Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 635 | Responding to Chris Pratt’s Religion Comments

Episode Date: June 29, 2022

Today we're taking a rest from the intensity of political news to talk about some lighter topics and offer some words of encouragement to the many of us who are feeling burned out by current events. We start off talking about attending a recent Backstreet Boys concert and our thoughts on their newer, not-so-classic songs. We then transition into a message of positivity for the Christian who is overwhelmed by the seemingly never-ending stream of bad news coming from all directions. Lastly, we talk about the disappointment that is Chris Pratt distancing himself from his faith in a recent interview with Men's Health. --- Timecodes: (0:00) Introduction (0:55) Allie recounts going to her first Backstreet Boys concert (12:46) Some encouragement — this is a spiritual battle happening right now! (34:15) What's up with Chris Pratt? --- Today's Sponsors: PublicSq. is the first app to connect freedom-loving Americans with their local community & the businesses that share their values. Download the 'PublicSq.' app today! CrowdHealth — no doctor networks, no huge premiums or deductibles, & no surprises! This is a game-changer in the community healthcare industry & you pay one low monthly total, less than $200/month for most! Go to JoinCrowdHealth.com & use promo code 'ALLIE' at sign up. Good Ranchers delivers high-quality American meat & right now, get two free 18-oz. prime ribeyes when you use promo code 'ALLIE' when you submit your order at GoodRanchers.com/ALLIE. Annie's Kit Clubs — give you kids creative & constructive kits they'll love to make each month with these subscription boxes. Sign up now at AnniesKitClubs.com/ALLIE & get your first month for 75% off! --- Previous Episodes Mentioned: Ep 633: GOODBYE, ROE V. WADE https://apple.co/3y71oXC Ep 634: Ectopic Pregnancy Myths & Evangelical Silence on Roe https://apple.co/3u6Vkxh Ep 563: 'I Took the Vaccine For Her': Samuel & Annie's Love Story https://apple.co/3nsOi1Y Ep 286: How the Church Should Respond to Black Lives Matter | Guest: Samuel Sey https://apple.co/3OPptsJ --- Show Links: Men's Health: "How Chris Pratt Became the People's Chris" https://bit.ly/3OscfT0 Chris Pratt's 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards Generation Award speech: https://bit.ly/2K2oowV --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise- use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed.

You can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Hey, guys. Welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. This episode is brought to you by our good friends at Good Ranchers. Go to Good Ranchers.com slash Allie for American Meat delivered for a discount. That's good ranchers.com slash alley.

All right, guys. So I heard you on Instagram when I asked, what do you guys? what do you guys want to talk about today? You all are feeling similar to how I'm feeling. My brain is kind of fried right now with all of the information we've been taking in, all of the arguments that we have been forming and rebutting since Friday. I mean, it's just been a nonstop onslaught of stuff, of propaganda, of things that we have to rebut and refute and break down. And I feel like I just haven't allowed my mind for very long to have a break from that. And we all need a break. We're going to talk about substantive stuff today. We're going to talk a little bit about that subject, but we are going to

kind of shift gears a little bit. It's going to be kind of a lighter episode. There are going to be some lighter things that we talk about. We're going to talk about Chris Pratt, his interview with men's health and how he says, oh, religion is oppressive and I'm not a religious person. I thought that he had a really interesting interview. We're going to look at that. I'm also going to going to just encourage you and give you some positivity and some optimism, some reminders to rejoice and to be glad that this is the day that the Lord has made. And even though you are exhausted and overwhelmed and burdened by all of the lies that the people around you seem to be believing in particular when it comes to Roe and Dobbs and abortion, there is every reason to

be grateful, to be light, to be joyful. And I'm also going to start out by telling you about something that has nothing to do with the news, nothing to do with culture, just to kind of start us on that light note. And that is the Backstreet Boys, because I realized this morning that I have not had the opportunity to tell you guys about the Backstreet Boys concert that I went to. So I'll start there. And then I'll give you some encouragement, just a reminder of where we are and why we can be happy, why we can be grateful, why we have every reason to be courageous and confident in this so-called culture war that's really a spiritual war. And then we'll talk about the whole Chris Pratt thing, which I really think is interesting,

and there are a lot of theological points that I want to make in all of this. I don't know if I have a theological point to make when it comes to seeing the Backstreet Boys concert. Maybe I'll be able to come up with the one. But let me just tell you about that experience. So if you don't know, which if you've read my book, and if you've been listening to this podcast for a long time,

you know that I grew up as the biggest Backstreet Boys fan to ever exist. Now, I'm talking like eight, nine, ten years old. I wasn't allowed to listen to Britney Spears. I wasn't allowed to listen to Christina Aguilera. And when you look back at some of their album covers, like it's pretty obvious. I mean, it's kind of weird when you think about it. The eight, nine-year-old girls were listening to Christina Aguilera. I mean, look at what she was wearing and what she was singing about in some of those songs.

But to be perfectly fair, when I listen to some of the songs that the backstreet boys and in sync and 98 degrees were singing back then, they weren't morally that much better. They may not have been quite as sexual, but they weren't like morally good, something that an eight to nine year old should be listening to. However, I was listening to them. I had a Backstreet Boys nightgown. I had, I think, three or four Backstreet Boys posters in my room.

I had Backstreet Boys T-shirts. I used to sit in our game room and I used to listen to the black and blue CD and cry, thinking about the possibility, of never meeting the backstreet boys. That was at that point in my life, at eight years old, like the worst thing that I could possibly think of happening to me, not meeting the backstreet boys.

I used to think about what I would wear if I went to a backstreet boys concert, like would I want to wear something like super cute so that they would notice me out in the crowd and be like, wow, that's an awesome looking person out there. Or would I want to wear a backstreet boy shirt so they know that I'm a really big fan of them? And just so you know,

20 plus years later, I did decide to wear a Backstreet Boys T-shirt this time. I ordered one off of, I don't remember where I ordered it, but it was like a retro Backstreet Boys T-shirt, went to a Backstreet Boys concert with two of my friends who also were fans of Backstreet Boys growing up. And it was very strange. Like, the experience was strange. On the one hand, surreal, actually seeing them at in person waiting a couple of decades to actually do that because even though I was allowed to listen to them when I was younger, I wasn't allowed to go to a backstree boys concert, which was honestly probably a good thing, considering some of what I am about to say in a minute. But

first, so it was cool seeing them, very surreal, seeing them in person. We had really good seats and so we were pretty up close. Also kind of strange because like the oldest member of the backstree boys is 50 years old. I'm 30 years old. Technically, like that person could be my father. A young father but a father. So kind of strange seeing people that age up there, like moving around and dancing and singing songs about like breakups and a heartbreak when really all of them have been married for a long time, which by the way, kudos to them. I think all of them have been married to the same woman for a long time and have kids and honestly seem like pretty wholesome in their personal lives and that's cool. A little odd seeing them though like dance up there and like grabbing their crotches

and doing like a pelvic thrust. Like that was a little weird. And some of the jokes that they were making about like taking their clothes off or like changing backstage. I think AJ at one point talked about like girls throwing their underwear and bras on stage. And I was like, wow, I'm really glad that my parents didn't allow me to go to this concert when I was young. And like that was weird, right? Because like they're all married and they have kids and they're old and who really wants to hear or see them doing any of that. I don't really know. All of that said though. I was extremely impressed by their ability to still sing really well and their ability to dance and to move around. I mean, that's hard to do night after night, especially when you are that age.

Some of them are in their early 40. So I'm not saying that is old or super old or anything, but it is an older age than being like 16 when you have a lot more stamina. So I was impressed by that. And they were singing one song that I didn't even realize I knew every word to. Let's see. Can I think of it what it is? It's that one about, I think it's about cheating where they're like, my battery is low. So you know, I'm going to a place nearby. Got to go. I had no idea that I knew every single word to that song that I probably haven't heard since

2001. And yet I did. I was like singing it, belting it. And I just thought about the fact that, wow, I had no idea what this was talking about when I was eight or nine years old. Why was I listening to this? I mean, I guess it's a good thing that it. was going over my head. The other slight critique that I have is that they did not play enough of

the hits. Like they played a lot of their new stuff, which I understand. You're pushing a new album. I get it. And you're proud of the work that you're doing. You're proud of the songs that you're writing. So I understand wanting to play some new stuff and pushing that new album. I think it's called DNA. But come on. Like we know why people go to a backstreet boys concert. You go to a backstreet boys concert. You go to a Backstreet Boys concert for the same reason. Some people go to like a Rolling Stones concert. You're not there to hear the new music. You're not there to hear the new stuff at all.

You are there to scream like a banshee when they play. I want it that way. That is why you are there to sing along. You don't want to hear the new stuff. You don't want to hear the new slow ballads or anything like that. You want to hear the stuff that they played 25 years ago. And so that was my only beef. As much as I loved them and thought that they put on a great conference.

and I was like really appreciative of their enthusiasm despite them having done this for so long. I'm sure it can be tiring and sometimes boring. They were really kind and like hospitable. But man, play the hits. Play the hits. There weren't enough hits played and I was sad about that. But it was an amazing experience. Still a Backstreet Boys fan. If you don't know the story that I wrote about in my book that I've talked about several times, I was such a big Backstreet Boys fan. I got sealants on my teeth in, you know, at the dentist when I was probably. probably eight or nine. And I remember the hygienist telling me, oh, yeah, we're putting invisible in sync stickers on on your teeth. And I was like, in sync? I am a backstreet boys fan. And she was like, oh, oh, I met backstreet boys. Backstreet boys. Backstreet boys. Invisible stickers on your teeth. And I was so excited about that. It did not occur to me until I was probably 15 years old that she was lying to me. Like it really didn't occur to me. me. It's not like I had been thinking about it forever and just thought that it was true. But it really didn't occur to me until I woke up one morning when I was a teenager and was like,

I really don't have invisible stickers on my teeth. I think I spent many a morning when I was eight, nine, ten years old trying to see those invisible Backstreet Boys stickers on my molars. And I was never able to succeed in that. So anyway, long history of being a Backstreet Boys fan. If you have the opportunity to go to a Backstreet Boys concert, I encourage you to do so. It was super fun and just reminders of of a different era, a different era in American history when the worst thing that your parents had to worry about was you hearing AJ from the back street boys say, oh my God, we're back again. Now we have to worry about a lot more than that. It's a lot more complicated. Anyway, okay, I just wanted to tell you that experience. I know you guys are excited for

me because you know what a big BSB fan. Sam, Samuel Say, who has been on this show several times, I love him. He is awesome. Him and his wife are fantastic. He is also a huge backstreet boys fan. I think that we could have some kind of like head-to-head competition trying to figure out who is actually the bigger BSB fan. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral,

spiritual and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.

All right. So I want to give you guys just some encouragement because I hear you. You are overwhelmed. Isn't it amazing? Like isn't that what Satan does when there is a clear victory? When something is achieved for the side of goodness, injustice, and righteousness, isn't it just like Satan to try to steal? the joy from that to try to hide the light of that. And I think that's what a lot of you have felt. This is a historic victory. The overruling of Roe v. Wade is something that Christians, that pro-lifers,

have been working toward for 50 years. If you want more information on this, please go listen to yesterday's episode. Go listen to Monday's episode. We talk about what is actually in the ruling, what is actually in these bills that are banning or restricting abortion? Does it restrict the treatment of ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages? The answer is no. But we talk about that. In Monday's episode, Tuesday's episode, we talk about the shameful evangelical response from a lot of leaders

who are refusing to celebrate what is so clearly a just ruling and overruling Roe v. Wade. So go listen to Monday and Tuesday's episode. We're not going to get into all the details of that today. You guys are discouraged. You're disheartened. You're just exhausted because you constantly feel like we are on the defense. We are constantly having to refute propaganda, to rebut lies.

And that's just how it is when you're not in the mainstream. When you don't have the cultural power, conservatives don't. And this just also, it just reminds me how just kind of like delusional. Honestly, a lot of people on the left are they always think that they're the underdog. Like they always think that they are the left. little guy and they're fighting against this like system of power. That's why they create this boogeyman of Christian nationalist fascism as if progressivism doesn't dominate almost every single institution that we have from the White House to Congress to academia to public education

to Hollywood to big tech to major corporations to the WHO and the U-N in in most of Europe. like progressivism dominates almost every single national and global power structure in the world. It's even dominating a huge portion of what calls itself the church. And yet progressivism, because its nature is to dominate, its nature is actually totalitarian, its nature is dictatorial, I mean, you can just look at the history of communism and socialism to tell you that. It is always looking for conquest. It is actually, ironically, even though progressives call themselves anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, they are constantly looking to conquer new entities,

whether it be the church, whether it be the family, whether it be a school. They are not okay. Progressivism is not okay with living and letting live. They are not okay with tolerance. They are not okay with you just living how you want to. live. That's why they're mad about the overruling of Roe v. Wade because the overruling of Roe v. Wade just allows states to decide. And so the constituents in that state get to push their state legislators in one way or another. So that means in liberal states, abortion is going to be

extremely accessible, unfortunately. But that is the thing that they say that they really care about, which is democracy. But they don't really want democracy. Progressivism is always authoritarian. It is always looking to infiltrate. It is a very. always looking to infect. It is always looking to take over everything that used to be neutral, everything that used to be good, everything that used to be Christian, everything that used to be conservative, and then turn it into its conform it to its own image. That's what progressivism does. And so they're not happy that now some states simply have the freedom to be able to restrict or ban abortion because they want to impose their moral will on you. And they are willing,

they are willing to use whatever means possible to do that, even if it is not democratic means, even if it's not honest. They are willing to use straight up propaganda. They are willing to lie. They are willing to deceive. They are willing to manipulate at whatever cost because progressivism believes that the ins always justify the means. Now, every single law, as we've talked about, is moral.

Every law goes back to a particular worldview. such thing is a neutral law. Someone said to me on Twitter that laws are based on facts, not beliefs. Absolutely not. A law against murder is based on the belief that it is wrong to murder. That's not a fact. That is a belief. And that belief happens to be rooted in this Judeo-Christian idea of the Amago Day that human beings are not just clumps of cells. They're not just balls of matter, but that we actually have meaning. We actually have value. And we actually have purpose. therefore it is wrong to kill a person or assault a person or rape a person. And of course, we would include abort a person as well.

It's just logically and morally consistent. And so that is, and so it's not wrong for anyone in either side of the aisle to want to influence the law with their worldview. It's not wrong for a progressive to want to do that. It's not wrong for a Christian to want to do that. But we are told that Christians are the only ones who are not allowed to influence the law with their worldview. That is fascism. That is authoritarianism. That is Christian nationalism. That is totalitarian. But when

secular progressives try to impose their pseudo religion, which says that it's okay to kill a child and that we should be paying for gender transition for children, that's not a neutral view. Like that is a moral view. When they try to impose that on everyone else, when they say that we need to have drag queen story hour at the local library that is paid for by the local taxpayer, that kind of imposition of particular moral worldview is apparently fine. But when Christians try to influence the public sphere with their worldview, oh, no, that's scary. So you just need to see that myth for what it is. You should be totally unafraid and totally unabashed in trying to influence every sphere that you occupy with the love and the light and the truth of Christ. That doesn't mean forcing people to

believe which you believe. But if we believe that God is the source of truth, God is the source of morality, God is love, then we have every right and actually every responsibility to infuse that light and truth in every sphere that we occupy. Everything is gods, whether we acknowledge it or not, and that is part of being salt and light. Engaged Christians who are engaged in politics and culture have been the biggest force for good in all of history, in all of the world, and it doesn't even come close. It doesn't even come close. It doesn't mean the people who profess Christianity have been perfect by any means or that there haven't been any serious mistakes or injustices that have been perpetrated. But Christians have been the greatest force of humanitarian

good in the world for all of history. And again, it doesn't even come close. So all of this to say, remember that you are coming from that position. Remember what you are up against, that this is a spiritual battle. There's really not a nuanced conversation to be had about whether or not is okay to kill an innocent human being. That's what it comes down to. Once I believe that's okay, our side does not. So once you've armed yourself with facts, listen to Monday and Tuesday's episode, just to remind yourself, remind yourself that this is a spiritual battle. It's not right versus left. It truly is light versus darkness. Remind yourself of the evil of what abortion is when you're being emotionally manipulated and simply stand firm. Stand firm. I've been so proud of you guys.

I've been so proud of you. Those of you who have sent me screenshots of conversations that you guys have had with people who disagree with you, people in your life, that you have asked them to cite their sources. You've asked them to define their terms. You've asked them how they came to the conclusion that they did. And you've gotten very predictable responses in a lot of cases. They just get flustered and they call you names or they shut down the conversation. But some of you have had productive conversations where you've actually been able to listen to one another and maybe you didn't change someone's mind in that moment. But you planted a seat and you were obedient and that's all you're called to do. Read tactics by Greg Coco by the way. But I've been really

proud of you, how you've stood firm. One of you sent me such a wonderful message and I love messages like this. Thank the Lord by the grace of God. I get messages like this a lot. One of you said that you were pro-choice until 2018 and then you started listening to this podcast and God used this podcast to change your mind on that. And you've very much kind of you've, even though you've been pro-life yourself, have not really said anything publicly about it, but now you feel the need to. So we just kind of talked a little bit about what that would look like and how to do that in a courageous way. And look, guys, I know that that's not easy. When you have pro-abortion people in your life who are so ready, people who you thought you trusted in new and you thought trusted in new you

and know your character and know that you're a kind and generous person and yet now we're calling you names and calling you anti-woman just because you are against the slaughter of unborn children, that is not easy. I understand. So I don't want to minimize that, but I am proud of you for those of you who stood up anyway, for those of you who have been courageous, for those of you who the first time, maybe you've reached out to your pro-life pregnancy center near you, and you've said, how can I help? Those of you who have donated the money that you have, which is not easy when prices are really high right now, when you've got to provide for your family and yet you trusted God with the resources that he's given you to try to provide for people who need even more. So I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you.

I'm proud of your effort and your bravery and I'm encouraging you to continue standing up and to continue telling the truth. Look, you're on the right side. I know it's easy to kind of waffle and to kind of wonder when it seems like you're the only one. You're the only one that's swimming upstream. You're the only one that has another opinion. Look, I remember a lot of you felt that way in summer of 2020. Summer of 2020 T-O-O also is what I'm trying to say. I remember. you guys saying that in June 2. And we were some of the only people over here that were questioning the popular narratives, that were questioning the secular definitions of social and racial justice.

We're questioning this narrative that every disparate outcome between white and non-white people is due to slavery and discrimination and Jim Crow and mass incarceration because those things are just factually untrue. We were some of the only people who are willing to push back against that. And even though we got a lot of vitriol for that, I think. that it paid off because it encouraged people to see things that are true and it opened a lot of people's eyes. May God use this in the same way. Keep speaking truth. Um, speak it in love, but don't caveat or compromise on it. It hurts. It's hard. I know, but it's right. And therefore

it's worth it. So let me read you a couple verses before I talk about this Chris, Chris Pratt story, which I think is interesting. Um, so let me read you one of my favorite passages. And this is Ephesians, four. So let's start with verse 14. So that we may no longer, and just read, I could read the entire chapter for the entire context. Go read the chapter on your own. He's talking about sanctification. He's talking about maturing in the Lord. He's talking about building up the church in what growth in Christ looks like. This is Paul, God through Paul, speaking to the church of Ephesus. So verse 14, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine doesn't that sound like so many professing Christians today who are tossed to and fro by the

waves of every cultural moment and every false teaching just completely unable to discern what is true in light of scripture so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful schemes wow that is like everything we are seeing on instagram right now rather this is for the Christian rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. We are to grow up. We're to grow up in every way into him who

is the head into Christ. And that is building up the body of Christ. Your obedience in this matters. You're speaking the truth in love in this matters, even if you feel like you're not convinced in anyone, even if you feel like you're not persuasive, even if you feel like you're not eloquent, and you don't have the right words, and you're shaking even as you speak, and maybe you've compromised a few times in conversations in the past because you didn't know how to respond, your courage that is coming from the Lord, the words that you are speaking through the power of the Holy Spirit, they matter, even if it is just in obedience to the Lord. That matters.

Let me read you also this verse from Galatian. some of you are probably familiar, and this is Galatian 6-9 through 10, and let us not grow weary of doing good. A lot of us feel very weary right now. For in due season, we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith. And I could go on a whole rant about that last part, especially to those who are household of faith, because I think the church misprioritizes, we're not prioritizing correctly who we are supposed to love and serve. First, you are supposed to love and serve the church, the body of Christ, then the outside world. I think we so often prioritize reaching to the

outside world that we're not even taking care of our brothers and our sisters in Christ. I mean, think about how you take care of your own physical family. Don't you care for your children and your spouse and your home before you care for strangers' children, of course, because if you didn't. If you actually like fed other kids, but you didn't feed your own kids, like that would make you a really bad parent. That would make you a bad steward of what the Lord has given to you. And so in the same way, the church really is supposed to be primarily, primarily focused on taking care of one another. Not exclusively, but primarily. And so this is part of us doing good. It is speaking the truth and love. As that Ephesians 4 passage discuss, it is doing good to these women and these children who are in

crisis. I mean, just look at each side of this. On one side, you have people firebombing pro-life pregnancy resource centers who are simply giving free services and free supplies and free counseling and love to these women who are pregnant and they're worried and they're scared. They're helping the father, they're helping the mother. They're helping in so many different kinds of ways of these finger-wagging evangelicals and progressive. She say, we need to do more for moms. As I said yesterday, you need to do more for moms. Don't assume that we are not doing enough for moms. You need to do more for moms. Do not chide us, the pro-lifers, that we need to be doing more when clearly you have no idea what's been done. Get off your couch, go outside and see what you can do before telling the rest of us that we need

to do things. That, by the way, we are already doing. Go to your local pro-life pregnancy center, take some money out of your wallet, and help the cause. That has been being fought by pro-lifers for the past 50 years and really has been fought by the church for the past 2,000 years. That's what the church has always done. We've been a refuge for women, for children, for the vulnerable, for the truly actually marginalized. We've been a refuge of truth. We've been a refuge of safety.

That doesn't mean that we've been perfect because we are still a human institution that fails and that sins, unfortunately. But the church at her bash to the power of the Holy Spirit has been a refuge of safety and protection. That's who we are for pre-worn babies. That's who we are for women. and children. And so do not grow weary of doing that good. All right. I just wanted to make sure that you're encouraged, that you are edified, that you're built up, that you're standing firm in this.

All right? It is not you. It's not your words. It's not your strength. It's not your energy that is meant to sustain you. It is the Lord's. And his is never ending. It is unconditional. Remember my book? You're not enough. And that's okay. That's really good news because you are not sufficient to be your own strength to be your own love, to be your own fulfillment, and you are also not sufficient to be that for anyone else. The Lord is, though, like he is the cup that overflows. He is the well that never runs dry. He is the living water. Living water, he is the bread of life. And so if you are thirsty and you are hungry for the satisfaction and for energy and you just feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you feel burdened by all the craziness and the chaos in our culture right now,

go to the Lord for your refreshment and he will sustain you for as long as he has decided sovereignly that you are on this earth. He has written every single one of your days before any of them came to be as Psalm 139 tells us and he's got you. So keep going. Be joyful. Rejoice in the Lord always. I think this is, yeah, Philippians 4. Rejoicing the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be made known to everyone. Another very pertinent verse. your reasonableness be made known to everyone. There are a lot of people who are simply not reasonable right now. Reasonable is a characteristic of a Christian. That's also something that James 4, I believe, tells us. I'm okay with coming up with the book and the chapter. I'm

not always good at remembering the specific verse. But anyway, reasonableness, wisdom, love, truth, clarity, strength, consistency, all that comes from the Lord. And you have it in spade. if you were in Christ. All right. All right. Let's talk about Chris Pratt, Andy Dwyer. If you are a Parkson Ruck fan, he is very different than what he was when he was Andy Dwyer. He like started working out and stuff and everything just changed. But he has also been someone that a lot of conservatives and I think Christians admire not because necessarily he has been like super theological or super out front constantly with like sharing the gospel or anything like that. But one, because the left attacks him saying that he is like anti-LGBQ or goes to like an anti-LGB

church. And Ellen Elliott Page a couple years ago said on some talk show that Chris Pratt goes to like an anti-LGB church or something like that. I don't know. And so because the left attacked him, I think a lot of conservatives defend him. But he also seems not super woke. He is a big supporter of the police. He's a big supporter of the military.

I would be surprised if he were super on board with a bunch of left-wing ideology on a variety of things. And he has been outspoken a few times about Christianity, about believing in God. And he gave this speech at the MTV movie. and TV awards a few years ago. He was a recipient of a generation award and he said something along the lines of God is real. God loves you. He wants the best for you. And so, and that's way different than what a lot of celebrities say. They make it all about themselves. They make it about their like pet political issue, whatever it is. And he made it about God. And that was really cool. That's really different. He seems kind of like a solid person, especially in the crazy world of Hollywood. He's

married to Catherine Schwarzenegger. They have two girls together, two babies together. And then also he was married, I think, to Anna Ferris. And they have a little boy together. Anyway, so I don't know. He just seemed like different and more down to earth. And now he has this men's health interview that I think came out yesterday. And he's saying all the cool things to make sure the anti-religious people in Hollywood and on the left know that he's

cool guy. He's not like this crazy fundamentalist Christians, man. No, he's cooler than that. So he says this. He says this to men's health. Maybe it was hubris for me to stand up on the stage. He's talking about that MTV speech that he gave, which was like totally innocuous. It wasn't even anything super pointed about the Bible. Just God in general is real and loves you. And then he said, maybe it was hubris about that speech for me to stand up on the stage and say things that I said. I'm not sure I touched anybody. Like, why would you even say that? He says, he offers, and he gets why people were put off.

This is, okay, and he uses the F4, too, which means he's really cool. He says, religion has been oppressive as F for a long time. He says, as we walk over a tiny footbridge, the word spilling out in an emotional tidal wave. I didn't know, Chris Pratt says, that I would kind of become the face of religion, when really, I'm not a religious person. I think there's a distinction between being religious, adhering to the customs created by man, oftentimes appropriate in the all reserve for who I believe is a very real God,

and using it to control people to take money from people to abuse children to steal land. Interesting. To justify hatred, whatever it is, the evil that's in the heart of every single man has glommed onto the back of religion and come along for the ride. So not everything he's saying is incorrect. Of course, people have used religion, a false version of Christianity, to justify it. all kinds of atrocities and injustices, it can be a way to control people. It can be a way to cover up abuse. So I am not trying to minimize what he's saying there. But to me, especially if you read the entirety of this interview, it is very obvious that he is trying to detach himself from any

kind of religious affiliation. And he's doing what a lot of people do. He is saying, basically, that it's not religion, it's relationship, or it's not religion. It's just some kind of vague forum of spirituality. He says he doesn't go to Hillsong Church that he sometimes isn't attends Zoe Church, which I don't know a whole lot about that. I guess it's in California and that he also attends Catholic Church with his wife because the Schwarzenegger family is Catholic. So he is doing what a lot of people do when they've been slammed for being Christian, when they've been slammed for being a conservative Christian, he's trying to detach himself from that and show, no, I'm just a cool guy. I don't care. I live and let live.

I'm just a, I'm just a tolerant guy, which I'm sure, you know, at this point, he really does believe. But this to me was very obviously like a defense against the criticism that he's gotten from people that maybe he believes in something that is for the marriage between a man and a woman. And it's just a cop out to me. To me, it shows that like he really wants people's approval. You can see that in the rest of the interview. You can see that he really cares about the people who have attacked him. Like he really cares about people thinking that he is religious when apparently he's not. And I do take issue with this kind of separation of religion and relationship.

I take issue with people saying that religion in itself is oppressive. Religion in itself is bad. I take issue with people saying he didn't say this, but when people say that when people say that, well, the Pharisees were religious and religion is bad. No, the Pharisees weren't bad because they were religious. The Pharisees were bad because they had a pretense of religiosity. Their outward appearance was religious, but really their hearts were stone. They were whitewashed tombs, as Jesus said.

So on the inside, they were decaying. On the outside, they looked nice. So they had the appearance of obeying the law, but they weren't. obey the law from their heart. They added all kinds of rules and regulations that weren't actually inspired by God or created by God in order to make it more difficult for people who are not Pharisees to be seen as truly righteous. It was actually because they weren't truly religious enough. They were not truly pious enough. They were not truly holy enough because their hearts were far from God. They worshipped the God of self rather than the God of Scripture. It wasn't that they were so

obedient that Jesus said they were bad. It was because they weren't truly obedient that Jesus said they were bad. So this condemnation of religion is a very common talking point, but I just don't think it's biblically accurate. So let me read you this passage from James. James 127, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. And so no one's life. And so no are in scripture, do you see this idea that religion is bad? It's religion, not relationship. Actually, it's both. Yes, by grace through faith, we get relationship with God, the Father through Jesus Christ, who reconciled us, who made us from dead in our sin to alive in Christ. We get relationship

and communion with the Father. Yes, and amen. But also, it is a religion in that there are things that inspired by the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to do. And They, it is about worship. It is about also, not as a matter of salvation, but as a matter of sanctification and obedience to the Lord. It is a matter of works also. It is a matter of action inspired by the Holy Spirit that indwells us. So religion in itself isn't bad. I really don't like when people use that as a cop-out to try to make themselves seem, oh, I'm cooler than I am. I don't really care what people do. Christianity is a relationship. but it is also a religion.

And who cares? Yeah, people are going to not like that. People are always going to call you. If you have like any kind of morality that comes from the Bible, people are going to call you legalistic. People are going to call you oppressive. People are going to call you hateful. People are going to call you a bigot.

Until you believe their progressive religion, in totality, they are going to assume that you are just not a good person. Who cares? Don't defend yourself against them. I think Chris Pratt is super talented. I still appreciate that he is not judge. like a typical woke celebrity that is going to repeat everything that they do about the police or about the military or about whatever cultural issue is going on. See, conservatives and progressives

are so different. The conservatives just want the people who are playing sports or on their movies to be neutral. We don't want them to make really any political statement. I mean, awesome if you made us some kind of pro-life statement. I think that's great. But progressives really expect their celebrities to be on their political side and be so outward about that. And when they're not, they're going to call them bigots. And so, you know, just once again a difference between conservatism and progressivism. But I would like for him to stand firm. Gosh, don't apologize for that MTV speech or not just apologize, but don't, you know, walk it back and caveat it. It's true. I mean, God is real. He does care. That is a message

that you should absolutely be conveyed. So I kind of found this strange and quite frankly a little disappointing, even though I think that he is a talented and probably cool guy. All right. So you've heard me say that I'm super excited about tomorrow's episode. And it was good that we took like a little midweek break from like super heavy stuff because tomorrow is going to be a very big conversation with someone named Genevieve Glock. She is a feminist journalist who has done so much work exposing the underneath of the money making industry of gender transition and the transgender ideology and the history of it and the roots of it. And I just find her work fascinating. I have been begging her to come on the show for like several months now because I know you guys are going to benefit so much from it. And so I'm super excited for you to listen to this conversation. It might be a two-part conversation depending on how long it goes. I anticipate that it's going to be a long conversation because I'm going to have so many questions and so many different things to dig into. But make sure you tune into it. It's going to be one that

not only you want to listen to right away, but that you want to share with people. These are the kinds of conversations, I find that really can change people's minds. One, because she's coming from a different perspective than me. She's progressive in a lot of ways. She is a feminist. I'm sure that she is probably pro-choice. I don't want to put that in her mouth, but she probably is. And so we disagree on a lot of things. And therefore, people on the other side of the aisle may be more willing to listen to her. And also what she is going to say is just so unavoidably insane that it's really hard for people to kind of not see what is really going on here when you hear the results of her investigation. So make sure you tune into tomorrow's episode. Also, as always, as you guys do,

thank you so much for this. But if you subscribe to YouTube, that would be great. If you could leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to the podcast, that would be great. Make sure you check out all the awesome new merch that we have. That would be great. Thanks for following along this week. Just a reminder, you're doing a good job in standing firm and all of this. And the Lord absolutely will sustain you.

And we are in this together. I know a lot of you guys feel alone sometimes. And thankfully, you at the very least have a relatable community. You have thousands and thousands and thousands of people who listen to this show who are like-minded with you. And so at least be comforted by that. And you know what? We're thinking. I'm thinking of finding a way to kind of like bring us together so you can have some real life community with their relatable family as well.

All right. That's all we have time for today. We will be back here tomorrow. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives.

we don't offer false comfort, we ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.