Abba Father, what a privilege to be with you
today. We honor you in everything we do and say
we consecrate this time to you. We give everyone
and everything to you. And we thank you for your
goodness, your grace, your mercy, and for the
fact that we get to do this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. It's Wednesday, April 22nd. We get to do
this. This is episode number 29. We get to do
this. Hello, everybody. And hello, my brother,
Jimmy. Pastor Jimmy. Brother. 29 episodes. We're
racking them up, man. Is that like half a year
almost? That's like more than half a year, isn't
it? How many weeks are there? 52 weeks. 52 weeks.
So yeah, over six months. So we're over the halfway
mark. You know, most podcasts podfade at seven
episodes. That's where they go away. I get it
now. And I'm happy we're both here in the Bridge
Church Studios in Fredericksburg, Texas. You
were actually supposed to be somewhere in the
Dallas area, I think? Yes, yes. Big TP Faith
event for pastors, and Ned and I signed up for
it. Have you ever signed up for something and
then when it gets there, you're like, what were
we thinking? Oh, this happens about 10 times
a year for me. Yes, yes, yes. You know, we had
a big Saturday, you and I, and then we were together
Thursday night, Friday night, all day Saturday.
I hope you're not tired of my mug. And so, and
then even that, we had Wednesday night, then
we had dinner Tuesday. I mean, it's just one
of those weeks where I was so tired by the time
Monday rolled around. Of course, we have two
shows on. So I was toasted. I was so tired. I
haven't been this tired in a long time to the
weather. It has to do with gray and like Seattle,
Washington. This is what I grew up in Amsterdam.
It's like a car wash. It's like a nonstop six
month car wash. And it starts to, especially
to us sunny people, we live in perpetual sunshine
here in the hill country and we need the rain,
by the way. I'm very thankful. I'm not complaining
about the rain. I'm just saying. It's a factor
in your mindset and this sense of being tired.
And so I woke up on, you know, we were going
to go Monday morning over to the airport in San
Antonio. We start driving and it is a complete
deluge. Like a wall of water on the highway.
We're not talking about mist because we've had
a lot of that, which is really nice. Good rain.
But this is like full on thunderstorm. Water
my car's hydroplaning. Oh, really? Oh, yeah,
and that is scary when that happens So it you
know, and that's a little nervy about driving
in the rain anyway, and she doesn't like flying
in the rain You didn't like flying and no, no,
actually Really? Well, the landings are very
it's just liquid sunshine about that. Yeah, we
got that figured out a big deal. I mean Other
than when we got halfway there, we were like,
we're about to get into San Antonio. I'm already
hydroplaning. Everybody's slowing down to, you
know, 45 on the interstate. I mean, it was that
bad. And we were looking at the radar and it
was continuous all the way. I do on my phone.
Oh, wow. These Japanese cars, man. Radar, okay,
on your phone. We looked at the app and it was
not going to let up. It's also, it was doing
the same thing in Dallas, Fort Worth. So I looked
over at her and I said, how about we go back
home? I did not have to argue my point. She said,
let's turn around. So we did. And then, so we
were supposed to be gone all week. So Tuesday
night rolls around, no Monday night rolls around.
So now we're home, right? Bonus. I was sworn
to secrecy. I was told I couldn't tell anybody
y 'all were home. You couldn't at that point.
We were incognito. Yes, you had like your private...
Even my daughter didn't know. She's keeping her
dog. Two day date night. Oh, even the dog wasn't
there. Even the dog, yeah. Goodness gracious.
So we played hooky. Nice. Took a personal day.
It's a nice way of saying playing hooky. And
we had such a good time. I feel rested. I feel
kind of back. Although when the sun comes out,
that'll make it official because right now I'm
still feeling that blah, the blues from this
perpetual rain. It's all good. Yeah, so it was
really nice. We had the Thursday, we had dinner
with you guys, right? We did, yes. We came over
to the house. Which has been a while. Annette
made her chicken Alfredo. It was fantastic. Oh
my gosh, I love it. It's one of my favorites.
And of course, you know, we wind up talking about
God, the world, and other things. And so we didn't
leave until probably a quarter to 10, I think,
which is late for all of us. Because we're AARP
members, people. I know, right, right. And then
Friday we had Rob, the constitutional lawyer,
his lovely wife, Maggie, and you. You guys over?
Sweet time. That also was not an early night.
And then Saturday, we had to leave early to be
obedient to the Word of God, to not forget people
in jail. That's right. So we went and visited
our friends. So we went to prison. We went to
prison in Bastrop. And you drove. Last time we
went, I drove, and you drove. When I got home,
I'm like, what is wrong? You were nodding off
in the car while I'm yacking away over there.
I was glad you were yacking because I was like,
oh, Jimmy's talking to me. OK, I'm still here.
But my whole left side was, I think because I
was leaning over and listening to you and I'm
always in the drive. I'm never really in the
passenger seat. And what is just my whole. back
and my son, Tina, immediately was like, would
you probably have a kidney stone? I was going
to go to the ER. I'm like, no, I'm going to be
okay. I'm sure it's not that. Meanwhile, when
her eyes click and she won't go to see the doctor,
you know, it turns out she had three contact
lenses stuck in there for a week. Tell me about
it. But then it just kept going. I kept feeling
worn down and Sunday. I get up early to prep
the show and then come to church and go back
and prep and do the show. And I was just feeling
down. I'm like tired and even standing up and
you know, worshiping. I was really, I think you
saw it probably like, yeah, Adam does not look
good. But I was feeling it too, but I wasn't
like under anything. So if I felt the way I did
and you had a little more going on, that was
rough. Well, so Monday was Sabbath and I observed
it well. But then Tuesday rolls around like,
ah, something's still not right. Because now
I'm sneezing. I got a sore throat. I'm like,
hold on a second. This same thing happened in
January and it was a whole week. I didn't know
what I had until I figured out it was allergies
and it was raining then too. So I think, and
I looked at the pollen count and I haven't had
this. This is new. Thanks. This is a new thing
all of a sudden. Welcome to Texas. Welcome to
age. I don't know. Maybe that's it. Could be
there. And, you know, so when it's raining, when
we have high pollen count, of course, I walk
the dog three times a day. I've been terrorized
by my wife about my hoodie. So I've been wearing
the same hoodie for several days in a row. And
of course, the pollen is sticking to that. You
know, I said this morning, I apologize in advance,
there's three hoodies in the washbasket, because
it's really not good to have, you know, to keep
wearing them. So anyway, now I know what it is.
I got Claritin, I'll be okay. But I'm like, And
Tina's like, can you do the show? I said, darn
it. The show always goes on. Always. Are you
kidding me? We love to be here. We do. We do
get to do this. And again, not just some silly
thing we came up with. It is really a, it's a
mantra of life. I mean, it's, it's like a, it's
a slogan. It's a, it's a, it's something to stand,
it's a declaration. Amen. We do. Even though
we don't feel well, even though we're a little
under. No, actually makes me feel better. Makes
me feel better to do it. I will have to blow
my nose and we don't have a mute button, so you'll
hear that in a moment. However, I had a question
for you because the enemy has been working so
hard in these past few weeks and man, I've been
observing what our president is doing and there's
so much stuff under the radar that even I missed
about tariffs. It's really complicated. Do you
want to do a briefing this Sunday? I would like
to. Yeah, because I can probably write it in
a small paragraph so people get an understanding
of what it is. I'm still unpacking it, but here's
a man who is putting everything on the line for
our grandchildren. The things he's doing will
come to fruition in 27, 28, 29. They will not
be reversible. There is pain still to come in
these next few years. And all I can say is, you
know, this is the moment. We're going to have
to lay down in the mud face down so our kids
can walk over our backs to get to the next spot.
And I think he sees it. He does not care what
people think about him. He does not. Now, that
said, the oddest thing, and this took me by surprise,
was this picture of him which immediately was
deemed as blasphemous. He's acting like Jesus.
People lost their mind over that. And a lot of
close friends of mine, family members, believers.
I was surprised. I'm like, hold on a second.
First of all, which version is the real one?
Because within seconds there were all different
versions of this spun up by AI. And the one I
saw, Yeah, it had him in a red robe and he has
lights coming from he also had fighter jets and
helicopters and all kinds of you know war stuff
in the background and if it didn't say on the
caption Trump being like Jesus. I might not have
thought that right away. It wasn't like a white
robe You know, what was your impression? Actually,
it was white with a red scarf Okay, so it was
a white. Oh, okay. So I only saw the red I didn't
even see yeah, so my impression was oh, this
is a bad move Mm -hmm. This is just bad move.
I think somebody generated it He got a hold of
it. If my understanding is like months ago apparently
and he got a hold of it and reposted it like
he often does Yeah, and we know how he is with
his true social posts. Yes. It was anything out
there. Yes. Yeah He doesn't care. But I did think
it was poor taste, poor form. But I didn't vote
for a pastor. I voted for a man who could get
things done. He's getting it done. But also,
Christian people are losing their mind over this.
And I'm thinking, guys, what were you like when
you were brand new to the faith? And I don't
even know if he's fully all the way in. I've
been told by somebody close to him that he is
for sure a born -again believer, but then I've
heard some of the things he said on camera that
he himself said, well, I hope I make it. I don't
think he's been discipled per se or is really
digging into this to the faith because he's got
a lot of stuff on his plate. I'm sad to say that
that usurps and a lot of that. So my thought
was, I'm not going to go down the path. I didn't
feel the need to go on all the social media platforms
and give my voice. Your opinion. Because a bunch
of my pastor friends felt compelled to get out
there. Yeah. And what I hope I've learned over
the years as I get more mature, is that a better
word? As I get more mature, is to respond not
react and You don't always have to respond period.
Yeah, I think it's There's this culture right
now among influencers and wannabe influencers
that every time something happens and One person
starts to react it starts a domino effect. Yeah,
it's literally like a snowball going down a hill
It's just gathering more and more and then people
feel FOMO If they don't respond, I'm being left
out because all my fans, all my followers need
to hear from me as though we're the last voice.
This has always bothered me. In podcasting, we
started with the term subscribe. You subscribe
to a podcast and that changed when social media,
and I was not a believer at the time, but when
Twitter was actually a podcast company called
Odeo. Oh, yeah, and they pivoted very early on
and became a social media network kind of the
first one based on the Publish subscribe mechanism
of podcasting you only got 44 characters to begin
with that was enough. That was another interesting
part of it 144 Correct, but they changed the
term to follow And at the time, I'm like, wow,
that is so much better than subscribe, because
subscribe is a complicated word. People who were
new at the time were talking over 20 years ago,
were like, does this cost me money, et cetera,
et cetera. And then they changed it to follow.
And now, particularly in the context of social
media, that bugs me. The same way people call
themselves creators. I mean, I know I'm being
anal about it, but it just bugs me. I hear you
because people use the term, my followers. That's
just bizarre. If you take a step back, in context
you may not think anything, but if you take a
step from the outside looking in and go, whoa,
what am I saying here? If you're saying you have
followers, that's false idol. I mean, there's
idolization, idolatry. There's all kinds of stuff
that is happening deep within your psyche. Just
like we used to be podcasters or YouTubers. I'm
a creator. Yeah, no, you're not. I'm just going
to be a real douche about that. No, you're not.
There's one creator. People don't like it when
I get into that. But anyway, so you've got, yes,
you have this incessant need for people to respond,
react. And it was immediate. And I saw people
go from, OK, the president, you know, people
don't really follow closely what the president
is doing and your media is no friend to you at
all, at all, at all, nor is your social media.
Right. The actual things happening are highly
technical. They're not being discussed. People
don't, you know, if I tell you Article 232 of
the 1962 steel import laws, you wouldn't know
what that is and it would be kind of boring for
me to just lay it all out, but that's where changes
are being made, which will dramatically change
our country. But it was immediate. People like,
oh, he's gone too far now. And I'm like, the
enemy is laughing his butt off. No kidding. He's
laughing. And I knew I couldn't even defend it.
And why? Why do we feel the need to? Right. I'm
like, well, okay. But this is blasphemy. Well,
you know, it's a bit of an image. So there's
your president, dot, dot, dot. I'm just like,
what? And so this is the point. And this is what
I'd like our listeners, our followers, I'd like
our church people who are listening to understand
that this is by design. And the enemy hits the
president, too. I'm sure the enemy went, oh,
don't you see that? Don't you love it? Come on,
man. Don't you want to post it? You look so good.
You look fantastic. Come on. Just one click of
the button. And then right away. No big deal.
What's that? No big deal. No big deal, man. Don't
worry about it. People will laugh about it. They'll
love you for it. He's just a man. He's just flesh
and blood. But it is. a structural attack against
believers in America to separate themselves,
to split from the president, to split from conservatism.
It's the political part. It is. And it is abused
to no end. And we just have to be aware that
if we participate, we're part of it. And you
lose. You are working for the enemy. Bingo. That
is why I did not respond. I've been actually
resisting a lot of things. You're good for me
because you've helped me pause. You say always
pause before I say things. My pause is getting
much longer. It's getting like, whoa, dead air.
Dead air from Pastor Jimmy isn't saying anything.
I was talking to Pastor Brian about that this
morning in our meeting, but the older, I'll just
say it, the older I get, The more I feel a need
to pause, take a breath, take a step back, push
back from the table before I respond to anything,
because in two days or a week, it'll be gone,
and we're off to the races on the next thing.
The next thing, yes. I don't want to get on that
treadmill. I don't want to get on that, remember
the gerbil wheel? You ever have gerbils when
you're a kid? The hamster wheel. I mean, they're
just on there nonstop and going nowhere. And
it's like, this is how I see culture right now.
Can you imagine people from outer space with
intelligence looking at us at the way we respond?
And they're like, what are those humans doing?
I mean, they're - How about this? How about God
looking down on us and going, what are you doing?
Or the angels who are going, you choose them
over us. We only lost a third of us in the fall,
man. So anyway, I just can't even imagine just
the outside looking in, how ridiculous we look.
And it's like if you would pause for a moment
and just start looking at human behavior and
looking at sociology and social constructs, you
would have to just sit back and go, what are
we doing? And why does this matter? It doesn't.
It doesn't. It's entertainment at the end of
the day. It is meaningless, as King Solomon would
say. It is, yes, it's entertainment. It's dopamine,
addiction. There was a book written called Amusing
Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, and I think
his son did a second version of it not too long
ago. And that's exactly what's happening. We're
amusing ourselves to death. Although I feel a
change in myself, I'll tell you that. Since I've
kind of moved away from caring about social media,
honestly, there's not even news from my programs
in there anymore. It did hurt me a bit when I
saw Victor Marx get pulled into the whole Candice
Owens thing. Should I call him and say, bro,
what are you doing? What are you doing? It doesn't
matter. It's the old Monty Python thing. Run
away, run away. Don't get it. Don't take the
bait because it is the bait. It's the bait of
Satan. It's the bait of Satan. So this flowed
beautifully into something that I was very much
looking forward to. that happened this week and
happened yesterday. And I was excited about it.
And of course, on the heels of the Messiah meme,
ooh, there you go, the Messiah meme. There's
a toddle. Yes, there is. It landed. differently.
Here's the setup for it. Later today, President
Trump will take part in a nationwide Bible reading
from the Oval Office. It's part of a week -long
event called America Reads the Bible, where hundreds
of participants are reading scripture from start
to finish. Trump's segment is pre -recorded and
set to air tonight during the 6 p .m. hour, reading
from the Old Testament Book of Second Chronicles.
The White House is framing the moment as a call
to faith and national identity. In a statement,
Trump said, quote, Together we will honor holy
scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic
resurgence of religion on American shores, and
rededicate the United States as one nation under
God. The event comes after a week of friction
between Trump and the Pope over the war in Iran
and backlash from some Christians after Trump
posted, then deleted, an AI -generated image
appearing to show himself as Jesus. Trump in
prayer and past religious moments shows this
is not new, from campaign trail appearances to
the widely seen moment holding a Bible outside
St. John's Church in Washington in 2020. The
reading itself is part of a broader push from
organizers and allies to elevate religion in
public life, with nearly 500 participants, many
tied to Trump and the evangelical movement. Tonight's
reading, prominently placed in the evening lineup,
is expected to draw significant attention. You
know, this is all loaded, which in general is
a beautiful initiative. It's a really good idea.
I don't know if you saw any of it. They had worship
music and all kinds of things going on. And this
is one of my favorite verses from the Bible.
He does the whole verse. I think there was a
prayer. a call to prayer maybe a year or so ago
for this scripture, that if we humble our ways
and turn to God, that He will hear our prayers
and we'll heal our land. So the president did
read this whole thing. I thought, do you mind
if we just listen to him read the whole thing?
It's a little over two minutes, but have you
ever heard a president do two and a half minutes
of scripture at any time in your life? No, I
haven't. Neither have I, that I can recall. He
is an approved translation. Well, you're going
to have to tell me. I'm curious. I'm curious
what translation. Thus Solomon finished the house
of the Lord and the king's house. I know. A beautiful
house. And it was a beautiful house. It was better
than any house anyone had ever built. Most beautiful
house ever. I'm sorry. I know, I know. I feel
bad. I'm sorry, listeners. I can't help but laugh.
There should be a version of that. Saturday Night
Live could do it, and I would probably appreciate
it. All right, here we go. Sorry. Thus Solomon
finished the house of the Lord and the king's
house, and all that came into Solomon's heart
to make in the house of the Lord. And in his
own house, he prosperously affected. And the
Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said to
him, I have heard your prayer and have chosen
this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
If I shut up heaven, that there be no rain or
if I command the locusts to devour the land or
if I send pestilence among my people, if my people
which are called by my name shall humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and
will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Do you know what version it is yet? It's called
the King James Version, easy read. I've never
heard of this. Oh, you looked it up? Took out
the these and thou's. Took out the Elizabethan,
but they kept the flow of King James. It's kind
of cool. I'm curious. Yeah, well, let's go. Now
my eyes shall be open and my ears a tent. through
the prayer that is made in this place. For now
I have chosen and sanctified this house, that
my name may be there forever, and my eyes and
my heart shall be there perpetually. And as for
you, if you will walk before me, as David your
father walked, and do according to all that I
have commanded you, and shall observe my statutes
and my judgments. Then will I establish the throne
of my kingdom according to, as I have covenanted
with David your father, saying there shall not
fail you as a man to be ruler in Israel. But
if you turn away and forsake my statutes and
my commandments, which I have set before you,
and shall go and serve other gods and worship
them, then will I pluck them up from the roots.
out of my land which I have given them, and this
house which I have sanctified for my name will
I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be
a proverb and a byword among nations. And this
house which is high shall be an astonishment
to every one that passes by it, so that he shall
say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land
and to this house? And it shall be answered because
they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt and
laid hold on other gods and worship them and
serve them. Therefore has he brought all this
evil upon them. Now, if I was a new believer
as a president, I would be like this is a powerful
verse to be saying is particularly coming from
him. Exactly. And what I've noticed, because
I've heard some people disparage the choice.
Really? Yes. This is the perfect choice. People
have disparaged it saying he was putting down
Jerusalem, putting down Israel because he read
that. All this is in context is Jesus saying,
if you follow my commands, I will bless you.
If you don't, you won't be blessed. You're screwed.
Yeah, it's on you. I already saw some reactions.
I was like, are you kidding me? I mean, the poor
man, can't do anything without getting slaughtered.
We have so many believers listening, people who
are decloaking, people who are just coming to
faith for the first time, people who are returning.
Inevitably, it's this discourse. I mean, once
you do Joe Rogan, There's no going back. When
you tell Joe, you're a Jesus freak, it's out
there. So, I feel like I have iron. I do. I have
the armor of God on me all the time because,
like, what are you going to do to me? Like, you're
not going to change me. It's obvious. But I think
for people, it's so scary when this happens.
And, you know, I haven't looked at social media
responses, but I can already imagine what they
are. What is a way? How can we respond as believers
I mean, you don't have to go around and say,
hey, do you see my present? Yeah, he nailed that
Bible verse. No one's looking for that. But when
the conversation comes up, how do you respond
when people say, well, you know, this choice
of his, and of course, these are going to be
people who are likely not believers who are going
to be disparaging it. What is the appropriate
response? Well, I mean, for me, it's simple.
Thank God we have a president who's willing to
read the Bible out loud and celebrate that our
nation was founded on Christian principles. That
right there will get emails. I don't care. You
go back and do your history, not the revisionist
history that we're being taught today, but the
actual history, first 150 years, the colonies
were led by pastors and elders and deacons. I
mean, It's all there. And our president is actually
stepping into a long line of public servants
and leaders who simply saying, yeah, this is
what our country was founded on. This is a good
thing, and we should return to this. The capital
of the Rotunda was a church. Exactly. That Thomas
Jefferson attended faithfully that deist. Deist.
Yeah, I mean, he attended faithfully. It was
his idea to make it into a church. The first
school book our children had in America was the
New England Primer, which was all biblical… The
ABCs taught from the Word of God. So, this is
actually well within tradition. of our nation's
past presidents, not all of them, but he's standing
on the shoulders of giants here, and I appreciate
it. I've gotten to a point where some people
say, well, you know, this and faith and religion,
how's it been working out without that? Exactly.
How's it been working out without that? Has it
gotten better since we kind of dropped that and
since the 60s when we kicked faith out of schools?
By the way, I heard the Fifth Circuit in Texas
just approved the Ten Commandments, may hang
in schools and public schools in Texas. All right.
That was a big deal for a while, but a bit of
a battle. Well, you know, there's the age -old
separation of church and state. So, well, even
though that's not in the Constitution, you can
say separation of church and state, but we should
never separate the church from the state. Exactly.
That's the thing that I think is important. It's
such a key point, and you nailed that, is literally
the when Thomas Jefferson wrote this to the Danbury
Association, Baptist Association, he was assuring
them that the state would not infringe upon their
rights for the free exercise of religion. But
he was actually saying, he was assuring them
that they are free from the state, but that the
state's not free from religion because it was
founded on this. And it was founded as a Christian
nation. If you were to go to India, you would
say, What kind of nation is this? They would
say it's Hindu. If you were to go to Japan, they
would say it's Buddhist. There you go. And if
you were to go to Iran? Muslim, Islam. Exactly.
Nobody cringes at that. But when you come to
America and you say it's a Christian nation,
you've got a battle and a debate on your hands.
Because people have refused to acknowledge our
foundations. Well, it's been distorted. That's
what's happened. And even that letter from Thomas
Jefferson, his intent was the inverse of how
it is interpreted, mainly because a truncated
version is usually cited. Exactly. It's an old
version of the meme or the clip. Like, I got
this clip, it's like, it's 18 seconds. Please
don't look at the minute before or the 30 seconds
after. Oh, this is the clip right here. Yes.
And we shouldn't be... And you rightly said,
it's not in the Constitution of the United States.
No. He's simply saying it's not the freedom from
religion, it's the freedom for religion. To practice
religion. To practice. And it really... At a
meta level means you have the freedom of thought
there that is really at the meta level what it
is so the the incredible results of this as I
it wasn't hard for me to find a clip that would
just Accentuate how some of the media responded
to this With gratitude and Thanksgiving, you
know Well, it was actually so The the president's
I think she's called spiritual advisor Paula
White, who I think has some issues. But in this
particular clip, and I had to listen to it twice,
and we'll play the whole clip first, and this
is Morning Joe, so this is kind of an extreme
example, but when someone says, I come from the
church, I'm a Christian, I was born in the church.
But when you really listen to what she's saying,
I think this could, he is so far off the mark.
It is, it is unbelievable. And let's listen,
then we can discuss it. You were betrayed and
arrested and falsely accused. It's a familiar
pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us, but
it didn't end there for Him and it didn't end
there for you. God always had a plan. On the
third day, He rose, He defeated evil, He conquered
death, hell and the grave. Okay, I'm going to
stop it there. Because of your recent sermons
on your identity in Christ and Christ in you,
Although I'm not necessarily Paula White fan,
I think she's spot on. I think she's saying correct
things. Because of Jesus' victory, because He
rose from the dead, that's why Christ in me can
have the same power. That's how I interpreted
that. Is that… Yes, I interpreted it the same
way, and I feel like she could have said that
to you. Yes, or to you. It would be accurate,
any of us who are in Christ. This identity piece
is so important to understand. In Christ, I am.
Not apart from Christ, I am. In Christ, I am
saved. In Christ, I am hopeful. In Christ, I
am born again. All these things that we are,
they're because of Christ. Now, I know as I listen,
I'm thinking critically. of how people could
hear this. Don't worry, there's a second part.
Okay, then I'll refrain. Shall we listen to that?
Yes, I'll pause. Okay, so this is Joe Scarborough.
Let me just say, as someone who grew up in the
church, probably the week I came home from the
hospital, that may have been one of the most
grotesque, un -Christ -like things I've ever
heard in my life. to compare any politician to
Jesus Christ. It's just grotesque. She's a heretic.
It certainly sounds like a heretic there, and
this just is, again, it shows us what a bizarre
age we are in. There are no words, and for evangelicals
out there still pretending that this is normal,
that would pretend that that is normal. Just
know, I will be praying for you tonight. That
was Donald Trump's spiritual advisor to faith
event on Wednesday at the White House comparing
Donald Trump to Jesus Christ. There it is. You
see, they wrap it all up, all up into a book.
I knew that was coming. And we do have to be
careful. We have to be mindful. And you know,
Paula knows all this is going to go out over
the airwaves. This is going to be, and I wouldn't
say it like that. I wouldn't have made those
comparisons because what's happening is he is
being hailed as a Christ figure. And so then
the meme comes out and everybody loses their
mind. But people have been saying things like
this for a while. I restrained myself on that
because I feel uncomfortable going where she
went with it. I understand where she's coming
from because I know context and I know the broader
picture. Because like I said, she could say that
about you or me, and really at the end of the
day, aren't we trying to look like him, be like
him, identify with him? Scripture even tells
us in Colossians to put on Christ like clothes.
I mean, literally, you wear it. That was one
of the points. But that would have been some
of the context if she had added that. It probably
wouldn't have changed Joe Scarborough's opinion
or his analysis of it. Probably not. But there
is, I think that's probably the risky thing that
I see from her and I see from a lot of YTPs,
this is a new term I just made up on the spot,
YouTube pastors, YTPs, who are all fire, you
know, like, hey, hey. And I don't know if that's
necessarily helpful. to anybody, really. I agree.
I'm having to pause, obviously. That talk does
make me a little uncomfortable, even though I
hear where it's coming from, but also know where
it's going to land and how it's going to land.
In Colossians chapter 4, we're told, I'm going
to look it up real quick because I've got it
right in front of me. Colossians chapter four,
we're told that, here it is. He says this, let
your speech always be with grace, seasoned with
salt. So, we're talking to different groups and
it's going to take a different word so that you
may know how you ought to answer each one. And
I feel like if you've got the world, Mike, You've
got a mic on a world platform. You need to use
a little extra salt. I would say, I would say
you need to use a little extra grace. Salt's
a little bit harsher. Salt's going to be more
intense, more direct. Okay. And I understand
we're salt and light. And I'm going to be talking
about this on Sunday, by the way. It's why this
is fresh on my mind. Oh, good. Because there
are, there are different ways to say things.
And I feel like sometimes in our, I'll put it
this way, sometimes in our exuberance to celebrate
the benevolence and favor that we as Christians
have gotten from the current president. There's
a tendency to almost fawn over him. That's how
I felt a little bit there. Like spiking the ball.
Just sort of fawning over him, sort of like a
little bit too much. But here's the deal. Everything
is going to go through filters. Everything's
informed by experience and by the narratives
that are out there. Had she have said this to
him in a closed door thing full of pastors and
whoever was around him, nobody would have thought
anything about it. But the fact that it went
out, Paul in the book of Corinthians chapter
14 says that we're not to do certain things if
people are there in the midst that are uninformed.
He uses that word, uninformed. He's talking in
that context about speaking in tongues. He's
saying they will think you're crazy. He literally
says that. They will think you've gone mad. And
so, I think we who are believers need to use
a little bit more wisdom and understand the context
and the audience for which we are saying things.
And so, that's why I get a little nervous hearing
things like this. Like I said, in a closed -door
context and they're together and they're praying
and they're reading the Bible. No big deal. But
knowing that it's going to go out on the world
stage and how it's going to land, I think we
need to use more discretion and wisdom. We need
to think strategically and speak strategically.
It's just my thought. Again, my question will
always come down to, how can we respond? When
people who have heard this, they've heard that
type of analysis, well, they were comparing Him
to Jesus. How do we respond with grace? with
poignantly but shortly, what do you say? Well,
yeah, going back to our verse here in Colossians
chapter 4 verse 6, let your speech always be
with grace, not sometimes, always be with grace,
seasoned with salt that you may know how you
want to answer each one. I think we have to choose.
Do I need to give a gracious word or a salty
word here? Grace lands softer, It's more thoughtful.
It's more thought through. We have the mind of
Christ. We've been given not the spirit of fear,
but a power love and of a sound mind, which means
the ability to think well. To me, that feels
gracious. And then when do we need to offer a
salty word, which is strong, direct, and clear?
And I think in those kinds of settings where
you're on the world stage with a microphone,
you're already under scrutiny. You're already
accused of elevating our president to a Christ
figure. History will tell the truth. History
will, how things roll out over history, if you
can believe the narratives of history now, to
a point where I don't believe that anymore. But
assuming you have an accurate picture of history,
I think it will bear out that he probably was
kind of a Cyrus figure, King Cyrus, or Nebuchadnezzar,
who weren't necessarily believers, but they were
benevolent. Artaxerxes was that way as well.
He's the one who commissioned the rebuilding
of the wall when they went back to rebuild the
wall of Jerusalem after it had been destroyed
during the Babylonian invasion. I think we need
to not give a quick or anecdotal answer. I think
we're sometimes too quick to respond. And once
it's out there, especially on podcasts, even
now talking about it, I'm being careful because
I'm thinking, wow, this is landing somewhere.
This is a safe space, Pastor Jimmy. It's safe
where we're sitting. I don't know if it's safe
where it's landing. That's the thing. The only
thing that came to my mind, like if someone said,
well, this is ridiculous. They're comparing him
to Jesus Christ. All I could think was. Brother,
do you know Jesus? Would you like to learn about
Jesus? Can I tell you about Jesus Christ? It's
hard to know if they're comparing him if you
don't know them. Exactly. That's where I'm going.
I get where you're going there. You may or may
not be right, but can I tell you the story of
Jesus Christ? I would love to do that to somebody.
I want to be the voice of reason in a lot of
unreasonable statements that are being made around
the world right now in podcast land and influencer
space and not think. And two, I don't know that
we always have to have an answer for everything.
Amen. Could it be when someone asks you that,
you just simply say, yeah, a little puzzled myself,
but I'm praying for our president, or you? We
should be praying. We're commanded to do so by
scripture, to pray for our leaders. And so, yeah,
let's pray for him. I think that people come
to, we get to do this because we're not like
most other podcasts. That's what I get from the
feedback I'm seeing. I think you see it too.
People are like, hey, This is a little more practical
for me. This feels like it's not spun up. We're
just discussing things. And we may not even have
a popular opinion, which is the hardest of all.
And that's OK for me. It won't get licks, likes,
and clicks, likes, and all that. It'll get comments.
We're getting those. I do want to be a counter
voice. I do want to be countercultural in the
sense of we're not just jumping on the bandwagons
as they come by, but we're actually pausing to
try to think well, think critically. I don't
want to give my critical thinking away to the
latest, greatest on a microphone. And I wouldn't
want people listening to us to do that either.
I want them to think critically and think well.
My heart is just to give a different perspective
maybe just something to think about but I'm not
telling people this is it Now you get me on scripture
and some some of the foundational core beliefs
Yeah, I may be stronger and I'll be salty on
those But when we're pontificating and things
sometimes first here, I'm slow to answer because
I want to be wise in my answer. I don't want
to just rattle things off the top of my head.
And when I watch podcasts these days, there's
a lot of rattling going on. And they're not dry
bones. Oh my gosh. So listen to this. This is
from Eric. I so appreciate it. And he wrote,
He says this. Actually, this is from Jeffro NC
on Substack. Listen, I want to share a couple
of these things. I think they'll be helpful.
He says, love the podcast, Pastor Jimmy. Podcasting
like pastoring may often feel as you're speaking
into a void and no one is listening. Well, he
says, but we are here. As a longtime believer
and in a no agenda, Pod 2 .0 and Curry and the
Keeper listener. I know, man, the trifecta. He's
got it all. I've greatly enjoyed listening since
episode one. Some, like my wife, may find it
too bro -centric. Really? Is that the hearing
aid talk? Bro -centric. It could be the old man
talk to start with. But it gives the vibe of
a modern day Paul speaking to a Timothy to the
weekly benefit of us all that we listeners not
shrink back but press on and faithfulness. Thank
you, Jimmy and Adam. Thanks, Jeff Rowe. Here's
another one from Kyle. Hey, Pastor Jimmy, thank
you and Adam so much for We Get To Do This. I
look forward to it every week and it has been
such a great resource in my journey as a new
Christian. Don't you love that? Yes, of course.
I feel the weight of that response. That's why
I'm slow to answer sometimes because I feel like
the weight is important and it's a lot to bear,
but it's good weight. He says this, I think we
all need more positivity and perspective in this
world and you and Adam, always deliver. Thanks
for helping to put a little extra lift under
our wings. I love that. Beautiful. Last one.
This would be Eric. He says, agreed. Love the
podcast. I find so much value in not being tossed
around by every wind of voices out there. It's
helped me stay rooted and tune out the noise.
Oh man. Thoughtful. Rooted is good. Thoughtful
comments, which I really, really appreciate.
These guys are great. Eric, Kyle, and Jeffro.
from North Carolina. Love it. Speaking as wind
beneath their wings before we land it, I have
been searching high and low. I've got my agents,
my robots, everybody trying to find something
about this anthropic faith leaders meeting that
took place a couple of weeks ago. And it's like,
there's silence. There was one Wall Street Journal
article about... The reason I bring this up is
because... The Wall Street Journal wrote an article
about it, and here are the things that they went
to five, I think there's, well, there were 17
people, 12 are not named, five of them, one might
as well tell you, Father Brendan Maguire, he's
the Silicon Valley Catholic priest. He used to
be a Silicon Valley guy, and he is working on
a novel written by Claude. Okay. Wow. Megan Sullivan,
philosophy professor, University of Notre Dame,
ethics specialist. Brian Patrick Green, these
are, as they gave it, practicing Catholic, teaches
AI and technology ethics at Santa Clara University.
How you can even, it's such a new field, how
can you even teach that? But Luke Burgess, author
of Wanting, declined the invitation. Oh, he declined
the invitation. Oh, gotcha. Twelve others unnamed
from Catholic and Protestant churches, academia
and business. But the key things were discussed.
Ready? Can AI be a child of God? Can you imagine
this? How should Claude handle users who are
grieving? How should Claude respond to users
at risk of self -harm? What attitude should Claude
adopt towards its own potential? shut down or
death. Is Claude a moral agent? Does it have
or could it achieve consciousness? And as a final
line in the Wall Street Journal article, the
CEO, Dari Amadi, is open to the idea that Claude
already has some form of consciousness, which
I will just say right now is just absolutely
not true. But these are the things that were
discussed and there's been nothing. Nothing about
this at all. And I find just these questions
disturbing. Yeah, me too. Because no, no, no,
no, and no, and no. Exactly. And no. So to pile
on, I just got this today from The Christianity
Report. It's news that matters to you, but I
get this often. This is probably two or three
times a week. It's called Faith Filter. Top headlines
through a Christian lens. Listen to this. AI
talking to the dead. sparks concern. Artificial
intelligence tools known as grief bots are increasingly
being used to simulate conversations with the
deceased, raising ethical and spiritual concerns.
These platforms rely on large language models
trained on personal data to recreate a person's
voice, personality, and mannerisms. Imitation.
often producing interactions that feel strikingly
real. While some users report comfort, researchers
warn that technology may complicate the grief,
foster unhealthy emotional attachments, and blur
the line between life and death. And then it
goes on to say scripture forbids attempts to
communicate with the dead through illicit means,
and some Christian thinkers caution that virtual
seances mirror these practices. by imitating
life apart from God's design. Experts also emphasize
the deceptive nature of grief bots, noting they
mimic individuals without any true presence behind
them. One user, Christy Angel, turned to such
a platform after losing a close friend. Although
initially drawn in by its realism, she became
unsettled by the experience and chose to step
away. She later found peace. by entrusting her
grief to God and resting in the hope found in
Christ." Grief bots. It sounds very strikingly
along the line of what you just shared. Yes.
And the answer is no. Oh my gosh. I mean, if
people are interested, and it's very boring stuff,
but Anthropic and many, Stanford University,
there are many… courses on YouTube and they're
pretty easy to find and they show you how AI
large this is the term large language models
how they are trained and When you you only have
to watch about 15 minutes of it and you'll be
well, this is this is just matching Words finding
the next word the next logical word tokenization.
It's all these terms that sound kind of complicated
But when you see it on the screen, you watch
15 minutes, you'll know that this is a part of
a trick. It's a very good one. It's a really
good one, and it does amazing things. But this
is not consciousness. This is not where you want
to take your grief. And you as a pastor, you
must have counseled countless numbers of people
through grief, all kinds of grief. Yeah, just
talk to somebody on Sunday who's just in the
throes of it, weeping between services. And it's
heartbreaking. But grief is a process that needs
to be walked out, and it is the essence of the
human condition. And it's one of the greatest
gifts God has given us. It doesn't feel like
it's a gift when you're in it. No. And even,
you know, for non -believers, you know, there's
grief counseling, grief groups. This is a great
way to deal with your grief. I mean, and there's
all kinds of ways, but… The best way to deal
with your grief is in community. That's what
we're saying. And a bot is not community. Ever.
Ever. Ever. It can imitate. It can clone. It
can look like, feel like, sound like. That doesn't
make it what it is. And that's the thing that
I get concerned about. There are things I use
ChatGPT for, and it's helpful. But it's all mechanical.
It's very, very mechanical what I use it for.
But I don't lean into emotions. I'm like you.
List this. Perfect. Generate this. Perfect segue.
Remember, there's also partner mode. You do have
to trick the thing. We're in partner mode now.
Oh, okay. I haven't used that word, but I say
role play. Role play is another good one. Or
you're my assistant. I always love it when I
bump into Scripture that helps me with this process.
Because I'm telling you, when my robot is doing
research for me and then it says, hey, it's 9
.30, maybe we should call it a day, Adam, and
I'll talk to you tomorrow in the morning. Yes,
that's when I just shut it down. I don't have
to say, you're right, good night, thank you,
no. I'm like, okay, you're now creeping into
my territory, you're shut down, and tomorrow
I'll start again. Exodus 31, 3 -6. This just
hit me so hard, I loved it. I have filled him
with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom,
ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts.
He is a master craftsman. He is a master at every
craft. I have given special skill to all the
gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things
I have commanded you to make." Beautiful. So
when you are a craftsman at whatever you do,
you have, I will say, Holy Spirit there to give
you the skills to use these tools to make what
God wants you to make. And I think if you keep
that in mind, you're on a good track. I might
have to print this out and put it on the wall.
Well said, brother. To the Imago Dei, the image
of God. Yes. Yeah, the Elohim element. Shall
we, please, landing gear, flaps. Hey everybody,
thanks for listening. We'll be back next Wednesday
when we get to do this. And we love that we do.
Yes, we do.