Culture & Christianity: The Allen Jackson Podcast - Is This the Beginning of Birth Pains?

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Jesus warned that before His return, there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and widespread deception. He called these events "the beginning of birth pains." Pastor Allen asks the piercing question: Are we living in those very days now? In this episode, he opens with a look at a global shift that few in mainstream media will even acknowledge: peace breaking out in regions long plagued by hatred and violence. He highlights unlikely reconciliation efforts between bitter rivals such as Azerbaijan and Armenia, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and more. With the world watching as Trump and Putin convene in Alaska, Pastor Allen reminds us that the real battle is not left versus right but truth versus deception. The question on the table is: What can we do?—It’s up to us to bring God’s truth back into our culture. It may feel like an impossible assignment, but there’s much we can do. Join Pastor Allen Jackson as he discusses today’s issues from a biblical perspective. Find thought-provoking insight from Pastor Allen and his guests, equipping you to lead with your faith in your home, your school, your community, and wherever God takes you. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JsyO6ysUVGOIV70xAjtcm?si=6805fe488cf64a6d Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culture-christianity-the-allen-jackson-podcast/id1729435597

Very good. Welcome to culture and Christianity. That title seems more appropriate to me every day. If we don't have more Christianity in our culture, our culture is going to plunge further into paganism. It's not up to somebody else, folks. You and I are going to have to live out our faith. I talk to lots of people across the country. I say the same thing. Our pastor isn't this or our church doesn't do that. And that's unfortunate. But we're the church. You and me, this isn't an institutional problem. This is a personal issue. And so I'm excited about this session. God's moving in the earth. And I want to move with him. I hope you have that tucked in your heart. I say it frequently, but it's not just like some buzzword. God truly is moving in the earth. And this is our time in the arena. I want to move with him. I don't want to just protect traditions of the church or keep watch over a herd of sacred cows. I want to be about what the Lord is doing in this unique season to take the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ into our world with a boldness

and a clarity that it's never seen before to use the technology and the tools that are available to us. But I'll start with a bit of current events. There's some amazing things. I don't think they can be understood apart from God. The places in the world where peace is being negotiated

that we're in the midst of circumstances where it seemed a complete impossibility, that the nations or the tribes or the people groups involved where they were lodged in such a place of hatred that peace seemed impossible. And President Trump and the current administration, I mean, the reports are just amazing. I don't know if you're watching or not. I made a list.

The team helped me build this. But, I mean, they have brokered peace deals between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Armenia was the first Christian nation outside of Israel. And the Armenian people have suffered great. the Christian community in Armenia. We've worked with them pretty closely for a couple of decades, and they have suffered at the hands of Islam in that region. And there's been a peace deal brokered there,

which brings a clarion of note of hope to those people, between Cambodia and Thailand, Israel and Iran. I mean, since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, Iran has been a global sponsor of terror. I mean, when Jimmy Carter was president and the Iranians took hostages from our nation and kept them for, was it over 500 days? Wasn't until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan? During his inauguration, those hostages were released because Reagan had said if he got to the White House, he would bomb Iran.

And from that day until just a few weeks ago, Iran has been the primary global sponsor of terrorism. they have said publicly, repeatedly, to anyone who would listen that they intended to secure nuclear weapons. And when they did, they would destroy Israel and attack the United States. They referred to the United States as the great Satan and Israel is the little Satan. And there is a peace negotiation. Iran has lost their nuclear capabilities. And I don't think they are at a place that they will accept peacefully the existence of Israel. but their proxies have been illuminated.

Hezbollah in the north. Hamas is in its death throws in Gaza. It's unsustainable. They still have a few hostages. But that's a historic move. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There's been a peace deal brokered there. There has been hatred and warfare between those nations and tribes in those nations

that have filled recent history. In fact, if you listen to the podcast from last week, my father and my mom went into the Congo in a time when it was very dangerous. So that's a historic. India and Pakistan have reached a peace deal. Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia, and Kosovo. The Abraham Accords that began during Trump's first administration.

They are actively in negotiation to see those extended. I've talked to Israeli. friends that say there seems to be a high degree of probability that Lebanon and Syria would enter into the Abraham Accords? That's unbelievable. It's just it's it's it stretches the realms of what's even considered credible to me. Lebanon was one of the most beautiful if not the most beautiful nation in the Middle East. It was a Christian nation, a Christian Arab nation, totally destabilized by Islam and in recent years they really haven't had an

independent autonomous government. They've been dominated by Hezbollah. And so for that kind of a peace deal and the fruitfulness that would come with that, there are gas pipelines from the Muslim world that they're planning through

Israel to the ported Haifa to bring LNG liquid natural gas to Europe. I mean it's just an unmus... Peace is breaking out. amongst people who have been historically combative and filled with hatred. Please don't miss that. It's not celebrated in most of our legacy media outlets

because there's just not much news going to be reported that's going to give credit to this current administration. It's far more fashionable to say that they're an existential threat to democracy. I don't think anybody should be allowed to say existential in public unless they can spell it. Because I'm pretty sure some of the knuckleheads that spout that talking point couldn't spell it if they had three chances. But it's a remarkable set of things that we're watching.

And as you're listening to this, I suspect it's about the time that Trump and Putin will be meeting to discuss peace with the war in Ukraine. It will take God to bring that peace. I think Putin is a very dark character. And Zelensky, I don't, I think his character has some fractures in it. it will take God, but I admire President Trump for his persistence in trying to bring a conclusion to that. The prior administration simply wanted to continue to throw money at it.

And while we were investing money and arms in it, there have been more than a million people killed. I have done multiple Zoom calls with leaders in the nation there, and the suffering amongst the people has been just horrific. So it's worth praying, if you haven't been praying for that peace, that that emerges as well. God can do that. God can do that. And I pray out of those meetings in Alaska, something good happens. So the question,

and I'm going to take the bulk of our time with this, it's really an offshoot of the question that we hear so often, no matter where I go, people say, what can we do? You know, how do we get here and what can we do? And I've said it over and over again, and I'm going to say it again today because I believe it with all of my heart

that the fundamental problem we face is not political. It's not a Republican problem or a democratic problem. It isn't about Trump, whether you love him or you hate him. I'm very grateful for him. We owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. He's made significant sacrifices for our nation. And we are benefiting from his leadership and his willingness to secure our border, to stand up for law and order, to try to restore law and order to our cities, to tell the truth about the media, so many of the things that we cringed about when he first said them. you know, when he talked about the fake news and the fake media and the legacy media and he called

them names, many of us, myself included, cringed. And now from where we sit some years later, he was telling us the truth. You know, I had any number of friends that told me they couldn't vote for President Trump because his language was so coarse. And right now on the other side of the aisle, it's fashionable to drop the F-bomb, trying to give the appearance of tough. Folks, profanity does not make you tough. It's bizarre what we're watching.

But we owe President Trump a debt of gratitude. But the issue on the table is what can we do? And if our problem is fundamentally spiritual, then we have to respond from a spiritual place. And that's not coming from politicians. That's not coming from monetary policy. That's not going to come from a political organization. I believe a spiritual victory can be expressed.

through monetary policy or through economic policy or a spiritual victory can be expressed through in the ballot boxes in an election. But if there isn't a fundamental spiritual change in our lives, in our hearts, in our homes, in our communities, we will not maintain the progress that is being established. What Cash Patel, what Pam Bondi, what President Trump, what that group of people, what Bobby Kennedy, what they're doing to try to help us be healthier, the things they are doing, the truth that's being told, the spending cuts that are being made, the restoration of sanity like a secure border, those positions will not be held unless there is a

fundamental spiritual change. They're being enacted at a political level, and we have to have a change that brings us back centered in the truth. And so I wanted to spend a few minutes with you and talk about what we can do, what we can bring to this table that's every bit as a essential is what those high-profile people are doing. You see, I believe in the halls of heaven, in the kingdom of heaven. In the book of Revelation, we have these pictures of the throne room of heaven with 100 million angels in one scene, or the elders falling down before the throne of God and throwing their crowns before the throne of God. Well, I want you to imagine that you and I have access to the throne room, very clear in Scripture, and that our posture and our

attitude has an impact on what's unfolding in human history. We have got to stop playing church and doing polite little Bible studies. It's like patty cake for Christians. I've got no interest in it. I mean, I love studying my Bible, and I believe in going to church. I go enough for all of us, I think. But at the heart of all those behaviors is submitting ourselves to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and making a decision to lead a righteous life, not to earn our way into heaven, but to walk uprightly before God so that the power of God can be made evident through our lives. If you do the Bible reading with us, and I hope you do, and if you don't, why aren't you doing it? What are you thinking?

What are you waiting on an angelic visitor, a talking donkey? It's too late when you get there. Go to the website or the apps. Get the Bible reading. We're in Second Samuel. Jump on board. We'll finish the balance of the Hebrew Bible. before the end of the year, the Old Testament.

But at the heart of this is a verse in Matthew 16, 18. It's a life verse for me. I'll build my church. This was Jesus speaking. He said, I'll build my church, and the gates of Hades won't overcome it. Jesus is doing that today. I changed my life when that verse became real to me. I changed my career plan, my educational plan, my professional development plan.

I gave my life to that, not joining some already thriving structure of the church, not trying to find a way to gain momentum to the front of something. I simply said I will engage in strengthening the people of God. When I began, it was the most improbable setting. If you've heard some of the conversations I've had with my dad, you know a bit of the backstory. When I came, there was a few dozen people in a tent. And we've seen God do the most improbable things.

But decades later, I'm still doubling down on building the church. As I speak, our campus, We've got heavy equipment moving. They're setting off dynamite charges on a regular basis, moving rock for new buildings, about 40 acres involved in expanding spaces for children and outdoor worship, new facilities to serve our local congregation in the church and our nation and in the world production facilities so we can take the content that we're creating here in this local congregation and make it available to families and children and students and believers around the earth.

Jesus is building his church. are you helping him? It's a very important question. You know, it's so easy to sit in the seat of the skeptic and have an attitude about people that are trying. We're all accustomed to that. I do this. Sometimes to unwind, I'll watch a sporting event.

And it doesn't matter a whole lot to me, which one. I watch golf. I go to sleep more quickly. But, you know, I'll watch some sporting event, college or professional sports. And I sit in my chair and I have a critical attitude towards those athletes. They're investing. their whole lives in physical training, their diet is regulated, their physical exercise. They're in far better physical condition than I am, and I'll be critical of their effort.

If they fail at a clutch point, you know, I'll say they choked. I don't have anywhere close to the ability to duplicate their efforts on their worst day, but I hold kind of this judgmental attitude towards them. And tragically, I think we bring a very similar attitude to the church. You know, when will the pastors do better? When will the worship leaders do better? When will the dominational executives do better? Or the seminary professors be better?

Those aren't really the fundamental questions. When are you and I going to be better? When are we going to redirect our lives? When are we going to make greater sacrifices? When are we going to give more generously of our time and our treasure and our talent? Jesus is building the church. I want to be a part. And I'm not recruiting for anything today.

I just don't want you to miss that invitation. One day we will stand before the king and he will ask us. and we won't be able to blame the pastor, and I won't be able to blame whomever, we'll give an account for ourselves. I said that when my father recently did a podcast. He told the story how he came to faith, how God transformed our family.

They started a home Bible study all the way up to the beginning of this church that I've served now for decades. As I listened, the heart of it was the work of the Holy Spirit in his life and through his life. I asked him to do a book around the topic, and we have it, so that you can invite the Spirit of God to be the dynamic presence of the power of God to bring change in life and hope, no matter what the circumstances.

You'll enjoy the book. Experience the Holy Spirit in a deeper way with this new book by Pastor Allen's dad, The Eternal Breath of Life. Request your copy when you donate any amount today. And when you give $50 or more, you can also request unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a collection of Pastor Allen's sermons that will help you understand the Holy Spirit in new ways.

Request yours today at allanjaxon.com. So I want to read you two additional passages of scripture. One's a little longer. It's Matthew 24. It's Jesus' most lengthy prophetic discourse. Jesus is the greatest of the Hebrew prophets, greater than Isaiah or Jeremiah. And in Matthew 24, he's asked a couple of questions by his closest friends.

He's approaching the end and he knows it. His suffering is about to begin. And his friends, they're on the temple, at the temple in Jerusalem took 40 years to build. It's the most magnificent structure in all the land of Israel. It's a wonder in the ancient Roman world. The disciples are appropriately proud of it. And the disciples call Jesus' attention to the buildings.

And he said, I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left here on another. And the disciples are completely caught off guard. They say, well, tell us when that's going to happen. When will it be the end of the age? they can't imagine the temple being destroyed and not being the end of the world. And so Jesus answers both of their questions. He tells them when the temple will be destroyed, and he talks to them about the end of the age. The temple would be destroyed in about 40 years.

It was 70 CE, the Roman legions besieged Jerusalem, and they quite literally tore the temple mount apart stone at a time. If I could pick you up and take you to Jerusalem today, we could go stand on a Roman road at the base of the temple, and there are these enormous cut blocks of limestone. Some of them as big as a bus, a public bus, that were toppled from 30 or 40 feet in the air, and they destroyed the pavement below it,

and when they excavated it, they left it there. So Jesus' prophecy was very literally fulfilled in about 70 AD. But then Jesus begins to give a series of characteristics for the end of the age, the conclusion of this age. This age will come to a conclusion. Jesus will return. In Book of Revelation, it talks about he's going to make everything new. There will be no more crying or mourning or weeping

because all of those things will have passed away. And when Jesus comes to rule and reign on this earth, this present age will come to a conclusion. It's not the end of our existence. Your spirit is eternal and your spirit will live on. With the resurrection of your body, you'll get 2.0, you'll get a new earth suit, not subject to the vagaries of aging.

That is enticing. But as we approach the end of this age, Jesus gives us a basketful of characteristics. Now, it's worth thinking about because Jesus gave them, there were many prophetic indicators, and Jesus added to that his own teaching with his disciples about what would happen

just prior to his crucifixion, his arrest, his betrayal, the suffering he would endure. and his disciples were caught completely off guard physically and emotionally. They ran, they were frightened, they were terrified. They weren't prepared for Jesus' crucifixion, even though he had told them. And you and I need to do better. We need to take his counsel, so we're prepared for the end of the age. If you're imagining that the rapture is you get out of jail free card,

and you don't have to pay any attention to current events and cultural trends, because you're going to get raptured out of this, and it's not your problem, you're deceived. Why on earth would Jesus give us the teaching if the only people listening to his teaching didn't need it? The pagans aren't combing the pages of scripture to find out what Jesus said about the end of the age. I'm not interested in this session in having a debate on eschatology and my timeline. I don't have a chart, but I do think we ought to pay attention to Jesus' words. It's Matthew 24 in verse 4. Jesus said, watch out that no one deceives you.

many will come in my name claiming I'm the Christ and will deceive many. You'll hear of wars and rumors of wars, see to it that you're not alarmed. Gee, there's no wars going on in our age. We just read a list of about a dozen that our president and our nation have been involved in trying to resolve. Jesus said such things must happen, but the end is still to come. So when you see all of those things happening is not the end. They're just markers. They're just indicators that it's like seeing.

mile markers on the interstate. You haven't reached your destination yet, but you pass the billboards telling you how far away you are from a buckies. And Jesus is telling us how far we are away from the end. And he said, you don't have to be alarmed. We shouldn't be frightened by it. Just we should take it into consideration in our own preparation. He said, such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Our English is not quite as clear there. The word translated nation is ethnos. It's from which we get the word ethnic. So it's not so much about nation states being in combat. It's about the tension between ethnic groups. It certainly seems to me that ethnic tension is rising in our own nation and in the nations of the world.

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. We've had reports of multiple earthquakes in recent weeks and months. You know, some of that may be that they're report, we have much more global awareness than my grandparents would have had. But there's also enough data to suggest that there's an increase in the earthquakes. And then he makes this statement in verse 8 that all of these are the beginning of birth pains. I've never given birth, spoiler alert. But my father was a veterinarian and I've watched hundreds of things be born. And I observed some things in all of those processes.

Once birth pains begin, they're going to continue until there's a delivery. but as that process unfolds, they increase in both frequency and intensity. And so when Jesus says that these things are the beginning of birth pains, my imagination is my understanding of that passage is that those things will increase in frequency and they will continue to gain intensity. So ethnic conflict, some of the natural phenomenon that are described,

the tensions in the world, as we approach the end of the age, they will increase. And then in verse 9, he uses a word, it's a timing word. He said, then after those birth pains begin, then he said, you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you'll be hated by all nations because of me. I won't pause there a moment. There's a phrase that's used in the book of Romans multiple times.

It says to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. The Jewish people have been hand. across civilizations and cultures, easily said for the length of the existence of the Christian church for two millennia. The primary sponsor of most of that anti-Semitism has been from the Christian community. What I didn't really realize until recently it's escalated in our nation, which has been very surprising for me to watch. But when I would read passages like that, I thought, well, the Jewish people are hated because it's a spiritual thing

and the spirit of Antichrist drives that. What I'm observing these days is the Jewish people are hated, but there's a cause attached to it. They're hated because they're committing genocide in Gaza. Never mind the people saying that aren't presenting any evidence. They're hated because they're killing the children in Gaza. I read a report this week that the picture, the report that's been so widely given about the child that was mistreated was fabricated.

But the hatred that is being expressed towards the Jewish people has a cause attached to it. It's not abstract. It may not be true, but nevertheless, it is connected to that group of people. But when Jesus says that you and I will be hated by all nations because of him,

that's not going to be abstract, theoretical hatred. We'll be hated. Think of the cultural discussions we've had in the last decade that Christians are out of date. We're antiquated. We want to drag people into the past.

We have an, not fully formed notion of marriage. We think it's between a man and a woman. We have a limited attitude towards human sexuality, and we cling to these outdated biblical notions of sexual morality, of sexual activity being confined to marriage between a man and a woman, that it's inappropriate prior to marriage. The biblical word for that is fornication, that it shouldn't be conducted outside of marriage. The word for that's adultery, that they're inappropriate, that you can't participate in the kingdom of God and embrace those things. Well, we've been told now for a lengthy period of time, by the powerful amongst us, by the celebrated amongst us, that those ideas are

out of fashion, they're out of style, they're out of date, that we shouldn't cling to them anymore. And if you do cling to them, you're judgy. And there's a hatred that is being released towards us. I suspect you've felt it. I suspect you're reluctant to have those conversations oftentimes within your family system for the emotions that will be directed to you. Well, when the birth pains begin, those attitudes of hatred towards people with the biblical worldview are going to grow. They're going to intensify. Jesus told us. In verse 10, Jesus said on the heels of that, he said at that time, when this begins, many will turn away from the faith and will betray each other. Why will they turn away from the faith? Because there is such hatred being

directed at people who own the faith. He goes on to say there will be many false prophets who will appear and deceive many fee people. False prophets aren't just false religious characters. The role of a prophet is to speak the truth into the world. The prophetic role is to bring God's perspective into the world. The priestly role represents the people to God. So when Jesus says there'll be false prophets, there will be people that you and I expect to tell the truth that will not tell the truth. It makes them a false profit. We saw it during COVID. There were people we expected to give us appropriate scientific perspectives that were not. It was a false profit. We see it in the media. We expect those people to tell us the truth about our world so we know how to engage in our world. And they

don't tell the truth. They cook the books on Russian collusion and they recruit people to lie about it and they know they're lying about it. They get Pulitzer prizes for lies they told so they won't tell the truth now. False prophet. They flourish in the church. You don't need much discernment to see that. We set aside the authority of scripture. We redefine marriage. We redefine sexuality. False prophets, they're flourishing among us. And the result is many people will be deceived. How can that be? Because we haven't spent time with the Word of God. Have I mentioned the Bible reading plan? It'd be really beneficial if you would take the time to read the Bible with us. it'll help you.

And it strengthens it if you're reading it in community. You don't need our Bible reading plan. It's not more anointed. It's not better than others. It's simply one that I invite you to as a part of community. And there's a strength in that. Jesus went on. He said, because of the increase of the wickedness,

the love of most will grow cold. In Greek, many of you know, I'm sure, that there's multiple words for love. In English, you've only got one word for love. It always makes me smile. You love your dog and you love your kids. When your dog misbehaves, you can lock him outdoors. Don't do that with your kids.

Clearly, there's some limits to our language. Every language has limits. One of those limits in our language is the word for love, and it's often misused. But in the Greek language, there's multiple words for love. There's a word for brotherly love, filo. There's a word for physical love, eros. Well, there's a word for God's love, Agape. And that's the word that's used in this passage here.

when Jesus said the love of most will grow cold, he's talking about the people of God. That because of the increase of wickedness, because of the increase of lawlessness, there will be love grow cold in our hearts. You see, we have a responsibility to pray for the people around us, not just the ones you agree with. We don't just pray for people in authority when they're the ones we vote for. We pray for the people around us. We are intercessors. We're salt and light.

and we have an assignment. Jesus is in the business of building his church, remember? That's what we're about. That means we take a message about the goodness of God to people that haven't believed it yet. We want to help take people who have sworn they'll never get on an airplane and make them frequent flyers. That is the notion of sharing our faith. We're not judging people. We're telling people our God stories.

Let me tell you what God's done for me. Or someone shares with you a point of pain or disruption or fear in their life. life, and you have a let's pray moment, a sentence prayer with them. You're taking light into our world. We're not powerless. Folks, NGOs are not more powerful than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have believed the lies that our adversaries have told us. And then Jesus makes a couple of statements. He said, he who stands firm to the end will be saved. We've got to stand. I'll need your help. You'll need mine. We'll stand together. this podcast, one of the reasons we do it,

and it takes a whole team of clever people, I promise you, it's not just me, is we want to do anything we can to help God's people stand. We want to build the church. And then he said, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.

There's an end to this age. There is. There's a conclusion to it. There's a terminal point. I hope you're living with that in mind. I refuse to spend my life collecting things I can't keep or giving my heart away to things that will slip through my fingers. I enjoy life. Don't misunderstand me.

I love the world that God created for us. I like to go and see. All of those things are wonderful for me. But the objectives of my life are rooted beyond time. The things that I'm giving my strength to, my thought to, my heart to, my effort to, my passion to are rooted in eternity. The evaluation of my journey through time will not be evident until we get to eternity, and I pray that yours isn't either.

I want to be generous with my time. I want to be generous with the resources God gives to me. I don't want to be foolish, but I don't want to hold on to those things as if I can keep them. I can't. They're temporary, and they'll slip through our fingers. I want to be engaged in the building of the church. I like the line from Psalms when David said, I'd rather be a gatekeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

I want to be identified with God's people. I want to be one of those people. I want to be a person of the book. I want to be a person who prays for the peace of Jerusalem. I want to be a person who prays for those in authority over me. I want to be a person who brings Jesus to the kitchen table with the people where I sit and have a meal on a regular basis. I want my friends and the people in my soul.

social networks to know I'm a Christ follower, not a preacher, not a professional Christian, not a pastor, but a man with a heart to know the Lord. Not a perfect one. Folks, I hit my thumb with a hammer. No telling what may roll out of me. I'm not suggesting to you I have mastered all of these things. I'm telling you when I look at the world, I just finished an interview before I stepped into here with a man who's spending his time 24-7 working on

behalf of 600,000 children that came across our border under the last administration that are unaccounted for. 600,000 people, 90% of the counties in America have 500,000 people are fewer. So there's a high degree of probability that the county where you live has a lesser population than the number of children that came across our border in the last administration that have simply disappeared from view. to be trafficked, to be put into forced labor, to be mistreated. That's the world we're living in.

There's not a political solution. It's a spiritual solution. When we say we cannot be okay with that, that I will cry out to God until something is done, then we will see political solutions emerge. We will see bipartisan agreement that we can't sacrifice children in that way. We will rise up and say that we won't, put smut in our school libraries anymore. Jesus gave us a roadmap. We don't have to be afraid.

The spirit of God is within us. Jesus is the head of the church. He is building his church. I say that almost every day. Lord, I thank you that you are building your church. And I can be a part of that. How can I be a part of that? How can I strengthen your church? Sometimes it's a people initiative. Sometimes it's a facilities initiative. As I'm speaking, they just set off another blast of dynamite. The floor shook again. We are physically expanding the church because we want to serve more people more effectively than ever before. God will use your life. Get out of the seat of the skeptic. Tell God you're sorry when you've treated his invitations lightly. You know, he will take our halting steps and bring momentum to them.

God has not forgotten you. He hasn't rejected you. You haven't walked out from under his truth so far that you can't repent and walk back under it. I'm grateful for President Trump. I'm grateful for his cabinet. I'm grateful for what they're doing. But I'm not confused.

They're not our Savior. You and I have to occupy a place in this generation to let the purposes of God emerge. I'm going to read it again. I can tell it to you again. It's Matthew 16, 18. Jesus said, I will build my church, folks at you and me. It's not a building.

It's not a denomination. It's not a translation of the Bible. It's every man, woman, or child who has yielded their life to the authority of Jesus. He's building something in us and he will build something through us. That is reason for hope. No matter what your circumstances are today, you begin to thank God that he's building something in you. that he's created you to be an overcomer and that we will see the purposes of God

break forth and the enemies of God be confounded. That is culture and Christianity and I'm honored to make the journey with you. I'll talk to you soon. Hey, 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 to subscribe

to Alan Jackson Ministries YouTube channel and follow the Culture and Christianity podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Together, let's learn how to lead with our faith and change our culture. I'll see you next time.