Girls Gone Bible - Cancel Culture | Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: August 11, 2023

GGB GANG :) our angels. hi. this week we're talking about something really important. cancel culture. we're really passionate about the fact that our God is a God of grace, forgiveness, redemption, and transformation. "there's a way to hold people accountable without ruining their lives." "whenever you're cancelling someone, just imagine this. the worst thing you've ever done in your life, put in the spotlight for everyone to judge." we touch on how the current state of society is dangerously sensitive and how it is IMPERATIVE we are kind and loving to those who may not have the same opinions and beliefs as us. we read and discuss the incredibly moving story of Saul to Paul from the Book of Acts, chapter 9. be kind. respect one another. love one another. these aren't just cute sentiments we're putting at the bottom of the description, but a genuine plea & call to action. let's make Jesus proud when He looks down at how well we treat each other. love you so much. -Ang & Ari If you’re struggling, consider therapy with our sponsor BetterHelp. Click https://betterhelp.com/girlsgonebible for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy with a licensed professional specific to your needs.  if you’d like to support Girls Gone Bible 🙏🏻🕊️🤍 Paypal- https://www.paypal.me/girlsgonebibleinfo Venmo- https://www.venmo.com/u/girlsgonebible https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/girlsgonebiblepod/support

Hey, and hi babe. Hey there All right. All right. Hang on. Hang on. Let's just let's be cool. And let's just started talking. We're cool in real life Why do we get weird when we come on here? So just be by the way, we're keeping that in. All right What's up? What's up? How's your week? Hi guys, how are you? Hi, I am a little bit down bad guys I have been sick for a week But not a bacterial cold I have what I call an anxiety cold

I had a stressful day last week I had a little anxiety all of a sudden And it's not the first time it's happened to me And I looked it up and it does happen You can get your body Because your immune system gets so weak from stress Will shut down and mimic cold and flu symptoms And I've been having that for a week has happened you can get your your body because your immune system gets so weak from stress will like shut down and like mimic cold and flu symptoms and i've been having that for a week

i know i've been coddling you like a little baby i know she's been coddling me and holding me you're the best one ever hi guys what's going on so anything else you want to tell me about your week um i don't know. What did you do? Why do I forget what happened? Like, whenever someone says, like, what did you do today? I go blank. What did you do this week? I don't know. Well, we already know me.

My last name should be Brain Fog because I literally forget things 10 minutes after. But I actually did read this article that I don't know why. It just came to my mind, so I feel like I should tell it real quick. So I was reading this article and it's kind of on, you know, what we're going to talk about today. This girl, her father had passed away and she hadn't left the house in a week. She finally mustered up the courage. Why are you laughing at me? No, we cannot start this. Go, go. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. The downside of having a podcast with your best friend is laughter. The upside is laughter. It's so bad. Okay, sorry. So no, so she mustered up the courage to get out of the house. And as she was driving, she had people beeping at her because she obviously wasn't herself. She had brain fog. She wasn't driving fast. So people were beeping at her. And then she got to the grocery store and people were being so rude to her.

And so she wrote in the article, had people been a little bit more kinder, my day would have been so much better. So it's just an example of always be kind to people because you just never know what someone's going through and that stuck with me so hard this week because I have a thing with slow drivers and just things like that and you just never know what someone's going through you're the most feminine girl I've ever met in my life your one masculine trait is the way you drive she has this little twodoor and she acts like she's a race car driver and then gets on me about my driving and your driving

is absolutely nuts. You don't look at the road. Yes, I do look at the road. Sometimes I I truly feel like I don't know how we get from A to B because you literally will, she'll be driving and looking at me the whole time. I don't know how we get there. I know.

You do a full face on the highway. Because you literally will. She'll be driving and looking at me the whole time. I don't know how we get there. I know. I know. You do a full face on the highway. A full face of makeup on the highway. We don't endorse this. We don't condone this. But I really do. I really will do a full face of makeup driving down the 101 to Tallinn. I'm like, stop the car.

Stop the car. Actually, I will say you're a really good friend about it because sometimes I'll have really near scary experiences and I'll look at you and obviously it's embarrassing when you almost crash the car. She's almost hit like three people in the last month. But the good thing about you is that I'll look at you with embarrassment and anyone else would talk down to me or say something.

You're always like, ha, you're so funny. funny and i'm like she's such a good friend um yeah anyways um yeah so today today we are going to talk about cancel culture um as we as you come on this biblical journey with us, we want to talk about cancel culture today. As you come on this biblical journey with us, we want to show you guys that it's okay to learn from your mistakes. Jesus is the best example of forgiveness. And I think that cancel culture is the opposite of that. So cancel culture is in direct opposition to the true teachings of Jesus. God is a God of redemption and restoration and forgiveness and second, third, fourth, fifth chances. And we always obviously want to be really sensitive to everybody's opinions and beliefs and stuff like that.

And we just want to know that or we just want everybody to know that we're always truly from the bottom of our hearts coming from a place of love and kindness and unity, not division. Cancel culture is all about division. And we truly just want to bring people together. And I think the one thing we want to remember is that Jesus operates out of a place of peace and love and cancel culture operates out of a place of fear. So true. Yeah. And I mean, nobody was canceled harder than Jesus was. nobody was canceled harder than Jesus was. That's true.

So let's talk about cancel culture in hopes that we don't get canceled along the way. Would you ever cancel me? No, or it depends what you did. If you got like a new friend, I might. That was good. I'm not kidding. I'm just kidding. Just kidding.

You can't cancel us because you can't cancel God's children. When I see an Instagram story of you and another friend, I get sick. Okay. I'm really excited about this story today. Yo, nobody knows Saul to Paul better than we do. We have been studying this for a week. All we do on the phone is, yo, what's up? You know who Saul is?

Saul turned to Paul. You know how Saul turned to Paul? I'll tell you. It's all we do. We've become weird. No, I'm really excited about this story. This is probably one of my favorite stories. Me too.

That we've read so far. Me too. So kick it off, girl. Sorry, excuse my coughing. Hopefully I'm going to be okay. All right. I'm sick. All off, girl. Sorry, excuse my coughing. Hopefully I'm going to be okay. All right. I'm sick.

All right, sorry. Acts chapter 9, the Damascus road, Saul converted. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any who were of the way, way is capitalized because it's the way, the truth, and the life. He's talking about anyone who is a follower of Jesus, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And he said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So goads is kind of like an instrument used in with animals to like poke them and guide them in the right direction. So he's basically saying it's hard for you to kick against me poking you. You know, when the Holy Spirit is like knocking on the door and poking and trying to get our attention. That's what he's talking about. So he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what do you want me to do?

and astonished said lord what do you want me to do then the lord said to him arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do and the men who journeyed with him stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no one then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened he saw no one but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. Ananias baptizes Saul. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him, the Lord said in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am Lord. So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold, he is praying. And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight. Then

Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. So no, even Ananias was like, I've heard so much about this person. I'm not even gonna, I'm not even gonna go there with him. And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. He can, he has authority to get everyone arrested and killed who are followers of Jesus. But the Lord said to him, go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my namesake. Foreshadowing to where Paul goes to jail and he suffers a lot for the name of Jesus.

And Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying hands on him. He said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales. Remind me to talk about that. And he received his sight at once and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. I love that so much. Me too. And then Saul preaches Christ. Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that Jesus is the son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said,

Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Christ. We're planning on ending right there, but let me just say Saul escapes death. Now, after many days were passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,

but their plot became known to Saul and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him at night and let him down through the wall in the large basket. So, I mean, it's just like, we couldn't have picked a better story to talk about cancel culture because, I mean, let's get into it.

Let's just, first of all, Saul was canceling Christians. And then later, Paul, Saul turns to Paul because God you know God told him your name used to be Saul now it's Paul because you're made new you're a new creation um then Paul goes and gets canceled it's just such a good thing to remember that don't ever do to others what you don't want done to you when we talk about cancel culture think of the worst if you see in the news, somebody getting destroyed by the media being like they did this and that and we're canceling them, whatever. And you're like jumping on the bandwagon. Just think about the worst thing you've ever done in your life. And if it was blasted up in the media like

that, how you would want people to react. Yeah. And it's just a good indication that God will use, you know, look at, look at him here. Here comes Saul, the self-righteous man, you know, did so bad, wanted to crucify Christians and he used him to be one of the greatest, greatest, you know yeah no he so Saul I did I wrote some stuff down but um Paul let's get a little background on Paul so Saul to Paul Paul was the most influential voice in the New Testament he wrote 50% of the New Testament this guy who was a hundred percent in opposition to Jesus did not like Jesus was, was torturing people who were followers of Jesus, ends up being the most important person in the New Testament. 50% of it he wrote.

He started churches all over Asia. He brought the gospel to non-Jewish communities. He didn't just write the Bible. He had gifts of healing, gifts of tongues, and gifts of interpretation. So God, we just can never think that we know better than God. We can never see Christians rising up in the church and having a voice and God, because I feel like so often a lot of Christians and people will criticize who God gives a voice to. And it's like, you don't know what God knows.

You don't know what God put down inside of them. A little background on Saul. He was raised in a family that hated anyone who disagreed with philosophy. Wow. He also grew up in a family with a lot of money. He had everything. I mean, he studied at the greatest schools. So he thought, you know, he was a know-it-all.

So that's how he grew up since he was a kid. Yeah, and so I think it's just a really good lesson. You know, we cannot change how we grow up, but we don't have to be what we are taught in our family. If we're raised in hatred and things like that, we don't have to be like that. A hundred percent. You know? Yeah. family if we're raised in hatred and things like that we don't have to be like that 100% you know yeah all right you guys we are so excited because today's sponsor of this video is better help and we're so grateful to work with them because not only are they the best online therapy platform but our Ari has had personal experience and used them so tell us what is how was it working with better? How was it using better

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talking to a family member or a friend. It's that you can unpack all your stuff. Right. And I think it's good for everyone, even married couples. Absolutely. I always say that regardless of if you're severely struggling with your mental health or you just have like some questions in life that you want help answering and unpacking, therapy is great for you. It's so good. And just like you said about like marriage therapy, I, whenever I'm getting engaged and married, like I definitely

want to get in therapy because I think therapy is great even when you don't have problems to hopefully prevent anything to come up. It's the best. You know, it's the best. Yeah. I am a big advocate of BetterHelp. I was so excited when they wanted, when we were teaming up with them, because I was like, oh my God, I've used this. Yeah. And BetterHelp's mission is basically to give us more affordable, more accessible, easier therapy to make it so much easier to find a therapist that's right for you. Yeah. So you guys, GGB gang, if you're struggling, we love you so much. And we really want you to consider getting online therapy with BetterHelp. All you have to do is go to the link in the description or go to www.betterhelp.com for 10% off of your first month. Thanks BetterHelp for sponsoring this video.

I wanted to go back a little bit to give a little context because in Acts chapter 8, it's Saul persecutes the church and it's saying that as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. And I think this just touches in our modern day to the danger of persecuting people who have different beliefs than you. I mean, we live in a world where you can get literally canceled for just believing in something that somebody else doesn't, or having a difference of opinions.

People, I mean, people don't speak to family members over the most ridiculous things, over who they voted for, over like over. It's so wrong. It's so divisive. And I really, truly believe that all of that that's happening is all a plot from the enemy to make us even more divided. We're becoming a communist country. Oh, yeah. And I really believe that America is down a very dark path and we're in a spiritual war. I mean, if you have a dissenting view of what the majority of the world feels, I mean, they cast you out completely. Yeah.

You know what? And it's so funny. I think about it all the time because it's like, we live in a time of my truth. Like, don't you hear that all the time? Like everyone's like my truth, my truth, and everyone's allowed to have their isn't valid is if it doesn't align with what the masses believe in. Yeah. You know what I mean? On all sides. Like I the and I actually was thinking about this last night about how you know how demonic possession used to be in movies and stuff like back in the day? I feel like just the enemy has gotten trickier and sneakier as time has gone on. Like back in the day, if you look at old movies, you see demonic possession as like priests having to come to the house and throw holy water and do an exorcism and like little like demons on the ceiling upside down. And you know what I mean? That's how it used to. And that was like real like that stuff like that really did happen and then as time went on I felt like demonic possession became a bit more subtle and started

going towards like mental health issues and anxiety and depression that are plaguing children and teens and stuff like that, like getting even more subtle. And then I think we've even upped it a notch with the enemy's ability to silence us. The whole thing that's happening in society that you can't say certain things and you, whatever you say has to be aligned with what people want it to be. That's silencing like you said that's like a communism spirit like you the enemy wants us to be silent so badly because they want to control everything exactly and i just there's so much to talk about and there's so much that it's again i mean this is literally It's again, I mean, this is literally demonic oppression.

We don't we are we are to have truly I don't care. I'll say it. The most loving people on the planet. All we want is for people to be friends and to be to be one and united. And like we we don't feel comfortable speaking openly because we're afraid. Like we know our intentions are good. But even the slightest thing that you say can be spin and turned the wrong way that's a disaster that's really really sad but anyways yeah i mean look back to paul and saul yeah yeah um you know i mean saul was a perfect example he sees potential in us when we don't. He loves us at our worst moments.

He was fighting for him his whole life. You know, we cannot recognize the love of God's grace and greatness until we recognize the ugliest, the ugliness of our sin. Yeah, so true. Yeah. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. And that's what God gave Saul. Yeah. That's now Paul.

Go Paul. And I think it's really important too that we remember that God didn't wait until Saul was perfect and holy to use him. He caught him on his journey. He was on his way to a city to go kill a lot more Christians. And God stopped him on his journey. He was on his way to a city to go kill a lot more Christians and God stopped him on his way. So like whenever you see people, God's not going to wait for people until they're perfect. He wants to use you now. He wants to use you in the middle of your sin and your mess. And I love him so much. Yeah. He's such a forgiving, gracious God. And we have to give one another the same forgiveness and mercy that he gives us. Yeah.

And then I just think, too, that because we can talk about society or we can talk about the church. But I think Saul was abusing people in the name of religion. And we have to really differentiate religion from relationship with Jesus because religion can have you doing some wild things. Yeah, that's where the division is. Religion might call you to do things that Jesus would never call you to do and you have to really sit and recognize in yourself like, am I a religious person or do I know Jesus? You know what I mean? Like the problem is, too, and that's why I have compassion for him.

Like Saul really thought he was doing the right thing. That's what I mean. He grew up in this family where that's what he was taught and that's what he knew. Yeah. He was a know-it-all. I look back on some things that I've done that I regret and wish that I didn't do. And during that time, I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought it was good.

I thought it was fun. I thought it was right. Yeah. And I wish that maybe someone would have had compassion for me to be like, she might not be even meaning to do this. She just doesn't know any better. And whenever we think about canceling someone, let's just give them the option. This is what we should talk about. People's inability to watch other people change.

Like we want to hold on to something somebody said 10 years ago in a tweet without even considering the fact that they may have been a kid. They may have been in an environment that was pushing that. They may have been in a family where that was okay. I know. That's why it's like, how could you? It's like, I know. It doesn't make any sense. We see that all the time.

They're digging up, trying to ruin their lives, digging up things from eight, ten years ago and trying to cancel them. They didn't know better at the time. You're so right about that. to cancel them. They didn't know better at the time. Yeah. You're so right about that. And, and again, and there's a way to hold people accountable without ruining their lives. And that's just the bottom line. Um, and holding people accountable is important. Calling out sin is important. Calling out people's like mistakes and, and like bringing attention to it is important and then you let them grow yeah let them change yeah I think we really just need to stop criticizing people especially on social

media now but we start loving them and showing them grace like Jesus did yeah you know I mean yeah I know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. There has to be because we have God on our side. And I just think right now, unfortunately, we are in this spiritual battle. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I the root of cancel culture is pride. It's so funny how pride is on the root of like everything.

Yeah. It's a totally ego and pride i mean it's thinking that you're better than someone else looking at the speck in someone else's eye without acknowledging the log in yours i mean i just think about at any time that i and i know i have this within myself that every time I feel I'm judging somebody, I immediately catch myself to be like, who am I to judge anybody? I say that all the time. We really do say that. Yeah, I'm like, who am I to judge? That's why even when you come to me and you're like, I got to tell you something. And I'm like, who am I to judge?

I know. And people forget, too, that obviously we're all sinners. You sin, I sin. Our sin might be different, but we still both sin. We're still sinning. So don't, like, don't get on your high horse just because you think my sin is worse when you've definitely got some type of sin in there that's just as bad. It's just my turn to, like, have the spotlight on it. It's silly.

And these are all things that, like, they tell you in church like be kind don't but like we at what point are we really truly going to implement that in our lives and in society and I don't know what how I know for me like I was on I was doing a movie last year it It's called Spin the Bottle and it's a horror film. So we'll deal with that when we get there. But it's a beautiful movie. It's a beautiful story about darkness to light and it's realistic. And I think it's something that's really important for people to watch stuff like that, because the truth is there's a lot of darkness out there and we can't ignore it and pretend like everything is just roses and butterflies. But, um, I remember I was on set and I didn't know anyone, obviously, like it was the first day and I was in the makeup,

in the makeup chair and the makeup trailer. And there was like a couple of people doing their makeup, all the makeup and hair girls. And I'm sitting there and someone gives me the ox cord and I wanted to play worship music so bad. I really did. And I and I was so scared because playing a Jesus song genuinely might offend somebody. I know. And I'm like, and it's really silly. And I honestly got the courage and I put on a worship song. And almost every person in the makeup trailer comes out and says that they're Christian. Not that we're like hiding it, but everyone goes, who put on I surrender? Like every single person. So

we're all sitting there not talking about God in fear that like we're going to get in trouble or someone's going to get, someone might be of another religion and get offended and, and feel excluded and stuff like that. And I, in that moment, I was like, this is the type of person I'm going to be on set. Like everywhere I go, I'm going to take Jesus with me and I'm going to boldly, and I'm going to, it's going to give other people permission to be like bold in their faith when we are, you know what I mean? Yeah. I love that. And I know I was talking to you about this. I had a moment because things don't really affect me like the social media stuff. It doesn't really, I could care less because I know who I am. But I mean, when you're trying to bring lightness to the darkness, it does kind of get to you.

And I remember saying to you last week, I was like, for the first time, I'm actually feeling like I'm kind of embarrassed to say I'm a Christian. I can't believe the things that these Christians are writing. Yeah. Like, this is not okay. This is bad. This is embarrassing. Yeah. How can you call yourself a Christian and be writing such vile things on the Internet?

That doesn't make any sense. That is not what Jesus has called us to do. And I talked to someone actually a couple weeks ago, and I was telling them, you know, about my podcast. And they were like, you know, I've always been so scared to come to religion because of the judgments and things like that. And it's just really sad that that's the reputation that a lot of Christians have. Yeah. And I just really sad that that's the reputation that a lot of Christians have. And I just really hope that us as Christians, we can all just learn to love one another and not be so judgmental. I mean, I know Jesus is looking down, like, not judging, but like, come on, guys, we can do better than this.

But like, come on, guys, we can do better than this. I just want to take a moment to any person who's ever been hurt by somebody in the church and say that we are from our hearts to yours are so sorry that somebody made you feel like Jesus wasn't a loving God because they weren't loving people. I'm so sorry if you've ever given up on Jesus because other people hurt you. And you need to remember that other people are not Jesus. Yes, we wear a cross and we carry his name and his reputation, but unfortunately everyone is human and all of us will fall short of like truly representing who Jesus is. And a lot of us will fall short in really harmful and negative ways. And I'm so sorry. And just know that Jesus is not these people. Jesus will never fail you, will always love you,

and will never insult you or hurt you. And also, please don't get discouraged by this other side of Christianity who are writing such horrible things. Those aren't real Christians. Yeah. Please remember that. And that is a big part of why we speak on this and we talk about our struggles and how we weren't perfect because none of us are perfect. And so please don't be discouraged to come to God because of that side of judgment of religion.

Because that's not, they're not real Christians if you can really speak like that and act like that. It really is embarrassing. It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. You know, I had a girl say, and I don't want to spend too much time on this, but I had a girl write me a message and she said, I have to unfollow you because I can't look another second at these comments you guys are getting. It's so negative and bad. And I like I can't be a part of this like talking. It's just it's. Yeah.

There have been so many times in my life where I would go to a church. Like I've been called a church hopper before because I really do jump around different churches because I don't really, I want to serve, like I want to serve at church, but I don't want to get involved at church because I don't necessarily want to get involved with too many people because my relationship with Jesus is so pure. It's so innocent. I feel like me and God have a relationship. You have it too, where I'm like, I'm like an eight year old who just discovered God. Like that's where I am. And I've been in that place for a long time. And I, I pray I'm always there, but like, there have been times where I'm like, Ooh, people contain our relation,

our relationship with Jesus so easily. And I don't want that for my life. Yeah. If you hate haters, that's not going to change their hearts. The only way you're going to change their hearts is through love. Yeah. Definitely. Love is the only thing that can drive away darkness the only thing yeah and i

we gotta move away from the space of not being able to speak your mind and let me say something too there's a great book called the bait of satan and it it's a book. It's by John Bevere, I think. I'll put it in the description. It's one of the best books I've ever read. It's all about pride. And it's all about offense, like not taking offense. The number one way that the enemy has a hold on society, this country, everybody, is through offense. If you are easily offended you are doomed the

weakest link truly you will always be stuck you will never do well you will never heal any trauma you will never get better you will not like you cannot get offended by things. You cannot be easily offended. Like, I don't know, Girls Gone Bible, if you're a part of the GGB gang, like, we don't do that sensitive stuff around here. We really don't. You cannot be getting offended by everything. It's not good for you. It's not good for society. You have to toughen up. You have to have a strong sense of humor and just be like, you know what?

Not everyone thinks like I do. And it's not the end of the world. It's okay. Who cares? We're fighting each other when we should be fighting the problem. No, but, you know, and it's okay to, like, if somebody's being a bully and, like, attacking you. I mean, we've had moments where we're like, what is happening?

Like, we're good kids. We're good girls. Like, why are we getting attacked like this? But, yeah, she's right. Like, you can't, it's, you can't get easily offended. You can't. It's, um. Everyone's allowed to have their own opinions.

Everyone's allowed to have their own views. It's okay. And these are, this is coming from people who have extremely strong views. Yeah. And we are who have extremely strong views. And we are extremely firm in our views. And we don't budge. And we don't compromise. Like, we believe that every word in the Bible is the truth.

And we pray in the name of Jesus that every soul on the planet will come to know the truth. Yeah. But it's not our job to be. I was going to say something really bad. but it's not our job to force everybody. We cannot force everyone. That's never going to work. No, that's not a good approach. No.

And that's not what we're here to do. We just want to show the light. Exactly. And the way that you show the light is by inspiring others, is by living so right that you get people to come to God. But to be like a dictator thinking that's going to work, that's never going to work. And this is for people on all sides. Yeah. Um, Saul to Paul, man. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's just such a perfect, it's just such a perfect, perfect example of, and you know what I love about Saul to Paul, Paul, his true transformation

came here in Acts nine. Where is it? I really believe that it's in this sentence that his life changed. He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Paul said, who are you Lord? And then he, and Jesus said, I am Jesus whom you're persecuting. So he trembling and astonished said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Paul said, who are you, Lord? And Jesus said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. So he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? It was the second that he went from self-serving to serving God is where the true transformation happened. That's right. And I know for myself, the day that I decided I changed the way I was praying, instead

of saying, God, give me a million dollars and this and that and that. And I said, what do you want me to do today? What can I do? Who do you want me to talk to? May I be your hands and feet and mouthpiece? What do you need from me? Total transformation in my heart. Because that's, that's what, um, transformation in my heart because that's that's what uh paul yeah did for everyone he became a um a jesus follower he became a hope dealer he became a giver a spirit lifter instead of slaying christians he started uplifting them and healing them yeah exactly you know i mean no one spread the gospel the way that paul did and it's just such a beautiful thing to be like you can not only do you need to let other people change, you need to let yourself change, too. Because I think a lot of the time shame will keep us down and shame will inhibit us from true transformation because we feel like embarrassed. Like I was this person once. So

there's no way I can completely make a 180 and do something different. I have, and I don't care. So is Ari. I imagine that some people watching this podcast who knew us a long time ago would be like, who is this? Like, why, how, how can they go talk about Jesus? Yes, I can. And yes, you can. And there's nothing in your past that you've ever done that can stop you from doing that. You're allowed to change. You can do a full 180 and be the complete opposite person you used to be. And that's why I love this story so much. Yeah. So much. Give yourself permission. Because of all the people he used him. You know, he had the dirtiest heart and he took him and changed him around and he became the greatest.

I mean, incredible. And it's also like you again, you can't. I think it's it'll help to have compassion for people when you understand Saul genuinely didn't know. Sometimes people just don't know that they're doing wrong. They don't. They don't they don't they don't and i'm not saying just let people you know do bad things and and think like it to love someone is to tell them the truth absolutely but do it in a way that is compassionate to where you know that they might just not know the truth and that's the case a lot of the time this is everyone's first time living why are we acting like, you know, we're all learning here. We're all

growing and learning. And that's why I think it's just so crucial that we give people a second chance. Yeah. And just how it says in the Bible, be slow to anger. We are so quick to anger. We're quick to judge. We're quick to condemn. And we're slow to understand. We're quick to get offended by someone having a different opinion than we do. I am, and so are you, in an industry and in a spot where almost everybody has a different opinion than us. I don't get offended. Yeah. Ever. Nothing.

Jesus is my light, my heart, my world. And I am around people, unfortunately, sometimes who will offend my Jesus. And while it hurts me and it does genuinely hurt me every time I've ever heard an insult to Jesus, I'm not offended. Yeah. I'm genuinely not like they don't know whatever. And they're in there. God gave them free will. Who am I to take their free will away from them?

Yeah. God gave us free will. Who am I to take their free will away from them? God gave us free will. Who is the government and the media to take our free will, free speech away from us? Jesus is freedom. The truth will set you free. We are allowed to speak the real truth and we have to rise up in power and do it. It's just, yeah, I can't.

Fired up. The Bible says, Jesus leaves the 99 to bring the one home. It says, there is more joy in heaven over the lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over 99 others who are righteous and haven't strayed away. So, thank you so much for bringing that up. He leaves the 99 to find the one. And if there's a hundred people and 99 of them think that they're right and they cast out the one, guess where God's going to get the one. So if you feel like you're

outcasted, we got a lot of questions of people being like, what do you do when you're canceled? You know what you do? You let the Lord fight your battles for you. You let him clear your name. You stay silent and let him fight it for you. Psalm 43 says, vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. Vindicate me, my God. Let me tell you something. I have not not since really coming to christ on my own for the past few years i don't defend myself if someone thinks something about me unless i can of course but i'm not going to go out of my way to ever vindicate myself i say every time lord vindicate me clear my name bring the truth to light bring the truth on my name the truth of

what actually happened what actually going on and may all these people see it and i promise you i promise you i have never had a situation where i haven't felt vindicated afterwards yeah hi ggb gang this is anjanari and we have a question for you guys do you want to make a podcast spotify's got a platform that lets you make one so easily and then you can distribute it everywhere and even earn money all in one place for free. It's called Spotify for Podcasters and here's how it works. Spotify for Podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts right from your phone or computer so no matter what your setup's like, whether you're at home or in the studio, you can start creating today then you can distribute

your podcast to spotify and everywhere else podcasts are heard with spotify for podcasters you can earn money in a variety of ways including ads and podcast subscriptions and best of all it's totally free with no catch ever since we discovered spotify for podcasters you guys it has changed the game. I mean, we're able to do video podcasts without just having to do audio podcasts, and we're able to do Q&As and polls at the end, and it has just brought us so close to you guys and really created a community feel. So we really recommend that you give it a try. Download the Spotify for Podcasters app or go to www.spotify.com

slash podcasters to get started. We love you. God bless you. I always get a text. I always get a message. I always get something of someone saying, I'm sorry that I thought this about you. I'm sorry this happened. I see the truth now and I want to apologize. yeah and God without having to do anything when you have to constantly defend yourself and cast people out that's within your own insecurity yeah that's all insecurity I mean when you truly know who you are and you're comfortable in yourself you're not you don't have to defend yourself. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah, have confidence in God that you know that your identity lies in him and who he says you are. So ultimately, it doesn't really matter what people say you are or who you are because you know. Yeah, Jesus spent a lot of time with people and listening to them and loving them that people in modern society now wouldn't even give the time of day to.

So true. You know? Yeah. Yeah. And it's funny in the story where told Ananias to do something and he was hesitant because of what he heard from other people. And it's just like people talk so much. You can't believe everything you hear.

You can't cast somebody out because of something you've heard. You don't know what the truth is. Yeah. cast somebody out because of something you've heard you don't know what the truth is yeah give people the benefit of the doubt be nice just be nice like we always say we just have to live we have to work every day it's not an easy road because we all i I'm sure we all have a Saul in us, right? Who has that temptation to be rageful or to lash out. Sometimes we all have that in us. We just need to remember to live like Paul. Yeah. Be giving, be, you know. Exactly. Live like Christ, be nonjudgmental, listen, be slow to speak, Live like Christ. Be nonjudgmental. Listen. Be slow to speak. Help others. You said a really good thing, listen. I think if we spent more time listening from one another and learning from one another,

we would have much less division in the world. And again, this is from people who are very firm on our beliefs and we're still able to give other people a space and a place to speak their minds you know and not try and force them to believe what we believe but rather inspire them by the way we live and the way we act you know the perfect example is sound of freedom probably one of the most informative most incredible movies i have seen in a decade. And what happened with that movie? They were trying not to put it out.

Yeah. They were shutting it down in movie theaters. Yeah. Hmm. Why was that? Silence. And actually, thank you for bringing that up because you know what else? Did you hear about the reports about how there's a producer?

I think it was a producer or the founder or funder of the movie, of the film, got caught in his own thing of human trafficking. I did see that. And I can't speak too much on it because I don't know enough. But what I will say is there are so many people who are like, ha, sound of freedom. Oh, really? Well, what about this? And this guy attached to it. Don't you dare because of what one person did completely diminish the power and the influence that the sound of freedom had on for human trafficking. I mean, that's another thing about it. Just because one, so if there's like a whole church and one speaker or

one pastor or one person of the body falls and fails, does not completely taint the rest of the people and the rest of the message and the rest of the gospel. You know what I mean? Let me tell you something. God, when I saw that film, God had his hands on that project. And because it was so triggering, you know, and it was such a sensitive subject, people wanted to cast it out. Obviously. And we, and that, and that was just a perfect example of a film that literally brought just light to the darkness yeah and now abide faith hope love these three but the greatest of these is love yeah so beautiful i love that i love that so much it's again all we need is love without love we are love is the greatest gift wisdom without love nothing knowledge without love nothing power without love nothing think about when you're when you're in love when

you love your family when you love your friends it's the greatest gift of all yeah it's just the most amazing thing there's nothing better than love yeah loving one another will heal the planet and heal society and heal the divisiveness I think Ari and I's number one message with today's episode I know I was like really all over the place but the one thing that we just want to keep coming back to is that loving each other is is what God wants for us more than anything to love him first and then to love one another the way that he loves us and we just want unity we want people of all sides of all cultures of all religions of all political parties of all industries to come together regard and just understand that like we are so much more powerful together the enemy wants us alone and isolated and and fighting with each other so

badly because we are weak that way we are strong united and we can't cast people away because they make a mistake because we all make mistakes we all do and we're going to keep continuing to make the mistake the one thing I will say is when you make a mistake you don't keep doing the same thing that's a different story you know I mean it's truly just foolish to not learn from your mistakes and to continue doing something and and you also need to learn accountability and you need to when someone comes and tells you that you're doing wrong and they're right, you need to pray about it and you need to make a 180. You need to turn from it and do better.

And you got to hold people accountable and let people hold you accountable. Mm-hmm. But remember, Jesus loves us even at our worst. He loves us. So much. and He's there waiting for us. Are we going to answer questions or no? You know, someone said, how do you politely criticize someone without offending them? You know what you do?

I truly believe if you say a big, big prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to come into you and speak through you to the person, if you allow God to use your voice to talk to someone, I truly believe that they won't get offended because they will hear the God within you speaking to them. And I know for me, whenever people I've had some people say the harshest things to me that if it wasn't from God, otherwise I would have been offended. But because I know it's God speaking through them because it speaks to my soul, I'm not offended. I hear them. It's convicting instead of condemning. I love when you say that to me. You've told me many stories where you didn't think you were ever going to come back from your argument. And you were like, you know what? As they were speaking harshly to me, I sat there for a second and I just prayed and I asked the Holy Spirit to come into me and just make peace with this.

And I love when you tell me that because every time you've done that, you've made amends. It's been beautiful. It turned out beautiful. And they always end up coming back and saying, you know what? I apologize. Maybe I shouldn't have acted like that. And you saw Christ in them as you guys were. Yeah.

So true. I love that so much. I really. He's the peacemaker. He is. If you're in an argument, ask the Holy Spirit to come in between you and the person and watch peace be made. It's miraculous. It's incredible.

I love that. Me too. Do you have one you want to answer? I just feel bad for this girl. How to deal with people canceling you. I feel very alone and could use advice. Wow. Um, I don't know what your situation is or what's going on. I'm a big believer in you always, if you're wrong, you always admit your faults and always say sorry. I'm a big advocate in that. You're great about that. If I do wrong or if I offend someone, I think it always, the best thing you can do is say, I'm really sorry you feel that way. Maybe even if you're not wrong, I'm really sorry you feel that way. What can I do? What can I do? And if they're still casting

you away, well, I say that be happy that that door is closed because people that love you, they're not going to cast you away. They're going to be by your side through it all. Exactly. And you let God fight the battle for you. Let him clear your name. Let him vindicate you. Um, anyways, I hope you guys, there's so much to learn from Paul. The biggest story is be careful, be careful about who you cancel. Cause one day you might start agreeing with them and regret that you killed so many of them. And then also that transformation is accessible, available. You can do it at any point. And you are to never be ashamed of who you once were to become somebody else.

You can be whoever you want to be. The opposite of what you were yesterday. Give yourself permission. Give other people permission to change. Love that so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. All right, you guys. Thank you that so much. I love you so much. I love you so much. All right, you guys.

Thank you guys so much. We love you. We'll see you next week. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. We love you. God bless you.

God bless you. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you so much. Read your Bible. Don't forget Remember you say Ari and Ange My sisters

They told me I had to Read the Bible every day Our new producer Is like Sorry William We are We're weird We're weird

We're goofy We're a little goofy A little couple of Goofy Jesus freaks Alright love you guys so much Big kiss Can you stop Yelling at me?

Okay. Okay? My lord. You're driving me nuts. Okay. Am I driving you nuts? No, no, you're fine. Let's just...

Yeah. If you're... I'm so sorry. No, no, we can't do this right now. You have a lot of... Okay, get it. Fast, babe. Please, please.

Stop. No, we're not doing this right now. I'm going to lose it. I'm so hot. Okay, okay. Okay, I'll do it. Okay, go, go. Okay. Stop.

Stop. You are driving. Okay, go, go. What did you say? Stop. You are driving. Okay, go, go. You just say it. Just go. Stop, stop, stop. You're doing this to me. I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. Please, Jesus. Not right now, Jesus. Please. I'm so sorry. Please, Jesus. Not right now, Jesus, please. And we'll stop. So close. I know, I know, I'm so sorry, okay. Stop, stop, stop.

It's one line. Things better not. It's one line. Please. We're never doing an episode. Okay. Like this again. Okay. This was not good. Okay.

Shh. Go. Angela, look. Look the other way. Look the other way. Look the other way. Do I just say it? No, I'll say it. Do I say it?

Okay, shut up. Thanks for sponsoring this video. Thanks for sponsoring this video. Angela, go over there right now. This isn't funny. No. Go. this video. Angela go over there right now this isn't funny no all right go worker with his shirt on. Stop.

Please, Jesus. Get out of the room! Get out of the room! Leave the room right now! Stop! I'm gonna say it. I'm so sorry. I'm saying it right now. Okay. Okay.

Please. God, I'm so hot. No, it's not. You were great. Am I saying it? Thanks for sponsoring. I hear you. I know what I have to say. Should I say it one more time? Sponsoring this video.