Culture & Christianity: The Allen Jackson Podcast - From Religious Oppression in Iran to Freedom in Christ

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

At just nine years old, David Nasser had a gun held to his head during the Iranian Revolution—but that moment was only the beginning of a story God would redeem. In this powerful conversation, Pastor Allen Jackson sits down with Nasser to hear his incredible journey—from growing up in Iran during the 1979 Iranian Revolution to finding faith in Jesus. After escaping a life marked by fear, violence, and religious oppression, David shares how one encounter with Christians changed everything for him and his family.They also discuss what God is doing in Iran today, including the rapid growth of the underground church and why many are turning to Christ. This is a story of redemption, courage, and the unstoppable power of the gospel.

Welcome to Culture and Christianity. I am delighted to be able to introduce you to David Nasser, my guest today. Iran's in the news. If you've missed that, you have been in a cave somewhere for a few days. David was born there. Welcome to Culture and Christianity. Let's start there. It's honor to be with you. Dr. Jackson. Thanks for having. And you serve in a church in Murfreesboro these days. I do. I'm a new vision. We are neighbors and fellow. We are co-labors. We are. And I meet people all the time. And when these are your neck of the woods and this is where you call home, I meet people all the time that have been influenced by you. And such a tremendous way and so grateful for you. And it's good to have you as a neighbor. I mean, new vision loves your church.

And I know it's likewise. And Pastor Brady speaks so highly of you. And man, yeah, thankful for you. We need every good church. Amen. We need each other. You know, there was a time we may have thought we were competitors, but we can't live in that world anymore. Absolutely.

We need one another. I want to start with just the basics. You were born in Iran to get the big rock idea on the table. Right. And now you're a pastor at a church at Murphysboro, Tennessee. There has to be a God story in there somewhere. Absolutely. I was a Shiite Muslim and grew up in Iran until I was nine years old.

And in 1979, when I was nine, the Iranian revolution happened. And the Itaul Khomeini and the zealots basically took over our country. Iran was a monarchy. and it became at that moment a theocracy. And when that happened, I was this kid who was watching the whole thing. The difference in a monarchy and a theocracy. Some of the people listening won't understand that distinction. Absolutely.

We had a king that reigned and ruled. The Shah. Yes, sir. And so it actually was a monarchy in the sense that he had all power. And he actually governed. And so unlike what we see in the Queen of England, for example, or the King of England where they have a position, but they're not really governing on the day-to-day trenches of life. And that's what we had. And then when a theocracy took over, it became a governance

of religion. You know, in America, for example, we have a separation of church and state. In Iran, for lack of better terms, not church, but, you know, church becomes state. Religion takes over. And that's actually more than just Iran. You know, Islam started. 1400 years ago with in one nation, Saudi Arabia. And today it's in, you know, many, many nations where it is actually a theocracy. And that has always been the strategy of Islam to not have separation of religion and politics, but really through politics to govern. And so Iran was that way. And I mean, it was becoming that way. And when the revolution happened, my father was high ranked in the military in Iran. And so in 1979, everything's turned upside down. They're killing

everybody who's anybody. My dad's high ranked in the military. And I just remember those days. I remember a soldier coming to my school in our army base and literally calling my name out at a school assembly in front of the entire student body. I made my way to the front and he dropped the piece of paper that had my name on and took a gun out of a holster, quoted the Quran, and put it at my forehead and because of who my dad was, decided that he was going to make an example out of me. And you were not? And take my life. Yes, sir. And the school principal got between me and the gun and told him, please don't do this. And the guy walked away. They rushed me back home. I didn't go to school

the rest of that day. And my dad came home and was weeping and told me they're making an example. They're using terror, fear to stop, you know, people coming up against them. And that's the day that my father told me that with everything that's happening in Iran, we as a family are escaping to get away. And I remember as a Shiite Muslim thinking, I don't know what we've done to make God so mad, but apparently he's mad at me and my father and my family. And I remember thinking we're getting away from him, not getting away from a regime. But in my mind, God's mad at my family and we've got to get away from him. Before we could escape, by the way, before we could implement the escape plan and get going,

I remember soldiers coming to our home, you know, Alan. And I remember taking my dad, they were taking my dad out of our home. And I had this vivid memory of my mom's hands wrapped around the leg of one of the soldiers. And as they're dragging my dad to the front door, my mom is just screaming. Just kill them quickly. Just kill them quickly. Just kill them quickly. And my first memory of prayer in my life was when they took my dad out of the home. And my mom gathered me and my sister.

together. And right there in the front, she just kept saying out loud in prayer, let him die quickly, let them die quickly. And when she said, amen, I asked, why are we saying that? And she explained, she said, they're taking your dad to this park. It's the same one where they took his best friend yesterday, and his best friend was tied to a tree. They took a pair of pliers and started with his fingernails and worked their way in. And it took him about seven hours to bleed him out. And we need to pray that your dad's killed quickly. And so when you're nine years old, and that is your to what you think God is. And you've got maybe a heritage of a religion, but then like you're confronted with that.

The last thing you're thinking is God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life. And they're doing that in the name of God. They're doing that in the name of God. They're doing it as an act of worship. They're leading worship, but not with a microphone or a guitar in their hand or a Bible. They're leading it with literally a gun in their hand. And so that day, my dad actually came home. He wasn't killed in God's just sovereign grace.

And we were given just a little bit more time to get out. And we went to these doctors that my mom had been going to see, and we cut a deal with them. They pretended like my mom needed emergency bypass surgery in Iran. And we bought two-way airline tickets, as though we were as a family going quickly for this operation in Switzerland and coming back. Well, we weren't coming back. We were running for our lives. And so I remember holding my dad's hand in the airport. And his hand just kept shaking.

And he kept saying, if they find out we're escaping. they're going to kill us here on the spot. But when you look at your story, it's always so interesting in hindsight how you see how so often in life you think God's hurting you but he's actually holding you. You think God has abandoned you, but he hasn't. And I look back then and can see, like it says in Isaiah 41, 9 and 10, I took you from the ends of the earth from as farthest corners I called you. And I said, do not be afraid.

I am with you. I will help you and I will hold you in your righteous right hand. And so the Lord held us and took us to your, to your, to, Switzerland and we were stuck in Europe for nine months trying to make it to America. But nobody from my neck of the woods was allowed into your neck of the woods because people were watching this dumpster fire of a revolution. They were watching how Iranians were burning the American flag, calling America the great Satan, had it held 54 Americans hostage in the American embassy in Iran. And so here we were from the wrong place at the wrong time trying to make it to America

and the doors just wouldn't open up. But then after nine months, God just in its perfect timing, opened the doors. And we came to America as refugees. It was under political asylum, but it was actually a way to become legal immigrants to be allowed in. And we moved to Colleen, Texas. Imagine this. There's no culture shock there. Doc.

I mean, Iranian family during the Iranian situation, I speak no language, wrong, haircut, wrong. I am a wedgy waiting to happen. You know, we moved to. We moved to the largest army-based city in the world during all of that in patriotic Texas. I mean, you know what I mean? And so it didn't go easy there in the beginning. I'm sure you were bullied. I mean, that's not a good story to tell.

Yeah. It was hard. Because we'd come to America for refuge, but it didn't feel like a refuge. Refugees. We'd come for safe harbor. But honestly, in one sense, it felt like we had replaced one kind of terrorism. physical with another kind, emotional. And the weapon of mass destruction and emotional terrorism isn't when, you know,

you're getting picked last at all the sports or there's 15 birthday party invitations going out and there's 16 kids in the classroom and you know you're not going to the skating rink on Saturday. Like all that happened. It's not the nicknames and the, you know, all the jokes that they, the weapon is when they don't even, they're not even cruel to you. They just pretend like you're not even worthy of existing. Right.

And they just ignore you. And I remember that was so many years of my life growing up. I was just this kid who was a outcasted kid. And that was me all the way until the day my freshman year in high school was about to start. And by this time, we'd moved from Texas to Alabama, you know. That's an upgrade. Yes, sir. My dad had gone to Fort Rucker.

So there we were. And I was sitting in my room and I was crying. And my dad heard me and he came in and said, what's wrong? And I said, Dad, I don't want to go to high school tomorrow, you know. I'm just going to get beat up like a pinata again. And I told them all the reasons I didn't want to go to high school the next day. And he felt sorry for me. And to try to fix it, and he took me to the mall.

But, you know, and he got me new clothes, new haircut, new shoes, new everything. Same insecure kid on the inside. I got made over on the outside. And I call it geek to chic, you know, Abdul to Julio. I mean, I went to school the next day. And instantly, I found friends. because I found out what everyone listening knows so often people will care more about the label that you wear than the person you really are. And so my high school years became this bonfire

vanities. I just learned how to play high school. I learned how to wear the right thing, act the right way. I learned how to end up at the right lunchroom table, how to dump the right girl before she could dump me, how to be cold, to be perceived this cool. And it's so true where it says in scripture, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but the forfeited soul. And that was me. My high school years became these years where on paper, it looked like everything got flipped. But really, at least when I was a nobody, I was David in nobody. And you know where it says in Romans 12, do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the room. Try to tell that to a kid who's completely alone. Do not come. He's like, I'm already not conforming. And I'll take fabricated

friendships, even if it means I just have to pretend like I'm not alone. And so that was me in all through high school. And then right after high school, one night I was with some, I was with a buddy of mine. And to be very frank, we were in front of my house. We were smoking marijuana together. It was almost midnight. We're passing this joint back and forth. And my buddy, while we're smoking, this is so the South, Doc, invites me to church. Of course. I'm not recommending that as pre-evangelism. No, I'm just saying.

I know the Bible says in Genesis, God made the grass and it was good, but that's not what it means, right? So that's a bad joke. But, but man, I just remember thinking, what's going on? And he invited me for social reasons. But I told them, I said, there's no way that my Muslim father's going to let me go. Because you've been, you're practicing Islam all the way through this. My mom was more devout than my father. But I wasn't the most, obviously, I'm stoned when my buddy.

I'm not a very devout Muslim. I was more Shiite by heritage. But... Generic Muslim. Yes, sir. We have generic Christian. That's right. People, they haven't declared something else. They come at Easter. Yes. And once every three years of Christmas. You're a generic Muslim. Yes, sir. Muslim family. That's right. Muslim heritage. Yes, sir. You know, you don't have to look far to see that our economy is in real turmoil. Our nation is $37 trillion in debt. Inflation rates made it hard to buy and sell a house.

Even a car, we're all feeling it. When you go to the grocery store and you spend an extra dollar or two in every item, that gets personal in a hurry. Well, the most important thing we can do during uncertain times is to invest ourselves in knowing God better. Read his word, pray. That's the only place we're really going to find stability we need for the disruption that I'm pretty certain is ahead of us. Beyond that, it's just plain wise to make the best decisions possible in our daily lives with our investments. When you think of all the options out there, gold is an investment that has stood the test of time. That's why, I work with preserve gold.

They've treated me with honesty, integrity, kindness, every step of the way. They're offering a free wealth protection kit, and all you need to do is text Allen, that's A-L-L-E-N to 50-505. As a bonus, you'll get up to $15,000 in free gold and silver with a qualified purchase. Go ahead and text them today. So your stone buddy invites you to church. Yeah, and I didn't want to go, but to be very honest, He, I'm just telling you what happened.

He named the five prettiest girls from my high school. And he told me that they were all going to be there. And I felt suddenly motivated to visit. You heard from the Lord. That's right. And that's the thing about God. God is bigger than ill intent, you know? Oh, that's good.

When the blind man comes to God. And the first time I'll give you credit. Yes, sir. But after that, the Lord showed. I stole it from Adrian Rogers. So I'm just hot potato. I get over to you. But, you know, when God, when the blind man comes to Jesus, he's not like, I want to be a billboard for your renown.

He's like, I'm blind. I want to see. And the first time I got invited to church, I wanted to go be social. I wanted to be, you know, kids in my high school were told. And it wasn't just the pretty girls. I was like, my buddy wants me to go. He told me about this thing called a youth group. And, and, but I told them, I said, but there's no way.

Like, we're literally in the car. He's telling me why I should come to church. And I'm like, well, you've motivated me. But I said, there's no way that my Muslim father is going to let me go to a Christian church. He doesn't really regulate what happens on a Saturday night. But on a Sunday morning, that's not hidden in plain sight. Like me getting up, putting on chinos, getting out of the house on a Sunday morning, he's going to go, what are you doing? And he said, well, why don't you ask him?

Honestly, just to get my buddy off my back on a Saturday night, you know, I said, I'll ask him. I thought, I thought there's no way my dad's going to say no. So we get out of the car. We go in the house. He's standing. Might have given you the courage to ask. That's right. So I'm standing, my buddy's standing at the front door.

We walk down the hallway and I knocked on my parents' bedroom door and they are literally in bed. The door is closed. I'm in the hallway. So I knock on my parents' bedroom door and I said, Mom and Dad, it's midnight. I'm home. I'm safe. Don't get out of bed. I know you're going to say no.

Just say no loud enough. So my buddy can hear and leave me alone. He wants to know if I can go with them to church tomorrow, a Christian church. But instead of saying no, and this is my favorite part of my story that I get to share, my dad from, his bed, instead of saying, no, kind of is quiet for a second, and then he yells, What is the name of it? And he wants to know the name of the church. And I'm just dumbfounded. My father would even be open to the idea, but I don't know the name of the church. So I look down the hallway, my buddy's standing there. He hears my dad yell that. So he yells really loud.

Shades. And we all knew shades to be shorthand for this church about a mile from our home called Shades Mountain Baptist Church. And my dad hears shades. And then my daddy yells from his bed. I know those people. And I'm shocked that he would know someone from that church. But what I didn't know was that two weeks prior to that Saturday night, there were these people from this church called Shades Mountain Baptist Church who had come to my dad's restaurant to eat. My dad had opened up a French restaurant. I know it's confusing, but stay with me.

My dad had opened up this French restaurant in Birmingham. And two weeks prior to that Saturday night, this guy named Aubrey Edwards, who was the worship leader at the district. church and a couple of other staff guys had gone to my dad's restaurant to eat and while they were short-handed on the wait staff. And lunch rush was crazy and they were getting bad service. Instead of complaining about the service, Aubrey and his friends quietly got up, rolled up their sleeves and waited on tables at my dad's restaurant. Then they went back the next day, waited on tables at his restaurant again. They went back the next day. Can you imagine clearing your calendar, your mega church worship leader. And you went and you just, again, you're leading worship,

but with a mop in your hand. And they serve my dad. And then at the end of the third shift that they served them, they invited my dad to choir practice. And because kindness is a superpower, it says in Romans too, kindness leads to repentance. My dad went to quiet practice.

And at the end of choir practice, this guy, Aubrey, got out a piece of paper and said, hey, we're going to pass a piece of paper around. This is my friend Mr. Nasser. He owns a restaurant in town. everybody needs to sign up for shifts to be busboys and waitresses at his restaurant. And what I didn't know was,

I'm standing fast forward two weeks later on a Saturday night asking my dad if I can go to church and instead of saying no, he goes, What Di's the name of it. And what I didn't know was that for two weeks these Christians had parachuted in and they were bus boys and waiters at my dad's restaurant. So then my dad instead of saying no,

says, what he's the name of it? And then my buddy yells out the name of the exact same people that had been helping him out. And so I get to be here with you at your amazing church. And in this podcast talking to a pastor and I get to brag on God, I'm here because they showed up for us. They were on mission. They didn't see Muslims as the enemy.

They saw them as the prize. The 1040 window had come to them. And so they just saw us as people that were valuable to God and valuable to us. We were taken hostage by Islam. And so they were trying to set us free. and they knew the chain breaker. And so I, so Sunday morning, I went to church. And man, I got to tell you, for the next eight Monday nights in a row, they came to my house.

I had this thing called visitation. And for eight Monday nights in a row, I heard the gospel. And on week nine, I gave my life to Christ. And I got kicked out of the house for becoming a Christian. And the night I got baptized was the night that it really, really hit a wall with my dad. And five months after I was a Christian, one day my sister called and the Lord through Campus Crusade

and some friends on her campus had saved her. And then five months after that, my mother called me one night really loud on the phone. Tonight, I become a Christian. I'm like, why are you yelling? She goes, I want your father to hear because he's not kicking me nowhere. That's how she rolled.

So my mom got saved. And then five months after that, my brother Benjamin, who God made fear, and wonderfully down syndrome. He got saved. Goal or saved him. And then two and a half years later, Doc, the Lord saved my dad. And so we are literally a walking billboard of the power of the gospel to set people free from what I call religion gone wrong. And so, yeah, that's my story. And so all you got, you don't have anything dramatic or any, no big story. I know. Another little, I went to church and I met Jesus. But I got to say, They're making a movie of it.

And they just signed the rights for my book. And really, it was funny, like the people that are doing the movie said the other day, and they're so right, they were like, man, the hero of this story is not you. The hero of this story is, honestly, just a youth ministry who showed up, a worship pastor who was actually genuine,

a Christian who was Christ-like, a believer who was believable. I was at First Baptist Orlando two summers ago. And I'm just telling my story, you know, between services. They had me. I don't know why you wouldn't have me to talk. But anyway, they have, anyway, so they are there. And between second and third service, this grandma walks up.

I know she was a grandma because everybody was calling her Gigi and she had her grandkittos around her. And she's kind of teary-eyed. And she said, hey, and she's kind of distracted with her grandbaby. She goes, stop for a second. She looks at me. She goes, hey, you never met me. But I just want to tell you, when I was in college, I was at choir one night. And they had a piece of paper going around, sign enough for shit.

and she said, and I was a waitress at your daddy's restaurant for a couple of weeks volunteering. And I mean, we're standing there and I'm crying and she's crying and I'm like, it's your fault. I'm here. The hero, my story, when you would tell you got, the hero my story is just Christians who just put their pants on, got out of bed and just love the lost. You know? And they found a way to earn the right to speak to gospel into the. the life of my family. The dirty little secret of ministries, it looks like work. Yeah, but it's worship. It doesn't feel spiritual. Yeah. But we're honoring God. Absolutely. Absolutely. I've never,

until I sat with you just now, it never occurred to me that Islamic Revolution in Iran bore good fruit. It's Romans, eh, brother. But if that hadn't happened. That's right. I mean, I'm sure God would have reached you any way he needed to. Yeah, well, I'm sure you're a legend. I'm sure you've said tests make testimonies. You know, God works all things for the good of his purpose. I'm only a legend in my own mind, so it's okay. You're a legend of mine. But yeah, and I'm not, that doesn't discount what happened there being horrific.

As a matter of fact, what's happening right now in Iran is in one sense horrific, but in another sense, an answer to prayer. Well, help us with that a little bit. Is this the counter-revolution? Do you think this is going to push them back? I don't know. I don't have the imagination. They're going to be a democracy in the way we understand it.

Islam doesn't really provide for that. I don't think. You're an expert. We haven't seen it in those neck of the woods, but there's a first time for everything. And here's where I feel like this time it might be different. We had allied help. Yes. Within the span of a year, we've seen literally estimates say conservatively 40,000 Iranians killed

when they pushed up against these hires. That's right. Okay. And so this time, You know, and this is where people ask me all the time. Recently, they've been asking me, what do you think the sentiment is man on the street in Iran? I'm like overwhelming gratitude for President Trump and for, and by the way, they don't even see it as President Trump. They see it as America coming to help them.

This was their fight to fight. The people of Iran were going to stand up against, this was going to break. This was going to happen. But now they've got, they had a tremendous amount of help. And so I think that is a difference maker. I think Reza Pahlavi, the crown prince, is more poised. Yes, sir. I think he's more poised than he's ever been.

He has more favor than he's ever had, both internationally and also with those in the diaspora in Iran. You know, the Iranians are outside of Iran. And then people of Iran really want him. And so, and he's made it crystal clear, I'm not coming in to bring back a monarchy. You know, I'm the king's son, but I don't want to come and be the king. I'm not looking for, this isn't Game of Thrones here. I'm coming to be a part of a transition team. And he's saying, if it becomes a democracy, that's what we're hoping for our people.

Then they can vote who they want. And if they want to have me, great, if they don't. And I'm just telling you, Doc, there's a lot of candidates. The president of Iran might be sitting in a prison cell right now in Iran. It might be an exile who's won the Nobel Peace Prize. and she's a champion. She's a lioness wanting to come and serve. We got those. The deck is stacked deep. It's like Bama football up in there, man. We got a lot of people that can step up to the plate. It's an amazing. It's an amazing people. Yes, sir. They are historically until today.

That's right. I mean, a remarkable. That's right. For 47 years, the Persian Empire, these incredibly, I mean, Iran has always contributed to the betterment of the world, whether it's education, whether it's medication, whether it's music, whether it's the arts, whether, and so surrounded by nations that are 100 years old, surrounded by Iran, Persia has always been what it's been. And for 47 years, we've seen the people of Iran held hostage by these terrorists. I think that's a really, really important point. Yes, sir. All the Iranians today, 50 years old and younger, have never known freedom.

they've been under the hobnail boots of this awful authoritarian and cruel regime. That's right. So it's a big shift for that group of people, that whole population, 50 and younger, beginning to think in a new way. Yes. And that's not going to happen in 24 hours. That's right. So what you're describing is a transition period to let the people,

they almost have to breathe a little bit of freedom to step into that space. Absolutely. It seems to me. Yes, sir. But at the same time, this hasn't been overnight for them. For us, this feels like the last few weeks have been really interesting. But for them, they've been done. They've been done with this.

I mean, you're not talking about a younger generation in Iran that are devout Muslims. You're talking about a pretty secular generation who's done with wrong religion. But at the same time, you're talking about a generation of people who truly are interested in true religion. The fastest growing church in the world right now is the underground church in Iran. I call it God's already stubbed behind the walls for, you know, greater things. And so I'm coming into this moment, first of all, terrified for my family members that we can't get a hold of. My cousin who has MS, who hasn't had electricity, you know, has been oppressed so long. And now it just feels like bombs are dropping all around her home.

So I'm terrified for them, but I'm also, it's a lot. incredibly excited that this might be their liberation because we left Iran 47 years ago. And in one sense, my story that I just shared is the American dream, the land of opportunity. But we had a second dream as a family. And it's always been that our family and the good people of Iran would be afforded what we were afforded. Liberation, freedom, opportunity. And so it feels like maybe now, maybe now, the lioness, the lion spirit. of the Iranian people will have their finest hour and this will be their moment. But what really

makes my heartbeat fast, and I know this is your heart as well, is that this is so much bigger than a governance shift. This is about the revival in Iran that could happen. This to me is about the fastest growing underground church in the world thriving in this moment and a people who have seen the worst thing called religion, you know, the decay of it all, can actually find redemption in Christ. So I think we're going to see through this a revival in Iran. Now, we might see it on the other side of a democracy through the no longer underground church. We might see it through the underground church with Theocracy 3.0 in there. But it doesn't matter. I think what God is beginning here, is something bigger for the moment.

And even if it's not a democracy, I sure would hope, and I hope it's not anything less than. They deserve more. But I sure would hope that they actually get to speak into who they want to lead them. But at this point, I mean, who's it going to be? Is it going to be a community's son

whose father was killed, wife was killed, mother was killed, all we've seen as a cardboard print of him so far. Is it going to be him? Is it going to be someone else? Like, I don't think the Iranian people have come to this place to turn back. The Republican Guard to push forward some new leader that they want to support. Yeah. I don't think the people accept that.

It's very complicated. You're talking about a nation that because of the location and the Persian Gulf and you could have China involvement. You could have Russian involvement. You could have— And a lot of factions. That's right. You have Kurds, a large Kurdish community. That's right.

I mean, it's not like a unit. uniform population. Exactly. So it's going to take the spirit of God. It's going to take the spirit of God. But it's also, it's one of those things where how often in our lives, take the Iranian situation out of the place, how often in our lives have we seen something in front of us? And we've been like, that's too big.

If you had told me my dad would one day be safe, that would have been like, you don't know my dad. It was bigger than me, but it wasn't bigger than God. I have friends. they were told God's going to heal you through this. And they were like, man, the cancer's back, bro, it's done. And God was bigger than their wildest dreams. So if you, when somebody says, you just don't know Iran, David, you went on Fox the other day, Fox News and you were too audacious.

I'm like, you don't know my God. He is the ultimate Operation Fury Force. And he knows no boundaries. And he can. And he has a church there. He has a relentless group of people who love the Lord and want to see God. God's kingdom advanced. So who knows what God's got in store for Iran.

But honestly, more than I'm concerned or wanting their liberation, which I do, what I want to see in Iran is conversions. I don't know if you've heard this story and if you have just stopped me. You might have even shared it. But when COVID was just on the front end of it, Mike Pompeo confided in some friends. You might be one of his friends. I don't know if you know. But, you know, Mike Pompeo was head of CIA, you know, Secretary of State.

And so he confided with some, into some friends that some interesting things were happening they noticed in Iran. The CIA noticed in Iran right when COVID was beginning to like huddle up the world. Remember when it first came out? Like, we didn't know. Is this thing going to kill, you know, 100 million people? What's going to happen? And everybody had these question marks. And so people were all on lockdown.

And in that moment, while the whole world, was on its heels, the Iranian government wasn't able to shut down downloads. And so while the rest of the world was in Tennessee downloading and Netflix binging, in Iran, Mike Pompeo said, the CIA noticed that in Iran there was a tsunami of downloaded material happening. And so they were like, what is happening in Iran? We need to figure out. So being the CIA, they go and they start looking into it and they realized that they weren't they were downloading um and just an unprecedented amount of bibles bible studies sermons they were downloading things while the getting was good and uh and they were like what is happening and it was macampaya said it was exponentially there was

nowhere in the world near it the most amount of christian material being downloaded in the world at that point in Iran. And when that happens, I think now about what God was doing during COVID, doing all of the horrific thing that we all went through, how God in that moment opened up a window for the church to prepare. Think about that. And so God is always behind the scenes up to something. And I'm excited about seeing what God does to play this out. Sometimes it's not just behind the scenes. It looks like to me now it's in front of the scenes. Almost everybody I know wants to be healthy or healthier. And I think most of us would like it to happen to us by accident.

But that hasn't been my experience. So what do we do in a world where there's so many options and diets seem to be like fashion trends? They change with every season. How do we respond? Well, I want to tell you about something that I trust, something that has worked in my life. Ancient nutrition gives you a whole menu of supplements, sorts of things. for protein and collagen that I have found made a difference in my life. You know, I decline most of sponsorship invitations, but this isn't something that is

just an invitation to be a sponsor for something. I've actually used it in my life and it's made a difference. Jordan Rubin happens to live in the Nashville area, so he and I have become friends long before I was doing this podcast, and his coaching has helped me lead a healthier life. And I have found those ancient nutrition supplements to be very valuable, whether it's the multi-collegin, or now the new multi-protein. It's hard to eat enough protein sometimes as you age to maintain the muscle that we want to maintain.

And those supplements have been very helpful for me. They've been gracious enough to give those of you who are listeners to our program, if you'll use the code fuel 26, you'll get a 26% discount sitewide on ancient nutrition. That's ancientnutrition.com. Let's make choices to be healthier. and maybe we can limit the pharmaceuticals will be dependent upon. That would be a God thing.

God's moving in the earth and we can be a part of it by what we put on our fork and not just the pills we take. You know, I think politics is symptomatic. What do you mean? Well, I think the real causal elements in our world are spiritual.

Yes, sir. And when we see something happening in the political realm, it's a symptom of something that's happened spiritually. Absolutely. We've been hearing for a long time about this amazing awakening revival in Iran.

Through dreams, through, yes, sir. Yes. I mean, hundreds of thousands, millions of people, perhaps. And so it makes perfect sense to me that with that happening spiritually, that the symptom of that is now God's going to take down the political regime. That's right. And so I think there is an opportunity, and I think for the Christians listening to us to pray, to pray for the believers in Iran, to have an opportunity that the church is no longer underground. That's exactly right. That it's above ground.

That next Easter, a year from this Easter, they're celebrating Easter and they're celebrating Easter. the streets of Tehran publicly. I mean, can you imagine? I can't imagine, but God can imagine that, so I can pray for it. Can I tell you another story? Yes, please. So Doc, about, so that last Saturday, but the Saturday before, you know, so a couple weeks ago, I wake up in the morning and my phone is, you know, on fire because you remember a couple

of times, like Iran has been overnight, you know, allied forces have, you know, the air wars happened. What did you think when you heard that? I was like, this could be it. Again, we've always had two dreams, the American dream and like what I call the Iranian dream, which is a prayer. God liberate these people so that more of them would come to Christ. And so I thought this could be it. And when you're the only Iranian, a lot of your buddies know, they're all, like people I haven't heard about them for from 10 years.

They're like, what's up, bro? What's going? I'm hearing from people. You won the lottery. Oh, listen. I'm hearing from, you know, my favorite, my favorite was not all the Bible verses. My favorite was Auburn lost, the terrorists lost. It's going to be a good weekend. Roll tight. Let's go.

Anyway, so my phone's blowing up. I'm just excited. And I have to speak at a church locally. It's a youth conference, college conference, youth conference locally. So I get up, go, and I'm in the green room. And my phone's going, you know, I'm just getting requests, you know, and for to be on this podcast and stuff. And then they come and they say, hey, you're up at the end of this song. So I go behind the stage and there's LED walls and I look and I can see that, you know, the room, they're all worshipping.

And they gave me the microphone and I made the mistake. See, I don't have your maturity. I mean, I had my phone. So I had my Bible and the mic. He just called me old, but he did it very kindly. So good. And so I shouldn't have brought my phone. But my phone's still going because everybody's waking up watching this thing.

And so in my mind, I thought, I thought, I got to stop thinking about Iran for just a second and think about the fact that I am in. And Spring Hill, a discount. So I thought, I'm going to put my phone down and stop thinking about Iran. So I put my phone down and I close my eyes like this. They just stop thinking for just a second. As soon as I close my eyes, I have this instantly, I have this vision, clean as day of a soccer stadium, about 30, 40,000 young people in this soccer stadium in Iran. And they are all singing. Like, I'm looking, I'm hearing Americans over there singing, right?

But then I hear Iranian, and they're all singing, Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name. It stands above them all. That song, you know. You know, and all thrones and dominions, all powers. And I'm just, you got to stand to the Iranian people, that song, holy forever,

thrones and powers and dominions. That plays different in that house. I mean, those people have seen thrones that have disappointed them. Dominion that has been demonic dominion that has disappointed them and broken them. And then now they're saying, you're saying, so I have this vision of these people worshipping at a, like you said, like an Easter type service. And that's going on. And I mean, it was just amazing. So I have this vision.

So the next couple of days, every time I'm thinking about Iran, which is a lot, as things are just downloading and things are happening. I keep going back to that part of that song. And every time I think about it, I'll pray the song. I'd be like, God, your name above all names, God, your throne is. I would just pray that. Well, a couple mornings later, I'm laying in bed and I wake up like 3.45 in the morning. And I can't sleep. And I'm just thinking about, you know, you wake up when you're from that part of the world.

And you're like overnight when I turn my TV on, did Iran bomb Israel, God forbid, did, you know, like you're thinking about that, am I going to wake up and on WhatsApp? My family was killed. You know, so like, so I wake up at 3.45 in the morning and I started thinking about Iran and what's going on. And instantly I start praying that song. And then it hit me.

They're probably singing it in that soccer stadium if it ever comes into fruition. And when, it probably singing it in Farsi and not, you know, southern accent. Your own name is it a Brandon Lake Star. So, so in my mind. And I thought, I thought, well, let me learn. I don't know it in Farsi. My Farsi, I know Farsi, but it's very bad. So I get my phone, I go down on YouTube, but I'm like, you know, Holy Forever, Chris Tomlin, Tosan, Holy Forever, Farsi.

And about five versions of it pop up. Well, I see this one, this girl. She's like a young teenage girl, I thought. She's actually, I found out she's in their 20s. But I click it. And Doc, it is the worst recording, the quality of it is so bad. but instead of Paula, she'd had power. And I'm just laying in bed.

I got my little ear pods in, and she's leading it in Farsi. And I'm just worship. And my wife wakes up. I married a sweet girl from Alabama. She's like, what's going on? I'm like, take the earbud out. I'll put it in her ear. I'm like, listen.

And so we're listening. And I'm like, what if they're singing this in Iran? And if you had told me at that moment, that would happen, I would have been like, that's a fantasy. The only way they're going to gather Iranians is to put them all in jail. But like now this could happen. And so I wake up. I got out of bed and I go get ready because I got to drive to Rome, Georgia to do a podcast,

this guy who has to do it on location. And so I'm getting ready. And my wife comes in the bathroom and while I'm getting ready, she says, hey, after you left, I looked this young lady up. Like you had me on YouTube with her, but I just looked her up on Instagram. And this girl is legit. She said, this girl loves Jesus. She is passionate about Jesus.

And she loves Israel. And she loves President Trump. And she loves, loves, loves the people of Iran. So, like, she's an interesting girl. Look at her on the Internet. And so I'm just kind of watching her stuff. And she's like, she is like all caps about a lot of things, most of it being God. And so then my wife says to me, you should DM her, you know, and encourage her that she led us in worship.

And I said, honey, she doesn't follow me, you know, she doesn't know. She was, well, do it anyway. So I DM her on Instagram. I'm like, hey, you don't know me. Fellow Iranian-born pastor in America. Just want to tell you, thank you. And I put my number. I said, if you ever, I'd love to pray with you out of Iran.

So, so next thing you know, I put my, that's like at five in the morning. I drive to Rome, do this podcast. It's one of those like, this guy was on Rogan as a guest, so all his podcasts are Rogan long. So three hours long. So, man, I'm done. It's four in the afternoon. And I am now in the car all day. I haven't checked my phone.

And I'm driving to Atlanta because I got some consulting to do the next morning in Atlanta with a client. Well, I'm like a half hour from Atlanta, and I check my phone. And it's the young lady that I had DM'd. She's trying to get a hold of me. So she, and I figured she is in California because we saw on her feed that she was a student at Bethel School of Worship. And I thought, Redding. So she's got her number. She goes, please call me.

So I call. And she's like, hey, Mr. Nasser, my father, first thing she says to me. My name is Golden News. She's so good to me. She goes, my father. tried to reach you 10 years ago. And she goes, I would love to hear more about what God has put on your heart. And da-da-da.

She told me that her father worked in your dad's restaurant in Texas. No, better. I got better. Listen. So then she says, I, she says, can we meet? And I'm like, girl, you're in L.A. You're an Arongilis. I'm up here driving.

So that's what we call it. So she said, I go, where are you? She goes, well, I live in Atlanta. I said, okay. I said, I'm about a half hour from Atlanta. She goes, well, can we meet? And I said, well, honey, I can't meet you. I'm a man, you're above reproach.

And I go, but if you want, I said, is there a friend, a roommate, somebody that can, I said, your mom and dad. And she goes, my mom, my dad would love to come. My mom would. So an hour later, Dr. Jackson, we are in Rumi's, which is an Iranian, Persian restaurant in Atlanta. And I'm sitting there, this girl who comes in, I've never met her. She's sitting there. Her mom and dad are sitting there.

We're three minutes into the, into the meal. And I look at their dad and then I say, yeah. So what do you do? And he's like, I'm an underground church planter in Iran. And we had 15 campuses. But we lost two. Campuses are home churches. But we lost one campus when someone was just too hard for them.

And they walked away. But another one, he was my son in the ministry, heroin addict that I led to the Lord. He said he was shot in the temple and murdered for being a pastor. That's a very different strategy of losing. campuses than what we call on them here. And so he's telling me a story. I'm just sitting there at dinner just blown away by this man and his courage and his passion. And I'm like, why are you on this side of the ocean? And he said, well, we got caught smuggling bibles at the turkey border. And the UN had to like bring us over. But we want to go back. But that's what I do. Because I drive Uber for

living so that I can have the flexibility with Uber schedule to, I'm working constantly with my plants and we're launching new churches. Then I say to him, how did you, how'd you even get saved, bro? Like, how'd you come to know the Lord? And he points to his daughter and he says, well, when she was born, the doctors told us, we were Muslims, we're pretty devout Shiite Muslims. He said, and when she was born, the doctors told us that her heart didn't form properly in the womb.

As a matter of fact, she was missing a part of a chamber. and that it wasn't going to catch up. And eventually in Iran, the doctors, the pediatric cardiologist said to us, you've maybe got a few more weeks with her. Her little heart's not going to be able to. So why don't you just take her home, enjoy the few days you have, and just prepare for the fact that she's not going to be around. And he said, so we go home, we're distraught, we're depressed,

we're just heartbroken that our first child is not going to make it. And he said, and a neighbor invites us an Armenian, neighbor, Christian, invites us to his underground church. And so out of desperation, they go. And there's a bit of affinity between the Armenians and the Iranians. Yes, sir. Well, we call it the Armenian church. And so they go to this church. And it's not like your church where somebody comes in and we got to be intentional, first time visitor. You come in a couple with a baby, attendance is up 30%. So the pastor walks over, talks to them, finds out about what's going on with their child, lays hand, prays over the child.

And at the end of the prayer, he says to them, hey, I know this might freak you out. I don't want to be, I felt as I was praying, I felt like something moved, something shifted. So I don't know. You might want to go get her checked out. So they go back to the hospital. Doctor's like, what are you doing back? You know, I've told you, don't waste your time. And they said, would you just please check?

Sure enough, the doctor goes in the back. He comes back and he says, what happened? They're like, what do you mean? They're like, she is healed. The chamber has completely, it's there. What wasn't there is there. What happened? And then they go, Jesus, your name is the greatest.

your name is the highest. And the doctor says, well, I'm a Muslim, but if that is Jesus, then I believe in that Jesus. And the dad gets saved. I told her a dinner. I said, before you could even talk, you were an evangelist, you led your daddy to the Lord. Year later, it took a whole year for her mama to come to the Lord.

And then we are where we are. So we just have dinner. And then last Sunday, I'm preaching from a buddy of mine in Mississippi. And I said, hey, man, Like we're about to get off the phone. Usually like the last minute of our conversations, I'm messing with him about Ole Miss. He's messing with me.

And so we're sticking the landing. We're getting off the phone. And I said, hey, he goes, hey, bro, I'm not going to be there. That's why you're pinch it for me. He goes, I'm going to be in Malaysia and working with some underground folks. But we got people going all over the world. We got over 400 people on mission. Kurdish places, Iraq.

He said, so bring up missions a little bit. And also talk about Iran for a minute since you're from there. So don't tell your story. You already heard it. And as he's saying that, I go, okay, I said, hey, I got this girl that I just met. She's not even that, like, was a singer. She doesn't have this, wow, she's good. And he's like, okay, next thing you know, she came on Sunday.

And she is leading, the church is 25,000 people, you know, on a weekend. She's leading 25,000 people in Farsi. Your name is the greatest. And so when you're asking me, What is God doing? It ain't just like the people in Iran are going to get saved to this. I'm telling you right now, the people in Iran are, God is using them to get. I'm a missionary sent from the 1040 window to Murphy's Borough, Tennessee.

God sent me here. I believe that. And so, Golmush is doing that here. I tell her, one last thing. I tell her at dinner. I'm like, she's like, so how did you find that? I got, I looked you up and I was watching your video. She was, oh, it was the horrible.

I was like, oh, yeah, it was not good quality. But it was great. And then she said, I said, but I had this vision of Iran and 30,000 people. It's just, she's polite. You know, she's like looking down at her hummus kind of politely. And I said, what's wrong? She goes, well, I don't want to be rude. I said, no, no, go ahead.

Tell me what. I thought she's going to say, that's never going to happen or whatever. She goes, well, 30,000. I had the same vision. But 30,000 people is a. maybe for the pre-rally. Like, what do you mean? She goes, well, I don't think we have a stadium big enough.

I see a field with 100,000 people. You know what they did at Pine Lake, the church when we told that story? They said, your family, we are going to buy you one-way tickets to Iran. And when you go back, we got you. Because they want to go back to Iran. I mean, you can't tell me, guys not already. not like what he could do, what he's already doing.

And I cannot wait to see this thing continue to unfold. I will already not be the same. I hope I told you that story, and it stirred your heart to affection even more. Absolutely. And you won't be the same. So what is God already doing in Iran? What is already God doing through Iranians?

What is God going to do when people watch this, this podcast in Iran? and go, I thought Alan Jackson was a country music star. Where is his blonde mustache? If I sing, it would be poor quality. You know what I mean? What is God going to do? I can't wait to hear more and more.

And I don't think we'll know until we get to heaven. You know? And so, as you can tell, I'm a little fired up. You should be. It's appropriate. We should all be fired up. And I'm not sure a million's a good number. I've got a friend in South Africa.

Come on. Angus Bucking. Yes, sir. He was a farmer, and God used a bit long two years ago in the middle of all the turmoil there. He called him to rent a farm for a prayer meeting, and five million people showed up. So if he'll do that, we might as well. Where in South Africa was it? Well, he did that in the heart of the country, so it was easy access.

He lives in Greytown, which is right over on the Cusa, right on the edge of Zulu country. And God just gave him a vision, and he stepped into obedience and five million. People sat in their car 12 hours to get there, had a three-hour prayer meeting and 12 hours to get away to leave. That hunger, that hunger for God, again, they need us over there. We need each other. The church in Iran needs the church in America to say, we got you right now. We got you right now. But the same thing is true.

We need them. There are people that are going to not come to your church or my church this Easter because they're going to think, I don't know. Too much traffic. Too much traffic. We'll watch on YouTube. And you got people that will walk five days to come and be amongst others to worship the Lord. Absolutely. We could use some of that over here.

Under threat of being murdered. Absolutely. Being shot in the forehead. Absolutely. They'll open their home under that threat. And we don't like to open our homes because it's inconvenient and we have to sweep. Yeah. When did you become?

When did you become a Christian? I've never heard your story. My mom was when I was seven. Yes, sir. We went to church, but we weren't Christians. You can do that. You can go to this church and not be a Christian. Right.

And my mom gave birth to my youngest brother. I have two brothers. And while she was in the hospital, they said she had six months to live. She had cancer. Wow. And they were flying to Mayo Clinic for some pretty dramatic surgery. And she said a prayer. The pastor came to visit her in the hospital.

And he didn't believe in heaven or hell. The challenge in the church isn't new. It's been brewing for a long time. Right. But on the way to Mayo Clinic, she said a little prayer that if there is a God, because she said she wasn't sure, let me know the truth before I die so I can tell my sons. Wow. She didn't ask to be healed.

She didn't even know that was an option. And she went through the whole workup at Mayo Clinic. Doctor comes in her room late at night and said, Ms. Jackson, you had cancer. We have pictures of it. But we've looked for four days and we can't find it. Go home and raise your babies. And six weeks later, she's washing dishes one day. Wow.

And she heard a voice. And we were Methodist and Methodist don't hear voices. And the voice said, you asked to know the truth before you died. And she said, yes, I did. And he said, I'm the way the truth in the life. Wow. And she had to go find a Bible because it wasn't easy in our house then. And she found it in John 14.

14, yeah. And so my parents became Christians. And they changed so much, the temperature in our house that I walked in the kitchen a few weeks later and said, what has happened? I was nine years old. And I said our home is different, what's happened. Wow. And I knelt in the kitchen floor, 4811 Jackson Street in Hollywood, Florida.

Wow. And so God was very gracious. The doctor only missed it by 55 years. She passed away. You got a lot in common with Goldnish and her family. Some of the undertones of your salvation story are very close to Goldnish's dad and mom. And you're just a miracle to grab your attention. There's no other way to understand.

But we all are. Amen. Anybody that looks at us goes, only God. Amen. Only God. You know, First Corinthians one, he chose all the broken stuff, the crackpots. That's right. That's all he's got.

He gets all the credit that way. That's right. You know, I often hear people say that we have a real leadership deficit in our nation or in our communities or even in our churches. And I know there's some truth to that, but I would like to refine it a bit. I see people that are great leaders in lots of places. You're great leaders in your business environment, in your corporate settings, and classrooms, your great leaders in your community or in mobilizing your family.

The place where I see this astounding leadership deficit is in our willingness to lead with our faith. We have confidence in the business setting or confidence in coaching an athletic team or coaching a group of students, but we don't have much confidence to bring our faith view to bear in the places where we have influence. If we don't lead with our faith, our other expressions of leadership are secondary. Well, I've written a new book on guess what? lead with faith. And the goal is to help give you the courage and the boldness to lead with your biblical worldview on the matters that will impact our culture and help make our future better. Read the book, open your heart. God's raising up a whole new generation of leaders, and I want to

be a part of that. And I believe you do too. You know, we always try to wrap these sessions with what can we do. And I think you've told us. We can pray for the people of Iran. Yes, sir. And I don't always close these out with a prayer, but I would be honored if you would pray. Absolutely. You have a heart for the people of Iran in a way. I'm sure I can't. Wow. But I will join you in that compassion because I truly believe what we're watching happen

on the international stage has been the cause of that has been the prayers of those people and those underground house churches that could not step into the daylight. And God's going to bring that into the light. Amen. That makes me want to do some results. Amen. That's amazing. Would you pray?

Yes, sir. Thanks for letting me come and brag on the Lord. The title of your book. Jumping Through Fires is my life story. And like I said, this is so cool. They're going to make a movie of it. You know, and so I can't wait. You're going to be in it?

Come on. Maybe as an old grandpa or something. So I'll pick through fires and they can get that Amazon, any place they get books. And I've written a couple of devotional books as well. You can just go to David Nassar.com. If you want to know more about how to partner with the church in Iran, we just, me and some other partners just started, Revivaleran.com. Revivaleran.com.

As a place that we're going to bring more resources into, it's a giving portal, but it's more than that. It's going to be a prayer journal portal. And it's also going to be an advocacy portal where people can figure out how to, like, have good language to add the water cooler at work. when people are talking about the gas prices going up or whatever going up going, hey, we can talk about politics. All that's fine. As long as we above the sun, don't forget God's got his bride over there. God's good. What's going to do?

So we want to equip the saints to do the work in ministry on both sides of the ocean through this thing. And so that's the revival, Iran.com as well. Thanks for letting me push to that. But, yeah. You know, God's been doing things in Iran for a long, long time. You're in the book. Yeah. Amen.

I mean, people said, Do you think that, I can't wait to get to Iran and meet, I mean, get to heaven and meet Esther, the Persian queen. Yeah. Who is the same saying? Like, we, and you read your Bible. Iran is in the end times. I mean, you, I'm sure you've been to Israel. I've been a lot.

I love Israel. I've stood at Mount Magidot. And that's the one time I ever got that compass out on my phone. And I said, where's Iran? And we're told that Iran, Iran. Iran will be allied as a nation allied against at that moment against Israel. But I'm not worried about that. I'm worried right now by getting Iranians to be on the right side that day.

I'm worried about getting Americans to be on the right side that day. And so people listen to me right now, you don't get a pass just because you got an American passport to be on the right side. Only through the blood of Christ. You know, I'm worried about the people in Israel who need Christ. Absolutely. Who are not born again. And so to me, nobody comes to the Father. Amen.

Except to him. And so people are like, are you worried about Iran? I'm like, I'm worried about Iranians. I'm worried about Americans. I'm worried about Mississippians, Tennessee ends, you know. I don't want God to save Tennessee. I want God to save people from Tennessee, you know. And so my next-door neighbor, you know, living up here.

So anyway, you get me fired up. I don't think it takes much to get you going. Pray for us. Yeah, Lord, you can do it. We've seen you do it. God, I hear my brother's testimony of what you did, God, and how there was a wake-up call and through a healing. And I thank you, Lord, that in Hollywood, Florida, God, you did it.

And you did it, God, when you saved me in Bastavia Hills, Alabama. And, Lord, you're doing it right now. You're doing it through dreams in, um, Tehran and Mashhad, you're doing it, God, through your church, through signs and wonders where you're grabbing the attention of people. And Lord, even in Tennessee, every week here in Murphysboro, we see people come to know you. And so all we're asking you to do is do it again. Do it again, God.

What you've been doing, don't stop. The relentless, unstoppable power of the gospel and the life of everyone. So, Lord, we pray for revival for Iran. God, we pray that what the enemy has meant for evil. you would use for your kingdom advancement. We pray that our brothers and sisters, the church in Iran, your bride, would know we got them. That we pray for them. We advocate for them.

We resource them so they could be heroes in the trenches between Sundays. Lord, what if the church in Iran in the next few months becomes the main trauma counseling arm in Iran? What if the church God in Iran becomes the main place, a heronautic finds hope, a main place God where people began to get curriculum to grow and get their marriage back. And so what if what if the hero in the trenches on a Tuesday, on a Thursday, becomes the church in Iran? Lord, you've got your people there.

The inroads are there. And so use them. Let this be their finest hour. We want the same here. God, raise up, raise up a generation here. Lord, we want awakening. We hear about revival in Paducah, Kentucky, a bunch of kids at Ohio State, baptizing one another on a college campus, Southeast Christian, having three-night long prayer

vigils on a campus. And Lord, then we hear about what you're doing in Iran. And you're just, you're doing it everywhere. So we're just selfish for Murphy's Borough. Do it here, Lord. Use us. We pray this in your name. Amen. Amen. David, thank you. Yeah, I love you. What an encouragement, man. Such a fan of your ministry. You gave me a gift today. If you're not familiar with David Nassar, you need to be. If you don't read, it's a good time to start. But most importantly, let's be sure we're praying on a regular basis for the people of Iran,

that they will find freedom for their faith in the public square in the light of day. You know, God's moving in the earth. And I'm grateful that he's given his front row seats, but I'd much rather be in the game. And you don't have to go to Iran to do that. You can get on your knees and do that. Let's take our place and what's happening. Thanks for the reminder. I love you, pastor.

We do a follow up in a bit? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So grateful for you. You look eeringly like Robert Redford. I just hit me. The young version.

Yes. Yes, the very young version. Not the leather bag. No, no, no. Yeah. Thank you. The good-looking young version. You heard it here.

Culture and Christianity. We'll talk soon. Thanks for joining me today. Before you go, please like the podcast and leave a comment so more people can hear about this topic too. If you haven't yet, be sure and subscribe to Alan Jackson Ministries YouTube channel and follow the Culture and Christianity podcast. You can do that on Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Together, let's learn how to lead with our faith. We can change

our culture. I'll see you next time.