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We Get To Do This - Data Centers, Disciples and Discernment · Providence Voice

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Father, we honor you today. What a joy, what
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a privilege it is to be here sitting at these
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microphones, sitting across the table, doing
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life together and just saying out loud, we get
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to do this. Thank you for your goodness. Thank
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you for your mercy and your grace. Thank you
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for the love that you show us. And thank you
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for how you give us a reason to get up on a Tuesday
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morning, a Wednesday morning, a Thursday morning
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because we have a mission and you've given us
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purpose. I pray for our listeners today that
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they would find themselves inspired and encouraged
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today, and that they too would be able to say,
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whatever they're facing in life, I get to do
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this. And we say this and pray this in the name
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of Jesus. Amen. Amen. It's Wednesday, August
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26, 2026. We get to do this. This is episode
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number 47. We get to do this. A little harmony
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there by you, Pastor Jimmy Pruitt. If it was
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harmony, it was accidental. You know, I always
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tell Tina, I said, when you sing a song... It's
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perfect harmony. It's completely wrong when you're
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singing it by yourself, but if you just sing
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along with the song, it's unbelievable. I don't
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know how she does it. Does she not believe you
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when you say that? I mean, does she go along
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with that? Well, it's worse. She thinks she's
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singing everything perfectly. No. Oh, OK. That's
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an American Idol moment, audition moment. She
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knows lyrics. She knows lyrics, I'll tell you
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that. No, she has uncanny ability to sing perfect
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harmony. Hey, brother. Cheers, brother. Come
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on, man. Plank the cups. Yes. I've got Black
1:48
Rifle, I've got Laird's, Laird's coffee. I've
1:54
done many podcasts in my life, arguably one of
1:57
the first. This is the first podcast I've ever
2:03
had a business card for. Brother, I'm holding
2:07
your business card in my hand. It's amazing.
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You know what I love about this? Annette saw
2:12
it today and she was like, oh. Who chose those
2:14
colors? That looks amazing. I said, well, I did,
2:17
of course. Yeah, you did. I wanted something
2:20
black, but I love the QR code. There's the key.
2:24
Nobody keeps a card. No, of course not. Scan
2:26
it, toss it. Scan it, toss it. That's the beauty
2:29
of it. That's exactly right. I love it, man.
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That's yours right there. Thank you. We're going
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to a conference mid -September. We are. Christianity
2:40
and Culture. Culture and Christianity is what
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it's called, and it's in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
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to Nashville. Pastor Alan Jackson's church. It's
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got a great lineup of speakers, and it'll be
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great. I mean, we'll be able to just, man, do
2:53
life, hang out, and learn, and just sit under
2:56
the water hose. That's why I said, we need business
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cards. We need people to hear about us. Now,
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at this conference, it's not like a bunch of
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vendors showing up. No, but I want to give one
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to Pastor Alan Jackson. Good luck with that.
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Good luck getting to him. That guy, he'll be
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way down off in the distance. Yeah, I hear you.
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Josh, what a great church and a great pastor.
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I just love having business cards. That's just
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so cool. I do too. It's cool. It makes it feel
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official. Big good morning, everybody, to Get2Nation.
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Yeah, come on. All those doers out there. All
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the doers here. Come on. Everyone who's decloaking.
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Like we saw you, we saw you decloak right in
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front of our eyes and all the Christ curious.
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Come on, man. And they are here and there's so
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many reasons for it. I heard you with Pastor
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Brian yesterday on living up in a down world.
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And you're so right. I think it's not even that
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people are coming. into their faith, they were
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probably already there, they grew up with it,
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and they're all looking for something, and everything
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else has failed. And we'll get into that. But
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first, I want to thank you as my friend and as
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my pastor, which is an interesting role. Because
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I see you as my friend, and we talk to each other
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as friends, but sometimes you'll slip in a little
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bit of Pastor Jay there. I try to give a warning
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when I do that. I've been a little bit in the
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storm. Did you send me a scripture about that,
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or were you thinking of one? Well, I did a DG
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about that, and it had to do with that. Pull
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it up real quick, just so you'll have the scripture
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right in front of you, unless you have it there.
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I don't, actually. No, I don't. And I called
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it firm in the storm, but I love the scripture.
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Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23, let us hold unswervingly
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to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
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faithful." And that was very helpful to me. Good.
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Because I think it was a while back, maybe two
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years ago, there was a clip of Joe Rogan, we'll
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talk about a lot of clips today, clips in general,
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and it was Joe Rogan saying, if only there was
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like an owner's manual to life, and all the comments
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were like, who's going to tell Joe? And I have
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personally found, and I think most believers,
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that the Bible, it is the Word, it is the truth,
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and every single time I can go back and find
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the truth and, you know, history just repeats
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over and over and over again. The cycles probably
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keep getting shorter and people's memories even
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shorter. There's a Bible verse for that. Which
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one is that? The book of Ecclesiastes says there
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is literally nothing new under the sun. Right,
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right. So, I was struggling with some things.
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I'm gonna have to go into too much detail. What
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I said to you, I said, you know, the word tells
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me that I need to care for orphans and widows
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and their distress and refusing to let the world
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corrupt me. Now that's 1 James 27. I mean, it
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goes all the way back to Genesis, you know, words
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about widows and orphans. And you said something
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very interesting to me. You said, well, in the
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first century, it was a very different deal for
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widows and for orphans. And that was tremendously
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helpful. But it immediately gave me questions.
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And I'll tell you how it went in my mind, because
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very often the Second Amendment of the United
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States of America is discredited by people who
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say, well, when they wrote that, they had canons
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and muskets, not, you know, AR -15s. And so if
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you take the Constitution strictly at its word,
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it's like it doesn't really matter what that
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is. Can we? Should we? Is it an option to look
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at Scripture in the first century versus the
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21st century? Does it apply everywhere? I mean,
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do you understand my question? Absolutely, because
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this is where we're trying to make something
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that was written centuries ago. Yeah. relevant
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to a totally different place, time, and context.
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So when you read scripture, you always want to
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read it from two perspectives. You always want
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to make sure... I love, context is king. Let
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me just use that. I want to use a phrase that'll
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help us remember this. Context is king. So primarily,
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whenever I read a scripture, for example, I used
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Isaiah today, and we'll talk about this particular
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scripture in a moment, Isaiah 8 -12. Now, I read
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the scripture at face value, right? What does
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it say to me today? But I also realize and understand
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this is in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant.
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I want to find out what it meant to Isaiah in
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his day. So I did some background scripture study
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because I want to know the context of that. Can
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I read the whole Isaiah 8 -12? Absolutely. And
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I love this. This is one of my favorite scriptures
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because in almost every Translation it uses the
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word conspiracy. It sure does conspiracy from
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the root word conspire to breathe to breathe
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together Don't call everything a conspiracy like
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they do and don't live in dread of what frightens
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them Whoa Yeah, I mean hello. That sounds pretty
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relevant to me. Also. I like I like Reading the
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there's a whole in my Bible is a whole block.
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It goes from 11 to 17, right? And I'll just read
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the whole block There's just context that's exactly
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man. We're gonna be talking about that today
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So we start with 11 the Lord has given me a strong
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warning not to think like everyone else does
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he said he said Don't call everything a conspiracy
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like they do and don't live in dread of what
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frightens them. Make the Lord of heaven's armies
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holy in your life. He is the one you should fear.
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In this case, not, oh, I'm afraid, but I revere
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him as we speak about a God -fearing man. He
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is the one who should make you tremble. He will
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keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah, He will
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be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock
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that makes them fall, and for the people of Jerusalem
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He will be a trap and a snare. Many will stumble
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and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared
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and captured. Preserve the teaching of God, entrust
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His instructions to those who follow Me. I will
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wait for the Lord who has turned away from the
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descendants of Jacob, I will put my hope in him."
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So that's the whole, and it's literally indentated,
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indented. It has a block around it in my Bible.
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So I like the context of all of that. That's
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critical to understanding it. So you read it
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at face value, but you want to know what it said
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then. What did it mean to the people then? And
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now what is it saying to me today? Because the
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neat thing about the Word of God, we believe
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that it was actually authored by Him through
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the hands and pens of men and people. So we say
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the Word was dictated in a very real sense. It
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was written, it was guided, it was inspired by
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the Holy Spirit, Him at work. And it has layers
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of truth. and it will speak to all men at all
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times. And here's why, is because there's a word
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that's used called rama, the word rama. That
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means God breathed. So the rama word of God is
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the breathed word of God. In other words, it
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has the breath of life in it, which is why Paul
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later says that the word of God is living and
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active and sharper than any two -edged sword,
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piercing even into the joints and marrow. So,
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that's what the word is. It's a living word.
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So, it may say something to you at one point
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in your life, and then 10 years later, you're
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scanning, you're reading, and you come over the
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same verse, and it may say something. I wouldn't
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say entirely different. It'll just be enhanced.
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It'll be more. It'll have more depth. But it
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can say something different to you in different
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times because the emphasis will be on a different
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part of the verse. the object of the verse may
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change, if that makes sense. So context gives
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us this is what it meant to those folks in history.
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And it's like the Constitution. We need to understand
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the times in which we live. That's why it's so
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important to know our history. But then we also
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have to adapt and interpret it for our time today.
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Same way with Scripture. So in this particular
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Scripture, you're right. I mean, the Hebrew word
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kishur literally is conspiracy treason, or an
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unlawful alliance. I mean, how relevant this
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look around right now of what's happening, unlawful
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alliances, treason, conspiracy. It can describe
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a genuine political plot. God isn't saying conspiracies
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never exist. He's warning Isaiah not to adopt
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the crowd's interpretation and fear. How relevant
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is that? I mean, it is exactly speaks to our
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time. Completely. Because here's the way to understand
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the nature of man has never changed since the
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garden. I mean, it's the same old story displayed.
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It's always the woman's fault is what you mean.
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I'm not going to say that out loud. I'm not leaving
12:23
that level of an Easter egg for my wife. I'm
12:25
just saying. Just kidding. Although she would
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probably say that actually, because she's like,
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it's always women. I'm like, but you are one.
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And she says, I know. But I love what that says
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in that, I'll read that sentence again, it can
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describe a genuine political plot. And that was
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the issue in the day. Wow. So what was happening
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was, Ephraim up in the North, one of the tribes
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had joined forces with Syria. So it was a Syria,
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Ephraim, alliance, which was an evil alliance.
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God had told them not to align with enemies,
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never to become allies. But by definition, a
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political alliance. It was a political alliance.
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Now they come together and they're threatening
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to attack the South, Judah. So Isaiah is in the
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South and he's dealing with all these people
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who are losing their minds because their internet,
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their version of the internet is saying, we're
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about to get killed. We're about to get crushed.
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This is going to be bad. It's over. We're at
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the end of an era. We're at the end of an epoch.
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You know what I mean? The same things we say
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today. And it was the same language and they
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were in fear. God through the prophet Isaiah
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whispers to them, not so much of a whisper, he
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basically says this, if you're going to fear
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or dread anything, you should fear and dread
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me, not what other men fear and dread. And that's
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exactly how the verse reads. I read mine in the
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NIV 84 version, so listen to it in that version.
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Do not call conspiracy everything that these
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people call conspiracy. Do not fear what they
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fear and do not dread it. Now later you read
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the content to context he's saying if you're
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gonna fear anybody fear me fear me Yeah, I mean
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he's literally he say you've got your attention
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on the wrong thing Yes, you know the object of
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what you're fearing is wrong That's so good and
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as a political conspiracy just to make it clear
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I have to say this almost whenever I talk to
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anybody about anything going on in the so -called
14:25
news Which we'll get to that Everything everything
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everything is about the midterms. Everything,
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just everything. I don't care what topic it is,
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it has a midterm slant and this is how America
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runs. It's a multi -billion dollar business,
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like multi, multi -billion dollar business. And
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I had quite a... Quite a setup going for us today
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because I was going to talk about the lawsuit.
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Do you know anything about the lawsuit? No, I
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don't. The meta lawsuits? Have you heard? No.
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Oh, yeah, yeah. Meta. I don't know what you're
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talking about. Maybe a little bit. You know,
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it hasn't really been top of news. It hasn't.
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But it will be tonight probably because just
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this morning we got this breaking news. The corporation
15:14
that owns Facebook and Instagram has settled
15:17
the case for a landmark $12 billion and up to
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$17 billion over the next 10 years. In addition,
15:24
they'll have to make major changes to their social
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apps that the state's claim got kids and teens
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hooked. Some of the changes are a default daily
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time limit of two hours for users under the age
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of 18 that can only be changed by a parent. Also,
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an enhanced system allowing teens to report harmful
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content that meta must respond to. to within
15:43
six hours. all social networks are looking at
16:02
this, like, okay, what do we have to do? And
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it wasn't so much the content, but it was the
16:09
mechanisms, what we would call the algorithms
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or the quote unquote addictive nature of it.
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And I do want to go through a couple of these
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clips that I pulled anyway, just so we can understand,
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because they didn't really settle on anything.
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And this was only focusing on kids. So the whole...
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And that's how you, I mean, everything, you can
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build a lawsuit for anything as long as it's
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hurting children. I mean, please think of the
16:33
children that is a primal reaction from any parent,
16:37
any adult, even if you don't have kids. Like,
16:39
oh, it's hurting kids. Now, of course, they're
16:43
going to get into, just to show you how weak
16:46
this is. There won't be age verification. There'll
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be age assurance. I was like, okay, so. We're
16:54
not on video, so you can't see the look on my
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face. But I'm also pretty sure this was punted
17:00
by the states to get it out of the way before
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the midterms because everybody needs the social
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media networks for the midterms. Yep. Everybody
17:13
needs it. Absolutely. And so even though it's
17:15
just attorney generals, attorney generals are
17:17
political as well, they're not supposed to be,
17:19
but look at Ken Paxson. He was, was he... Attorney
17:23
General? Yes. And now he's running for Senate?
17:25
Yes. So, you know, so everybody's political and
17:28
everybody wants to stay on the good side of everything.
17:31
But this was what the basic suit was about. MedOut
17:34
is back in court, this time facing allegations
17:37
that it knowingly designed Instagram and Facebook
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to keep children and teenagers hooked, even as
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it learned about the potential harm to their
17:44
mental health. Attorneys general from California,
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Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are seeking
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changes to how Metta operates its platforms and
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roughly $200 billion in penalties. which is what
18:01
makes this settlement quite laughable, was $1
18:03
.3 trillion. So $17 billion, of which $12 billion
18:09
now and $5 billion later on, it'll leave a mark.
18:15
It'll hurt them, but it's not the end of the
18:17
world by far. They're part of a larger group
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of 29 states that sued the tech giant over child
18:23
safety and privacy. The other states will go
18:25
to trial later. The states argue Meta designed
18:28
its apps to quote, hook the users, hold them
18:31
for as long as they can, harvest their data and
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hide the truth from the public. Hook them, hold
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them, harvest them, hide them, beautiful. Nice
18:39
alliteration. Well, you know, that's, that's
18:41
some consultant came up with that, you know,
18:44
to work against them. A Meta spokesperson called
18:47
those claims unsubstantiated, saying the company
18:50
stands by its record of protecting miners on
18:52
their platforms. For more, we're joined by Bloomberg
18:55
tech reporter Alexandra Levine, who's been covering
18:57
this trial. Alexandra, welcome. Thanks for joining
18:59
us. Thanks for having me. So Meta and other social
19:02
media companies have faced similar allegations.
19:05
They've gone to trial before. How is this trial
19:08
different? Yeah, well... We've been hearing about
19:11
alleged harms to children through social media
19:13
for so many years at this point. I think what
19:15
makes this moment very different is that in the
19:18
past, a lot of the focus has been on the content
19:21
posted the platforms and how that content could
19:23
be harmful. Right now, the focus is mainly on
19:26
product design. So how the actual products of
19:29
Instagram and Facebook have been built to, as
19:32
the state attorney general was alleged, to keep
19:35
children hooked and to harm them. certain design
19:37
features, and these are seated business practices
19:39
that are integral to both of the platforms. But
19:42
I think the difference between the content posted
19:45
and the product design is a key difference. The
19:47
other key difference here, of course, is that
19:48
in addition to seeking monetary penalties, the
19:51
state AGs would like to see injunctive relief
19:53
measures, which would actually fundamentally
19:54
change the way that the platforms operate. So
19:57
it's really great when you get to change something
20:00
for a relatively small age group, which isn't
20:04
really that interesting. Advertisers and people
20:07
who want to advertise want to advertise to one
20:11
specific group, 1824. Now, if they can get kids
20:15
early, yeah, I guess there's benefit to that.
20:18
But anything you do for children, I don't think
20:22
it's a big deal to these companies in general,
20:25
but there's quite an analogy to this entire setup,
20:29
which I've been discussing with Rob Carty, the
20:32
constitutional lawyer. By the way, if you got
20:34
hit by a truck, call Suits and Boots. Come on,
20:36
man. They'll get you maximum money, I guarantee
20:38
you. Those guys are amazing. They are friends.
20:40
Friends and Rob. Friends of the family. Great
20:42
guys. Friends of the family. Our family, too.
20:43
We laid out our case today, which is essentially
20:46
this. This is the AG. That meta. has designed
20:50
and deployed dangerous product dangerous product
20:56
with dangerous features that they knew uh...
20:59
would create excessive use and compulsive use
21:02
by children and it would create mental health
21:06
harms including things like anxiety and depression
21:10
uh... like body image issues like addictive tendencies
21:14
like learning loss they knew all that They knew
21:18
their product was dangerous and they lied to
21:22
the public. They lied to Congress. They told
21:25
the public. They told the world that their product
21:27
was safe, that it wasn't dangerous. Okay. Where
21:30
have we heard this before? Where have we heard
21:32
this before? I take you back in the time machine.
21:35
Close your eyes so you don't get nauseous. If
21:37
it's the room is spinning, look at the ground,
21:39
it'll all go away. 1994. Let me begin my questioning
21:43
on the matter of whether or not nicotine is addictive.
21:47
Let me ask you first, and I'd like to just go
21:49
down the row, whether each of you believes that
21:52
nicotine is not addictive. I heard virtually
21:56
all of you touch on it and just yes or no. Do
21:58
you believe nicotine is not addictive? I believe
22:01
nicotine is not addictive, yes. Mr. Johnston.
22:04
Congressman. Cigarettes and nicotine clearly
22:08
do not meet the classic definitions of addiction.
22:11
There is no toxin. This was all the big tobacco
22:14
guys sitting in Congress, sitting in Congress.
22:16
We'll take that as a no, and again, time is short.
22:19
If you could just, I think each of you... This
22:21
sounds like Raskin. I'm not sure if he was there
22:23
back there. It sounds like him, though. We believe
22:25
nicotine is not addictive. We just would like
22:27
to have this for the record. Yeah, just get it
22:29
on the record, everybody. I don't believe that
22:29
nicotine for our products are addictive. Next.
22:33
I believe nicotine is not addictive. I believe
22:37
that nicotine is not addictive. Well, spoiler
22:39
alert, they go all the way down the line. I don't
22:41
believe it's addictive. Not one outlier. So what
22:44
is interesting in the analogy between these two
22:47
is that, you know, of course they lied. They
22:49
literally made the product more addictive, not
22:53
just with nicotine, but with other properties.
22:55
And what was really the results of that? the
22:59
state sued the states in this in the in the tobacco
23:03
case the states got something called the master
23:04
settlement agreement and a tax you know when
23:07
you pay tax on cigarettes which is now probably
23:10
much more than the product itself that money
23:13
is split up amongst all the states and goes to
23:17
health care laughable of course because that
23:20
just gets sucked up now into the general ledger
23:23
and you know they've written bonds against that
23:25
income but what did they really do for the children
23:28
Mean they put a warning label on it say they
23:31
get a sticker on them get a sticker You know
23:33
you can't buy it in the store warning the surgeon
23:35
general is deemed blah blah blah age assurance
23:38
It actually turns out you know for a while they
23:40
had those horrible pictures of a diseased lung
23:43
on it I don't remember that that was maybe ten
23:46
years ago. They started that campaign Europe
23:48
still does it Research shows people actually
23:51
are more inclined to buy it when you have that
23:53
on the package kind of like I can beat this Like
23:56
they were trading him like I have a diseased
23:58
lung. You got a heart. Let me have your pack
24:00
I mean, it's crazy and I'm sure they thought
24:02
about that before they actually put that into
24:06
into effect The thing that that is interesting
24:10
though is people still smoke It's not like yeah,
24:14
a lot of people have given up that wasn't necessarily
24:16
because of that lawsuit You know, it's it's less
24:20
easy for kids that we can't go in and buy a pack
24:23
But you know kids underage still smoke But it
24:27
never removed the problem it never removed and
24:30
I don't think they ever actually removed any
24:32
of the addictive properties You know, they didn't
24:34
really change the product that much So this the
24:38
analog here is okay You can do stuff for kids
24:42
like the it'll you won't be able to access it
24:45
at night It'll tell you to take a break You'll
24:48
be able to hide your likes hide them by default
24:50
so you can turn it back on you know, whatever
24:53
crutches they've come up with But are kids really
24:56
the problem? No. Do you really see children?
24:59
I mean, yes, big problems. But is that really
25:02
the problem? The problem, no. No. Who has problems?
25:06
Us. Adults. 30 -year -olds. Boomers. Anybody
25:11
with a pulse. Anybody with a pulse. Exactly.
25:14
And this is, I think, CNBC. The woman actually,
25:17
the news model, I call him, she actually admits
25:20
it. The courtroom doors are open. And it is time
25:24
that the public see what the executives at Metta
25:28
have known all along, that their products are
25:31
designed to addict and harm children. We got
25:36
a third of the planet on their products. They
25:37
broke our brains, all of them. It's not just
25:39
about kids. And so at the end of the day, I think
25:42
there should be some sort of reckoning. Sorry,
25:44
it was a male news model. He's saying it. They
25:48
broke our brains. They broke everybody, a third
25:51
of the planet. And it's absolutely true. So the
25:55
product is not just the problem. There was this
25:58
fantastic documentary I found on Deutsche Welle.
26:01
So it's German with English voiceover. It was
26:04
called Loneliness Influencers. I think I saw
26:07
that. Not really. Just kidding. It's possible.
26:11
It's possible. But these are not. late 20, early
26:15
30 year olds who have just gone, because of social
26:19
media, have gone into a complete state of loneliness
26:23
while they've never been as connected before
26:26
in their lives. I've really noticed the intense
26:29
doom scrolling, especially when I'm alone at
26:32
home. The phone is basically a connection to
26:35
feel some kind of fake closeness. At the same
26:40
time, it makes you feel even lonelier. Totally.
26:47
I really felt that during the times I was doing
26:50
badly. I'd sleep 15 hours and spend the other
26:54
nine in front of a screen because it kind of
26:57
pulls you away from your own reality and your
27:00
thoughts. Do you think that's good, watching
27:03
that stuff? Of course not. I was doing badly.
27:07
But that was my way of coping. It's kind of dumb.
27:11
But it's also like, there's this FOMO thing,
27:14
right? Someone's traveling and you feel bad about
27:17
your life. But if you just switch your life and
27:21
turn on the internet, it feels like you just
27:23
traveled too, because you watched that vlog.
27:27
I think it's really just that dopamine kick.
27:31
At the same time, like I said, it makes me lonelier.
27:36
Social media is completely curated. People only
27:40
post what looks amazing. So they're very aware
27:43
of what's going on, completely aware, yet they're
27:46
fully into it. And what happens is these people...
27:49
aren't finding faith, they aren't finding God,
27:53
they're finding people teaching them how to manifest.
27:58
You know, like, I'm going to be okay, and the
28:00
world is going to be okay. This is literally
28:03
the… Category known as Loneliness Influencers,
28:06
which is just mind -bogglingly scary. Part of
28:09
my daily routine is watching videos from YouTubers
28:11
who make content about manifestation. I basically
28:15
have them in my ear all the time. What I love
28:17
is that you get this sense of power, that you're
28:19
truly the creator of your own reality. You don't
28:22
need astrology or anything outside yourself.
28:24
Oh, don't even need that. Don't even, don't,
28:26
Noah, don't need any of that stuff, no. Every
28:28
day it's me who decides who I am. That gives
28:30
me a real boost. Hi, I'm Vanneleen. I'm 34 years
28:35
old, a Gemini, and I'm a trained actress, host,
28:38
voice actor, mental coach, photographer, lecturer,
28:41
and model. Go ahead. There is an unholy trinity
28:46
out there and it's called me, myself, and I.
28:50
That is all I heard right there. It's all about
28:53
me. Yes. I remember when Oprah came out a couple
28:59
of decades ago and she started just throwing
29:02
everything off and saying, it's all about me.
29:06
It's all about, I've got to take care of me.
29:09
And, you know, there is a level of truth that
29:12
we do have to mind. We have to steward the gift
29:15
that God's given us. That's us, mind, body, spirit.
29:18
But it goes way over a line to where, and if
29:22
you think about it, what she's talking about,
29:25
okay, she's downing dopamine hits, but yet she's
29:28
getting them by doing this manifestation trick.
29:31
It's a hack. It's a biohack. It's a mental hack.
29:34
Yes, without even knowing it. Yeah, exactly.
29:37
It's the same thing. It's just an exchanging
29:40
one dopamine generator for another. And so she's
29:44
trading off things, but that will not give lasting...
29:48
I mean, how long has she been doing it? A month?
29:50
Three weeks? I mean, who knows? Because everything
29:52
in social media is a short shelf life. I mean,
29:56
right now, neuroscience, everything's neuroscience.
29:59
Andrew Huberman, all this neuro, neurology, then
30:03
it's breathing. You gotta breathe right. I'm
30:06
gonna teach you how to breathe. We're gonna do
30:07
a double -hit breathe with a long exhale. Then
30:10
it's always something that's a hack. And people
30:14
are looking for hacks for life. Oh, even believers
30:17
are looking for hacks. Believers are looking
30:19
for the next guy to tell them something. Here's
30:21
the tragedy about that. And I have this headline,
30:24
social media has changed not only what we read,
30:27
but how we read. I mean, this is like deep dive.
30:33
Shall I tell you my view on that? Bring it. Because
30:36
we are only looking at clips. And I'm not just
30:40
talking about clips of video. people will literally
30:45
post a screenshot of a headline of a story. If
30:49
they even post a link, so headlines are a whole,
30:52
the writer of an article doesn't write the headline.
30:55
Headlines are written by headline writers. They
30:58
A, B, C, and D test them throughout the day,
31:01
the minute it's released, to see which one gets
31:02
the most clicks. That's the one they go with.
31:05
So that is literally how news is getting more
31:08
clicks is by what clickbait headline works better.
31:13
In eight times out of ten, you click on a new
31:15
story, what do you get? Paywall. Definitely.
31:19
So people are 30 pop -ups on that page. There's
31:22
that. But the paywall is the problem, because
31:26
you're only seeing the headline, you may be seeing
31:29
the first paragraph, and this is, I had to go
31:34
into myself on this one, because this is very
31:37
similar to reading the Bible. So if we only read
31:42
Isaiah 8 -12 and not within context, we can miss
31:46
a lot. And I got to be honest, I myself have
31:51
been a lot of a Bible headline reader. It's called
31:53
a devotional. And if you don't get the context
31:57
of it, and you don't go in, and I have forced
32:00
myself, it wasn't that hard because I enjoy it,
32:02
to go read the entire chapter and verse. but
32:07
people don't do that. So you're still getting
32:09
just little quick hits of, oh, okay, I feel better
32:12
without the context, which means you can lose
32:16
everything of what that verse was written for
32:18
and what God is trying to tell you with it. And
32:21
I think we as believers, as get to nation, as
32:25
doers, we've got to help people understand that
32:28
a devotional alone is not going to do it because
32:32
we've been trained. Oh, this is my quick Bible
32:35
fix. I was disappointed in myself. Like, wow,
32:39
I'm actually doing this. So that's part of the
32:44
problem. It is. So I'm glad you brought up neuroscience
32:51
because just as actual brain scientists created
32:55
the entire algorithm concept of firing dopamine,
33:01
there's plenty of... documentation, there's,
33:04
you know, some funny documentaries about it.
33:06
Everyone's kind of aware that, you know, the
33:08
minute you're about to leave Facebook or Instagram,
33:11
you get all the alerts, they hold that back.
33:13
Oh, I just got some dopamine hits, I'm saying.
33:17
Way before this, scientists, brain scientists,
33:21
network scientists, were already, had already
33:25
figured out how network effects really work.
33:29
And this is important because this is where clips
33:33
come in. I'm so blind today. Hold on a second.
33:35
I'm like squinting all over the place. This is
33:39
the law of large numbers. Have you ever heard
33:42
of the law of large numbers? This is Leonard
33:46
Kleinrock. He actually built the first node on
33:51
the internet when it was the DARPAnet Defense
33:54
Advanced Research Project Agency. Defense. Advanced
33:59
research Al Gore takes credit for it, but the
34:03
Defense Department was on this long before 1969
34:07
is when they were already doing these experiments
34:09
and listen to his this is just a let me see if
34:12
I have this one. This is a Here we go This is
34:17
just a quickie. This was a simplified but exact
34:21
model at the time now we have other aspects of
34:24
it. But it's basically the underlying principles
34:27
of the network and one of the things we found,
34:30
surprisingly, was that the larger the network
34:32
is, the far more efficient it becomes. Like a
34:36
gambling casino that certainly makes money if
34:39
you have millions of gamblers at the slot machines.
34:42
Very much so. You've articulated what we call
34:45
the law of large numbers. The law of large numbers
34:48
says that a large population of unpredictable
34:51
players or messages collectively behaves in a
34:56
very predictable fashion a fashion we can write
34:59
down exactly and we therefore we can predict
35:02
the performance of a network when it's large
35:04
isn't that interesting the law of averages the
35:07
guy even says in the background oh kind of like
35:09
as long as you have enough gamblers you're always
35:11
gonna make money yes the larger the network the
35:14
more predictable the way the individual nodes,
35:17
guess what we are, we're nodes, the way those
35:20
nodes will behave. Now this is him in 2015, so
35:23
this is 11 years ago, listen to what he predicted.
35:25
Well as I said, one of the challenges is to make
35:28
the internet invisible, to disappear into the
35:32
infrastructure surrounding us. And to do that,
35:35
what's happening now, and will happen in the
35:37
future, is the deployment of embedded devices,
35:42
small devices, actuators, sensors, logic, memory,
35:46
displays, cameras, microphones, in our environment,
35:50
as I say, in our bodies, in our fingernails,
35:53
in our walls, in our tables, etc. So the idea
35:56
of physical devices embedded in our physical
36:00
infrastructure communicating with us. At the
36:03
same time, we'll have intelligent software agents
36:06
out in cyberspace. Sound like a thing like your
36:09
chatbot, like AI? Yeah. doing the things we ask
36:13
them to, providing us information, mining data,
36:16
alerting us, reminding us, etc. And you know
36:20
right now those intelligent software agents and
36:23
those embedded devices in our physical infrastructure
36:26
are generating more traffic on the internet than
36:30
our humans. That's already an indication that
36:33
where we're heading for is what I like to refer
36:36
to as a global, a global nervous system, a global
36:41
internet nervous system for the entire planet.
36:44
And that's where we're heading. It'll be invisible,
36:47
it'll be everywhere, it'll be omnipresent, it'll
36:49
be easy to use, and it'll be cooperative and
36:53
functional. A global nervous system. That just
36:56
needed an ominous soundtrack behind it. I know,
36:59
but it's from 2015. We weren't doing that back
37:02
in the day. Wow. So they already knew that this
37:07
is turning into a nervous system. Now, a nervous
37:09
system, everything is connected one way or the
37:11
other. So how does something go viral? Now, you'd
37:17
think you want it to go to somewhere who was
37:20
a node connected to all kinds of nodes, like
37:24
what we would call an influencer. Turns out,
37:27
in the law of large numbers, that is not true.
37:33
I mean, I was like, what? That, okay. And where
37:37
it does happen is interesting. And today the
37:40
way we tend to think about - This is Professor
37:43
Sentola. This is in terms of networks. What binds
37:45
people together are the patterns of connection
37:48
between them and the people they know and the
37:50
people they know and so forth. And when we look
37:52
at networks, there are several key features that
37:54
we think are the most important things for understanding
37:57
human behavior and human behavior change. And
38:00
typically we pick out the people who have very
38:03
highly connected networks who are in the center
38:06
of the network, and they've got ties reaching
38:09
out in all directions. And then we look at people
38:11
who are in the periphery of the network, shown
38:13
on the right, who have many fewer connections,
38:16
but also those connections are sort of clustered
38:18
together. So it's not just the number of connections
38:21
that differs between the center and the periphery,
38:23
but also the structure of those connections that's
38:25
different. And when we think about any kind of
38:27
technology diffusion process or innovation process,
38:31
we have a kind of common idea of how it works.
38:34
We say, well, typically someone who's highly
38:36
connected adopts first and that person influences
38:39
the people around them. And from that initial
38:42
process, then it spreads very effectively out
38:44
towards the outer skirts of the network and then
38:47
saturates the rest of the population. So that's
38:49
our classic model of spreading. What I want to
38:52
suggest is that a problem has arisen in the last
38:55
20 years. We've started to get really good data
38:57
on how social movements spread, how new technologies
39:01
like Twitter and Facebook spread. And really
39:05
what we tend to see is that when technology or
39:07
new ideas, new political movements take hold,
39:10
they tend to take hold out in the periphery.
39:12
instead of the center and then when they spread
39:15
instead of jumping to the center and what they
39:16
tend to do is they tend to spread around the
39:19
edges of the social network and they only reach
39:22
the center of the network at the very end of
39:23
the process. This is LGBTQ but it's also far
39:31
right far left this is why politicians are so
39:35
they know it yeah they know it they notice they
39:37
can get a small group on the periphery, on the
39:41
outside to continue. It's so counterintuitive
39:44
because you think, well, as long as Megan Kelly
39:47
says it or Sean Hannity, but no, that's not how
39:50
it works. In the connected nervousness system,
39:54
it's the small things on the edges. Which is
39:56
why RFK was willing to do podcasts with almost
39:59
anyone. Exactly. Nobody. Small podcasts. That's
40:03
right. College kids. He would sit down with anybody.
40:08
And it worked pretty well for him. He might not
40:13
have made it to president, but he is right up
40:14
there making a big difference in this world.
40:17
I think President Trump also realizes, I don't
40:20
know if he understands the depth of the network
40:23
level, but he does stuff which is clearly meant
40:26
to trigger things way on the edges like Lake
40:30
Ontario, Lake America. That's triggering all
40:34
on the outside, but it's not as... as unimportant
40:38
as we think it is, possibly. Now, one of the
40:42
biggest, the company that understood this very
40:44
well, which was attacked when Steve Bannon used
40:50
it for President Trump's first campaign, but
40:52
it really was brought to life during the campaign
40:56
for Barack Obama, is the outfit called, oh no,
41:01
I forgot the name of it. It's in the clip. They
41:05
were taking Facebook data and they were influencing
41:09
people to vote for initially for President Obama.
41:13
I think the name is in here. Cambridge Analytica
41:14
has sought to Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge
41:17
Analytica. You may have heard of them. There
41:20
was a lot to do about them for a while, but they
41:23
figured out how to activate people. on the edges,
41:27
but not as a central to a central influencer.
41:30
Cambridge Analytica sought to identify mental
41:32
vulnerabilities in voters and worked to exploit
41:34
them by targeting information designed to activate
41:37
some of the worst characteristics in people such
41:39
as neuroticism, paranoia, and racial biases.
41:42
To be clear, the work of Cambridge Analytica
41:45
is not equivalent to traditional marketing. Cambridge
41:49
Analytica specialized in disinformation, spreading
41:51
rumors, compromise, and propaganda. There it
41:54
is, propaganda. This is where I wanted to get
41:57
us. Everything we see right now, including from
42:01
people we admire and like, is propaganda. They
42:05
may not even know it's propaganda. And this is
42:08
what I think everyone misses, like, oh, Facebook
42:11
and they're giving you all the stuff from this
42:13
political party or that political party. No,
42:15
this is just people who know how to manipulate
42:18
the network. And you manipulate the network the
42:22
way people are already manipulated by headlines,
42:25
by clips, out of context, everything's out of
42:28
context. I mean, this is one of the things I
42:30
love doing is I love, oh, what's this outrage
42:32
about this clip? Let me go find out the context.
42:35
And you'd be surprised how sometimes it's even
42:37
the exact opposite of why people might be sharing
42:40
it. So propaganda, have we talked about propaganda
42:44
in the past? I mean, bits and pieces here, but
42:47
I like your take on this because What I'm seeing
42:51
is, of course, I'm seeing everything through
42:53
a midterm filter because, you know, the warning
42:55
flag has gone up. Midterms are coming. I mean,
42:57
we're close. I mean, already, I mean, October,
43:01
I mean, we start voting in October, early voting.
43:05
So it's literally around the corner. So everything
43:08
I'm seeing right now, I am reading with massive
43:10
skepticism. I mean, literally. So what I have
43:13
started doing as a practice is when I see something,
43:16
in fact, Well, I saw an announcement, Dolly Parton
43:19
has died at 80 years of age. And my first thought
43:22
wasn't, oh no, my first thought was, is this
43:24
true? I'm serious. And that's actually something
43:27
you have to ask. You have to ask that. Because
43:30
there's been other people, celebrities who have
43:32
been announced with great emotion, they've died
43:35
and it turns out they didn't. They're alive and
43:38
well. So I'm being trained now by this swill
43:43
of information that's so you can't tell where
43:48
it's coming from. It's the telegraph game gone
43:51
insane. The telephone game where you talk to
43:54
one person, talk to another by the third person
43:56
is completely different story. That's happening
43:58
in real time right now. So the hard part for
44:01
me and for others, and so I'm going to defer
44:04
to you in terms of maybe an answer or a response,
44:08
is how and where do we get real information now?
44:12
Well, the answer is nowhere. There it is. But
44:15
it also means that nobody's in control and everybody's
44:19
in control. So that's what I've always liked
44:22
about no agenda. If there was something with
44:26
air traffic control, an air traffic controller,
44:29
give me a boots on the ground to tell me what's
44:31
happening. There was a great, I got a great note.
44:35
It's kind of off topic, but you know, President
44:38
Trump is going to import 300 tons or 300 ,000
44:42
tons, whatever it is, of ground beef. And everybody's
44:48
freaking out. It's going to be poisonous. It's
44:50
going to be cheap. It's going to hurt our farmers.
44:53
And really, I don't think he has any intention
44:57
of importing ground beef. The intent was to lower
44:59
the price of ground beef. The beef cattle futures
45:03
dropped immediately. Mission accomplished. He
45:06
doesn't even have to bring in And I got this
45:09
idea from a rancher, a zoomer rancher who says,
45:12
hey man, I'm building my herd. This is great.
45:14
We were expecting it. We have an 11 year cycle.
45:16
It was a year late already. Anyone who's boohooing
45:19
about this is disingenuous. So that's how I...
45:25
So you got the real story. Boots on the ground.
45:28
But we have people in our church even who have
45:31
boots on the ground in almost every single area.
45:34
of life. But you have to have real human connections.
45:37
Man, that is so true. Wow. Well, I mean, you
45:41
just blew something up in me because I do. If
45:43
I hear a medical something, I'll go to Dr. K.
45:47
Yes. I'll go to one of our guys and go, is this
45:50
true? And they'll just laugh and go, no. Exactly.
45:53
This is also called Gell -Mann amnesia. Really?
45:57
Gell -Mann, two scientists, brain scientists,
46:02
they said, If you read something in the newspaper
46:05
and it's something you are an expert in and it's
46:08
incorrect, you probably will forget to tell yourself
46:11
that everything else on that page is probably
46:14
incorrect as well. That's gel man amnesia. Wow.
46:17
So let's go back to the propaganda because you
46:19
said earlier all that clip needed was a little
46:21
bit of scary music. Yeah. Dude, talk about one
46:24
of the best parts of propaganda that is built
46:26
into the tools of online systems. Now, I'm going
46:29
to create a clip. It adds to scary music. It
46:32
does all the jump cuts. That is the essence of
46:36
propaganda, the very essence of it. And then
46:39
you've got YouTubers and podcasters and YouTube
46:43
pastors and all kinds of people taking those
46:46
clips commenting on them and Validating them
46:50
validating even though it may not be entirely
46:53
true, right? But to understand this we need to
46:55
go back to the nephew of Sigmund Freud Sigmund
46:59
Freud we all know Freud the you know He was the
47:03
guy who wrote the book on how the brain works
47:05
and he had his own ideas I think they still hold
47:07
true today his nephew was a guy named Edward
47:10
Bernays I know about this guy. And he wrote a
47:13
book called Propaganda. You can read all about
47:16
his studies. And didn't his works get pulled
47:19
into the marketing industry? I'm going to give
47:22
you the exact example of propaganda going back
47:25
to the days when Mr. Bernays, and this is him
47:28
speaking I believe, first got into the game of
47:33
marketing with propaganda. It's a fascinating
47:35
story. Bernays set out to experiment with the
47:38
minds of the popular classes. His most dramatic
47:41
experiment was to persuade women to smoke. At
47:45
that time, there was a taboo against women smoking,
47:48
and one of his early clients, George Hill, the
47:51
president of the American Tobacco Corporation,
47:53
asked Bernays to find a way of breaking it. He
47:57
said, we're losing half of our market because
48:01
men have invoked a taboo against women smoking
48:05
in public. Can you do anything about that?" I
48:09
said, let me think about it. And then I said,
48:13
have I your permission to see a psychoanalyst
48:15
to find out what cigarettes mean to women? He
48:21
said, what'll it cost? So I called up Dr. Brill,
48:27
A .A. Brill, who was a leading psychoanalyst.
48:31
In New York at that time. How come you didn't
48:33
call your uncle? Hey, how come you didn't call
48:35
your uncle? How come you didn't call the top
48:38
dog? Great answer here. That was. Why didn't
48:40
you call your uncle? Because he was in Vienna.
48:43
He wasn't around, man. I got the other guy. He
48:45
was in Vienna. A .A. Brill was one of the first
48:49
psychoanalysts in America. And for a large fee,
48:52
he told Bernays that cigarettes were a symbol
48:55
of the penis and of male sexual power. He told
48:59
Bernays if he could find a way to connect cigarettes
49:03
with the idea of challenging male power Then
49:06
women would smoke because then they would have
49:08
their own penises. This is the whole phallic
49:11
symbol This is well established psycho psychiatry.
49:15
This is so he took that and Here's what he did
49:18
with it every year New York held an Easter Day
49:21
parade to which thousands came And Bernays decided
49:24
to stage an event there He persuaded a group
49:28
of rich debutantes to hide cigarettes under their
49:30
clothes. Then they should join the parade, and
49:34
at a given signal from him, they were to light
49:37
up the cigarettes dramatically. Bernays then
49:40
informed the press that he had heard that a group
49:42
of suffragettes were preparing to protest by
49:45
lighting up what they called torches of freedom.
49:48
He knew this would be an outcry and he knew that
49:51
all of the photographers would be there to capture
49:54
this moment and so he was ready with a phrase
49:58
which was torches of freedom. And so here you
50:02
have a symbol, women, young women, debutantes,
50:06
smoking a cigarette in public with a phrase that
50:10
means anybody who believes in this kind of equality
50:12
pretty much has to support them in the ensuing
50:15
debate about this because torches of freedom.
50:20
I mean, what's on all American coins? It's liberty.
50:23
She's holding up the torch. You see? And so all
50:28
of this is there together. There's emotion. There's
50:30
memory. There's a rational phrase. Even though
50:33
it's using a lot of emotional elements, it's
50:35
a phrase that works in a rational sense. All
50:39
of this is together. And so the next day, this
50:43
was not just in all of the New York papers, it
50:46
was across the United States and around the world.
50:49
And from that point forward, the sale of cigarettes
50:52
to women began to rise. He had made them socially
50:55
acceptable with a single symbolic ad. And I would
51:00
argue that the term freedom is still used to
51:03
this day based on that initial campaign. That's
51:08
fascinating. This is scary brilliance This is
51:12
when when someone takes something that they discover
51:15
a key to like a golden key But they also know
51:19
they can use it for a lot of for good and for
51:22
evil Welcome to the world of marketing products
51:25
and politicians and policy and whole political
51:29
parties And this is it's only become easier again
51:34
It's not Elon Musk controlling your thoughts.
51:37
It's not Zuckerberg. It's not Google. It is the
51:40
people who understand how to use the networks
51:44
with the right message. And memes, really big
51:47
one. I think President Trump's first memelogical
51:51
warfare. I mean, it was very, very powerful.
51:55
Now with generative artificial generative intelligence.
52:05
You got the guy out running for mayor in Los
52:06
Angeles. Now he got screwed for other reasons.
52:08
You know, he didn't win. Forget his name. But
52:13
his entire campaign was based upon AI videos.
52:17
So this is how powerful this stuff is. And in
52:21
fact, I have to say this. particular campaign
52:23
is so powerful that I still remembered it as
52:27
being suffragettes. But it wasn't even that.
52:29
It was debutantes pretending to be suffragettes.
52:32
This was 1929. And they were like, you know,
52:35
we want the right to vote. It actually was also
52:38
a political campaign at the same time, because
52:41
women got the right to vote. because they were
52:44
acting like men with their cigarettes. I mean,
52:46
we don't even know if there was a secondary client
52:49
in the mix. So then it creates this sense of,
52:53
okay, if I smoke, I'm giving the finger to men.
52:56
I mean, you know, I'm saying I'm powerful. Or
52:58
I'm equal. Yeah, I have a right to do this. It's
53:01
a symbol of freedom, the torch, the Statue of
53:04
Liberty. Yes. Wow. Does it get any better than
53:06
that? That's brilliant and scary. But these things
53:09
are being brought in all the time. An example,
53:15
Sharia. There's nothing in Islam that talks about
53:21
Sharia law. It is law. It is how you conduct
53:26
yourself. But here in America, politicians use...
53:32
Concatenate the two Sharia law why it's like
53:35
freedom. Hey man law. We're a nation built of
53:38
laws You can't just come in here and change our
53:41
laws That's not necessarily even what they're
53:46
doing. But of course you add a few Imams doing
53:50
a podcast somewhere and then you add in you know
53:53
scenes of Europe where this has taken 25 years
53:56
to grab hold and Before you know it people are
53:59
losing their ever loving minds And then, so you
54:03
get this pastor, I like this guy a lot, he spoke
54:07
at President Trump's inauguration. And this was
54:11
so taken out of context, but it was also him
54:13
using virality to gain stature, I would say.
54:18
You might have seen him yelling at the Dearborn
54:21
City Council, literally yelling at the guy with
54:24
an Irish name to, you know, to renounce Sharia
54:28
law. But the whole thing was about an arrest
54:31
not made for a black man who was protesting and
54:36
Dearborn has arguably a very racist past where
54:39
26 ,000 black Americans could not live in Dearborn,
54:43
but they work there at the factories. And so,
54:46
you know, when he says this whole city was built
54:49
on our backs, it's a racial argument, which he
54:52
actually is not incorrect about. But he's talking
54:56
about someone not being arrested that someone
54:58
was, he actually was arrested a week before he
55:01
made this statement, which is kind of interesting.
55:04
But what people share it as is a pastor who is
55:08
strong, strong for God, standing against Islam.
55:13
Exactly. And it's really a city council, whether
55:15
there's two Muslims on it or not, it goes viral
55:20
and people pick it up for the wrong reasons.
55:23
Tell me about it. It landed in my inbox. So here's
55:28
one that I had to look at. We should talk about
55:37
data centers just for a second. Is President
55:39
Trump actually even called it out that this is
55:43
a public relations issue? But the news sees it
55:47
as one thing and one thing only. It's a midterm
55:50
issue. President Trump hosted tech leaders at
55:54
the White House to discuss U .S. efforts on cryptocurrency
55:57
and artificial intelligence. Trump says the technology
56:00
is crucial to create more jobs and beat China,
56:04
but voters have a different perspective. NPR's
56:06
Deepa Sivaram reports. The president argued that
56:09
if he were the mayor of a town, he would want
56:11
an AI data center there for the tax benefits.
56:14
But if I were a governor or mayor, I would want
56:16
that plant in my community, and many of them
56:19
are designed in a very beautiful way. That puts
56:21
Trump at odds with the majority of Americans.
56:24
A Gallup poll from March this year said seven
56:26
in 10 Americans oppose an AI data center getting
56:29
built in their area. Trump, in his remarks, acknowledged
56:33
that AI data centers could use a quote, little
56:35
public relations help. But his stance underscores
56:38
how his perception of the technology differs
56:41
from voters concerns, which could be a top issue
56:44
in the midterm elections this year. There it
56:47
is. That's why it's an issue. Because you see
56:50
city council meetings from Indiana and other
56:53
places. You know, our electricity is sky high.
56:57
There are some reasons for that in Indiana. But
57:01
there's this confluence of marketing that has
57:04
been put out against Republican politicians.
57:09
to distract them from everything else. And it
57:13
is a democratic party operation. And it's so,
57:19
it's so. prevalent that even our governor here
57:23
in Texas, you're like, oh yeah, I know I'm going
57:26
to stand firm on these data centers. We're putting
57:28
down some restrictions and yeah, we'll stop these
57:31
guys. But you've read up on data centers. Yes,
57:34
I have. What have you found about the evil, evil
57:38
demonic data centers that are popping up everywhere?
57:40
Well, the interesting thing about some of them
57:42
is that there's different kinds of data centers
57:44
and they use different cooling systems. The ones
57:47
that have the internal cooling system will take
57:49
about 30 ,000 gallons to start the thing. It
57:51
has a 10 -year long shelf life. We literally
57:54
have a gentleman in our church who sells these
57:57
closed -loop water systems. You can talk to him
58:00
and he will tell you that the water thing is
58:02
not true. It's not an issue. Then there's the
58:06
electricity issue. Is it going to cause everybody?
58:09
Is there enough on the grid to support it? Because
58:11
it's going to take X megawatts to run. Then there's
58:14
the issue of sound. It makes a hum. I'm going...
58:19
What doesn't? I mean, the cars going on my highway
58:22
make a hum. Let's go back to the electricity
58:24
for a second because that's important. Yeah,
58:26
it's huge. The reason why data centers are coming
58:30
to a place like Texas is because we have trapped
58:33
power, stranded power everywhere. When the windmills
58:37
are going crazy in West Texas and the solar farms
58:40
are producing energy, the grid doesn't need it.
58:44
The grid doesn't need it. So these data centers
58:47
are going wherever there's power, to take that
58:49
power, but the only ones that will actually get
58:52
used ever are the data centers that also can
58:54
then connect to the grid. So you see them building
58:57
their own power supply, their own gas fired,
59:00
some will be nuclear, some coal. This is, I believe,
59:04
is going to be net benefit. Now, Indiana, you
59:09
know, why Indiana, they have huge solar farms.
59:13
So everything about the power is really just
59:17
not true. Where it went up? In Virginia. Virginia
59:20
has tons of data centers. We use data centers.
59:23
We've been using them for decades. You got iCloud.
59:26
You got Google. You use YouTube. Do you watch
59:29
Netflix? Data centers. All data centers. But
59:32
somehow this confluence of the security state
59:36
and the surveillance state and AI is going to
59:40
kill us. Thank you, AI companies for marketing
59:43
that your stuff is going to kill us. It's so
59:45
dangerous. Please, government, please create
59:48
rules and regulations so nobody can use the cheap
59:51
ones that are open source. Do you see what's
59:53
happening here? But people lose their minds over
1:00:00
this. Well, it's because they pick up on these
1:00:02
news stories. I've read several of them where
1:00:04
they scare the bejeebies out of you. Oh, they're
1:00:06
going to drain all the water out of the Perdenales
1:00:07
River. We won't have any water here. We already
1:00:09
have water issues here in the Texas Hill Country.
1:00:12
Kerrville has a group they put together to actually
1:00:15
stop all this. So it's like people are picking
1:00:18
up pitchforks and torches and looking for...
1:00:22
Frankenstein the monster, you know, showing up
1:00:24
at doors. So it's creating this groundswell of
1:00:28
rage. It's interesting how mob mentality, mob
1:00:32
rule works. Who are they raging against? They're
1:00:36
raging against politicians. I guess, I guess
1:00:42
ultimately it comes back to that. Yeah. Yeah.
1:00:44
Because they're the ones who will regulate. And
1:00:46
now it's become an issue. for the midterms. Well
1:00:49
done Democrats and well done Governor Abbott
1:00:54
for walking right into the trap. The same people
1:00:56
that are yelling about this are using Check GBT
1:00:59
like it's gonna end tomorrow. That's the funniest
1:01:02
thing about it. They're the ones jamming this
1:01:05
stuff, you know? So it's like... But it's a very,
1:01:08
very successful campaign. They've done a great
1:01:11
job. And it literally is. There's a group in
1:01:13
Portland that started a huge... You may have
1:01:16
seen Mr. Wonderful. Kevin O 'Leary. So he had
1:01:20
a data center project and he's like, look at
1:01:22
these leftist groups there. You know, they're
1:01:24
railing against my data center. Yeah, exactly.
1:01:27
And what does it do? It creates turbulence in
1:01:30
the community. The community's like, yeah, we
1:01:32
don't really want this. It's dangerous. We got
1:01:34
flock cameras and storing it there. I've got
1:01:36
two outside of my gate. I thought about spray
1:01:39
painting the lenses. Are those flocks? What are
1:01:42
those? They are. They are. Who put those up?
1:01:44
Kendall County. By the way, Bernie just voted
1:01:46
to get rid of them. Now I don't know if it's
1:01:49
Kendall County or Bernie Texas itself. So I'm
1:01:52
not sure if it's county. Well, I got a warning
1:01:54
on my way is driving to your house as a warning
1:01:56
mobile police camera. Those are flocks. You sure?
1:01:59
Yep. I mean, so there's two there and there's
1:02:02
another one over by Hidden Springs on 87. Yeah,
1:02:04
there's one there. That's another county. I don't
1:02:07
think that's Gillespie. I'm not sure. 87 goes
1:02:10
in and out of Gillespie Kerr in Kendall County.
1:02:13
It's bizarre. You don't know which county you're
1:02:15
in. But the answer is, hey, city council, let's
1:02:18
get rid of them. Yeah. If not, we'll get rid
1:02:20
of you. But instead, we're all losing our minds
1:02:24
over this stuff. And you get the clips and these
1:02:29
elaborate productions done by AI showing you
1:02:32
how data centers are gonna kill us all. It's
1:02:36
like, not really, not, in fact, in my mind, this
1:02:42
$500 billion that is being, and we have, We have
1:02:46
people right here in the church who are part
1:02:48
of data center building. And they'll tell you,
1:02:50
man, I wish I could get more people to work on
1:02:54
this stuff. We need construction workers, welders,
1:02:56
electricians, people driving. They're going to
1:02:58
employ a lot of people. And it is one of the
1:03:01
largest transfers of wealth from all the people
1:03:05
you love to hate, Black Rock, Goldman Sachs,
1:03:08
the big hedge funds. I mean, take their money.
1:03:13
These things won't be there forever. And then
1:03:15
it's all about the midterms. The same thing where
1:03:22
there is not an irrational fear of Islam taking
1:03:26
over. They are about 1 % of the entire US population.
1:03:31
And yes, they are. They do have plans to... Expand.
1:03:36
They've had plans since 1990. Exactly. It's been
1:03:39
around. This is not new. This is not new. But
1:03:42
it sure is in our face right now. It's being
1:03:45
used by conservatives to make sure people vote
1:03:50
Republican. I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'm
1:03:52
not saying it's a problem. But people are getting
1:03:55
the nervous system of the network is very twitchy
1:03:59
over these issues. And people are not necessarily
1:04:03
reacting the same in a godly way, which we discussed
1:04:08
on the last episode. So boil this down to kind
1:04:11
of a simple thing because what you've been talking
1:04:14
about is systemic in nature. So you're talking
1:04:17
about the philosophy behind creating these marketing
1:04:20
campaigns. dating back to, you know, pre -Freud.
1:04:25
I mean, so now you're, you bring it into the
1:04:27
future and we're seeing the flock cameras. We're
1:04:30
seeing, you know, whatever issue it happens to
1:04:32
be issue of the week or month leading up to the
1:04:34
midterms. How do we discern or distinguish if
1:04:39
this is BS? I mean, how do we just, where do
1:04:43
we, when we see these things drop into our text
1:04:48
groups from all of our friends that are losing
1:04:51
their minds, hair on fire. How do we look at
1:04:53
that and go, so where do we look next? So you've
1:04:58
taught me, if anything, is if they're saying,
1:05:00
look here, look here, you need to be looking
1:05:02
around somewhere else. So how do we take that
1:05:04
next step to push that down and our visceral
1:05:08
reaction to these things and start looking for
1:05:11
something that's true or accurate? Looking around
1:05:16
you to the people, you know, so if I wanted to
1:05:18
know something about aircraft I know I'm gonna
1:05:20
call David if I need to know something about
1:05:23
tennis, you know I know who to call and a good
1:05:26
way is to have a church family and you know community
1:05:30
community and real that's the first place to
1:05:33
turn to just like we were saying earlier something
1:05:35
about medicine How many doctors how many lawyers
1:05:38
do we have here exactly? They're all around you.
1:05:40
That is the number one place to get your information.
1:05:43
Yeah The second way is actually something that
1:05:47
you can do. Well, first of all, question everything
1:05:50
always if it's online, particularly if it's in
1:05:53
a clip that's edited with music. Excellent. So
1:05:56
I will give you an example to land this. Pastor
1:06:00
Josh Howerton, we both like him a lot. Love the
1:06:03
guy. We like what he's doing. So Tina sent me...
1:06:06
at Instagram this morning. She's out the door,
1:06:09
she's on her walk, so she's in her car, but to
1:06:11
go to her walk and she sends me this video. And
1:06:14
I'm like, oh, okay, Pastor Howerton on the Live
1:06:17
Free podcast. I'm like, okay, let's see what
1:06:20
it is. I only clipped a little bit of it, a little
1:06:22
bit over a minute, just to prove a point. I just
1:06:25
want to point this out. You can't notice the
1:06:27
music. So, and now he is on his podcast and he's
1:06:30
going to play a clip that is clipped by somebody
1:06:33
else that he's playing from Instagram itself
1:06:36
or TikTok or wherever. So this is now a clip
1:06:39
of a clip of a clip and we're playing a clip
1:06:41
of that clip of a clip. It's so mind -boggling.
1:06:44
I just want to point this out. You can't teach
1:06:46
the Bible to kids, but we definitely want you
1:06:48
to be able to kill them. So the New Testament
1:06:50
talks about wolves in sheep's clothing. What
1:06:52
that means is somebody that has a Team Jesus
1:06:55
jersey on, but they're actually playing for Team
1:06:58
Satan. He's getting asked about the concept of
1:07:02
having kids. And the he in this case is James
1:07:04
Teller. who will be running against Ken Paxton
1:07:07
for Senate in Texas. This is about the midterms,
1:07:12
without a doubt. Let me just roll that back a
1:07:17
little bit. I talked over the setup, it's important.
1:07:34
Pause. So what's really insidious for the Christian
1:07:38
guy is they're gonna put Bible readings in schools
1:07:43
and teach it as historical fact. Check this out.
1:07:49
as the only truth to our youngest students. I
1:07:52
mean, kindergarten, first graders. So here's
1:07:54
what's insidious. We're going to teach the Bible
1:07:56
as a historical fact. We're going to teach it
1:07:57
as the only truth it is to our youngest students.
1:08:00
Glory to God. All they're doing is they're trying
1:08:02
to put a tiny amount of essentially one Bible
1:08:07
reading in every grade. And they're trying to
1:08:09
teach them what the bedrock of. So he's not.
1:08:12
So what? Pastor, first of all, notice the music.
1:08:14
It's affecting my nervous system. I think it's
1:08:17
from Damien Omen III or something. It's possible.
1:08:19
It's got that feel. So the pastor is now telling
1:08:22
us about what they asked, and we're not actually
1:08:24
hearing what was asked. The pastor is telling
1:08:27
us what was asked, and what is the impression
1:08:29
you get so far of this clip about Tallarico?
1:08:32
Oh, Tallarico is disparaging the fact that we're
1:08:35
going to have any kind of Christian content in
1:08:38
public education. OK, so that is your takeaway.
1:08:41
So what I did this morning, just this morning,
1:08:44
and it's funny enough, you can use your AI for
1:08:47
this. You'll say, AI, please go find the original
1:08:51
video of this video that Josh Howerton is showing
1:08:55
and show me what Talarico actually said and what
1:08:58
he was asked. Now, I'm not going to vote for
1:09:02
Talarico anytime soon. Thank you. But it's a
1:09:04
lot more nuanced. And that's why I love this
1:09:07
example, because We don't like this guy. We won't
1:09:10
vote for this guy. But it's not exactly the Damian
1:09:13
-esque thing about what Pastor Howerton is saying.
1:09:16
And I don't think he knows either, because he
1:09:18
didn't go for the original question and answer.
1:09:23
Here it is. It would be extrapolated nationwide.
1:09:25
Because I think sometimes people here, they want
1:09:27
to display the Ten Commandments on school property.
1:09:30
Well, what's the problem with that? It's just
1:09:32
a display. Like, what's the big deal? So I'd
1:09:34
really love if you could unpack that for our
1:09:36
listeners. Yeah, you know you you said Bible
1:09:39
studies earlier that would be one thing you know
1:09:41
there there there are ways to Teach the Bible
1:09:45
in an academic context in a public school setting
1:09:48
As long as you approach it from a scholarly academic
1:09:52
perspective and as long as you are Allowing students
1:09:56
to study the holy texts of other religious traditions,
1:09:59
right? We I believe that that public school students
1:10:03
should learn about. By the way, I should mention
1:10:05
this is from 2024. It's also two years old. Great
1:10:09
faith traditions of the world. It's a critical
1:10:11
part of engaging with other cultures, with entering
1:10:15
into a global economy and being able to participate
1:10:20
in a diverse democracy like we have here in Texas.
1:10:24
My problem is when you slip from teaching to
1:10:29
preaching. And again, I know the difference because
1:10:31
I am both a former public school teacher and
1:10:34
I'm also a current seminary student learning
1:10:37
to become a minister. So I know that there is
1:10:39
a difference between teaching and preaching.
1:10:44
And Greg Abbott and other Republicans here in
1:10:46
Texas are fond of saying that schools are for
1:10:49
education, not indoctrination. And I completely
1:10:53
agree. And my concern is that The way these Bible
1:10:57
stories are being taught to very young students
1:10:59
as historical fact, that becomes indoctrination.
1:11:03
That no longer is education. Now, I don't agree
1:11:07
with everything he's saying for obvious reasons.
1:11:09
I'm there with you. But if you ever want to make
1:11:12
an argument with somebody against Talarico, you
1:11:16
can't use the Howerton abbreviation because you
1:11:18
will lose because they will come back and say,
1:11:21
that's not what he said. Here is what he said.
1:11:23
He's not against. the Bible in schools. This
1:11:27
is where we have to be careful. Even when we
1:11:30
really want to agree, we really want to agree.
1:11:33
I saw that clip in real time. I mean, I watched
1:11:36
that podcast and I was just like, yeah, there
1:11:39
it is. I mean, I literally just, I just didn't
1:11:42
even question the veracity of that. And again,
1:11:46
It's important if we want to be informed because
1:11:49
the debate will come up and there'll be someone
1:11:51
who saw this version and you're going to sound,
1:11:54
you know what, you're never going to connect
1:11:56
with that person. You're never going to connect
1:11:59
on a human. loving intellectual right level because
1:12:04
you and the music and remember it's like American
1:12:06
society See the third right marching in the background
1:12:12
and again, I like pastor Howerton I do too, but
1:12:15
he spiked the ball I think in a very bad way
1:12:18
and I don't think it's good that he does this
1:12:21
wish there was a way to get this to him because
1:12:25
He's the kind of guy and I know him also not
1:12:28
from just being on a podcast, but as a pastor,
1:12:32
that he's a guy of integrity. And if he knew,
1:12:34
you know, what we're saying, I think he would
1:12:38
back up on that. At least that clip. Well, remember,
1:12:42
everything's about the midterms. I know. And
1:12:44
so is Pastor Howerton. And to put this in perspective,
1:12:47
especially if you're in Texas, there are 16 million
1:12:51
Christians in Texas. people are assuming that
1:12:54
Texas midterm race will be determined by five
1:12:57
percentage points or less. So there are 16 million
1:13:00
Christians in Texas, that race will be determined
1:13:03
by less than 300 ,000 votes. So just to put it
1:13:06
in perspective, like, honestly, if Christians
1:13:09
vote, if Christians just do their job, evil loses
1:13:12
every time. And the reason we do a podcast is,
1:13:18
you know, honestly, I may be naive, I kind of
1:13:21
think... I kind of think Live Free Nation can
1:13:23
actually influence the dead gum thing. How many
1:13:27
downloads a month are we at? Does anybody know?
1:13:30
Yeah, no, just overall. Does anybody know? Just
1:13:33
on Apple. So just on Apple last month, we had
1:13:35
3 million downloads on Apple. Total all platforms,
1:13:40
like 6 million. So just put that in perspective.
1:13:44
Hey man, I think we can move a dang needle. Yeah,
1:13:47
I think so. I think he has to be careful about
1:13:50
this stuff. Because first of all, I don't think
1:13:54
his stats are right. I don't think this is a
1:13:56
300 ,000 person race in Texas. This is actually
1:14:00
a Democratic Party talking point where it's always
1:14:03
about to flip blue and it never even comes close.
1:14:07
I think he has to be careful. Like, hey, this
1:14:09
podcast is going to make us win. That's what
1:14:12
I heard. I would never claim that. I don't care
1:14:15
how big you are. I agree with that. It comes
1:14:18
back to me to the world I'm in and what I want
1:14:24
to walk in is theological integrity, cultural
1:14:27
integrity, just pure honesty. And if we're winning,
1:14:31
thank God, be excited. If we're not, then you
1:14:34
know what I mean? There's a sense of can we do
1:14:38
this right and still win? And I have to believe
1:14:41
yes. Now I don't think he's being nefarious in
1:14:44
any way because I do know him. And that's not
1:14:47
his heart, but I think he's caught a real wave
1:14:51
that's making him feel very powerful right now.
1:14:54
And I don't mean that in a bad way. He has caught
1:14:58
a wave. I mean, my gosh, the guy's exploding
1:15:01
everywhere. And he's a sharp young man. I think
1:15:04
he's 44 years of age and just way ahead of his
1:15:08
age in terms of wisdom. But yeah, I think in
1:15:13
real life, Cameras are on. Mocks are rolling.
1:15:16
You're feeling very relaxed. Your best friends
1:15:18
are there around you. We're all cheering and
1:15:21
we can get excited about things. I think it's
1:15:24
a cautionary thing to say, man, I love that guy
1:15:27
and I won't stop watching because I do love Josh.
1:15:30
But again, watching him like I would watch anybody
1:15:33
and that is with a discerning heart. This is
1:15:35
my point exactly. You can watch all kinds of
1:15:38
people and you love them and you take it as the
1:15:40
gospel. Because you agree with it and you want
1:15:44
that to be true. Exactly. That's a good point,
1:15:46
Adam. Exactly. Again, what you're doing is you're
1:15:49
hearkening us back to integrity and honesty.
1:15:53
And at the end of the day, let's just be real,
1:15:56
all this stuff's going to burn. The only thing
1:15:58
we're going to have is our relationship with
1:15:59
God. And if we have not walked in integrity here,
1:16:02
the last thing I want to hear when I get to heaven
1:16:04
is, I was going to say, well done, good and faithful
1:16:07
servant, but man. What were you doing there?
1:16:11
You could have just thought critically a little
1:16:14
more. And doesn't this come back to critical
1:16:16
thinking that we've got to? Not criticizing.
1:16:18
When I say critical thought, I don't mean you're
1:16:21
just judging harshly everything, but you're trying
1:16:25
to live life with your eyes wide open. For me,
1:16:30
honestly, the only thing that helps me to have
1:16:32
that clarity is God's Word, being saturated in
1:16:35
it, being informed by it, understanding the context
1:16:38
of the day and then the application for now.
1:16:43
That's what keeps me alive and well. I think
1:16:46
that's what keeps my head above water. It keeps
1:16:48
me living up in a down world. keeps me having
1:16:51
a mindset of, gosh, I get to do this from a positive
1:16:55
mindset. But it also helps me realize, man, there's
1:16:58
some real evil, real dark stuff going on out
1:17:01
there. And, but God. But God, indeed. I'm going
1:17:04
to end it with a but God. I'm not going to land
1:17:06
on, oh no, the sky's falling. We're doomed. No.
1:17:10
It's over. No, no, no. It's not over till it's
1:17:13
over. God will have the final word. I've never
1:17:16
been as positive as my life these past four years
1:17:20
because I know who to be afraid of, who to fear,
1:17:26
quote unquote. And I know God's got this, and
1:17:29
I've completely surrendered everything. My life
1:17:32
has changed dramatically in so many ways, even
1:17:35
in the past two months. I'm like, God's got this.
1:17:39
But I hope that we've shown people and given
1:17:42
them some background as to what's really going
1:17:46
on and how we got to this point and that nobody's
1:17:50
in charge and everybody's in charge. And the
1:17:54
only truth you can get is nowhere. It's only
1:17:57
from your relationships with other people, your
1:18:01
discernment. You have to really do research.
1:18:05
I mean who has time for that? I don't have time
1:18:07
for all of that. So you kind of have to see everything
1:18:11
as entertainment and just question everything
1:18:14
because even from the guys you love, it's not
1:18:18
the exact true story. And that's well said, Adam.
1:18:21
And I'm just always concerned that people forget
1:18:25
that part. But I was here at the beginning, man.
1:18:29
I had one of the first websites, MTV .com. And
1:18:33
I saw it happen. I saw it all take place in the
1:18:37
whole commercialization. But even when I was
1:18:42
five years old, they were already thinking about
1:18:44
how can we manipulate these networks? And oh
1:18:47
goody, this Defense Advanced Research Project
1:18:50
Agency built this global network and everybody's
1:18:53
on it. Hey, we happen to know how you can make
1:18:55
things work on this thing. In the early days,
1:18:58
they were branding. They were grooming children.
1:19:01
They made Pell -Mell gold candy cigarettes. And
1:19:04
it looked just like your parents' cigarettes.
1:19:06
They were just a piece of chalk or sugar. A piece
1:19:10
of sugar, chunk of sugar. And kids would walk
1:19:13
around with a fake cigarette in their mouth,
1:19:15
building brand loyalty from the get -go generationally.
1:19:20
And so this is not new, but it is definitely
1:19:23
advanced in terms of the ability to get it out
1:19:27
quicker. But the systems go back to 1929 and
1:19:32
it's happening every single day for everything,
1:19:36
usually to sell you a political agenda, an entertainment
1:19:40
product, let's say entertainment product above
1:19:42
all actually, political agenda and a pharmaceutical
1:19:46
product. That's really what is being done here.
1:19:50
I think there's three kinds of people when I
1:19:52
think about something like this and it all starts
1:19:54
with a V. There are victims, there are volunteers,
1:19:58
and there are victors. Oh, I love that. So let's
1:20:00
start with victim. The victim is legitimate.
1:20:02
Something happened. They were betrayed. They
1:20:04
were hurt. They were damaged. They were manipulated.
1:20:06
I'm thinking in terms of marketing. They were
1:20:09
manipulated and they drank the poison. Volunteer
1:20:14
means there comes a point in a victim's life
1:20:16
where they have to make a decision, I will no
1:20:19
longer be a victim. But it may choose to be.
1:20:22
So now they're a volunteer. Hmm. So there's the
1:20:25
middle ground right? That's so you got to make
1:20:27
that switch So when we're reading about dopamine,
1:20:30
we're reading about addiction to the internet
1:20:32
We're reading about all these things and we're
1:20:35
still doing it. We're no longer a victim. We're
1:20:37
now a volunteer Yeah, we because we're choosing
1:20:40
to do it. Anyway, that's volunteer. Nobody's
1:20:44
twisting my arm I know where the dopamine's coming
1:20:47
from. I know how often I look at my phone. I'm
1:20:50
going to have that cigarette. I'm going to have
1:20:51
that cigarette. I know what it can do to me,
1:20:53
but I'm going to have that smoke. The last one
1:20:57
is victors. So you've got victim, volunteer,
1:21:02
victor. A victor has the ability to know that
1:21:06
real life change happens when you feel the pull
1:21:10
and you choose obedience. Yes. Obedience over
1:21:15
impulse. Yes, that was a great daily grind you
1:21:18
had, choosing obedience over impulse. Do you
1:21:21
remember the scripture you had to go with that?
1:21:23
I do. I've got it right here, actually. And while
1:21:25
you're looking for that, I'll add another V,
1:21:28
value for value, because we are going to thank
1:21:30
people for supporting us. Beautiful, beautiful.
1:21:32
We'll end on that V. So here it is. It's Hebrews
1:21:35
12 -11. It says, no discipline seems pleasant
1:21:38
at the time. Later on, however, it produces a
1:21:42
harvest of righteousness and peace. That's it.
1:21:48
Put down your screens, pick up your scripture.
1:21:53
It is so good. Just going back to the loneliness
1:21:58
epidemic, this is what you're seeing. There's
1:22:03
nothing left. Well, let me try this Bible thing.
1:22:06
You're welcome. Come on in, come on in. The water
1:22:10
literally, well... Our Duncan tank here isn't
1:22:13
exactly warm. I mean, we have a heater in it,
1:22:16
but it's still a little bit chilly. But the water's
1:22:19
warm. Come on in, everybody. Man, thank you.
1:22:22
That was good. I love those Vs, those three Vs.
1:22:25
So we're going to thank people who've supported
1:22:27
us. It's very simple. Value for value. At any
1:22:31
point, you get value out of what we're doing
1:22:33
here. We'd love for you to send that back. Time,
1:22:34
talent, treasure. Your time and talent is a whole
1:22:38
bunch of ways you can do that. Tell somebody
1:22:39
about the podcast. Give us a boots on the ground.
1:22:43
Tell us what's happening. New stories were open.
1:22:47
Leave a comment. Also WGTDT .com is the website.
1:22:53
I had to adjust it because, you know, we link
1:22:55
it to our Substack. And Substack was kind of
1:22:58
sometimes throwing up this little thing that
1:22:59
says, hey, subscribe for $500. Like, hold on
1:23:02
a second. I was able to find how to turn that
1:23:07
off because that was quite annoying and people
1:23:10
were getting confused. No, it is free, always,
1:23:14
no charge whatsoever to subscribe to the sub
1:23:17
stack. If you want to, you can support us with
1:23:20
a subscription there and there's suggested amounts.
1:23:23
You could do whatever you want any time. We have
1:23:25
PayPal, we have Venmo, all different ways to
1:23:29
support us. Just go to WGTDTdonations .com and
1:23:35
we've got to come up with something for for people
1:23:39
who are really supporting us with a lot of value.
1:23:42
Like when we get to like a thousand, we got to
1:23:44
have something. I'd love to send somebody something
1:23:47
for doing that. I would love to do that. I have
1:23:49
some ideas. Okay, good. We'll talk. Jill Holbrook
1:23:52
comes in with $500 today. Aw man, Mark and Jill.
1:23:56
Never leaves us a note, which I'd love for her
1:23:58
to leave us a note, but also... An unknown GWS.
1:24:02
I have no idea who GWS is. Can you think of who
1:24:06
GWS is? No, but thank you, whoever you are. $500
1:24:09
from GWS. You can hear Jill's voice on any of
1:24:13
our church broadcasts. She's the loudest person
1:24:17
in the room. Sorry about that. I have no idea,
1:24:23
but let us know. We'd love to thank you. Brian
1:24:26
Maloney sent us $100 and he sent a note to me.
1:24:30
He said, read any parts or none at all. It was
1:24:32
a very sweet note that he sent me. He says, keep
1:24:34
your eyes on the Lord, not the storm. I love
1:24:37
what you're up to. Esther Roden, 8888. I love
1:24:43
the Get To Nation. Happy birthday, Adam. Thank
1:24:45
you. That's September 3rd coming up. Grandbaby,
1:24:50
a big squeeze, enjoy all the snuggles. Joseph
1:24:54
Rojas comes in with our 77 .77 note, love that.
1:25:00
Let's see, he says, I have the distinct honor
1:25:03
of making the first ever value for value pickle
1:25:05
laundering donation. Okay, I love pickles and
1:25:11
hearing you both talk about Louisiana dill pickles
1:25:14
Compelled me to reach out to Bo to see if I could
1:25:16
get some now. This is fantastic It's Louisiana
1:25:19
dill pickles at gmail .com Bo shared that he
1:25:22
cannot sell across state lines But he still sent
1:25:24
a jar for me in two jars to share to spread the
1:25:27
good news in exchange He suggested a value for
1:25:30
value pickle laundering donation till we get
1:25:32
to do this I can attest the pickles are amazing.
1:25:35
My donation is for the shipping charge both paid
1:25:38
to ship the pickles a little more for the cool
1:25:40
numerology. That's funny. God has been so glorious
1:25:43
in connecting me to amazing people. Connecting
1:25:45
me to Beau Lacoste is the best example in my
1:25:48
life so far. More amazing than the pickles have
1:25:50
been the conversation I've had and the connection
1:25:53
I made with Beau. He is such an amazing person.
1:25:55
I can say that he is the first person in my life
1:25:57
to actually be interested in hearing my stories.
1:26:00
Thank you, too, for an amazing podcast. Isn't
1:26:02
that beautiful? That's awesome. Darius Walker,
1:26:05
7714. Thank you, brother. We know he's a veteran.
1:26:09
Is he a pastor? He is a pastor, yes. Very cool.
1:26:12
Yeah, he's a pastor. Thank you for reminding
1:26:14
me. No note further that I had that I could find
1:26:17
from him. Todd Willimon, $50. Thank you, Todd.
1:26:21
John Sbert, that's John's BRT, John Sbert. He's
1:26:25
donated to all kinds of podcasts. $50, thank
1:26:27
you, brother. Brian Albright, $50. He said, hey
1:26:31
guys, you read my donation on the last show.
1:26:33
I'm set up for monthly, and I'm pretty sure I
1:26:35
also post on the Substack, but here is that note
1:26:37
again if you want to read it. I agree with Adam
1:26:41
that a change was coming. I was feeling it for
1:26:44
him in the later No Agenda episodes. I could
1:26:46
feel the change brewing. I had no idea God was
1:26:48
going to make it so suddenly and definitely.
1:26:52
Come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
1:26:55
I'm very saddened by John C. Dvorak's passing,
1:26:58
as I feel like I knew him since I was a kid,
1:27:00
reading his articles and following all the way
1:27:02
to no agenda. I know WGTDT is going to be huge.
1:27:06
I've listened to every episode. I'm proud to
1:27:08
support it. Look forward to continuing to grow
1:27:10
in Christ with you both as we continue our walks
1:27:13
and honestly talk about how the struggle is real
1:27:17
and how with the Holy Spirit we can carry on.
1:27:20
Wow, man, that is so nice. Thank you. Paul Erskine,
1:27:25
$50. Thank you, Paul. And he says, apologies
1:27:28
in advance, but it's a very long note. I'm going
1:27:31
to edit it a little bit on the fly. He says,
1:27:35
in the last show, there was a YouTube guy in
1:27:37
Michigan who talked about, have you had a supernatural
1:27:39
experience? I don't remember that. Oh, that was
1:27:43
the street pastor talking to the Muslim girl.
1:27:47
Oh, Lorenzo. Yes. which seem to imply that he
1:27:51
has had those God experiences. Also, it accounts
1:27:54
for people who have had Jesus approach them in
1:27:56
their dreams. These are amazing experiences that
1:27:58
people have had. What I don't understand is why
1:28:00
I haven't seemed to have had that experience.
1:28:04
I need you to comment in a moment. He says, well,
1:28:07
that's not entirely true. There are two points
1:28:09
I can remember that was probably God, but it
1:28:11
wasn't a smack -me -in -the -face obvious experience
1:28:14
like a burning bush, just two things that could
1:28:17
be coincidences or God -cidences. He says, I'm
1:28:23
clearly not as good as Pastor Jimmy at making
1:28:25
words or phrases. Yes, I've been praying for
1:28:27
God to show me the next step or push me or show
1:28:30
me something. I think this is... so common that
1:28:33
people want this aha moment. This is your territory,
1:28:37
brother. Yeah. First Kings 1912, we see that
1:28:41
Elijah was at Mount Horeb and he was in a real
1:28:44
desperate position and he comes out to the edge
1:28:48
of a cave. And it's interesting because he hears
1:28:52
God's voice, but it wasn't in the thunder, it
1:28:55
wasn't in the wind. He says this, and after the
1:28:59
fire, and so there's thunder, Wind, fire, no
1:29:02
God, but after the fire, a still small voice.
1:29:07
That's how he heard. Another translation says,
1:29:09
and after the fire came a gentle whisper. So
1:29:12
I think those God nudges that he's feeling and
1:29:15
sensing, that is God. I mean, rarely do I get
1:29:19
a brick in the head. I probably need one, but
1:29:21
rarely do I get that. It's usually a gentle whisper,
1:29:24
a still small voice. So it's not always the fire.
1:29:27
It's not always epic. You know, a relationship
1:29:30
with anybody, your own wife, it's not always
1:29:32
epic. It's just daily stuff. It's a conversation
1:29:34
you have as you're getting ready, as you're making
1:29:36
bed, as you're doing life, as you're getting
1:29:38
ready to go out the door, things are said here
1:29:40
and there. They're not epic, but they form a
1:29:44
fabric of communication. And that's really what
1:29:46
happens in our walk of God. So it's not the big
1:29:49
things that are said, it's the 50 little things
1:29:52
through the day. For me, it's like, it's that,
1:29:59
I got to call that guy. Yeah. It just pops up.
1:30:01
Just a thought. And I'm just always considering
1:30:04
if something pops into my head, it probably wasn't
1:30:08
me thinking about something. It just popped in
1:30:10
because the Holy Spirit gave me to it, or somebody
1:30:13
needs it. godly communication thing was working.
1:30:19
I don't have to know how it works. So the pull
1:30:21
you feel will be to... Maybe I'll do that later.
1:30:26
And you put it off. And you forget. But what
1:30:30
we have to do, life change happens when you feel
1:30:33
the pull and you choose obedience over impulse.
1:30:36
So the impulse is to just go, I'll do it later.
1:30:40
And we mean well, but we don't necessarily follow
1:30:42
up. For me, it's really those things. It's a
1:30:44
very, very small thing. You're so right about
1:30:47
that. And it never turned out bad. I should text
1:30:50
this guy. I haven't heard from him in a while.
1:30:52
I should just shoot a text to him. And you go,
1:30:54
that's a great idea. And then you don't do it.
1:30:56
But when you do it, the guy says, man, I was
1:30:58
just having a bad day. It happens all the time.
1:31:01
And you just really made my day. It's small things
1:31:03
like that. Yeah. That's it. So I would say just
1:31:06
as a word of counsel, quit looking for epic.
1:31:09
Yeah. Don't look in the fire. Don't look in the
1:31:11
thunder. Don't look in the wind. Look for the
1:31:14
gentle, still, small voice. So I'm just going
1:31:17
to finish here with, thank you, Rutherford, with
1:31:20
Paul's note here, because, you know, he's really,
1:31:24
yeah. He has the right question. He says, he
1:31:27
winds up, maybe I'm not ready to take the next
1:31:29
step in faith, so he's waiting on me. I think
1:31:31
I'm ready, but maybe I'm not. My current plan
1:31:33
is to keep showing up. Yes. What a great guy.
1:31:36
There's not really a cohesive question here.
1:31:38
I'm not really even sure why I'm writing to you.
1:31:40
We understand your question completely, brother.
1:31:43
Maybe there's something here that God will put
1:31:45
on your heart to speak about on the show. Yes,
1:31:47
Paul. And that's it. The scariest moment in my
1:31:52
life, which I was not afraid of at all, was going
1:31:54
on Joe Rogan and saying, man, I looked at all
1:31:58
the conspiracies and I finally checked out this
1:32:01
Jesus thing and this God thing and like, sorry,
1:32:04
it's true because there's too much written about
1:32:08
it. There's too much going on with this. I can't
1:32:10
believe I ignored it all my life. And you know
1:32:13
what didn't happen? People didn't come after
1:32:15
me and throw bricks at me and tell me I'm a nut
1:32:17
job. Opposite happen. People came out of the
1:32:21
woodwork. Decloked. Decloked in front of me.
1:32:24
Rock and rollers who I had no idea. Rudy Sarzo.
1:32:28
I love that. I mean, the most unbelievable people
1:32:30
have just come in. And that's your community,
1:32:33
man. That's it. You're lonely? Join us. It's
1:32:38
a big club. And you're welcome in it, unlike
1:32:40
what George Carlin would say. So good. $19 .48
1:32:44
from Dr. Graham Brian Bishko. Thank you, sir.
1:32:48
Thank you. Kevin Hallisey, $10, twice a week.
1:32:52
Love your perspectives, twice a week. Oh, please.
1:32:54
He says, twice a week, please. Yes. Working on
1:32:56
it, brother. Appreciate it. Love the perspectives
1:32:59
and the conversations. We feel like we're all
1:33:02
at the barbecue. Oh, I love that. That's what
1:33:04
we want people to feel. You're in the conversation.
1:33:07
Sharing the joys of getting to do this, praying
1:33:09
as I drive 100. Easy, brother. Maybe it's Highway
1:33:14
100. Nicholas Stark, $5. Thank you very much.
1:33:17
Dwayne Spellman, Jr., $153. And the final, and
1:33:21
whoever sent me this, Larry Ice, Galatians, Freedom
1:33:25
from, have you ever seen this? Larry Ice is a
1:33:26
great guy. I know Larry. It's a 61 -day study,
1:33:29
Freedom from Religious Slavery. He's a good guy.
1:33:31
See, I brought this here because I want to show
1:33:33
everything to my pastor brother over here. And
1:33:36
when he says, yeah, that's good. Okay. Yeah,
1:33:37
Larry's great. Good brother. We got a $5 check
1:33:40
and we love checks in the PO box. Checks, by
1:33:44
the way, is something so, only in America. Only
1:33:47
in America do we trust. It is like, I'm giving
1:33:51
you this and you're going to trust me that that
1:33:54
check is good. It's not going to bounce. It's
1:33:56
personal. It's written by hand. And people always
1:34:00
laugh at me. You're so old fashioned. We have
1:34:02
Vin Moon. Also no fees for checks. I think it's
1:34:06
maybe five cents or something, some processing
1:34:09
fee. I love checks. I just do. And this was sent
1:34:12
by Cameron Knapp. Hello, Adam and Pastor Jimmy.
1:34:16
Enclosed is a $5 check. I'm hoping to continue
1:34:19
doing this as a monthly donation. I've set up
1:34:21
a monthly reminder to do this. Thank you so much.
1:34:25
Now, she's listened to No Agenda since my Joe
1:34:28
Rogan appearance in 2021. She's only donated
1:34:31
once the show. I regret it now that John has
1:34:33
passed. I'll likely donate monthly to No Agenda
1:34:35
as well. The community within No Agenda was so
1:34:38
much larger and tighter than I could have realized.
1:34:41
It wasn't until recently, with the outpouring
1:34:42
of love, prayers, and meetups, I realized how
1:34:44
special it is. I'm sure this community will be
1:34:47
just as great." There's a huge overlap. Now,
1:34:50
she's had a lot of tragedy since 2009, 19. Her
1:34:54
father passed in 2019. In 2017, when he was diagnosed,
1:35:02
His father died, his mother's father's died,
1:35:05
his wife's grandmother died. I mean, the last
1:35:08
three weeks of my father's life is something
1:35:09
I'll never forget. This is where I began believing
1:35:12
in God. On his deathbed, he had a terminal lucidity
1:35:16
moment. He was completely coherent, and although
1:35:19
his face was half paralyzed, he was able to speak
1:35:22
to me. His last words to me were, I saw the same
1:35:25
thing grandpa saw. I have to find my way. Wow.
1:35:28
I bring this up because despite believing in
1:35:31
Jesus Christ and God at that moment, I have not
1:35:33
gone to church. I always felt uncomfortable at
1:35:36
church when I attended with friends growing up,
1:35:38
Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, non -denominational.
1:35:41
I feel like I'd be judged a lot for some reason.
1:35:45
I'm sure they are all great people, I just can't
1:35:47
bring myself to attend. I would like to someday,
1:35:49
since we have two young girls and a third child
1:35:51
on the way in this crazy world, I really want
1:35:54
them to grow up loving God and following the
1:35:56
path of Christ, which will help guide them once
1:35:58
they grow up and move out onto their own. So
1:36:00
I've been trying to read the Bible. I like the
1:36:03
King James Version, but it's hard to read and
1:36:05
understand. Doth not sayeth so. Elizabethan English.
1:36:11
It's hard for me to understand. So now I'm reading
1:36:13
the new King James Version. I'm reading front
1:36:17
to back, but I feel like there's a better way
1:36:19
to read this and digest it. What are your suggestions?
1:36:22
An app would be easier, but I feel like I just
1:36:24
feel like reading text sinks in better if that
1:36:27
makes sense. Anyway, I appreciate this new show.
1:36:29
I look forward to every week and I feel like
1:36:31
it's helping me find my way. Your advice? Yeah,
1:36:36
start with the book of John, the book of John.
1:36:39
John was one of the closest disciples to Jesus.
1:36:42
Even John called himself the disciple Jesus loved.
1:36:47
He was so humble. So humble about it, you know.
1:36:50
There's a great clip from The Chosen where Jesus
1:36:52
and Nicodemus are meeting and John's off to the
1:36:55
side. Writing, writing, writing. And Andrew starts
1:36:57
to say something. He goes, shh, shh, shh. He's
1:36:59
like, shut up. I'm trying to write all this down.
1:37:01
So it's just a great. Should she read it in New
1:37:03
King James or should she try a different translation?
1:37:06
Well, I mean, she just had, she's using a physical
1:37:08
Bible and that's what she's got. New King James
1:37:10
is great. It was, that came out I think in 1981.
1:37:15
And it's one I've used for a long time, but I'm
1:37:17
really more partial to, if I'm reading like narratively,
1:37:21
like just trying to read a bulk of scripture,
1:37:24
like from the NLT, the New Living Translations,
1:37:30
really good. It's idea for idea, not word for
1:37:33
word, but well done. And it's more of a narrative
1:37:36
flow, especially in the Old Testament. It depends
1:37:41
on the person. I use Small tablet, you know,
1:37:46
I use an iPad mini and and I use that a lot because
1:37:49
I use a lot of different translations Right,
1:37:51
right because I'm always jumping back and forth
1:37:53
Probably my favorite all -around translation
1:37:56
is the ESV. It's called the English standard
1:37:59
version. It's one of the best In between where
1:38:04
you've got good narrative flow More modern English,
1:38:08
but a little bit of the classic feel so it's
1:38:11
really a good and very scholarly translation,
1:38:15
one of the better, for sure. Wesley Hough, you
1:38:18
know, he rated translations, ESV was at the top.
1:38:22
And so I would agree with that. So start in the
1:38:23
book of John though, because that book of John,
1:38:25
I was talking to Tina about this note and she
1:38:27
said, man, they should whoever it is, start with
1:38:30
the New Testament. It just gets you into it.
1:38:33
You know, it's an E because we're new. You know,
1:38:34
this is very new for us. Like flowing into the
1:38:37
New Testament first. I mean, that gives you a
1:38:40
good start. When I was a new Christian at 18,
1:38:43
19 years of age, I started with the Sermon on
1:38:45
the Mount in Matthew chapter five. Yeah, the
1:38:48
Beatitudes. Because that's where Jesus is talking
1:38:50
direct. It's all red. It's all the red stuff
1:38:52
in the Bible. Read the red, pray for the power.
1:38:54
You know, that's what we say. I also want to
1:38:56
say to this amazing Gosh, thank you for that
1:38:59
letter. Cameron, I want to give you an easy on
1:39:04
-ramp for church. First of all, we're always
1:39:06
going to direct people to a local church, find
1:39:09
a local church, but we also recognize it's hard
1:39:11
to do, especially if you're in another country.
1:39:14
It's just hard to find good Bible believing evangelical
1:39:18
type churches. But I want to give you an easy
1:39:20
on -ramp. And in the meantime, and this is only
1:39:23
an on -ramp, not a permanent thing, is go to
1:39:26
bridgefbg .com. And every Sunday morning, we
1:39:31
have all of our messages archived with me and
1:39:34
Pastor Brian teaching and preaching. And we even
1:39:37
have the worship on there if you want to watch
1:39:39
that part as well. But you can also watch it
1:39:41
live in real time, depending on where you are.
1:39:44
9 a .m. It's live at Central Standard Time, Texas
1:39:48
time. Central Standard Time, 9 a .m. It's live.
1:39:52
And you can get that on YouTube. You can get
1:39:54
it on our website, bridgefbg .com, or on Facebook.
1:39:58
And the Godcaster runs the audio. Yeah, they
1:40:01
run the audio stream of it. So there's four formats
1:40:04
right there that you can get it live, or you
1:40:07
can go back and watch and listen to the archives.
1:40:09
And here's the three things that you'll hear.
1:40:11
You'll hear, go on preacher! That's Mel. Then
1:40:14
you'll hear, woo! That's Jill. Amen. That's me.
1:40:20
That's what you're going to hear because it's
1:40:22
that good and it's that awesome. Naomi says,
1:40:23
good. That's good. So everybody's got their little
1:40:27
thing. That's good. That's good. What a great
1:40:30
crowd. I'm saying that to you because that's
1:40:31
an easy on -ramp where you're going to see a
1:40:33
familiar face and hear a familiar voice, but
1:40:36
also we want you to find a local church, but
1:40:39
maybe this will give you a template to help you
1:40:41
do that. And that's it. Thank you, everybody.
1:40:44
Can I read my daily grind for today? Because
1:40:46
it really ties up into a bow. Yes, please. Because
1:40:49
I was informed by the topics you sent me in conversation.
1:40:54
Isaiah 8 -12 again, do not call conspiracy everything
1:40:57
that these people call conspiracy. Do not fear
1:41:00
what they fear and do not dread it. Again, Isaiah
1:41:03
8 -12 and the NIV. The Daily Grind, today's Daily
1:41:07
Grind title is Breaking News or the Good News?
1:41:11
If you think that the days we live in are rife
1:41:14
with conspiracy theories and misinformation like
1:41:17
never before, you would be wrong. The Bible addresses
1:41:20
this issue head on, all the way back to the Old
1:41:23
Testament. It is a stark warning not to jump
1:41:27
on the conspiracy theory bandwagon and not to
1:41:30
fear what they fear or dread what they dread.
1:41:33
The context tells us that we are to have a holy
1:41:35
and reverent fear of God. So, for today, Do you
1:41:39
find yourself doom -scrolling, spun up and spun
1:41:42
out over the latest breaking news alerts? Put
1:41:45
down your screen and pick up your Bible. Prayer.
1:41:49
Father, forgive me for defaulting to news feeds,
1:41:53
notifications, and breaking news over intentional
1:41:56
time in the Word and prayer. I reject the spirit
1:42:00
of fear and receive your peace. In Jesus' name,
1:42:04
amen. I love it, brother. Thank you so much.
1:42:08
It's a joy.