Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Hostages come home, Super Bowl halftime debate, Nobel Peace Prize, MLB playoffs & NBA and NHL are back! | Ep. 41

Transcript

Hostages come home, Super Bowl halftime debate, Nobel Peace Prize, MLB playoffs & NBA and NHL are back! | Ep. 41 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

0:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones, and I'm Alex Kendraudev, and this is Culture Reef, a citizen form podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, and technology, and we're doing it all from a Christian perspective.
0:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, you heard that right.
0:18
[SPEAKER_00]: My guest co-host today is Alex.
0:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael is out on vacation.
0:22
[SPEAKER_00]: He's on a much desert vacation.
0:23
[SPEAKER_00]: he's enjoying the beach while we sit here at home so good for you, Michael, happy for you to be on vacation though.
0:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And Alex is stepping in to help fill the spot.
0:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Alex is our chief content officer here at Dynaston Ministries.
0:36
[SPEAKER_00]: She oversees all the spiritual resources created by each of our brands here so that's going to be Dynaston form as you guys know.
0:41
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're part of here at Culture Brief.
0:44
[SPEAKER_00]: First of teen devotional Christian parenting.org and foundation's Bible studies.
0:48
[SPEAKER_00]: She does a lot.
0:49
[SPEAKER_00]: She's very busy.
0:49
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm just so grateful that she's here with us helping lead us through all the news this week as our co-hosts.
0:55
[SPEAKER_00]: So Alex, welcome to the show.
0:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you so much.
0:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I am here as our resident east co-ster here in Charleston, South Carolina.
1:02
[SPEAKER_02]: So Micah may be enjoying the beach, but I do get to enjoy the beach regularly.
1:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Make us all jealous, Alex.
1:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I just know I might be at the beach for taking your spot and sweating this out.
1:15
[SPEAKER_02]: But Connor, I'm glad to be here.
1:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to share a little bit about a sport that I actually don't watch later on today.
1:22
[SPEAKER_02]: So you want to stick on for that.
1:24
[SPEAKER_02]: I am going to talk a little bit about a hot take.
1:26
[SPEAKER_02]: I have around how I read and don't read books.
1:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So those are going to be my stories.
1:31
[SPEAKER_02]: But for now, let's jump into the brief.
1:34
[SPEAKER_02]: The brief.
1:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, thanks Alex for that.
1:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll hit on a whole bunch of other things too.
1:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's start off just with the big story this week.
1:42
[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to be the hostage release in Israel and Gaza and the ceasefire that has been announced.
1:47
[SPEAKER_00]: This is obviously a massive story.
1:49
[SPEAKER_00]: This is something we've been talking about since we started the show back in January and something that's been at the center of culture and news for two years now ever since I've been to years.
1:59
[SPEAKER_00]: It's actually been more.
1:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean October 7, 2023.
2:00
[SPEAKER_00]: We all remember that day.
2:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And some of these people, 20 of these living hostages, they were in captivity for 737 days.
2:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So we are so grateful that they are out, that they are home, they are in the arms of their family.
2:15
[SPEAKER_00]: They're have been just incredible videos.
2:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you've seen them Alex of these hostages reuniting with their families in just these beautiful moments and the tears of joy and relief, incredible thing.
2:25
[SPEAKER_00]: There's so much to just be grateful for.
2:27
[SPEAKER_00]: We have been praying for this moment.
2:29
[SPEAKER_00]: This is also good for the Palestinian people in Gaza.
2:32
[SPEAKER_00]: because this should, you know, hopefully Lord willing, lead to full peace.
2:36
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the idea here.
2:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there are a lot of logistics in the way of that.
2:40
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get into that.
2:41
[SPEAKER_00]: But man, this is what we've been praying for.
2:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Peace in this region, hostage comes home.
2:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The destruction and Gaza to stop.
2:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Peace in Israel and in the broader Middle East, that's the idea here.
2:51
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what all these politicians are telling us.
2:53
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what Donald Trump specifically is trying to say has been accomplished peace, right?
2:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And we are grateful for what has happened.
3:00
[SPEAKER_00]: The first steps have taken place.
3:02
[SPEAKER_00]: This is amazing.
3:03
[SPEAKER_00]: We got a long way to go, though.
3:04
[SPEAKER_00]: So just as a little details here, that seats fire agreement that was agreed to over the weekend, Mitt Hamas would release all 48 Israeli hostages.
3:12
[SPEAKER_00]: 20 of those were living.
3:12
[SPEAKER_00]: The living ones are all back in Israel.
3:15
[SPEAKER_00]: As of right now, some of the dead hostages, their bodies have been brought back.
3:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Others are still not back in Israel yet.
3:21
[SPEAKER_00]: This has been a point of contention still is real has been threatening to cut some of the aid that was promised until they get those bodies back so we'll just see what happens.
3:29
[SPEAKER_00]: They're hopefully him loss provides those and all aid gets back in so in return for all of those hostages is real offered back 1700 Palestinian detainees and 250 prisoners that they had in their possession and then they also
3:43
[SPEAKER_00]: agreed basically to start allowing way more aid into the Gaza Strip right start allowing more food and start really kind of aiming to get reconstruction going there.
3:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so I mean, you can see the new stories of just the masses of people headed back to their towns and it's I think, you know, obviously they've all been kind of away from the center of activity.
4:03
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's been.
4:04
[SPEAKER_02]: crazy to see those pictures in those stories of just all those people headed back to their towns to see like what's left of what was there.
4:11
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not, it's not much, I mean, honestly, the Gaza Strip is pretty much destroyed.
4:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And most of them have been living in tents and will continue to probably live in tents for who knows how long until there is rebuilding that takes place.
4:21
[SPEAKER_00]: So those people have suffered a lot and I know that they've been waiting for this day too.
4:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's hit on Trump real fast because he's kind of been the center of a lot of this quite honestly he really broke This deal you could disagree with the ways he did it, but ultimately everyone's having to recognize that this President was the center guy.
4:40
[SPEAKER_00]: He got it done and this will probably go down as his biggest accomplishment
4:44
[SPEAKER_00]: of his presidency unless something else comes along that tops this, but right now of his two terms, this is a massive deal for him and it's something that he's been hoping to get done and something that obviously Joe Biden hoped to get done, maybe the timing didn't work out as well for him, maybe the negotiations were just different, a lot has happened since Biden was an office, so, you know, he's getting his kudos, it also goes to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the special envoy that Trump has appointed Steve Wittkov and his son-in-law, too, Jared Kushner,
5:09
[SPEAKER_00]: came in kind of last week and pushed the deal over the edge and got it done.
5:12
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a lot of connections there in the Middle East and so was able to help complete the deal.
5:16
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, Trump was really given to here as welcoming Israel when he came this past weekend.
5:21
[SPEAKER_00]: He landed on Monday and the people were in the streets.
5:24
[SPEAKER_00]: They were on the beach.
5:25
[SPEAKER_00]: They were welcoming him.
5:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They were celebrating him.
5:27
[SPEAKER_00]: They had signs saying thank you, Trump.
5:30
[SPEAKER_00]: the Jerusalem post which is like the big newspaper there in Israel literally put a silhouette of him on their cover and it said he's bringing them home talking about all those passages.
5:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So they recognized that he was he was central to this.
5:42
[SPEAKER_00]: This was not like a netting Yahoo negotiation.
5:45
[SPEAKER_00]: This was a Trump being the middle man who got it done, right?
5:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And even at the, you know, the entrance of Jerusalem, there's rarely he's erected an eight foot billboard to pifting
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: the president with a Nobel Prize like metal and the caption saying you are winner.
5:57
[SPEAKER_00]: They're saying this because the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded last week.
6:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll hit on that in a little bit of who was actually awarded to.
6:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Just so you guys know as a side note, a lot of people are upset that Trump did not win the Nobel Peace Prize most of because this happened last week at the same time.
6:10
[SPEAKER_00]: But
6:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't even really eligible.
6:12
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to be submitted to February before.
6:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So this was a month-long process.
6:16
[SPEAKER_02]: So this didn't even happen.
6:17
[SPEAKER_02]: This agreement wasn't even in effect when they were putting in their nominations.
6:21
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no.
6:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that being said, if he's going to get it, he could very well get it this upcoming year for negotiating this deal, right?
6:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Assuming this deal holds.
6:28
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to see if this actually sticks, right, for the long term.
6:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, Politico, you know, we quote Politico a lot here on Culture Reef.
6:34
[SPEAKER_00]: That's because they're just at the center of a lot of DC stuff.
6:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Typically, kind of left-leaning, but they're even saying Trump deserves the plodits.
6:42
[SPEAKER_00]: This was an international moment which was perfectly matched for the President's skill set.
6:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump's whirlwind victory lap of the Middle East gave him everything he has craves since he was first elected in 2016.
6:52
[SPEAKER_00]: That includes ownership of a historic diplomatic achievement.
6:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The respect of rich and powerful world leaders on a public stage plodits across the world and the U.S.
7:01
[SPEAKER_00]: even from his own political enemies, including Joe Biden and Bill Clinton.
7:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And of course, wall to wall homages and almost basically every media outlet, everyone has been saying, yeah, it was him.
7:11
[SPEAKER_00]: He gets to credit.
7:12
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, he spoke to the Israeli parliament, something that doesn't really happen with the US president.
7:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He went to the Kinesi and spoke there.
7:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, this will be the golden age of Israel.
7:21
[SPEAKER_00]: in the golden age of the Middle East.
7:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Then he went to Egypt to sign this huge fire agreement, and front of dozens of world leaders, a lot of the European and Middle East leaders were there.
7:31
[SPEAKER_00]: They were all smiles, they were very happy, and they were, you know, of course, just celebrating this moment, and Trump got to be kind of the center of that, and he signed the agreement, and then he came back home.
7:41
[SPEAKER_00]: All that to say, you know, there's a lot left to be done, but Alex just, I mean, what are your initial thoughts on this whole thing?
7:46
[SPEAKER_00]: This is obviously one of the biggest stories of the year.
7:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Man, yeah, I think my biggest overarching thought is just thank God there's peace right now.
7:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's what I mean, putting all politics aside, which is hard to do these days, but putting all politics aside, I think what every believer wants, and I think what most people want, if you talk to anyone about this story over the last two years, 737 days, people just want peace.
8:14
[SPEAKER_02]: People want to be able to have homes, to have families, to not miss or be scared for their loved ones, to not fear for their life, to not know where the next meal is coming from on both sides and around the world, everybody just wants peace and that.
8:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, that's the overarching message of the gospel as well.
8:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Jesus brings peace.
8:36
[SPEAKER_02]: The world after this is going to be peace.
8:39
[SPEAKER_02]: It will all be made right.
8:40
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think where I'm at right now is just like thank God that in this moment, there is aid being given there is people coming home and hugging their loved ones for the first time in two years over two years.
8:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And for this moment, I am super grateful.
8:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I've got a lot of prayers, hoping that this holds up, hoping to see, hope beyond doubt that there can be agreements where this Hamas, Terror and Rain can cease, so that there can be long-term peace.
9:10
[SPEAKER_02]: My pray for Israel to help create agreements where there can be continued peace.
9:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's just the overarching theme.
9:18
[SPEAKER_02]: how can we get more peace to these people?
9:21
[SPEAKER_02]: It's been a turbulent two years.
9:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you look back at Israel's history.
9:25
[SPEAKER_02]: It's been a turbulent long time.
9:27
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm just praying that things hold.
9:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm praying that people get the aid they need on both sides.
9:32
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think my other feeling that I have is just sadness.
9:36
[SPEAKER_02]: We've all experienced grief in our lives and so when you see other people, I mean, you look at these pictures and I found myself being like, I almost doesn't look real because I can't put myself in a parent's shoes who hasn't seen a child and doesn't know if their child's alive for years.
9:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't put myself in the shoes of I left my home and then I came back and I don't recognize my whole town because it's in rubble.
10:00
[SPEAKER_02]: So you like look at these and I'm just heartbroken because I don't even have a lens and so I'm just asking God to like give me a softness to like sit in their grief with them and
10:11
[SPEAKER_02]: pray and ask God that he would reveal himself to all these people in their suffering and pray for continued peace.
10:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think there's, yeah, there's just this joy in one hand that we have reached a place of peace and there's this sadness that this even had to happen in the first place that that's even was a thing.
10:29
[SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, I long for a day when I'll even talk about this later when all tribes, nations and tongues can like be together in peace.
10:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I fully agree with that.
10:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, this is just one conflict in the world.
10:40
[SPEAKER_00]: There are so many other conflicts happening to and we hope to see peace in each of them because there's just destruction and sadness, it's just the nature of our fallen world and sinful world and evil and part of it, this started because of evil, right?
10:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And so now here we are two years later and hopefully.
10:54
[SPEAKER_00]: There's peace, but I don't think it's going to be easy.
10:57
[SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the things a lot of people been saying is that, this is the end to the thousands of years of conflict, right?
11:01
[SPEAKER_00]: This is actually what we're leading towards.
11:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And I guess I just know that it's going to be that easy.
11:06
[SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about the most contentious spot in the entire world, a city of Jerusalem that is claimed by multiple for legends as a holy site, right?
11:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's going to be difficult.
11:16
[SPEAKER_00]: That said, this is a step in the right direction, but we've got some key questions that still need to be answered.
11:20
[SPEAKER_00]: which is will hummus actually disarm that something that Trump demanded that they disarm, they've already been in the streets this week after the ceasefire agreement.
11:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Publicly executing their own Palestinian people that they claim we're helping you as real out.
11:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So currently they're not disarmed.
11:36
[SPEAKER_00]: How's that going to happen?
11:37
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't know who's going to pay to rebuild Gaza and who's going to govern it?
11:41
[SPEAKER_00]: There's questions there.
11:42
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, so like I said, this is with all step one, but there have not been like long-term Thoughts quite yet about what are the next steps.
11:50
[SPEAKER_00]: The good news is a lot is happening.
11:52
[SPEAKER_00]: We're headed in the right direction.
11:53
[SPEAKER_00]: But what is next for Gaza?
11:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Who will be in charge of it?
11:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Will be Israel will other Middle East countries help?
11:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Will the US help?
11:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Will the NATO or the EU or you in all those
12:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, and he's, what are they going to do?
12:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Netanyahu, who is currently Israel's long-asserving Prime Minister, be re-elected.
12:09
[SPEAKER_00]: He is very contentious, not just in the world, but even in his own kind of... A lot of talk.
12:14
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of talk.
12:15
[SPEAKER_01]: For both sides about, yeah, what will he be?
12:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Will he stay?
12:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Will he go?
12:20
[SPEAKER_00]: who knows.
12:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, genuine.
12:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
12:22
[SPEAKER_00]: He's one of the most celebrated and hated world leaders of all time.
12:26
[SPEAKER_00]: So a lot there.
12:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And then what's going to come of the genocide charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
12:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Currently, that prevents actually Netanyahu from even entering certain countries like in Europe.
12:35
[SPEAKER_00]: He has to be very careful about where he goes.
12:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Geo political expert Richard Haas.
12:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I liked what he said this week.
12:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Just kind of
12:42
[SPEAKER_00]: and relativity to all of this.
12:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, Hamas has not accepted that it must disarm, and even if it did, there is no way to monitor or verify the handing over of its weapons.
12:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Hamas could be denied a formal role in Palestinian governance, but it will still have influence.
12:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's just true, Hamas.
12:59
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got their, like, just ideology.
13:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's steeped into them.
13:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's definitely steeped into certain people within the Palestinian population.
13:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I do not think it's steep to know nearly all of them.
13:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It's that small percentage that's the bad apples, right?
13:12
[SPEAKER_00]: That just want to continue to wreak havoc and right evil deeds.
13:15
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't like that.
13:17
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the case.
13:17
[SPEAKER_00]: They lost, right?
13:18
[SPEAKER_00]: This is basically them saying, yeah, we lost the war.
13:21
[SPEAKER_00]: And they just handed over all their leverage of the hostages, the living hostages.
13:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So they had to basically surrender.
13:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And it makes sense.
13:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they lost everything.
13:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And all their powerful partners are gone, too.
13:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Hezbollah.
13:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Syria, the former regime in Syria, I ran.
13:35
[SPEAKER_00]: All these places that had so much strength two years ago before October 7th are weakened.
13:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they've lost all of their leverage, right?
13:41
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot that came out of this war.
13:43
[SPEAKER_00]: The full toll of the war, it will always be hard to know.
13:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Right now, estimates have it at 67,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza Strip, which is just a really hard number to swallow.
13:53
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really hard.
13:54
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of women in children, too.
13:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's like the piece, too.
13:57
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like so much innocence, so much future.
14:02
[SPEAKER_00]: just there that people just wrong place, wrong time so much in a sense like you're saying it's heartbreaking and war is not a good thing or a fun thing.
14:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And then virtually obviously we already said it, Gaza is destroyed.
14:14
[SPEAKER_00]: That's another one of the tolls of this war.
14:16
[SPEAKER_00]: It's this huge strip of land that house 2 million people has gone essentially.
14:20
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been completely raised.
14:21
[SPEAKER_00]: And so now there's the opportunity hopefully to rebuild, but that's going to take who notes how long
14:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't imagine the logistics are going to go into that in the mess that's going to be politically right and then it is real 1200 people were killed on October 7th 250 were abducted and held hostage or killed in captivity and then roughly a thousand Israeli soldiers were killed in all the fighting so they had their own toll right the country of Israel has suffered greatly as well.
14:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody has suffered in this, and then Israel is just diplomatically.
14:49
[SPEAKER_00]: They're isolated, which is a really tough position for them to be in.
14:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, the U.S.
14:53
[SPEAKER_00]: still backs them, Trump has not completely backed off from them.
14:56
[SPEAKER_00]: They're still one of the strong power players in the Middle East.
14:59
[SPEAKER_00]: They obviously decimated all of their enemies this past summer, and in the past few years.
15:03
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, they're politically kind of in a bad situation across the world.
15:07
[SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of toll from this war over the last two years.
15:12
[SPEAKER_00]: One quick side note.
15:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Jim Denson wrote an awesome article.
15:15
[SPEAKER_00]: He actually released it this morning that we're recording recording on Wednesday.
15:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It's called Why didn't God free the hostages two years ago?
15:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I highly recommend going to read that.
15:22
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a great question.
15:24
[SPEAKER_02]: We are all asking some coffee wrote that.
15:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I am too because, you know, it is a fair question.
15:29
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, God, what do you could have done anything?
15:31
[SPEAKER_00]: You could have released these hostages on October 8th, right?
15:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So why didn't you?
15:35
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a fair question.
15:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's one that's greatly addressed by Dr. Dennis and in this article, we'll link it in the show notes or you should just go to dynastinform.org and find that.
15:44
[SPEAKER_00]: and he talks about it and he talks about God's timing and miracles, all of that.
15:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So, and then how to apply it to our own lives.
15:49
[SPEAKER_00]: So, then else I wanna point out is kind of in the midst of all of this, and then peace talks were really kind of just conflict talks about Ukraine.
15:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump was asked by the media over the last few weeks about his views on heaven, perspective on heaven, and he was asked on the flight to Israel this past weekend.
16:05
[SPEAKER_00]: by a reporter.
16:06
[SPEAKER_00]: You talk about how you hoped to end the war in Ukraine because it might help you get into heaven.
16:12
[SPEAKER_00]: How does ending this war help speaking of the war in Israel?
16:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And Trump responded and he said, I don't think there's anything going to get me in heaven.
16:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm not even heaven bound.
16:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it to heaven, but I've made life a lot better for a lot of people.
16:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of an interesting statement there.
16:29
[SPEAKER_00]: How
16:34
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not quite.
16:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I think maybe not heaven bound.
16:37
[SPEAKER_02]: I haven't heard him say that before.
16:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I would say that this is a complete misunderstanding of the gospel, right?
16:43
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know Trump's complete faith stance.
16:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where his heart is.
16:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he has except a Christ.
16:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he has not depends on.
16:49
[SPEAKER_00]: him, you know, in his relationship with God, but I would say that that statement leads me to understand that he doesn't have a full grasp or understanding of the gospel and he's not alone.
16:58
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of conservative commentators this week kind of took that statement and ran with it and they're like, oh no, Trump, you're securing this piece dealing Israel.
17:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You're definitely getting into heaven.
17:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that, that's the guy got your step of approval with God, that secured your eternity.
17:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, that's not and we've talked about this on the show.
17:13
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not how it works, right?
17:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there's so much more
17:17
[SPEAKER_00]: to God, then just works.
17:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Your eternal salvation comes from your heart set and from accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior.
17:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And that secured your salvation.
17:26
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not
17:26
[SPEAKER_00]: anything to do with what you do here on earth.
17:28
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not anything to do with works.
17:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a misunderstanding.
17:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think a lot of people believe this.
17:33
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, this is a case of a lot of many, especially in a culture where it's all about what you do, how you succeed, how far up the hierarchy, make it, how rich you are, all the, did you do good in your life?
17:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Does it outweigh the bad you did in your life?
17:45
[SPEAKER_00]: That's actually, that's just false religion.
17:47
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a false theology.
17:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's how some of the other world religions actually work.
17:51
[SPEAKER_00]: but that's not how the gospel works.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Thankfully, that's not how the gospel works.
17:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank goodness.
17:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, thank goodness.
17:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I think about how much we fail.
17:57
[SPEAKER_00]: We could never...
17:58
[SPEAKER_00]: do enough good to, you know, overachieve what we have accomplished.
18:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there's just not, there's not a way to balance that out.
18:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Our failures outweigh our accomplishments all day long.
18:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, in the whole piece, two of being able to partner with God in that, like, I don't want to accomplish things apart from, I mean, my, you know, fleshly self, of course, like I want to accomplish things.
18:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Be like, oh, yeah, Alex did this, but when you partner with God in those things,
18:24
[SPEAKER_02]: It's so much more like fulfilling, so much more like impassioned, like, I don't know if that's a word, but it feels so much better to partner with the creator of the universe and things versus saying, like, I'm going to do enough good things for the creator of the universe cares about me.
18:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I don't have to, I can be freed from that.
18:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I can just partner with the creator of the universe who loves me and who saved me to do these great things.
18:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's the beauty of it.
18:48
[SPEAKER_00]: That's so good.
18:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and it's super true.
18:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And just as a reminder, Romans 10 9 lays it out perfectly.
18:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Really, 10 9 and 10 10 Paul puts it in there.
18:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So simply of how you attain that salvation, how you end up in heaven for eternity with Christ and with God and His presence.
19:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's just if you declare with your mouth.
19:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved for it is with your heart that you believe in our justified and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and our saved.
19:17
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.
19:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It's that simple.
19:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's a big commitment.
19:20
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a big decision.
19:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the best and big decision you will over making your life.
19:24
[SPEAKER_00]: But choosing Jesus and confessing Him as your Lord and Savior and recognizing that He died on the cross for your sins and bore the weight of your sins, even though He was completely sinless in His life.
19:35
[SPEAKER_00]: when you do that, that is when you have salvation, that is when you have heaven, and you don't have to question it.
19:41
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to stand on Air Force 1 as the most powerful person on the planet and say, I'm not sure, maybe not.
19:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not sure if it was good enough for bad enough, for, yeah, that's not gonna do that.
19:50
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not the way it works.
19:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Thankfully, that's not the way it works.
19:53
[SPEAKER_00]: God has given us grace and we're so grateful for that.
19:56
[SPEAKER_00]: As you take that and you roam with that and you keep that in your head this week and in your mind this week, also consider all the people in the Middle East to do not know the Lord and are also questioning how they have eternal salvation.
20:07
[SPEAKER_00]: There are so many people in this conflict in Palestine, in Israel, people at the center of it across the region and really around the world.
20:14
[SPEAKER_00]: that don't know the truth of the gospel, that don't know the truth of salvation.
20:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And so let's pray for those people in the midst of this, for God to redeem the situation and to bring the gospel about in this region, so that so many would come to know him.
20:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray for the recovery, obviously, of the region, and for the evil in the region to dissipate for a Hamas's power to go away.
20:33
[SPEAKER_00]: for them not to have that anymore.
20:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And for these people to feel freedom of hummus and evil, let's pray for the gospel to spread ultimately.
20:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Just, that's one of my big prayers.
20:42
[SPEAKER_00]: May God turn this into a gospel presentation for so many.
20:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Thanks, Connor, that was good.
20:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Good word, honestly, hopefully.
20:48
[SPEAKER_02]: I really hope that happens that, yeah, the gospel spreads because even in the midst of tragedy, God is still there, he's still real, he's still working.
20:55
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, I pray that people come to know him, come to see him.
21:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so I'm going to change gears a little bit from your story and like I said at the beginning, I'm going to share on a story about a sport that I personally don't even watch.
21:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I actually watch once a year.
21:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I watch every February and it's between two teams and I don't know much about the rules.
21:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Can anyone guess what it is?
21:22
[SPEAKER_02]: It's
21:23
[SPEAKER_00]: water polo.
21:26
[SPEAKER_02]: It's football.
21:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
21:28
[SPEAKER_02]: You can cue that.
21:28
[SPEAKER_02]: So what is it?
21:29
[SPEAKER_02]: Did an end?
21:29
[SPEAKER_02]: Did it?
21:30
[SPEAKER_02]: There you go.
21:31
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the box podcast.
21:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
21:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Now I've watched a lot growing up because my mom is a huge football fan.
21:39
[SPEAKER_02]: I, on the other hand, as soon as I got out of the house, actually watch one football game a year.
21:43
[SPEAKER_02]: That is called the Super Bowl.
21:45
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, although I'm not the biggest fan of football, I saw this story from USA today and it really caught my attention.
21:52
[SPEAKER_02]: So the story was all about turning point USA planning what they're calling an all American half time show.
21:58
[SPEAKER_02]: to compete with the half time show that's going on at the Super Bowl on February 8th and that's going to be bad bunny Super Bowl performance.
22:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So kind of it honestly just got me thinking as I was reading the story, like when does creating an alternative event cross the line into making some sort of statement about who can be included, who's not included.
22:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I just wanted to dive in.
22:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought it would be fun for us to discuss a little bit about what that means for us as a people.
22:25
[SPEAKER_02]: So let's break this down a bit.
22:27
[SPEAKER_02]: So like I said, turning point USA, so that's a conservative Christian organization.
22:30
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of us have come to know that over the last month after Charlie Kirk's murder.
22:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So they announced last week that they were going to, like I said, do an all American halftime show during Super Bowl 60.
22:42
[SPEAKER_02]: This is as like counter program to what the NFL's original halftime show is by Bad Bunny.
22:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So if you don't know Bad Bunny, I don't know Connor, if you are familiar with Bad Bunny, but I'm sure
22:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Many people are because I didn't know this, but he was Spotify's third most streamed artist globally in 2024.
23:01
[SPEAKER_02]: I think from like 2020 to 2022, he might have been the most streamed artist in Spotify.
23:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I saw somewhere I know for one, I've listened to his music while working out because it's just really good beats for working out.
23:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So I don't know that's my experience with him.
23:16
[SPEAKER_00]: It's music.
23:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's catchy and to be honest, I don't understand a word of it.
23:20
[SPEAKER_00]: But like the melody in the beats.
23:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm here for it.
23:23
[SPEAKER_00]: It's good.
23:23
[SPEAKER_00]: It's good.
23:23
[SPEAKER_00]: It'll tell you.
23:25
[SPEAKER_02]: So he's a Puerto Rican artist.
23:26
[SPEAKER_02]: He's also a U.S.
23:27
[SPEAKER_02]: citizen.
23:28
[SPEAKER_02]: That's actually been questioned back and forth after the NFL announcing that he would be the headliner.
23:33
[SPEAKER_02]: But he is a U.S.
23:34
[SPEAKER_02]: citizen.
23:34
[SPEAKER_02]: He's from Puerto Rico.
23:35
[SPEAKER_02]: He's known like we said for a Spanish language music.
23:38
[SPEAKER_02]: And recently, he's been known for his criticism of Trump era immigration policies, so that includes the ice raids and everything that's kind of gone in there and no y'all have talked about that some.
23:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So turning point as their alternative is promoting its event as a celebration of what they say is faith, family, and freedom.
23:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so what's the controversy here?
23:59
[SPEAKER_02]: We've got bad bunnies performance at the Super Bowl.
24:02
[SPEAKER_02]: We've got this, you know, faith, family, freedom, all American alternative half-time show.
24:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, here's where it kind of got a little dicey.
24:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Because of bad bunnies vocal criticism of Trump's policies, he actually did you know he refused to tour in the US outside of Puerto Rico because of these policies he was afraid that his audience members would potentially get
24:24
[SPEAKER_02]: caught up in a raid or something like that.
24:25
[SPEAKER_02]: So he said he was staying out of most of the US because of that.
24:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So there was obviously immense pushback from conservatives which also led to a lot of commentary in the last week about their outrage of her performance being not only by Bad Bunny but being sung mostly and perform mostly if not fully in Spanish.
24:44
[SPEAKER_02]: which as a side note the NFL did say that was a win for them that they as a business move are trying to expand their market reach and so for them they're like hey this is business for us which of course it makes zillions of dollars but there was commentary on both sides about you know what does this mean for our culture.
25:02
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, what struck me the most when I was reading this USA today article and several articles talked about this was one of the details when turning point announced this.
25:11
[SPEAKER_02]: They said, hey, listeners, go to our form, tell us a little bit about what you want.
25:17
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, there's not an announcement yet of who's singing, who's performing, what exactly will be happening, but they had an online sign-up form.
25:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, on this,
25:25
[SPEAKER_02]: online sign up form, fans were able to express their interest for what they wanted.
25:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So there was a preferred musical genre category and it lists things like Americana, classic rock, country hip hop, pop, it had a worship section, but then there was one option which was actually at the top of those like checklist and you could check one or multiple that said, quote, anything in English.
25:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So on the surface you're like, okay, well, if this was outside of the bad bunny announcement world, this could just be a catch all,
25:55
[SPEAKER_02]: for people who want something in English.
25:58
[SPEAKER_02]: But in the context of the larger conversation, that phrase has been seen as pretty symbolic and pretty provocative.
26:05
[SPEAKER_02]: So critics are saying that turning points anything in English box reads, less like a neutral preference, and more like an outward statement.
26:14
[SPEAKER_02]: They're saying that it seems like a rebuke as a cultural shift away from traditional American values.
26:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So they're wondering, is turning point trying to reframe language itself as a boundary?
26:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Is it trying to say that English equates to patriotism and English equates to belonging to the real America, which is obviously a very scary thought if that's what an organization is doing is equating one language with what America really is.
26:41
[SPEAKER_02]: Here's where, you know, I wanted to have a conversation.
26:44
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's too prong.
26:45
[SPEAKER_02]: At least my analysis of it and I want to be loved to look at scripture as well as one, the idea of an alternative show.
26:52
[SPEAKER_02]: To me isn't wrong in principle.
26:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I think you've seen Christians and other belief systems create alternatives all the time.
27:00
[SPEAKER_02]: You've got Christian books, you've got Christian movies, you've got Christian shows, you've got all different groups of people creating alternatives of what exists.
27:10
[SPEAKER_02]: because that's what caters to their audience, because that's where they feel passion to create content.
27:13
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think on its head, you know, I don't think there's anything wrong to creating in alternative to the halftime show.
27:21
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, especially because I'm a mom of a two-year-old.
27:24
[SPEAKER_02]: So my two-year-old, by the time Bad Bunny gets on to perform, will be dead asleep.
27:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Hopefully.
27:28
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, the monitor hopefully won't be making any noise, and I'll be enjoying the Buffalo dip and time with friends, and what I actually like about this Super Bowl.
27:37
[SPEAKER_02]: But my kid will be asleep, but there's plenty of parents, my sister, a mom of four, a lot of her kids will be awake.
27:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think what's right about an alternative show is that parents,
27:47
[SPEAKER_02]: should be vetting what their kids watch.
27:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Parents, whether it's on Netflix or somewhere else, should be saying, do I want my kid consuming whatever content that they are wanting to consume?
27:58
[SPEAKER_02]: And so on it's head, I know that the Super Bowl show for years and years and years, as long as I've been watching it.
28:04
[SPEAKER_02]: has been contested when it comes to the halftime performance.
28:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Sometimes it's over-sexualized.
28:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Sometimes the lyrics are not appropriate for many ages.
28:14
[SPEAKER_02]: And some people just don't prefer to put that into their minds.
28:17
[SPEAKER_02]: They're hearts or heads.
28:18
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think it's right for people to say this is or isn't for me.
28:22
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think as believers, we need to make those judgments on a lot of things.
28:26
[SPEAKER_02]: And so for me, I'm like, yeah, I think it's great to offer an alternative.
28:29
[SPEAKER_02]: There's no harm on its head on that.
28:31
[SPEAKER_02]: What do you think Connor?
28:32
[SPEAKER_02]: What are your thoughts in an alternative show?
28:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Would you consider it?
28:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Would you go back and forth?
28:36
[SPEAKER_02]: What do you think?
28:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, I got a lot of questions here because I'm just like, how's this going to work?
28:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's it going to be like, what platform will this be?
28:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it like a YouTube channel stream?
28:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I will stream like, can I split screen if I want to watch both?
28:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I throw on, you know, are you going to be there?
28:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, who's performing?
28:51
[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen some Christian artists, you know, they're throwing their names in the hat, which
28:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Or it's like, finally trying to get himself on the stage there, but would it be also like Jason Aldeen who's like a big, you know, country star that a lot of right wing America really likes.
29:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
29:06
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see that will obviously all come down in the details.
29:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get the logistics there.
29:10
[SPEAKER_00]: And that'll help determine if I watch it or not.
29:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I think as a broader concept, I actually really like this idea.
29:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I really love the idea of having something that performs at the exact same time that the Super Bowl halftime show does that people can turn on.
29:27
[SPEAKER_00]: is on there and you go over to this other concert that's also fun and the whole family can watch and your kids who are 7-8-9 that are still up in a wake can also watch you know I distinctly remember as a kid seeing some of the Super Bowl halftime shows and they're still ingrained in my memory.
29:41
[SPEAKER_00]: There's just a very specific one that I like the most part of the remember when I was like six or seven years old that caused a lot of controversy and I'm sure you guys all know which one I'm talking about but even in recent years they've been very
29:51
[SPEAKER_00]: very sexualized, right?
29:52
[SPEAKER_00]: It's gotten worse.
29:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, they're not all that way.
29:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Not every artist is that way.
29:55
[SPEAKER_00]: There's always the cold plays or, you know, the 90s rappers who came up into that one a few years ago.
30:01
[SPEAKER_00]: That was fun and different.
30:02
[SPEAKER_00]: But I totally get this.
30:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, yeah, people want to be able to sit with their family and not just watch a football game.
30:07
[SPEAKER_00]: They want to watch the entertainment that comes with it, right?
30:09
[SPEAKER_02]: And we all go to different concerts.
30:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I go to Justin Bieber concerts.
30:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Connor, I would like wager to guess you're probably not at every Justin Bieber concert.
30:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, so you just might have different preferences.
30:19
[SPEAKER_00]: This is true.
30:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, everybody has different preferences.
30:22
[SPEAKER_00]: You're exactly right.
30:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Kendrick Lamar last year was not for everyone and that one.
30:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I also got a lot of heat, but he's a good artist, right?
30:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And so he's a big artist.
30:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And so his bad buddy, I think my question with this whole thing is, what is the heart behind this alternative show and why this year?
30:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
30:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Why not past years?
30:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is this just not coming about?
30:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, could it be because Charlie Kirk's death gave turning point you say,
30:43
[SPEAKER_00]: A bigger stage than ever it definitely didn't the whole country knows what they are and I'm sure they got tons of investment in donation dollars and all of that And maybe that is allowing them to be able to put something like this on and they've got this like brand recognition now, right?
30:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So they've got this ability to do it.
30:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a piece of it, right?
30:59
[SPEAKER_00]: The other pieces what you're kind of maybe calling out is are they only doing this because
31:04
[SPEAKER_00]: bad bunny is unpopular with a certain sect of America because he's only saying, you know, sings in Spanish and has his immigration perspectives.
31:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
31:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think we know fully the heart of this.
31:14
[SPEAKER_01]: They have an explicitly said.
31:16
[SPEAKER_00]: They have not explicitly said, but the timing seems to suggest certain things, right?
31:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think it's all about the heart behind it.
31:22
[SPEAKER_00]: If they're doing this so that really they can do a half time show and ultimately, I would hope they present the gospel.
31:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of the way they did it.
31:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
31:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Kirk Memorial Service to millions of people who tune in.
31:31
[SPEAKER_00]: The gospel was very much so presented there.
31:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully that would happen here too.
31:36
[SPEAKER_00]: and my hope would be this is a continued thing.
31:38
[SPEAKER_00]: If they're going to do this, I don't think it should just be this one year because of who the artist is.
31:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it should be a continued problem.
31:44
[SPEAKER_00]: We can always tune into it.
31:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, you're asking great questions here.
31:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and I think there's, yeah, there's a few more questions too that that I'm wondering and and here's where I think they cross the line in my opinion and as I like look at scripture here is where I think it crosses the line a little bit a checkbox like quote anything in English to me, whether it was intentionally put in there or not I have my own opinions there, but what it signals is that music and other languages so example Spanish in this case.
32:13
[SPEAKER_02]: is less valid or welcome.
32:14
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, other organizations who don't have the beliefs like turning points, they are Christian, they're founded in Christian principles.
32:23
[SPEAKER_02]: I would expect more from a Christian organization than I do just from any other organization out there that says, our goal is to make money and to turn to people who just want our content and that's our niche audience and we're gonna make advertising dollars off of them.
32:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I expect more.
32:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I expect more from our organization.
32:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I expect more from our other brothers and sisters
32:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And what we talk so often about here at Denison Forum at Denison Ministries is that we don't want a fuel polarization.
32:49
[SPEAKER_02]: We don't want to deepen divides.
32:51
[SPEAKER_02]: But instead, we want to model the beauty of diversity.
32:55
[SPEAKER_02]: You see it all over the Bible.
32:56
[SPEAKER_02]: You want to see communities come to flourish.
32:59
[SPEAKER_02]: You want to see people of all different places in areas of life and languages and types and
33:04
[SPEAKER_02]: personalities come together and celebrate the beauty of the gospel.
33:09
[SPEAKER_02]: And so that's why, you know, if I were having conversation with someone from turning point, if I was, you know, welcome to their desk when they're making these decisions.
33:15
[SPEAKER_02]: I would say, you know, are we even my accident?
33:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll give them benefit of it out there alienating people from this show by putting this checkbox there.
33:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think Christians should just be eager to engage across cultures, languages.
33:29
[SPEAKER_02]: It's our job not to build walls, but to tear them down to welcome more people and to share the gospel with them.
33:35
[SPEAKER_02]: And it reminded me, like I said earlier, of Revelation 7 9 through 12, that says, after this, I looked and behold,
33:43
[SPEAKER_02]: a great multitude that no one could number from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice.
33:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worship God.
34:10
[SPEAKER_02]: saying, Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be to our God forever, and ever, amen.
34:22
[SPEAKER_02]: That to me, this may sound like the cheesiest thing.
34:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And now that it's about to come out of my mouth, I think it is.
34:28
[SPEAKER_02]: But I'm like, man, all these people standing and praising God, like, that is the Super Bowl show.
34:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, this is what the opportunity is.
34:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, you are here in this great multitude.
34:39
[SPEAKER_02]: The Super Bowl is just this teeny, tiny version of that, but like what would it look like to have this alternative where this great multitude, where people would get a little view in of what it looks like for all different cultures, all different languages, to be saying,
34:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be to God forever and ever.
35:00
[SPEAKER_02]: And so that's where I want to call Christian organizations.
35:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's where I want us to call ourselves to every day is how do we stop ourselves from alienating others and really look through the lens of how do I welcome people in?
35:15
[SPEAKER_02]: How do I give people a glimpse of what heaven is going to look like?
35:17
[SPEAKER_02]: How do I give people a glimpse of who Jesus is?
35:21
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, we're not called to erect cultural barriers.
35:23
[SPEAKER_02]: We're supposed to embody the reconciliation of Jesus, the bringing back together of the body.
35:30
[SPEAKER_02]: And we worship a God who, right here, brings together a great multitude from every tribe, every language.
35:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So for me, I think we should be asking the questions of how can we build something that lifts up all who love Jesus across languages and cultures?
35:43
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's gonna make it a better show.
35:45
[SPEAKER_02]: And at minimum, how do we keep from alienating part of the body?
35:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I would just say that narrows our vision.
35:51
[SPEAKER_02]: If we only have something in English, are we missing a little piece of what we could like experience, even for someone like me who doesn't speak another language?
36:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Am I missing something if I don't welcome in other cultures, even if it's not another language, but just other cultural expressions?
36:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, I just, to me, I'm like, how do we model something better?
36:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, something that reflects like the breadth of God's kingdom?
36:13
[SPEAKER_00]: For this example here, I think for turning point USA, if they want to do that, they could bring in a... They do.
36:18
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, they have the opportunity.
36:19
[SPEAKER_00]: A Latin artist, right?
36:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Or worship leader, what not?
36:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody who sings in Spanish too, right?
36:23
[SPEAKER_00]: That it's not alienating.
36:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I get what they're saying.
36:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you don't want to watch the bad bunny performance.
36:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
36:28
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's not alienate an entire section of the globe.
36:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I see what you're saying too.
36:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's a lot to take here.
36:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Alex, great deep dive into that.
36:36
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of questions there.
36:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, that story is going to continue all the way up to February and we'll see what this leads to.
36:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it'll be very interesting.
36:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll see how this performance comes about and who's going to be a part of it and what it'll look like.
36:46
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm very eager to see what happens there.
36:48
[SPEAKER_00]: This will be the first time.
36:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Super Bulls ever really had a competition, not in the game, but in the half time show, which is a big draw.
36:54
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people tune in just for that.
36:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So it made me you do too, Alex.
36:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
36:59
[SPEAKER_02]: It's always on the TV, but am I watching any of it?
37:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Do I know who's playing ever until the night of?
37:06
[SPEAKER_02]: No.
37:08
[SPEAKER_00]: The one thing you do know is that the cowboys are never in it.
37:10
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's a... Well, and I'm sorry for you guys about that.
37:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I also know that I'm from Atlanta and the Falcons are never in it.
37:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And when they are, they don't win.
37:19
[SPEAKER_00]: They blow the biggest lead of all times.
37:20
[SPEAKER_02]: They really blow it.
37:21
[SPEAKER_02]: And my mom turns off the TV and kicks everyone out of her house.
37:23
[SPEAKER_00]: There you go.
37:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
37:25
[SPEAKER_00]: We've both got our football problems.
37:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Alex, thanks for that.
37:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you introduce us to the hot take you kind of tease at the beginning?
37:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Any time we have a guest on except for land in last week, we should have asked him for a hot take, too.
37:35
[SPEAKER_00]: But anytime we have somebody else on, we definitely like to get their hot takes.
37:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Mike and I have shared plenty of our own.
37:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So Alex, what do you got?
37:41
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I had to think long and hard about this.
37:43
[SPEAKER_02]: I like asked my husband and was like, okay, so what's my hot take?
37:46
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's funny because Josh, who's also been on this show, who works here at Denison Ministries.
37:50
[SPEAKER_02]: He was like, I feel like you have a lot of hot takes that you're sharing.
37:52
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, yeah, which ones do I want to share with a whole bunch of people I don't know?
37:58
[SPEAKER_02]: I picked one that I think is a good hot take for us to debate.
38:02
[SPEAKER_02]: So I am a big good reads user.
38:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Good reads is like also notoriously one of the worst apps out there.
38:08
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if your user you probably know it's pretty junky to use.
38:12
[SPEAKER_02]: But we all use it and we all track our books on there.
38:14
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like one of my only social media is that I have.
38:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And I follow my friends and how many books they're reading.
38:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So I set my goal every year this year.
38:21
[SPEAKER_02]: My goal is 15 books.
38:23
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm currently at 13 books.
38:25
[SPEAKER_02]: Nice.
38:25
[SPEAKER_02]: But here's the catch.
38:27
[SPEAKER_02]: on that list of red books.
38:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm doing air quotes here.
38:31
[SPEAKER_02]: There are two audio books represented.
38:34
[SPEAKER_02]: So here's my hot take.
38:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I believe that reading a book and listening to an audiobook should both count as, quote, reading a book.
38:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Like when I finish an audiobook, I'm going straight to my good reads app.
38:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to wait for it to load and be buggy.
38:48
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I'm going to put in that audio book
38:57
[SPEAKER_02]: What do you think Connor?
38:58
[SPEAKER_00]: So basically you're saying if you listen to a book you read it, right?
39:01
[SPEAKER_00]: So yes, sir.
39:02
[SPEAKER_00]: I personally, I've actually never listened to an audio book.
39:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Any time I read a book, I physically hold a book in my hand.
39:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
39:08
[SPEAKER_02]: That is my preference.
39:09
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm struggling here because I haven't fully experienced this.
39:12
[SPEAKER_00]: What I will say is I think it's weird to say that you read a book if you listen to it.
39:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I've listened to a lot of these podcasts where, you know, the host is like, oh, I read your book.
39:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, to clarify, I listen to it on the audio book.
39:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's almost like an asterisk.
39:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you have to put the asterisk.
39:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I actually like you listen to it.
39:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And as somebody who listens to a ton of podcasts, I feel like if I said, I read all those podcasts, it would come across weird, right?
39:35
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was like,
39:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It like, I feel like as much podcasts as I listen to, I read a book a day if we're going by this mantra.
39:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's the thing, I believe.
39:46
[SPEAKER_02]: The reason I hold this stance is because you've got all different types of learners.
39:50
[SPEAKER_02]: So you've got like the people that are tactile, you've got the people that are visual, you've got the people that are auditory.
39:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And so for me, the whole point of, quote, reading a book is to grow, whether it's fiction, whether it's nonfiction, whether it's the Bible,
40:05
[SPEAKER_02]: your whole point of reading and consuming content is to grow as a human to grow closer to Christ or all of these different reasons that we have.
40:14
[SPEAKER_02]: And to me, if you're listening to it bunch of podcasts or if you're listening to what I just finished in a garden's autobiography on audiobook.
40:23
[SPEAKER_02]: You're still gaining knowledge.
40:25
[SPEAKER_02]: You're gaining fresh perspective.
40:27
[SPEAKER_02]: And so for me, when I go to check, yeah, I completed one of 15, did I gain that knowledge?
40:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Did I gain that perspective?
40:33
[SPEAKER_02]: And some people like my husband, if he holds a book and reads it, he's not gonna gain any of that perspective.
40:39
[SPEAKER_02]: But if he listens to it,
40:40
[SPEAKER_02]: he gets it all and that's just like how he learns.
40:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, it's interesting how to I want to hear what everybody else has to say.
40:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'll post a poll both in the Spotify app and on our Instagram stories so that you can answer what you think about this question also you can email us as always at culture brief at dinnisonform.org.
40:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us know your thoughts.
40:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us know your thoughts on the show.
41:01
[SPEAKER_00]: your thoughts on this hot take and go follow us on an Instagram that's at Culture Brief Podcasts on Instagram.
41:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, at Culture Brief Podcasts.
41:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And hey, thank you all for listening to the last week's episode with Landon.
41:10
[SPEAKER_00]: We got some great feedback there.
41:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Landon's an awesome dude.
41:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Hope y'all if you did not know the song, the Lord will provide you guys have listened to that sense.
41:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Forest Frank obviously the biggest Christian artist out there right now posted a
41:21
[SPEAKER_00]: really a post on Instagram this week announcing he's having a second child with his wife, which is awesome.
41:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And the song that he chose was the Lord will provide on that couple.
41:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was really cool.
41:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, oh, look at that.
41:31
[SPEAKER_00]: There we go.
41:31
[SPEAKER_00]: So Landon's doing great things.
41:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all for listening to that.
41:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a fun, fun conversation.
41:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Alex, let's check in on a few things real fast here.
41:40
[SPEAKER_00]: First and foremost, I don't know if many of you guys saw this, but there was a big explosion in Tennessee this past week.
41:45
[SPEAKER_00]: It was actually at an explosive facility.
41:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Really wiped that building off the ground.
41:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Like just nothing was left really sad.
41:52
[SPEAKER_00]: 16 people died there.
41:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think there's made a lot of big headlines, but that's a community that has been ripped up in the small town of Tennessee.
41:58
[SPEAKER_00]: So by this at this facility, where so many people were working that day.
42:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So just pray for them there.
42:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, the Nobel Peace Prize,
42:06
[SPEAKER_00]: That was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Carina Machado, and they said it's for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
42:19
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a woman who has run for presidency.
42:22
[SPEAKER_00]: In Venezuela, she technically has been on the winning party, but they are
42:25
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, ruled by a dictator, Maduro there, who Trump is currently about to wage war with.
42:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he wiped out another drug boat this week.
42:33
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot going on with Venezuela.
42:35
[SPEAKER_00]: She actually dedicated the war to Trump for trying to seek out peace across the world, but specifically in Venezuela.
42:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So kind of interesting there.
42:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And so maybe that's just a foreshadowing of what's to come next to you with the prize.
42:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Also on Friday, Trump is welcoming a lot of mirrors.
42:49
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lyntsky, of course, the president of Ukraine to the White House.
42:52
[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to talk about Tomahawk missiles.
42:54
[SPEAKER_00]: being delivered to Ukraine to potentially be used against Russia, this would be a big escalation essentially from the Ukrainian side and from the US providing these weapons.
43:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see what comes out of that.
43:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump's obviously kind of on a kick right now of trying to find peace and negotiate deals.
43:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's find it.
43:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, let's find it.
43:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope I hope we do and hopefully those missiles are even needed.
43:11
[SPEAKER_00]: We just bring it into that war as well.
43:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Alex, I think you had a couple of things you wanted to mention real fast.
43:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
43:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I think on Saturday, many of us saw across all of our different social feeds, but Diane Keaton, an amazing actress, died at age 79.
43:26
[SPEAKER_02]: She was in dozens, tons and tons of movies over her five decade career.
43:30
[SPEAKER_02]: She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Annie Hall, which was in 1977 film.
43:36
[SPEAKER_02]: She was in the Godfather Films, the Father of the Bride.
43:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I personally know that one of these movies already told my husband, we're gonna be watching one this weekend.
43:45
[SPEAKER_02]: We'll typically once we put a lab to bed like on a Saturday, just like make popcorn and watch a movie.
43:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So I was like, let's do a dying movie.
43:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you feeling Godfather gangster?
43:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, father of the bride.
43:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that's a different kind of like a gangster movie, which if you could see my face, you probably wouldn't pick me as that, but it may be a Godfather, it may be something's gotta give.
44:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, it could go, go this way.
44:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have a different one.
44:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have a different one.
44:09
[SPEAKER_02]: It'll be, yeah, it'll be crazy or it'll be a love story.
44:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, she was great.
44:12
[SPEAKER_02]: And then, yeah, the other check-in is the government shutdown.
44:15
[SPEAKER_02]: We are 14 whole days in two weeks in.
44:19
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no end in sight.
44:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I was reading the first thing this morning that both sides, heels are dug in and they are not planning on opening things back up.
44:29
[SPEAKER_02]: So,
44:29
[SPEAKER_02]: So it hasn't been the center of attention, like a lot of past shutdowns.
44:33
[SPEAKER_02]: The economy hasn't reacted super poorly so far.
44:37
[SPEAKER_02]: Obviously media public attention has been on Israel, on Gaza, on just the massive amounts of news coming in.
44:46
[SPEAKER_02]: day by day.
44:47
[SPEAKER_02]: And Trump and White House again have just been focused on Israel.
44:49
[SPEAKER_02]: And so we'll see I know that there's a lot of people who are about to be struggling when they miss a paycheck coming up here.
44:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the first like half paycheck people would be missing is coming up this week.
44:59
[SPEAKER_02]: And then next week I think is the first full month paycheck that some people will miss.
45:03
[SPEAKER_02]: So there's definitely people feeling it.
45:05
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm just hoping, again, along lines of peace.
45:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Can we just get the government open back up and and get back going again?
45:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's frustrating.
45:13
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no reason the government should be shut down.
45:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Congress needs to work something out.
45:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And we don't need another 35 days shut down like we had it to get it together.
45:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, let's let's negotiate.
45:24
[SPEAKER_00]: a couple of things to tune into one NHL started this week.
45:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I know Alex here at Big Hockey fan, Boston Brewing.
45:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Couple of games, okay, well, stars, let's go stars.
45:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And whoever your team is, they're now playing.
45:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So regular season of Hockey is back NBA regular season is also coming back.
45:40
[SPEAKER_00]: They start on Tuesday night, some big games to kick off.
45:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It's also gonna be back on NBC for the first time since 2002.
45:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you've seen like those Michael Jordan clips of the 90s,
45:49
[SPEAKER_00]: most of them were like on NBC and that was just the classic nostalgia feel the round ball rock theme song was on there and it's coming back to so they've got all that queued up going to be fun.
45:59
[SPEAKER_00]: MLB playoffs currently going on.
46:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Alex I know you were in Seattle during the game the other day.
46:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I was yeah during the season in England.
46:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah 15 inning game.
46:09
[SPEAKER_02]: So I got to watch two baseball games essentially from the couch.
46:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I was in Seattle.
46:13
[SPEAKER_02]: So it was pretty sick to be around the whole atmosphere that whole day.
46:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I did not go to the game.
46:18
[SPEAKER_02]: That was far outside of my budget.
46:20
[SPEAKER_02]: So, but it was it was pretty cool being there for a pretty historic moment.
46:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And they got the win.
46:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So they got the win Seattle Mariners did.
46:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I stayed up.
46:26
[SPEAKER_00]: It was past midnight here when that game finally ended.
46:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I guess I was happy for the most close time.
46:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, better on the West Coast.
46:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But for the East Coasters, this is the past one I am.
46:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody was just like, okay, one more anymore.
46:37
[SPEAKER_00]: One more, I was done after 15 and I had to go to bed.
46:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, then they finally won, I was like, oh, let's go.
46:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
46:41
[SPEAKER_00]: But the ALCS is going on this Toronto Blue Jays versus the Seattle Mariners currently.
46:46
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's a best of seven games.
46:47
[SPEAKER_00]: NLCS is the Milwaukee Brewers versus the LA Dodgers.
46:50
[SPEAKER_00]: That's currently going on.
46:51
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll also best of seven games.
46:52
[SPEAKER_00]: So watch those series.
46:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Those are really good baseball teams playing each other.
46:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll officially know who's going to be in the World Series by at least Tuesday night, if not earlier.
47:02
[SPEAKER_00]: some world series takes on who we think will win the whole thing.
47:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, thank y'all for tuning in this week, Alex, thank you for being the co-host.
47:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We're grateful for your time.
47:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I did it.
47:12
[SPEAKER_00]: This is one.
47:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Some great conversations will have to have you back on at some point when either Mike and I are, I guess, on vacation, or if we're just like, hey, let's just bring your Alex on.
47:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Just join.
47:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
47:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Send me a Slack message.
47:23
[SPEAKER_00]: We will do that.
47:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all so much for joining us this week on Culture Brief do this in foreign podcast all the articles all the videos all the tweets Anything we mention on the show it will be in the show notes.
47:33
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll go check those out And please rate or review the show share with the friends and we will see you next Thursday