we want
that. No, but that's what's so crazy is he's
passing on these tropes that have been going
on for, and I'm sure that there must be some
Christian groups or churches that are definitely
out there. Oh, sure. Like for any religion. But
that is not, in my experience, the majority at
all that continues with this history lesson.
And ever since, the powers that be have been
taming Christianity, domesticating it, diluting
it into something more palatable, pro -war, pro
-wealth, pro -white supremacy. That original
countercultural movement became a tranquilized,
privatized, weaponized religion, the official
sponsor of Western civilization. Now what I actually
hear in this clip is projection. Yes. Because
he is the one that has been weaponizing. He is
literally weaponizing faith right here, religion
as he calls it. And it is my experience that
being a believer today, is in fact counterculture.
It is almost definition of going against culture,
his culture, which I grew up with. I grew up
with all of this stuff. So it's mind -boggling
to hear. We'll just close this here with what
I think what he is touting, and this would be
probably a very liberal Democrat stance. over
people's private parts while the planet burns.
Again, the projection is unbelievable. Who's
obsessing? You are! You're obsessing over it.
Exactly. And then to say, well, the planet burned.
OK, throw some climate change in there. The planet
is not burning any more or less. California was
on fire 200 years ago. You know, that's just
the world burns all the time and then it doesn't
burn. And there's a cycle of things. But OK.
Eight men own as much wealth as 3 .6 billion
people and Christian nationalists are boycotting
Barbie The Bible doesn't mention abortion or
gay marriage But it goes on and on about forgiving
dead liberating the poor and healing the sick
You want to comment on that about the the Bible
doesn't mention. This is kind of interesting
It's a way of Romans chapter 1 just read it for
yourself Christian nationalists like to say this
is a Christian nation. Not only is that historically
inaccurate. So again, you know, it's just like
it historically you're just wrong. Mr. Tallarico,
but he's so confident in his wrongness, you know,
that's he's actually good in terms of how he
communicates. I just want to know who conviction
I got to meet the people who taught him this
and what literature are they because that's what
we need to investigate. He's another level. Is
very much so. I'd like to say this is a Christian
nation. Not only is that historically inaccurate,
not only is that theologically blasphemous, but
it's also just not true. Look around us. If this
was truly a Christian nation, we would forgive
student debt. If this was truly a Christian nation,
we would guarantee health care to every single
person. If this was truly a Christian nation,
we would love all of our LGBTQ neighbors. If
this was truly a Christian nation, we would make
sure every child in this state and in this country
was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured.
If this was truly a Christian nation, we would
never make it a Christian nation. Become a Christian
like me and everything will be taken care of.
He's touting Marxism here. Total Marxism. Marxism.
101. Marxism. Basic. Because we know the table
of fellowship is open to everybody, including
our Buddhist Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and
atheist neighbors. Jesus could have started a
Christian theocracy, but love would never do
that. The closest thing we have to the kingdom
of heaven is a multiracial, multicultural democracy
where power is truly shared among all people,
something that's yet to exist in human history.
Exactly. Literally. Because it doesn't work.
Because the human condition apparently is a prerequisite.
He believes that the human condition is basically
good, and this is where we would part ways. Let's
just get back to the beginning, theology 101.
The scripture says that every man has lost his
way. None seeks God. I mean, it's clear that
we were born in sin. Paul made it clear. He said
it over and over. This kind of thinking basis,
when you boil it all back down to the root, is
that no, we're all intrinsically good. We all
deserve a medal. We all deserve a ribbon. Participation
trophy. We don't want to hurt anybody or trigger
anybody. This stuff is so scary. He would have
fit right in with Joe Bottom's regime. He's a
little out of his time, but he's trying to pull
something back. What worries me is that it's
a shortcut on the narrow path, because these
are exactly the things that we learn from Scripture,
what sin is when it comes to sexuality, when
it comes to abortion. Those are the top two ones.
That's the biggest problem right there. And just
because you believe in that and you have faith
in the Word of God doesn't mean that you hate
someone who's gay. Quite the opposite. Exactly.
This is why this level of virtue signaling bothers
me so much because he's categorizing people into
this very narrow And reading minds, apparently.
Oh yeah, but he's projecting things into that
same frame. So he builds the frame, he lumps
millions of people into it with these terms,
and then he piles on top of that additional ancillary
things that are inflammatory and controversial,
and now he puts them all in the same frame as
though this is true. And I'm thinking, this guy
doesn't know me. at all. So the danger lies in
people who feel called, feel called to Jesus,
culturally are afraid to say, oh, I don't believe
that this is a right thing to do, or I think
that is wrong. Not saying you don't have the
right to do whatever you want, broken person,
because we live in the broken world. And take
this shortcut because someone is in the pulpit
with a rainbow scarf, and says, it's okay. And
once you go down that road, they can make many
things okay. Once you change scripture, which
is definitely a no -no, I've read that, you don't
just change scripture. So there's new translations
which have all these different interpretations,
even the fact that the Bible is open to interpretation.
It's disturbing because this is the actual dilution
of faith, and it doesn't seem like it'll end
well. It won't. Let me give a basic rationale.
In Ephesians 4, it says, until we all attain...
Paul is talking about the gifts that were given
to the church, the apostle, the prophet, the
evangelist, the pastor, and the teacher, these
five offices given to the church. Why? For the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry."
He says, this is why these things are here, these
people, these offices. And then he goes in and
he breaks off from that to say this, it's for
the building up of the body of Christ until we
all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, until we haven't
done it yet. So these are still necessary. To
mature manhood, to the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer
be children. He's saying it's time to grow up
and mature. tossed to and fro by the waves and
carried about by every wind of doctrine, because
that's what he was riding against in the prison
epistles. All these doctrines were being pulled
into the church from culture and paganism. He
says this, by human cunning, by craftiness and
deceitful schemes. Then he says, and this is
a scripture that I would say the progressives
have camped out on. He says this, rather speaking
the truth in love. We are to grow up in every
way into him who is the head of Christ head the
head into Christ So there it is speaking the
truth and love this phrase has been co -opted
to use Oh, yeah, the only thing stronger than
hate is love. That's right, you know pastor so
I had someone come at me online and They told
me pastor love thy neighbor. In fact, let me
just let me just give this to you because this
folds right into this Oh, that's no coincidence.
So listen to this. This person writes me, can
you explain why you think Telerico is unbiblical
and you presumably think Trump and Paxton and
the rest are upstanding Christians? I never mentioned
Trump or Paxton. She's projecting. It's very
confusing. Personally, I think Jesus' teachings
have totally been disregarded by our leadership
at the state and national level. Then she says
this, I also think preachers should not try to
influence politics. It is not your role and it's
wrong. Love thy neighbor, pastor. That is like
saying, sick them to a dog to me. That's like,
put on the gloves. So I respond, thanks for your
comment. As for preachers not influencing politics,
look up the black robe regiment from our founding
days just before and during the American Revolution.
Read about Reverend Jonas Clark, who preached
over 3 ,000 sermons on liberty and freedom from
tyranny. The Minutemen, who stood against the
British military machine on Lexington Green,
were members of his church. Also, I'm not a pastor
who's chasing politics. Politics and policy showed
up on my front porch. To not speak out, which
I'm grateful for the freedom to do, is to be
complicit when others are already speaking out.
I'm in my lane as a shepherd in the body of Christ.
and I never touted President Trump and Attorney
General Ken Paxton as models for the Christian
life. Again, thanks for your comment. So this
projection that happens, the next person just
called me out, out a hypocrite. I said, oh, now
we're calling names. Now we're name calling.
Okay. So it just, it went down from there and
I decided, okay, I'm going to stop. As it always
is on social media. But I read that. I think
it's important because sometimes people think,
you know, because you're a Christian, but especially
if you're a pastor, you need to stay out of politics.
And it's like I explained, I'm not chasing politics.
Policy, which shapes all of our lives, whether
you're a pastor or not, it doesn't matter who
you are, you're going to be impacted by policy.
And so we've been given, according to our constitution,
the right to vote and to speak into policy. So
for me not to, because I'm a pastor, just have
your Bible study over here. This is what, I'm
just going to say it, Adolf Hitler told the pastors
in Germany, go see the movie. Do your church,
have your Bible studies, but stay out of my way.
Yep. And the minute they started to do it, that
was the end of that preacher. It destroyed them.
Yep. And so when I hear this, and I think, you
know, more than one sign of the Declaration of
Independence was a pastor. Many of them were
deacons and elders in churches. These were men
who were well read in the scriptures. It's been,
there was a study done in Maryland and they found
that 33 % of the content of the Declaration of
Independence came out of the Bible. Yeah, directly.
Directly. And so to say that, because you're
a pastor, it's wrong for you to do this. Love
thy neighbor, pastor. Well, it's even crazier
because look at what Talarico is doing. He is
literally, the whole sermon was political. Which
is why I said, as others are doing. Yes. You
know, and so I have a right, for me not to speak
is to be complicit and I won't do that. I'm going
to take a sharp right turn here since we've been
talking about labeling people and how words matter
and we've learned in the course of doing this
podcast, how even the term supporting Israel
can be misconstrued. True. This is, I just pulled
this clip, it's about a minute and a half, about
the difference between Muslim, Islam, and Islamists,
because we've got a lot of fear being propagated,
particularly in Texas, and as long as we have
the right terms, I think we'll be okay. What
is the difference between Islamic and Islamist?
These two words sound very similar, but there
are big differences between them. Islamist is
the name for a dystopian ideology, which is destructive
for everyone, including Muslims. Islamic is an
adjective for Muslims. The threat we face is
from Islamists and not from Muslims. So when
we talk about radicals or a radical ideology,
the right term to use is not Islamic, but Islamist.
The difference is huge. There's over 1 .5 billion
Muslims in the world. targeting all of them as
a threat will not only not defeat Islamism, but
also help radicalize more people. In this regard,
a useful analogy I have in mind is the relationship
between communism and the working class, which
I think is very similar to the relationship between
Islamists and Muslims. During the Cold War, communism
as an ideology tried to drive legitimacy from,
stand for, and recruit from among the working
class. We did not let that happen. We targeted
communism, but not the working class. Now, Islamism
tries to derive legitimacy from, stand for, and
recruit from among Muslims. We should not confuse
the two. We should target Islamism, the ideology,
the communism of the period, and not the working
class or the Muslim population. Confusing the
two would be a huge disaster. Imagine what would
have happened in the Cold War if we had targeted
all working class people as communists. we would
have lost the Cold War. That's the trap we have
to avoid today, not target all Muslims as Islamists.
The difference is small in words, but huge in
consequences. It is. And I hear a lot of people
saying, the Muslims are taking over. All these
different things that are being shown to us,
I believe, as a part of a gathering of conservatives
to make sure that you vote for Republican representatives
because they'll protect you from the evil Muslims.
We've got Tommy Robinson, who I like, from the
UK. He's doing interviews, going to churches
all over the country right now, saying, yo, they're
on your doorstep. It's coming. Don't let happen
here. What happened in the UK? I mean, that was
an immigration issue, not just a religious issue.
So it's important, by the way, what country has
the most Muslims in the world? It's not Iran.
It's not Saudi Arabia. It's India. That's where
the majority live. So I think we need to be very
careful not to look at a certain kind of person
and say, you're a threat to me. Right. That's
overgeneralization. But I'm going to be honest,
I'm going to be very transparent that when I
board a plane and I see some men get on the plane
of Eastern descent, I would love to say that
doesn't bother me a bit. I'd love to say I'm
completely inoculated from that. Wow. But I'm
just being real. Yeah. I don't have that, but
I understand. That's amazing. I do. And most
people do because What has been reported on over
and over, and I don't think it's all lies, is
that a lot of atrocities have been committed
by people that have been labeled under this.
Absolutely. And so over time, it has generated
a momentum of its own, almost a perpetual motion
thing. And is that racist? I don't know if that's
even a right definition of racism, but Honestly,
I get nervous if I board a plane and I see several
people of Eastern descent get on the plane. I
don't get paranoid. I'm not angry. I'm just going,
hmm. You know, so I know I'm just being real.
No, no, that's fine. Do you have the same feeling?
when you see a map on Instagram and it shows
all the mosques that have popped up, do you get
the feeling that they're taking over and we're
in trouble and we have to be careful? Okay, I'd
be lying if I said I don't share your open arms,
you know, to that. I didn't grow up around Muslims.
You said you did. You've had friends and you
knew people who were, by all accounts, kind of
normal. And it's true that the radicalized version
is very small percentile of the Islam, of the
Muslim. It would almost be, to me it's almost
like, in Ireland we should be worried about Catholics
because the IRA were Catholics and they were
bombing everybody. I'm not saying it's perfect
or that it's right. I'm just saying I know that
that's there in me and it's been because of what's
been portrayed to us. And I don't know that it's
all off. I think the majority of it probably
is, or at least it was for a reason. But there
is that sense. And I'm a Texan. I grew up here.
And when I heard about Epic City, which became
the Meadows, that bothered me. There was something
in me, and it wasn't just because some conservative
is yelling it, of saying, okay, they really are
putting together their own community. That's
not unusual. L .A. has, you know, a little China.
I mean, Manhattan has, I mean, different areas
have their own sections and whatnot. But then
we're told, you know, they're going to be under
Sharia law. I did a little word say on Sharia
law. It's not all that bad. I mean, most of it's
not. It's the radicalized version of this stuff
that's so dangerous. To say that I'm not concerned,
I would be lying. When we were in Paris in 19,
we're walking up and down the Louvre, power shopping,
you know, doing all that and enjoying the...
And I'm having to literally step over and walk
around people at a certain time of day when they
stop, drop and do their thing. And at that time,
they weren't blowing the... the sirens, you know,
the sound. I know that sound. Well, that to me
is unacceptable because we just have laws, ordinance
laws. You can't be disturbing the peace like
that. But the concern is that's going to happen.
If there's a neighborhood or group or epic city
or whatever, you know, and things are being reported
out of New York City right now that, you know,
they're going around on horseback enforcing Sharia
law. Haven't really seen anything that's true.
That's the problem. And that's what I'm pushing
back against. Let's not be fearful of everything
and everybody that moves. I agree with that.
Lots of people have fears on getting on an airplane.
for all kinds of reasons. And in America, we
certainly have been programmed over the last
25 years. I'm not excited about everything that's
happened with computer systems on airplanes either.
So I mean, you're taking a chance either way.
There's all kinds of things. I want to be transparent
about that because I don't want to come off as
those, you know, I'm somehow over all this stuff.
Ever since 9 -1 -1, you know, before 9 -1 -1,
I would have never thought a thing about it.
But after 9 -11, it was like, It was so impactful
to our nature and our culture. But by the same
token, we have legions of people who see a Hasidic
Jew and think bad, something bad is going to
happen. They're in control of something. All
of this is a problem. I have a friend who grew
up in New York and he's convinced that Jewish
are horrible people. And I can't talk him out
of that. He grew up in that culture, in the borough
there. And so I can't talk him out of it. He
cringes every time we pray for him. I guess what
I'm saying is, I'm just trying not to be terrorized
by it because that is podcast continuously. Be
afraid, be afraid. Oh, it's coming. That's the
thing that bothers me. Breaking news, alert,
alert. I know all of that. That bugs me a lot
because people come to me and say, what's going
on? I'm like, well... You don't really have to
worry about, well, do you know that they're doing
this? Do you know that they're setting up halal
kitchens in schools? I don't know. Maybe, maybe
on Instagram, maybe true. I don't know. But that,
that you're being abused is what I'm saying.
Yeah. From the media for sure. And entities.
So not, not saying you shouldn't be cautious
in life. There's lots of things to be cautious
of. Yeah. But you're being abused. by groups,
forces, spiritual, in the heavenly realms. You're
being abused for things that you're not aware
of. I just don't want people to live in fear
constantly. That's really what it is. But I also
want to be honest about my own feelings here
because I don't want to ever come off as like…
And not a care in the world, you know, he's got
it all together. No, I'm a human being being
human too. And so, and I'm not afraid to talk
about that and say, gosh, I've got some of these
concerns myself. Can I end on a word? Only after
you thank Jody. Oh, is that the pickle girl?
Yes. Jody, I love you. I don't know you, but
I would hug your neck if you were right here
in this studio right now, literally. So I cracked
them open the other night and I so almost didn't
give Annette some. I was like, I had them in
my backpack. She didn't even know I had them.
I was like, she's not listening to the podcast.
She doesn't even know that Adam came through
on his commitment to give me these pickles. I
should actually mention because she did send
me a note. She said, actually her friend, Beau
Lacoste, he makes the pickles. But she is now
talking to him about changing the name to Pickle
Princess because of our talking about it. And
anyway, she found our podcast and she loves it.
So cool. Well, thank you, Jody. Pickle princess.
I don't know. Maybe that'll work. Did you say
Bo? What was the one that makes them? Yeah. Bola
cost. Bola cost. So I cracked it open. I said,
Annette, I want you to try this. And man, she
was like, I want another one of those. And no,
no, no. We're going to ration these. We have
one jar. You can have a little bit onion sliver.
Yeah. Yeah. You can have an onion here. You have
a pickled jalapeno. It's sweet. Man, seriously,
the best pickle I've ever put in my mouth. Absolutely.
It's all I can do to not just eat the whole jar.
So thank you. So hey, and I did something. I
hope it's okay. I didn't even ask you, but I
took livingupinadoworld .com, our newsletter.
I sent out a newsletter to all of our subscribers
saying, hey, we're making a little switcheroo.
Yeah, you're on the list. Making a little switcheroo.
And so I didn't put a support appeal on that.
I just said, hey, subscribe to the newsletter.
That way he can let you know. So I know, I know
we've got some things in the works there coming,
but in the short -term interim, I'm going to
bump that out to all of our followers to say,
Hey man, check out, we get to do this. Yes. Well,
Tina, the keeper has said, Hey, I think it's
time for you guys to get serious. She wants to
do the marketing. which is her wheelhouse. Over
the next few weeks, we're going to get stuff
started. In the short term, I'm just sending
that out to Marsha's drivers and saying, hey,
Annette's alive, I promise. She didn't die suddenly.
The Korean The Keeper has the same issue. It
was like, well, I think they both feel like maybe
we're just supposed to do separate podcasts so
these two can finally do their podcast together.
I don't know. You want to end on some scripture,
brother? a heart and really it even goes back
to what we talked about with Islam and and that
is this heart this idea of grace this idea of
grace and that's one of the things I pray for
God you've shown me so much grace help me turn
that towards others everybody so this is out
of John 1 16 listen to this for from his fullness
we have all received grace upon grace that word
upon is also its primary proposition, and can
also be because. So think about it. From His
fullness, we have all received grace because
of grace. Because this is the heart. The Scripture
in another place even calls the New Testament
the gospel of grace. But we don't always know
what it means. We think it's just some soft buffer.
Yeah, like passive. Nice. Oh, yeah. Sweet. Warm.
Kindness. Be sweet. Almost reeks a little bit
of Talarico's language, so I want to clarify.
So here, the title of it today is The Grace Empowered
Life. Now that might give you a little clue where
I'm going with this. Empowered. So the Daily
Grind, I'm not going to read it like a Daily
Grind, I'm just going to read it. We who are
in Christ have received out of God's fullness,
by the way, the word fullness there, I did a
little dig on that. It literally means overflowing.
It means absolutely overwhelmed. It's full and
overflowing. It's more than enough. Out of God's
fullness, completeness and abundance. All those
are words that mean fullness. Grace upon grace,
or grace because of grace. Remember, this is
important to know what grace is. It's God's strength,
it's God's power, it's God's authority, God's
ability, and God's favor to do what you cannot
do in and of yourself. This is what grace does.
It empowers us beyond us. It's the engine. It
is. It's the word supernatural. Supernatural
only means super means overimposed. It means
it's imposed over something. So you've got the
natural life, but then you've got the supernatural
life. And that's what this is saying. Grace over
grace. Grace upon grace. Because of grace. And
because of that, we can live a supernatural,
it means above nature kind of life. Out of God's
abundance of love and mercy, He has offered and
we have received His empowering and overflowing
grace. This is Pastor Jimmy Pruitt. Have an amazing
day. On purpose. We'll be back next week. Love
you, brother. Love you. I love you, brother.
It's so much fun to do this. We'll see you next
week. We get to do this.