Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Epstein backlash, Christianity is growing, Chip and Joanna Gaines controversy & Scottie Scheffler's introspection | Ep. 28

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Epstein backlash, Christianity is growing, Chip and Joanna Gaines controversy & Scottie Scheffler's introspection | Ep. 28 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

0:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones.
0:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Mike Atama-Sella.
0:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is Culture Brief, a Dentist and Foreign Podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, technology, and we're doing it all from a Christian perspective.
0:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Mike and we got a loaded show.
0:16
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot that's been happening this week, so you want to just give us a quick overview of what's ahead.
0:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Epstein Epstein Epstein.
0:24
[SPEAKER_01]: We've been hearing a lot about that a story that is dividing a whole lot of people and we'll try to navigate through it.
0:31
[SPEAKER_01]: We're also going to talk about spiritual renewal.
0:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Is there spiritual renewal and revival taking place here in America and around the world?
0:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And how can we join in to be a part of it?
0:40
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll give you an update on the New York City mayor race.
0:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we'll also give you an update on Russia and Ukraine and really a whole lot more.
0:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's jump into the brief.
0:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you said it.
0:54
[SPEAKER_00]: The Epstein story man, it does not seem to go away.
0:57
[SPEAKER_00]: It is still front and center of all the news headlines.
1:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's talking about it.
1:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump is so done talking about it, but he can't get it away.
1:04
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I think he's suffering a classic case of the strike stand effect, where like when you try to deflect something, it just brings more attention.
1:11
[SPEAKER_00]: The whole administration is suffering from that.
1:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they're just trying to say, stop talking about this.
1:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a big deal.
1:16
[SPEAKER_00]: but the base of the Trump populists, the people in maga who really support him, they're divided, because they're like, look, we do care about this as much as you guys are trying to tell us we should not care, including Trump himself, we care, we want answers, we want transparency.
1:31
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, to make a long story short, a lot of people know Jeffrey Epstein is, they know the story here, but essentially, people for years have believed that he was at the heart of his child sex trafficking ring.
1:41
[SPEAKER_00]: that included blackmail of very prominent powerful elite people politicians Hollywood people hedge fund people from Wall Street all of that and that he had it essentially what they call a client list so when the government came out and said last week that there is no such thing as the client list and basically said end of story that's it people were immediately like we're going to question that and
2:05
[SPEAKER_00]: cause Iraqis you know make sure people know we are not okay with that answer and that's because the department of justice and the FBI sent out that memo last week declaring that and that essentially there's no credible evidence for a list there's no credible evidence that he even killed himself or that he was killed
2:22
[SPEAKER_00]: they basically said he did kill himself as another part of the conspiracy is he was in prison and his prison cell a lot of people do not believe that he was responsible for his own death that somebody else with malintention had him killed while he was in prison so they released on an eleven hour video and they described it as the full raw surveillance footage from the camera position near his cell in prison in New York City
2:45
[SPEAKER_00]: And the video has officially one minute missing at the eleven fifty nine mark so that's already a little sketchy the DOJ said we know that minute is missing apparently it's a common thing at eleven fifty nine the camera resets for the next day either way it's not ideal you'd want
3:01
[SPEAKER_00]: every minute to be on there.
3:02
[SPEAKER_00]: But wired, which is a tech reporting platform, did an investigation on their own.
3:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And they found that the footage was actually edited with Adobe Premiere Pro.
3:10
[SPEAKER_00]: That's something we actually use here at Dennis Industries.
3:12
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people use that for video editing.
3:14
[SPEAKER_00]: They found that it was edited with that.
3:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Stitch from two different clips was saved four different times, meaning somebody was in there editing it and saving it.
3:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And that approximately two minutes and fifty three seconds was actually removed from two to three minutes.
3:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
3:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Almost three minutes.
3:30
[SPEAKER_00]: That obviously is a lot more time than one minute.
3:33
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a big deal.
3:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a lot of missing time.
3:35
[SPEAKER_00]: That's more time for somebody to get into the cell and actually cause harm to Jeffrey Epstein.
3:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
3:39
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what the conspiracy is.
3:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying now.
3:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just that's what's out there.
3:44
[SPEAKER_00]: So obviously reaction.
3:46
[SPEAKER_00]: from conservatives, it's furious.
3:48
[SPEAKER_00]: For years, we've seen Casper Tellers now the director of the FBI, Dan Bungino, the deputy director of the FBI, and other right-wing personalities, but those two specifically have for years been on their own podcasts or shows on the media so I could say the list needs to be released.
4:01
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to find out if he actually killed himself or not, and now that they're the ones in power, they're having to kind of like,
4:06
[SPEAKER_00]: backs up a little bit because they're the one saying hey he he didn't the DOJ saying he did kill himself.
4:11
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the now official word and that he did not have a client list.
4:16
[SPEAKER_00]: But really the finger pointing is going towards Attorney General Pambondi and Donald Trump himself and that's because Trump can't painting last year said he was going to release files on several things including JFK and OK RFK and Epstein.
4:29
[SPEAKER_00]: But now that these guys are in power and they're releasing this information that's basically nothing burger.
4:36
[SPEAKER_00]: People are like, hey, what's up with this?
4:38
[SPEAKER_00]: They feel betrayed essentially.
4:39
[SPEAKER_00]: The maga bases like, we don't feel like we're getting the full transparency that you promised us.
4:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Pam Bondi, attorney general, who's on Fox News earlier this year, saying that she had the list on her desk.
4:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And that she had a truckload of documents had it her way.
4:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And then she brought in a bunch of right-wing influencers to the White House, gave him a binder that said, this is the Epstein files phase one.
4:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if that was phase one, then where is phase two?
5:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Apparently there is no phase two.
5:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And it embarrass those right wing influencers, people who are very prominent in the MAGA world on YouTube and X and all of that.
5:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And they were like, these binders don't have anything that we didn't already know.
5:11
[SPEAKER_00]: They were filled with documents that we've already seen.
5:13
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's just the initial basis of where we're at, but what are your initial thoughts here?
5:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what do you think it's?
5:19
[SPEAKER_00]: We talked about this last week and it just blew up over the weekend.
5:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll get a little more into what happened.
5:23
[SPEAKER_00]: But what do you think?
5:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, this is obviously a problem and it's not going to work to just try to dismiss it and just say, hey, this isn't a big deal.
5:34
[SPEAKER_01]: He did kill himself.
5:35
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing else to this story.
5:37
[SPEAKER_01]: There is no client list that would expose all of these rich and powerful people.
5:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, the easiest thing for them would be that everybody would shut up about it.
5:46
[SPEAKER_01]: But see, the problem is, is it's not just the left-toothed furious this time, a large part of the mega base is very upset about this, right?
5:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would say, like, for me personally,
5:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I have noticed that this just as a citizen taking in this information.
6:04
[SPEAKER_01]: This just does not bother me as much as it bothers others.
6:08
[SPEAKER_01]: It seems like and I think I've really been thinking about why it doesn't bother me as much.
6:13
[SPEAKER_01]: I think
6:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I just have a cynical view of those in power in government, but no matter what somebody campaigns on, once you get into that position, I just don't expect full transparency.
6:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe I should, maybe
6:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Some changes should take place, but just for so long, those in power keep the things secret that need to be kept secret.
6:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's very little I can do about it.
6:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
6:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's just kind of where I've been landing on it.
6:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's just kind of where I've been personally landing on it.
6:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
6:43
[SPEAKER_00]: They felt like you did that this was going to be different.
6:46
[SPEAKER_00]: We finally are bringing people into power.
6:48
[SPEAKER_00]: They voted in these leaders, Trump specifically in that.
6:51
[SPEAKER_00]: He would appoint people who would bring the transparency, right?
6:53
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why people feel betrayed because they feel the same way.
6:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'll hit on that in just a minute, all the lies from the government over the years that have caused people to feel, they can't trust people in power.
7:04
[SPEAKER_00]: just so you all know over the weekend they really didn't like I said it blew up and that included Dan Bonchino the FBI deputy director big time podcaster before he joined the FBI few months ago man he didn't show up to work on Friday he didn't show up to the FBI offices and that's after him and Pan Bond he apparently got into just a massive shouting match at the White House over this whole thing this whole debacle he's not happy with the backlash he's getting and being called a trader himself and all that so
7:28
[SPEAKER_00]: He apparently was on the verge of quitting and said he would quit if Pam Bondi was not fired or resigned.
7:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump has to try to solve that.
7:36
[SPEAKER_00]: He's apparently been on the phone with everybody trying to solve that.
7:38
[SPEAKER_00]: He's trying to put the genie back in the bottle and it's just not going well.
7:42
[SPEAKER_00]: He even had managed to report her for asking about the whole thing at a cabinet meeting last week.
7:46
[SPEAKER_00]: He said to the reporter, are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?
7:49
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, then he even posted and defended Pam Bondi calling her fantastic on his truth social platform where he then got what they call ratio.
7:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Basically, there's more comments than there are likes on the post and people and the comments on his own platform on his own post, his own supporters there.
8:06
[SPEAKER_00]: We're just like, what are you doing here?
8:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you got to give us truth.
8:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We do really care about this issue because it's about the transparency.
8:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about so much more than just this thing at hand.
8:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It is also about the sex trafficking victims.
8:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're talking about underage girls here.
8:19
[SPEAKER_00]: And so people do care about that.
8:20
[SPEAKER_00]: There's justice that people want in that regard, right?
8:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Charlie Kirk hosted his turning point USA conference this past weekend.
8:27
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a very big right wing conference that happens a few times a year.
8:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He had Megan Kelly on stage.
8:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And when she went to the crowd, and she said, if you are in this crowd, and you do care about the Epstein situation, make a noise in the whole crowd shouted, right?
8:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Kirk himself asked that people, if they would rather keep Dan Bungino in power or Pam Bondy, and they very much so chose Bungino via.
8:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, Pam is definitely kind of an outsider to the MAGA movement, right?
8:53
[SPEAKER_01]: She was kind of brought into the fold recently.
8:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's kind of easier, I guess, in people's minds to kind of kick her out.
9:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, she wasn't even the original appointee that Trump passed, Matt Gaetz was.
9:04
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't want to Matt Gaetz, and the Congress was like, we're not going to approve Matt Gaetz.
9:09
[SPEAKER_00]: So then he picked Bondi.
9:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So she is kind of an outsider, which is why some people were like, maybe this is just amateur hour.
9:14
[SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't know how to handle the national spotlight.
9:16
[SPEAKER_00]: She was made in Florida, and that was it, but I don't know.
9:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, Axios, I liked what they noted.
9:20
[SPEAKER_00]: They said that the Justice Department's stunning decision to close the Epstein case and Trump's claim that nobody cares about the deceased sex trafficker.
9:27
[SPEAKER_00]: dominated the diss course at the turning point summit for arguably the first time since Trump founded the magma movement ten years ago activist Warren that the president was out of step with his own just a bad move he just bad move just just a bad move to be so dismissive of something that's clearly upset such a large part of his base
9:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and even this week, he's still kind of been dismissive.
9:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, we need to maybe release some stuff, but he's not really giving it much thought.
9:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
9:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And I understand that the thing is he wants to focus on his accomplishments.
9:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is just a big distraction.
9:58
[SPEAKER_00]: He's he's like, look at the economy.
9:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at what Tara said doing.
10:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at what I've done in foreign policy.
10:02
[SPEAKER_00]: I just bombed Iran and that's already out of the news cycle.
10:05
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a huge deal.
10:05
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a good week to go.
10:06
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a good lesson for life, right?
10:08
[SPEAKER_01]: When you make a mistake, own it.
10:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't ignore it.
10:12
[SPEAKER_01]: And then you can move on, right?
10:13
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you just ignore the issue and it's a big enough issue, it's just going to come back to bite you.
10:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's like I said, it's like the stristand effect.
10:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like the more easy we're going to deflecting it, the more people tend to be thrown into it.
10:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, Galane Maxwell, who was Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice as girlfriend, she was one of the groomers who brought girls into his fold.
10:32
[SPEAKER_00]: She's currently in person.
10:33
[SPEAKER_00]: She was sentenced to twenty years for sex trafficking crimes.
10:37
[SPEAKER_00]: She is obviously the person who a lot of people think has a lot of the answers here.
10:41
[SPEAKER_00]: who was the client where the video tapes that have the black male here, all of that.
10:46
[SPEAKER_00]: She's now saying that she would be willing to talk in front of Congress.
10:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, is she looking for some sort of deal to reduce her prison sentence to do that?
10:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure.
10:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure her lawyers will try to work something out there.
10:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
10:55
[SPEAKER_00]: But a lot of people are like, okay, let's hear from her.
10:57
[SPEAKER_00]: She's a
10:58
[SPEAKER_00]: bad person, but she might have the answers we're looking for.
11:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, Mike, kind of like you were saying, there's been a lot of pundits who they've been like, why is this such a big deal?
11:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do we care so much?
11:08
[SPEAKER_00]: This is one individual.
11:10
[SPEAKER_00]: This is something that maybe it's been blown out of proportion by conspiracy theorists, all of that.
11:15
[SPEAKER_00]: even Steven A Smith sports guy but also kind of political pundit in a way he was on he's like I just don't care about this this does not affect my day-to-day life it does not affect the day-to-day life of Americans which is true maybe we should have more attention this week on all the other things going on in the world and everything happening in the economy and all that anyways I would venture to say that this is a really big deal for the reasons we've kind of already asserted which is
11:38
[SPEAKER_00]: How many times have the American people been lied to by the government and people in power?
11:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, just think about the thoughts of Americans as they consider, they don't feel like the government's been transparent with them about the JFK assassination or they weren't transparent about the realities on the ground in Vietnam or Watergate.
11:54
[SPEAKER_00]: The Iran Contra affair, Iraq, having weapons of mass destruction, the NSA, member Obama with the NSA, spying on Americans.
12:01
[SPEAKER_00]: COVID-nineteen just happened locked down to the science there.
12:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
12:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And then even recently, the Biden mental acuity problem, like people just feel like
12:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Those empower are keeping the truth from them.
12:11
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no transparency.
12:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Which is exactly why I think I've become jaded.
12:15
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, I don't even think I really fall in line with what you just described.
12:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I completely acknowledge that this is an issue.
12:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I just have come to not expect better from the government.
12:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
12:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I actually agree with you there.
12:27
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like I'm sitting here expecting answers.
12:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just saying the campaign during the campaign.
12:31
[SPEAKER_00]: They said that they were going to bring answers.
12:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I know that.
12:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that.
12:35
[SPEAKER_01]: They ran on that.
12:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a filler.
12:36
[SPEAKER_01]: What they ran on.
12:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
12:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, I would just say yeah, exactly what I was saying Trump can't expect Americans to trust him on other important issues if he's not giving them the full answers here and the people want the answers and so those docs supported the official narrative like the docs that they released essentially this memo a support of this official narrative that people don't believe same thing happened with JFK though they released documents back in February right and there was basically a lot of answers that came out of that that
13:04
[SPEAKER_00]: just supported what the government's always said.
13:05
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a single shooter was Lee Harvey Oswell.
13:07
[SPEAKER_00]: There was no big conspiracy.
13:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And that kind of shut up the conspiracy theories, at least for now, right?
13:12
[SPEAKER_00]: If, okay, maybe that is the case, but they gave us transparency there.
13:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes there isn't a bigger story, right?
13:19
[SPEAKER_01]: But sometimes there isn't.
13:21
[SPEAKER_01]: But you can say that when you've released everything, right?
13:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Like everybody can come to that conclusion when all known
13:29
[SPEAKER_01]: pieces of information and evidence have been released.
13:31
[SPEAKER_01]: There's just still more to be released on this Epstein issue.
13:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
13:36
[SPEAKER_00]: So, and on that point, the tide is maybe turning a little bit this week's kind of, I think this got to the attention of the White House.
13:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, okay, we have, of course.
13:43
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's slightly turning over in the White House and Republican circles this week.
13:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So Trump, you know, he's mad.
13:49
[SPEAKER_00]: He's apparently people are like, yeah, he's in the oval office.
13:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He's fuming.
13:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't like that this big distraction in bad news cycle is happening.
13:56
[SPEAKER_00]: He wants focus on his accomplishments.
13:58
[SPEAKER_00]: His daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, who's a very potential senator, a campaigner, or candidate.
14:03
[SPEAKER_00]: She came on and said, there needs to be more transparency.
14:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that will happen.
14:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I know this is important to the president.
14:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He is frustrated and he's going to get things right.
14:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe there will be more coming.
14:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe we'll get those documents.
14:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Even Charlie Kirk has said that he's done talking about it after he spent the whole week in discussing it.
14:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Tuesday on an interview said, I'm for transparency.
14:25
[SPEAKER_00]: We should put everything out there and let the people decide.
14:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Panbotty needs to come forward and explain it to the American people.
14:32
[SPEAKER_00]: We need the DOJ focusing on major priorities.
14:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get this thing resolved and behind us.
14:37
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the thing.
14:37
[SPEAKER_00]: The DOJ maybe should be focusing on all the other things that they have going on, right?
14:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike Johnson would not be saying that for no reason.
14:44
[SPEAKER_01]: He has been in a lock step of Trump.
14:46
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how they've been able to get anything through Congress because of the razor thin margins in the house.
14:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So Mike Johnson would not be saying that without knowing something further that's coming.
14:56
[SPEAKER_01]: So yes, that that is an encouraging sign.
14:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so maybe we'll get answers soon.
15:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
15:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess we'll just have to see what plays out.
15:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And I do think maybe Pam Bonnie needs to go in like one of the big podcasts and just sit down for three hours and answer all the questions.
15:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It's time to have an on Joe Rogan last month and it's time.
15:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so let's just see.
15:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I would just say as a final takeaway from this whole thing.
15:17
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to remember, and I think this is easy to forget, but there are true victims here.
15:22
[SPEAKER_00]: There were actual girls, and maybe even men too, who were trafficked in this whole thing, through Jeffrey Epstein and Thurglame Maxwell, to who?
15:31
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we don't know, but it was a real operation, right?
15:35
[SPEAKER_00]: That's one reason that officials have actually refused to release documents that they don't want to release the information on these victims, especially if they were under age all of that.
15:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And I get that.
15:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, when we look at
15:46
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Scripture, that's kind of the only place.
15:48
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not actually kind of, it is the only place that we can find true justice.
15:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's in God.
15:54
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the only place we get.
15:55
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't expect it from humans.
15:57
[SPEAKER_00]: There will never be full justice here, but God is a God of justice.
16:00
[SPEAKER_00]: In Revelation, sixteen seven declares, yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.
16:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Isaiah, sixty-one, eight even remind us that God despises in justice.
16:11
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, for I, the Lord, love justice.
16:14
[SPEAKER_00]: I hate robbery and wrong.
16:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
16:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It's scripture also reminds us that our God sees everything.
16:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Hebrews four, thirteen says, and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all our naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
16:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
16:33
[SPEAKER_00]: That was true for Epstein.
16:35
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's true for any others involved in his affairs activities and that, you know, potential ring of sexual activity, but it's also true for government officials and it's true for you and me today.
16:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you the listener you might get me, we all are account to God.
16:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's easy to call out the most powerful people in the world and point fingers at their wrongdoings, but we also need to check ourselves.
16:59
[SPEAKER_00]: What are you doing in your life?
17:01
[SPEAKER_00]: What am I doing in my life today that we would be ashamed to have exposed?
17:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we all have that.
17:06
[SPEAKER_00]: We all have our secrets in.
17:08
[SPEAKER_00]: What is that?
17:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Because none of its hidden from the sight of the Lord.
17:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
17:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
17:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Conner Great Breakdown, brother.
17:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for all the details and for that solid application.
17:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Well next, as we jump into our next story, I want to talk about spiritual, new, and spiritual revival.
17:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it happening?
17:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And if it's happening, how can we actually do something about it as Christians?
17:32
[SPEAKER_01]: How can we focus on how we can be a part of this ground swell that we're saying, this momentum that we're saying of people coming back to faith?
17:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So what's really happening spiritually in America and around the world?
17:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about it.
17:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You'd think or in total spiritual decline if you looked at the headlines.
17:50
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what this assumption would be right.
17:52
[SPEAKER_01]: There's not a whole lot of godly headlines out right, you know, outright now or anything hopeful out right now.
17:57
[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, you hear about churches closing and Gen Z's leaving the religion and Christian values are under pressure and under attack, but there's a different story emerging.
18:05
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe it's one of the clear signs of hope we've seen.
18:09
[SPEAKER_01]: in years.
18:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And we kind of talked about this a few months ago of Gen Z turning to Jesus, but I want to kind of break it down even further and even give you some more recent data.
18:18
[SPEAKER_01]: So according to Barnas, twenty twenty four studies sixty six percent of U.S.
18:22
[SPEAKER_01]: adults now say they have made a personal commitment to follow Jesus.
18:27
[SPEAKER_01]: That's unbelievable.
18:28
[SPEAKER_01]: That is an unbelievable thing.
18:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Now there are a lot of auxiliary things of how many of them are actually going to church or actually feeding their faith.
18:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's that's a much lower number.
18:36
[SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, sixty-six percent of US adults now say they've made that personal commitment.
18:41
[SPEAKER_01]: That's up from fifty-four percent just three years ago.
18:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's a twelve percent jump.
18:46
[SPEAKER_01]: That's almost thirty million new people that are claiming Christ in a country that we're supposedly, you know, post-modern now.
18:54
[SPEAKER_01]: were becoming more like Europe or post-Christian now, stuff like that.
18:57
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a big shift that now it's not on the decline.
19:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It seems to be on the rise.
19:01
[SPEAKER_01]: The biggest gains were seeing that in millennials and specifically in Gen Z's, the very groups we were told all along were walking away from Jesus.
19:09
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not just here, Connor, in the UK, young adult church attendance is quadrupled.
19:13
[SPEAKER_01]: In Brazil, Uganda, South Korean across parts of Asia and Africa, the gospel is seemingly exploding.
19:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Charismatic and pinocostal movements and grown over six hundred and forty million people globally, making it the fastest growing expression of Christianity into the world.
19:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, events like gather twenty five, connect believers.
19:33
[SPEAKER_01]: and more than a hundred forty nations through twenty five straight hours of worship and scripture in over eighty languages the asbury revival that happened last year drew over fifty thousand people from across the country for two weeks of nonstop worship and prayer and repentance and it didn't start remember with a stage it didn't start with lights it didn't start with hype it just started with students who wouldn't leave the room because the holy spirit was moving
20:00
[SPEAKER_01]: because the Holy Spirit was doing something in that room.
20:03
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're saying what many people might be calling a new wave of awakening, a new wave of revival, and it's not driven by a politics, it's not driven by a platform, it's not driven by one specific stance on one specific issue.
20:16
[SPEAKER_01]: It's being led by people who seemingly are hungry, people who are tired of empty religion, looking for real life and Jesus, people who are tired of being
20:26
[SPEAKER_01]: lied to, sold the bill of goods that if you accomplish this, you get here, you do this.
20:31
[SPEAKER_01]: That will give you your ultimate satisfaction.
20:35
[SPEAKER_01]: People are buying that line anymore.
20:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think it's a beautiful thing.
20:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I do not believe the question is, if God is moving, it's very clear, not just from a feeling, but from actual numbers that God is moving.
20:46
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe the question is, are we moving with him?
20:49
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you think about this Connor?
20:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And is this the right question to be asking?
20:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that is a good question to ask that's actually really strong.
20:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Are we moving with him?
20:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, God doesn't ever stop moving.
20:59
[SPEAKER_00]: He's always on the move, right?
21:01
[SPEAKER_00]: So what part are we playing?
21:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a great question to ask.
21:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's very introspective and it's convicting in a way.
21:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Gotta look at how am I being a part of this movement, how am I being part of the revival?
21:12
[SPEAKER_00]: How has God using me and my influence?
21:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever your situation is daily.
21:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a great question.
21:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I love what you're just talking about like people are looking for a deeper purpose.
21:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to actually talk about a professional athlete here in a minute that a perfect answer to that.
21:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Perfectly to that.
21:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
21:26
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll hit on that here in a few minutes.
21:28
[SPEAKER_00]: But there is a desire for something deeper, right?
21:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Some sort of purpose.
21:34
[SPEAKER_01]: There's something happening.
21:36
[SPEAKER_01]: This is a unique time that we're in right now people.
21:38
[SPEAKER_01]: There's something unique taking place right now.
21:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and a lot of this could be because it became out of COVID where people really questioned a lot of things.
21:45
[SPEAKER_00]: It changed a lot of dynamics of anxiety and culture.
21:48
[SPEAKER_00]: A younger generation is like seeking something more purposeful than just day to day work where we came out of generation to work all day and careerism was a big thing.
21:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And now it's kind of like, eh, I'd rather be productive and do things and be creative or whatever it is your calling is.
22:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to have a higher purpose to it.
22:07
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's a lot of questions.
22:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is really cool.
22:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I actually wrote an article, I think two years ago, you know, I was going through the research that actually barred and presented it.
22:14
[SPEAKER_00]: It was not looking great for Jen's.
22:15
[SPEAKER_00]: No time.
22:16
[SPEAKER_00]: So they'll see this over the last kind of two-ish years to a year.
22:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, that is amazing.
22:21
[SPEAKER_00]: What an answer to prayers.
22:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it absolutely is.
22:26
[SPEAKER_01]: So Dr. Jim Denison, Connor, you know I'm right.
22:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I know.
22:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, good.
22:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
22:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, good guy.
22:32
[SPEAKER_01]: The CEO and co-founder of our ministry is Jim Denison and he has written a lot of
22:38
[SPEAKER_01]: over the years about revival and spiritual renewal specifically.
22:42
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, innocent ministries was founded more than sixteen years ago with that exact mission in mind to be a catalyst for spiritual awakening in this country through digital mediums.
22:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, through digital content, through biblical truth being spread through that.
22:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Of everything Dr. Dennis and his written, there's one article recently that he wrote last month that really stands out to me.
23:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's called, the clear strength we've seen pointing to a spiritual renewal.
23:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And in it, he impacts how God is at work in surprising places and in powerful ways.
23:11
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the lens I want to use as we walk into this spiritual application.
23:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So the article lays out four foundational patterns, Connor, that tend to accompany spiritual renewal.
23:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's walk through them and let's make them personal to us.
23:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Number one, there is always a fresh hunger for Jesus.
23:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Revival isn't about emotional moments.
23:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It's about returning to the person of Jesus, not just admiring Him or appreciating Him or just attending a service, but actively surrendering our lives to Him.
23:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Over and over and over again, every day, personal surrender.
23:47
[SPEAKER_01]: If we weren't revival to take place,
23:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Jim says this all the time.
23:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It has to start in our hearts.
23:51
[SPEAKER_01]: It has to start at home.
23:52
[SPEAKER_01]: It has to start in our own personal walks.
23:55
[SPEAKER_01]: If we're trying to change everybody else, but us, well, it's just not really going to bring about the result that we want.
24:01
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what we're seeing in this movement, a shift from cultural Christianity to committed Christianity.
24:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe that.
24:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So here's the question.
24:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Are we hungry?
24:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Connor, are you hungry?
24:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Am I hungry?
24:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Or have we gotten comfortable with content?
24:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Busy schedules and spiritual autopilot.
24:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Have I gotten comfortable with doing good things for God with doing ministry?
24:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Have I gotten comfortable with that?
24:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And so comfortable that maybe I'm missing the best things that God has for me.
24:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Right?
24:30
[SPEAKER_01]: But in Revelation three, Jesus says this, behold, I stand at the door and knock.
24:36
[SPEAKER_01]: He's asking right now to be let back in.
24:38
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't want our routine.
24:40
[SPEAKER_01]: He wants relationship with us.
24:42
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's not miss the movement of God because we're too distracted to notice what God is doing.
24:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's not be so distracted by good things that we miss the best thing.
24:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Number two, there's a growing dependence on the Holy Spirit.
24:56
[SPEAKER_01]: So another marker of spiritual revival and movement is there's a growing dependence on the Holy Spirit.
25:02
[SPEAKER_01]: These revivals aren't being produced by all this marketing and all these celebrity pastors, they're being sustained by prayer.
25:09
[SPEAKER_01]: They're being sustained by repentance and a genuine move of the Holy Spirit.
25:13
[SPEAKER_01]: There's always been a pattern in history from the Welsh revival to the Jesus movement.
25:18
[SPEAKER_01]: This has been a similar theme.
25:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe that's what we need most.
25:23
[SPEAKER_01]: To admit, we can't manufacture transformation on our own.
25:26
[SPEAKER_01]: To admit that I can't muster this up just by sheer effort is Zechariah four six says not by my might.
25:33
[SPEAKER_01]: nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.
25:37
[SPEAKER_01]: If we want to see revival in our homes, churches and cities, it's going to take more than just trying harder.
25:42
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to take more than just effort.
25:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to actually take surrender, surrender of all that I am to God, surrender of my homes, surrender of my family, surrender of all my desires.
25:54
[SPEAKER_01]: to Jesus.
25:55
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it's going to take.
25:56
[SPEAKER_01]: An actual personal commitment and surrender.
25:59
[SPEAKER_01]: If every single committed Christian, if all, sixty-six percent of people in the United States who actually claim to know and love and serve Jesus have at least a personal relationship to him, a magic and con of the implications.
26:12
[SPEAKER_01]: If all, sixty-six percent of them actually daily were surrendering their lives to Jesus.
26:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this revival would explode.
26:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Wouldn't it?
26:22
[SPEAKER_01]: That would be awesome.
26:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there's so much potential, right?
26:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
26:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
26:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So there's bold faithfulness to biblical truth.
26:30
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the third one.
26:31
[SPEAKER_01]: So bold faithfulness to biblical truth is necessary in a revival.
26:35
[SPEAKER_01]: We can't shy away from it.
26:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So this is where we've got to lean in.
26:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is where I feel like sometimes the movement is getting off a little bit.
26:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Personally, spiritual renewal is not soft.
26:47
[SPEAKER_01]: It's clear.
26:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It's rooted in God's word.
26:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And if we're going to join what God is doing, we need to stop shying away from the truth and start standing on it, standing by it.
26:56
[SPEAKER_01]: We've been commanded in a quip for many things, but there are three things that we've been primarily equipped for that I want to focus on right now that I want to lean into right now.
27:04
[SPEAKER_01]: love God with everything that we have, love our neighbors as ourselves, even when it's costly and make disciples.
27:10
[SPEAKER_01]: That means knowing what we believe, why we believe it, and then being bold enough and faithful enough to share it.
27:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Not an anger.
27:19
[SPEAKER_01]: But in love, truth and love.
27:20
[SPEAKER_01]: When culture calls truth hateful, we speak it anyway, because we're not here to win arguments for the sake of winning arguments.
27:27
[SPEAKER_01]: We're here to make disciples of all nations.
27:30
[SPEAKER_01]: You're not going to argue somebody into faith.
27:32
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not the point.
27:33
[SPEAKER_01]: We're here to make disciples and to speak truth and love.
27:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So revival without repentance goes nowhere.
27:39
[SPEAKER_01]: and truth without love is most likely just noise.
27:42
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you have both truth and grace, God moves.
27:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Finally, the fourth marker, the final one, there is a renewed urgency for the gospel.
27:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And every true awakening, people don't just feel inspired, they actually go out and tell someone, right?
27:58
[SPEAKER_01]: growing up Connor, going to church camp or something like that, or maybe you go to this great event at your church and you're all fired up and you pray about it and you read your Bible for a week and you feel really good about it.
28:09
[SPEAKER_01]: But then you just kind of get busy again.
28:12
[SPEAKER_01]: You just kind of get stuck in the same rhythm and pattern again.
28:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And every true awakening people don't just feel inspired like I said, they go and they tell someone so they serve, they give, they take action, it leads to outward action.
28:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's a challenge for us.
28:25
[SPEAKER_01]: If this is what God is doing, if revival is already stirring, then we need to join in.
28:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Not tomorrow today.
28:33
[SPEAKER_01]: That means inviting those neighbors over that you've only said high and by too, that you've only wave casually at.
28:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Invite them over for a meal, share your life with them, open up your life to them.
28:45
[SPEAKER_01]: It means inviting your coworker to lunch and asking how you can pray for them, how you can serve them.
28:51
[SPEAKER_01]: The list goes on and on of the things that you can do.
28:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Living with urgency, not fear, but actual focus.
28:57
[SPEAKER_01]: So Jesus says in Matthew nine, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
29:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's not miss our moment because we're waiting for someone else to go first.
29:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's not miss what God has for us because we're waiting for the right moment, the right time, when it's convenient.
29:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me go and tell you, and I'm preaching to myself right now.
29:15
[SPEAKER_01]: This is a personal conviction that's been going on in my own heart.
29:18
[SPEAKER_01]: There's never going to be a perfect time, and it's not going to feel convenient most of the time, if not every single time.
29:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Very rarely, debutable things take place when things are easy, or forged in the fire, or forged when we lean into God in the difficult times, or where we have to lean into God, when we go out on a limb and faith, and we do something that makes us uncomfortable.
29:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So this is not the time to sit on the sidelines.
29:41
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the time to lean in.
29:43
[SPEAKER_01]: to pray like it matters, to speak truth with love, to live with boldness, and to follow Jesus with everything that we've got.
29:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So if Jesus has redeemed your life, Connor, me, our listeners, if He has saved you, if He has helped you, if He has pulled your life out of the pit.
30:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And you can say that with confidence.
30:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Then listen to the words of Paul, first Corinthians, fifteen, death is swallowed up in victory.
30:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, death, where is your victory?
30:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, death, where is your sting?
30:11
[SPEAKER_01]: The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
30:19
[SPEAKER_01]: If we resonate with that,
30:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's time to get to work.
30:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, let's keep praying for revival.
30:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is really cool stuff.
30:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for taking to see that it's awesome to see the way God is working obviously across the world.
30:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And here in America and especially younger people.
30:34
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it's honestly just.
30:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited.
30:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'm excited to talk about this right because it's not
30:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not some numbers and statistics that are just so discouraging.
30:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we have to kind of explain away.
30:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we have to sit here and say, well, God has a plan and a purpose, which is true.
30:50
[SPEAKER_01]: But this is actually a story that we can talk about and say, hey, there's some beautiful things taking place.
30:55
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a groundswell taking place.
30:57
[SPEAKER_01]: It's time to actually get with God, consult with God and say, what would you have me do about this?
31:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, man, that's awesome.
31:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for saying to us through that.
31:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to jump in real fast to check in section.
31:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's hit it on a few things that are happening here in culture.
31:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
31:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
31:16
[SPEAKER_00]: First and foremost, big thing happened in this week is Chip and Joanna Gaines, known for their TV show, fix her upper.
31:21
[SPEAKER_00]: They basically take it over the city of Waco and Longside Baylor.
31:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And they are so big on the HGTV and just home renovation world.
31:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're also big because they are very public about their faith.
31:31
[SPEAKER_00]: They've always been strong in their faith and may bear clear that they care so much about their Christian principles, all of that, which is awesome.
31:37
[SPEAKER_00]: But this week they're in a hot water with a lot of Christians because their new show called Back to the Frontier
31:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It follows families in the Canadian rockets as they like try to navigate.
31:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess living without technology and a lifestyle of the eight and eighties kind of a cool concept.
31:50
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, they brought on three couples, but one of those couples and their kids is a gay couple from Dallas and they share cabin with their two adopted to neural twin sons.
32:02
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a couple who has said that they went on the show to normalize same sex couples and same sex families and they want people to see them as just like every other family.
32:13
[SPEAKER_00]: this blew up in the Christian world because people are like, okay, you guys are very public about your faith, but you're gonna bring on this couple that's clearly trying to normalize something that the Bible stands against, which is homosexuality, right?
32:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Like the marriage, the Bible says is between one man and one woman.
32:28
[SPEAKER_00]: They've also got these adopted sons that they brought into this situation.
32:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, you know, when Christians responded to the news, voicing their disappointment, chip gains responded to their criticism saying, talk, ask questions, listen, maybe even learn.
32:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Too much to ask of a modern American Christian culture.
32:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Judge first, understand later, or never.
32:49
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a sad Sunday when non-believers have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.
32:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Judge not.
32:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Love one another.
32:59
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not difficult.
33:01
[UNKNOWN]: Whew.
33:01
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not a great response, Chip.
33:03
[SPEAKER_00]: No, honestly, no.
33:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Really bad response.
33:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, at Dinnison Form,
33:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Jim wrote Dr. Dennis in that you mentioned earlier.
33:11
[SPEAKER_00]: He wrote a great article on Wednesday morning.
33:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I will link it.
33:14
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so good about this whole situation, but we would say July, sixteenth.
33:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, go check it out.
33:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
33:19
[SPEAKER_00]: We really align with one quote that he put in there from Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son.
33:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Franklin said, while we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God's word.
33:29
[SPEAKER_00]: His word is absolute truth.
33:32
[SPEAKER_00]: God loves us.
33:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And his design for marriage is between one man and one woman promoting something that God defines as sin.
33:39
[SPEAKER_00]: is in itself, sin.
33:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And as Dr. Genesis noted in the article, it's not judging people to speak biblical truth, right?
33:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And knowing that following Jesus and living by his word is actually what will set you free.
33:53
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what John eight, thirty two says.
33:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Conversely, it's not loving to withhold the truth and condone that which is harmful.
34:00
[SPEAKER_00]: The key is what Ephesians four, fifteen commanders to do is to speak the truth and love.
34:06
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're called to do.
34:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I just even going off of this revival conversation.
34:11
[SPEAKER_01]: This is not the time to stand idly by and be cowardly in our approach to what scripture says.
34:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's something else that Chip said where he kind of talked about evolving.
34:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I might be thinking of something else, but ultimately having this couple on the show is a debatable issue because at the same time, like
34:30
[SPEAKER_01]: They should be given an opportunity to like having them on the show.
34:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I feel like that isn't the biggest part of the issue for me.
34:35
[SPEAKER_01]: It was chips response really doubling down on the issue.
34:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just so thankful.
34:42
[SPEAKER_01]: that what we believe doesn't evolve over time or doesn't change, that our goal posts don't move, that God's word is an errand and infallible and true, and that we get to stake our claim on that and say, my worldview is built on the solid rock.
35:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It's built on the foundation and it's built on God's word.
35:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I'm thankful that we get to say that, and I think it's just a dangerous place to get in, and I think Chip and Joe are kind of in a tough spot right now.
35:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they're in a little bit of a pickle here.
35:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say, you know, one thing to remember is Christians, hopefully would not just call out this situation.
35:19
[SPEAKER_00]: They would also be very loud about this.
35:22
[SPEAKER_00]: If it was a couple that was man and woman, but they weren't married and they had their kids, right?
35:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And they were living in a family.
35:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And they wouldn't be.
35:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's a problem.
35:29
[SPEAKER_00]: They may not be, but they also could, you know, like if chip and Joe brought a family like that on, I just don't know.
35:35
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of questions here.
35:36
[SPEAKER_01]: But I guess I don't know.
35:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
35:37
[SPEAKER_00]: At least from our stance, both are wrong, right?
35:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Neither one is what God intended for marriage and family in either of those situations.
35:45
[SPEAKER_00]: So we would call out both here at Dennis and Form.
35:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, let's move on to the New York City mirror race because this is really, honestly, the only real big election.
35:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's kind of telling of where society's at post, twenty, twenty, four elections and well, let's New York.
35:58
[SPEAKER_00]: the big road wave.
35:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's different for sure because it's New York, but it's also big city and it represents a lot up there in New England and everything.
36:06
[SPEAKER_00]: So the big story obviously has been so run mom, Donnie, the socialist guy, he's younger, who beat out Andrew Cuomo, the former governor and establishment candidate for the Democratic spot.
36:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
36:18
[SPEAKER_00]: In this race, he beat him out last month.
36:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Since then several things have happened.
36:22
[SPEAKER_00]: First off, Eric Adams, who is the current mayor.
36:25
[SPEAKER_00]: He ran as a Democrat last time, but now he says he's more Republican.
36:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where he lands politically, but he's running as an independent to try to keep his mayor ship.
36:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's been in legal hot water.
36:34
[SPEAKER_00]: His entire office basically resigned last year because they don't like him and they think he's a bad person.
36:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, so he's trying to clean his name up.
36:41
[SPEAKER_00]: He's on the podcast circuit.
36:42
[SPEAKER_00]: But also, Mom Donnie has been in a hot water because he
36:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Back in two thousand nine was applying to Columbia University in Mark himself as both Asian and Black or African American.
36:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He is of Indian descent.
36:54
[SPEAKER_00]: He's Indian ethnically.
36:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's kind of an interesting choice.
36:58
[SPEAKER_00]: He was born in Uganda.
36:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe there's some tie in there.
37:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, he's trying to clean up this story because it's kind of heading back on him.
37:05
[SPEAKER_00]: He's also refused to denounce the phrase globalized the Intafata, which is like one of these rallying cries for propelistening people.
37:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's basically a call to violence against Jews.
37:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And so yes, it is.
37:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And not denouncing that has not been great for him, but I think a lot of people are overlooking some of that.
37:20
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still very popular, still big on social media, big with the young people in New York City.
37:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
37:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Andrew Cuomo.
37:27
[SPEAKER_00]: He said he's coming back.
37:29
[SPEAKER_00]: He lost him on Donnie last month, but he's like, oh, I'll just run as a third party candidate.
37:33
[SPEAKER_00]: So does this give like sore looser vibes?
37:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe.
37:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I think this is going to give.
37:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, if I had to guess, I would say Cuomo is probably going to give mom Donnie the toughest competition.
37:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would, I guess what people are hoping from what I've been reading is that like Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo would look at it later in the year and say, all right, let's not split the vote and like one of them drop out.
37:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Now Cuomo did say that he would do that.
37:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think Eric Adams has said that he would do that.
37:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
37:58
[SPEAKER_00]: But Eric Adams is like, I'm going to make it to November.
38:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Cuomo said if he's not the top candidate against mom Donnie, so basically against Eric Adams, by the early September, then he'll drop out like you're saying.
38:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, it was the Democratic primary, right?
38:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So only registered Democrats were voting in that, right?
38:13
[SPEAKER_01]: So like at that point, like you would just wonder if this socialist idea, some of the stuff that's coming out, that people who maybe wouldn't normally vote who live in New York would come out in vote, it's probably going to be close.
38:25
[SPEAKER_01]: But I definitely don't think mom Donnie's going to live in a
38:27
[SPEAKER_01]: win in a landslide either way.
38:29
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I think it's.
38:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever happens here, it's three candidates that I don't think are ideal for a lot of people.
38:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very telling you what happens in November and this election will be very telling for the midterms going into next year.
38:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Because this is like I said, the one big election.
38:43
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not national.
38:44
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not even a state, but it's the biggest city in America.
38:46
[SPEAKER_00]: It is kind of a big deal.
38:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
38:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Other things to politics is this week.
38:49
[SPEAKER_00]: We did remember that one year ago.
38:52
[SPEAKER_00]: was this assassination attempt on Donald Trump when he got hit in the ear and graces the ear from that sniper's rifle.
38:59
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we've had discussions over the last year of did God protect him.
39:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
39:05
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, maybe.
39:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, we had an article this week at Denison for about this that really dives into some of the theological aspects of this like, can God save somebody like that?
39:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course he can.
39:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Does that mean he did?
39:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, no, not necessarily.
39:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So we don't know.
39:17
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we don't know if God saved Trump in that sense, but yeah.
39:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so let's give you another update.
39:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Rev John MacArthur passed away Monday at the age of eighty six, very influential guy in the evangelical world, specifically the Baptist world, may he rest in peace.
39:36
[SPEAKER_01]: He made a big impact with controversial in many ways, but man.
39:40
[SPEAKER_01]: That dude preached the word.
39:42
[SPEAKER_01]: You might have disagreed with some of his interpretations of it, but that dude, his entire life preached the word.
39:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So may he rest in peace.
39:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about Wimbledon.
39:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, Wimbledon.
39:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk a little tennis.
39:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I watched tennis.
39:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Connor, do you watch tennis?
39:56
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
39:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I watch tennis.
39:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Not all the time, but like it.
40:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Roll and garrows.
40:02
[SPEAKER_01]: No, like rolling garrows in Wimbledon in the U.S.
40:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Open.
40:05
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, these are, this is like mono-emono three-hour battles of just sheer will.
40:13
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's just very, very interesting to watch.
40:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So, Yonic Center defeated Carlos Alcarez,
40:19
[SPEAKER_01]: in the Wimbledon, but Alcaras had beaten him the last two times in championship finals.
40:23
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm glad to see my fellow Italian brethren, Yannick Sinner, go ahead and get himself a win, but shout out to American Taylor Fritz for putting up a good fight, the fifth ranked man in the world in tennis.
40:34
[SPEAKER_01]: He put up a good fight against Alcaras in the semi final.
40:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe American tennis will get back to greatness one day.
40:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
40:41
[SPEAKER_00]: It'll last name for Yonnex Center.
40:43
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a hard.
40:44
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a tough one.
40:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Like with also it's not your classic Italian last name either, but he he's an Italian.
40:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean Italian last name is always been a foul Austrian Italian.
40:54
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a different language.
40:56
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't even speak Italian.
40:57
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think, right?
40:58
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a section of Italy that speaks German.
41:00
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what, man?
41:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't actually know that.
41:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't actually know that, but he represents Italy, you know, so we'll just go with it.
41:05
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
41:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me give you a Russia and Ukraine update.
41:09
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll probably dive into this more fully in the future, but Trump has recently shifted his tone on Putin as many of you probably noticed in the news moving from
41:17
[SPEAKER_01]: cautious in the way that he talked about Putin to backing stronger action and voicing pretty much every day how frustrated he is with Vladimir Putin.
41:25
[SPEAKER_01]: He now supports a NATO plan to send Patriot missile systems to Ukraine and is pushing for heavy tariff.
41:31
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's given like a fifty day deadline that if a ceasefire isn't reached, he's going to
41:36
[SPEAKER_01]: do like a hundred percent tariffs on like secondary tariffs on certain things.
41:40
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see what happens at a recent NATO summit though.
41:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Trump also backed a new defense spending goal for member nations.
41:46
[SPEAKER_01]: And we had talked about that with Russian attacks escalating across Ukrainian cities.
41:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It's critical.
41:51
[SPEAKER_01]: We're in a critical time right now.
41:52
[SPEAKER_01]: These weapons need to reach Ukraine.
41:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Ukraine is getting overwhelmed and more and more.
41:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Their citizens are being killed from attacks from Russia.
41:59
[SPEAKER_01]: So this is a big change for Trump.
42:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see what comes from it.
42:02
[SPEAKER_00]: They need to reach Ukraine depending on who you ask, because this is another thing dividing Magar, right?
42:06
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of people like don't send our stuff to Ukraine.
42:08
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not what they want with our weapons anyways.
42:11
[SPEAKER_00]: That's trying to the situation.
42:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
42:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
42:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, Connor, let's jump into the tune-in section.
42:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Give us something for tune-in.
42:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
42:22
[SPEAKER_00]: the open championship aka the British open this is a golf tournament big one the last of the four majors this season every year this is the last of the four majors it's this weekend Thursday through Sunday it's a royal port rush golf course in northern Ireland gorgeous golf course anyways I can't wait to watch mostly because
42:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Our favorite player, Scotty Sheffler, man, he made waves this week.
42:43
[SPEAKER_00]: He just basically was brutally honest at a presser for the media and just spent five minutes talking about why golf kind of matters, but doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, specifically just the thickness of winning.
42:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, there are a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life.
43:02
[SPEAKER_00]: But you get to number one in the world.
43:03
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the best player in the world.
43:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's saying in their like,
43:07
[SPEAKER_00]: What's the point?
43:08
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not a fulfilling life.
43:11
[SPEAKER_00]: I love being able to play golf for a living.
43:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It's one of the greatest joys in my life, but it does not fill the deepest once in desires of my heart.
43:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely not.
43:20
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not the be all end end all.
43:22
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not the most important thing in my life.
43:25
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I wrestle with.
43:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is this so important to me?
43:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I'd much rather be a great father than a great golfer.
43:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, that's good stuff.
43:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a five minute thing.
43:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I would encourage you to go watch the clip, but Scottie is so true to his faith, and he recognizes that golf is just this platform.
43:41
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just what he gets to do.
43:42
[SPEAKER_00]: God has gifted him in that way, but it's not his end.
43:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He'll be all.
43:45
[SPEAKER_00]: He finds so much more joy in the Lord, and he talks about when you win a tournament and golf.
43:50
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like two minutes of a high of like, oh my gosh, one this, and then it's right onto the next thing.
43:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, over.
43:56
[SPEAKER_01]: It really ties into the sentiment of why I believe revival and renewal, like why, you know, we're on the cusp of it.
44:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to catch the win.
44:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to jump in on this revival and renewal, but I think what Scott is pointing to is like what we alluded to earlier of everything I thought would fulfill me doesn't.
44:15
[SPEAKER_01]: What is there?
44:16
[SPEAKER_01]: What is the purpose of meaning of life?
44:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And I love, I mean, everyone, please go watch it because Scotty explains such a beautiful biblical principle of the meaning of life without being churchy about it all.
44:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And like what I mean is is like ESPN is posting it.
44:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Golf.com is posting it.
44:33
[SPEAKER_01]: NBC is posting it and everybody's like, man, I can really resonate with this just such an impactful way that Scotty put it.
44:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Somebody at the peak at the height that considered the best call for in the world is saying this.
44:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It's almost mind boggling, but it also makes sense to everybody watching it.
44:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Because it's relatable.
44:49
[SPEAKER_00]: We all get those goals related.
44:50
[SPEAKER_00]: If I can just get to that one thing, if I get that promotion, if I get that sale, if I, whatever it is, if I can get that house, I will feel the happiness and Scott, he's like, I've done it.
45:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It's, it lasts two minutes and then it's like, what's the next thing?
45:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what he's saying.
45:06
[SPEAKER_00]: So anyways, guys,
45:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you take some truth out of that.
45:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys for joining us for this week's episode of the Culture Brief, a Dinnison Form podcast.
45:15
[SPEAKER_00]: All the articles and videos that we mentioned will be linked in the show notes.
45:17
[SPEAKER_00]: You can always reach out to us at Culture Brief at DinnisonForm.org.
45:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Follow us on Instagram at Culture Brief podcast.
45:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And of course, like, subscribe and rate review this show and share it with a friend and we will see you next Thursday.
45:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Bye-bye.