The Eric Metaxas Show - #120 - Glenn Beck

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

Today On The Eric Metaxas Show, Eric talks with Glenn Beck about America’s forgotten covenant with God, the biblical ideas that shaped the Revolution, and why the Founders understood liberty as a gift from the Creator. They discuss George Washington, Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, George Whitefield, the Declaration of Independence, and why Americans must recover the true spiritual roots of the republic before it is too late. Eric also talks with Brad and Drew Formsma about raising grateful, generous children through America’s Grateful Stateful Road Trip. Subscribe for clips from The Eric Metaxas Show to hear politics and culture from a Christian perspective.⭐ PRE-ORDER TODAY:Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World📕: https://a.co/d/0ir3NlapTODAY'S SPONSORS:⭐ FREE SLAVES with CSI: https://csi-usa.org/metaxas/📢 Don’t Let the Financial Storm Destroy Your Wealth and Future!https://www.metaxasgoldira.com/⚖️ Legal Help Center - Get Free Legal Help Today: https://www.legalhelpcenter.com/🛏️ MyPillow — Save BIG with code ERIC: https://www.mypillow.com/☀️ Honest, fast, and free Medicare plan guidance: https://askchapter.com/metaxas/💧 Sentry H2O: https://sentryh2o.com/

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free of charge. BetMGEMG emigem operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I like Glenn Beck a lot. And, you know, not everybody does, but people are wrong. And I just want to be all right, all right, I can already hear him laughing. Glenn Beck, I love you. I don't just like you. I love you.

And it's a joy to talk to you. Anytime I get that privilege, welcome. Welcome to the program. Yeah, it's great to be with you, Eric. I love you too. It is, well, listen, you know, we're in the war together. And by the grace of God, we're, you know, we care about God's will. We care about the nation, about keeping the republic, preserving, saving the Republic.

And I want to talk to you about that because I'm excited. This year, of course, is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the greatest nation in the history. of the world. I call it the super centennial because when we were kids, it was the bicentennial. So it's America's bicentennial. And we need a term that's better than semi-Quincentennial. So I'm calling it the super centennial. President Trump is on board with that.

But, you know, when I saw you a couple of months ago, I was telling you, I've written a book on the subject. I am dramatically excited about this. This is not just, oh, it's an anniversary. it seems to me like a special moment in the history of our republic where we can go back to our roots, where we can restore the republic to its origins, without which it goes away. And I know that you know this, but I just wanted to talk to you about that. So it's funny that you would bring this up because I'm just sitting here waiting for this interview.

And I was reading in Deuteronomy. And it's weird that you would say this because it was it was exactly what I was reading about, you know, how we kind of have a covenant. And if we don't, if we don't honor the covenant, we're in, really, we're in big trouble. Be careful and watch yourselves closely so you don't forget the things that your eyes have seen or let them fade in your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and the children after them. Assemble the people before me and hear my words so they may learn to

revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children. And he goes on to say, you know, the minute you forget this, I'm going to, you're not going to get this land. And we are the only other covenant nation. I mean, Israel was a covenant nation and we made one, God made that one with Abraham. This one we made with God. We chose God. And if we don't turn back to God, we're in, you know, we're just.

we're not going to make it. And, you know, there seems to be a revival and possibly an awakening that is beginning, which gives me great, great hope. Because what's coming is going to be really difficult, really difficult. Well, I don't think there's any doubt about that. And, you know, if you have me on your program, I'll give you the details. But I will just tell you the headline is that when I wrote my book on The Revolution, I did not. People kept saying, what's your anger? I said, well, I don't have an angle. I just want to tell the story of the birth of the nation. Every American needs to know the story. Every American needs to know what the principles were and who the players were and the stories of heroism and the treachery of people like Benedict Donald. And we just need to know it.

But in the course of doing the research, I was truly, truly astonished to see the biblical basis for everything. that they all understood it that way. Samuel Adams gives a speech the day before they all sign the Declaration of Independence, August 1st of 1776. And in this speech, he uses the phrase, he says, we have this day restored the sovereign, capital S. We have gone back to the Sinai covenant where we look to God alone. I mean, it's an amazing thing.

And it's our history. And most Americans have never heard of this. This is the basis of the nation. And what's worse is there's so many Christians that dismiss it. You know, I don't think we believe in miracles anymore. I'm not sure. But I know, because I've read the founder's words myself as well, they knew. If you look at the first line of George Washington's fair, his inaugural address,

I'm going to butcher this, Eric, you might know this. But he says there are, there is no group of people. that should know this more than us, that God is in our midst and, you know, we saw the miracles happen and we must remember and we must continue to praise him. It's horribly butchered, but can you imagine that's George Washington who is preposterously put forth as a deist? What a joke. What an insane lie that it's pushed, that idea is pushed and pushed and pushed. And when I did the research, I thought, wait a second, that is completely ridiculously wrong. It's madness. But do you think, Eric, you would know better than I do. Is that because he used so many different

names for God? Well, no, that's the excuse. In other words, people will say, oh, I mean, he says Providence. Right. Is that the excuse that they use? Is that the, of course, yeah. That's the, but again, it's such a thin excuse because there's a hundred other examples of him talking about God, in history miraculously. Deists don't talk like that. Deiast don't believe any of that stuff. You know, Deist believes, if I'm not mistaken,

that it's a clock. That God set the clock, he made the clock, and then he's walked away. He doesn't carry the way because he's busy. He's got other appointments. He's got other universes. I got other things I'm doing in other places. Yeah.

Yeah. And so that is definitely not George Washington, nor is it any of the founders. I mean, I don't know if you know this, Eric, but I have a letter from Thomas Payne, and I think it's to Adams, Sam Adams, I think, where he says, you know, he just gets out of prison, he's over, you know,

and he's like, what are you guys doing to me? You guys are killing me. You're making me into this atheist. I'm not an atheist. I saw the miracles. I was there. It's an amazing letter. I saw the miracles.

I know. I'm writing because I'm trying to explain to the French. I'm trying to, the French have tied the king to the church and the church to God. So it's all one thing. I'm trying to say, I'm trying to say, forget about all of that. Forget about the church.

Forget about even, you know, Jesus, just understand God. Just to understand God. He said, that's what I'm trying to do over here. you guys are making me into this atheist. And that's not who I am. That's not what I'm doing. Glenn, I would do anything to see the text of that letter. I am not familiar with that.

And I was under the impression, yeah, that Samuel Adams, I'm sorry, that Thomas Payne drifted off into French Enlightenment, rationalism at the end of his life. Because we know that's what killed the French Revolution was their rejection of God. Their silly idea that we could have freedom and liberty and equality. without God. No, no, no, you can't. He was not a, you know, he was not a Bible thumper and he, you know, he wasn't, he wasn't what we would deem as a, as a Bible thumper. But in the letter, he says, I saw the miracles. I cannot deny what I saw. I know. I'm trying to relate to them because he's starting to see the killing and everything else. And he's like, this is, he was, he was,

remember Jefferson and Payne were the ones who were arguing with Washington. We got to be involved over in France. And Washington said it's not the American Revolution. Right. What they missed was the deep belief in God that was anchoring and that absence over in France. So when Amos Payne finally saw it, he's like, okay, okay, I got to bring him back to God. I got to show him God. And that's what he was doing.

I'll share the letter with you, Eric. It's not in any textbook, and it's amazing. It's amazing. Well, this is the whole thing, Glenn, and this is, again, why I love you, because ever since I've known you, you care about actual history and God wants us to restore the truth to the narrative. We've been living in our whole lifetimes with this silly, silly lies that it was French Enlightenment rationalism that led to America. No, ladies and gentlemen, that's a lie. And that's part of the reason I think that they push Jefferson so much. They see him as this iconic figure of French Enlightenment rationalism.

They don't want to hear from, you know, Samuel Adams and John Adams, they're two Puritan, two Christian. And it's simply not true. You do not get America without those, you know, Reformation, Puritan, Christian faith being brought in. There's a reason why we are the only revolutionaries that started a war that were the ones left standing to start the country afterwards. Every other revolution, it might start with one group, but it ends with another group. And the difference is we were based in deep principles. You know, I'm going over to England next week, Eric, and I'm going to speak at a big rally put on by Tommy Robinson's. They say it's...

Good for you. God bless you. That is fantastic. They say it's going to be the biggest freedom rally or biggest actual rally in England ever. But I... I want to be encouraging, but I also really feel like I need to say, you know, don't forget the American principles that it is about the individual and it is about God. And it's the individual being endowed with certain inalienable rights. Glenn, you have to, you have an obligation to say to share that with them.

They may never hear it again. We're going to go to a break. When we come back, I'm going to tell you a story along these lines. It's very exciting. Don't go away, folks. Folks, before we go, I want to recommend to you, in case you want to do something crazy and beautiful, we are doing another campaign with our friends at CSI. These folks are heroes.

If you want to free a slave, literally, this is what CSI does. Every $250 sets one captive free and puts them into a life of freedom, sets them up. This is important. Help us do this. Go to Eric Mattis. Taxus.com, click on the banner. Couldn't be easier. Please go to ericmetaxis.com. Click on the banner. Very important. Welcome back. I'm talking to Glenn Beck. At least I think I am. Glenn, is that you? Yeah. Yeah, it's me. Okay. Well, listen, you just shared something. I had no idea that you're going to be in England and that you're with Tommy Robinson. Praise the Lord for this. This is a big deal. Because the hell they're going through over there right now, Europe obviously lost the thread. America, we, by the grace of God, understood this stuff in the 18th century. It had supposedly been established, you know, in the 17th century.

But, you know, the English, most of Parliament and the king forgot about this, and they drifted off. But there was a battle, and I write about this in my book. I didn't, again, I didn't know this. There was a battle in England in the 1760s, precisely along the same lines of the battle over here. So the Sons of Liberty in the 13 colonies looked across the Atlantic. There was a figure, kind of like a Tommy Robinson of his dening, John Wilkes. And John Wilkes was kind of a crazy guy, but he was a champion of liberty. And there was a moment in the 1760s and just after where I think a lot of the people who loved

these ideas of liberty that our rights come from God, John Locke, all this stuff. There was a hope that that idea wouldn't just burst into flame in a good way in America. but also in England. And people like John Adams and others, I think Thomas Payne says it, that we may be the ones to save England from going down the wrong path. Obviously, it didn't work out that way,

but I sometimes wonder if in God's economy, if we're not in a moment now where England can be saved and brought into the same thing that we have here. I mean, I think that that's God's will, but that's, you know, hearing that you're going to be speaking at a rambor with Tommy Robinson gives me real hope along those lines.

Well, it gives me clarity that now I know exactly I have to say those things. So I've been going back and forth. I wrote something and I don't want to seem like I'm preaching to them about, you know, what you have to do now. But I just am very concerned that unless you restore God into this, unless you understand the, you know, George Whitfield. was English. It was George Whitfield that came here that actually planted all of these seeds in us. And it is the difference between the French Revolution and the American Revolution. It has to be

centered on inalienable rights that come from God. And we're the only nation that has that. It's the reason why we're the least damaged out of the West, you know, but we have forgotten them too. We have to restore them ourselves. That's right. Well, I mean, it wouldn't surprise you that my book is all about this without intending to be. Without George Whitfield, there's no America. John Locke is an Englishman. You can reference John Locke.

You can reference John Wilkes. You can reference Whitfield that movement. I mean, John Locke, you know, he popularizes the idea that our natural rights come from God. All of this stuff is, where did we? get it from we got it from you know Tyndale uh and it's it's like it comes from the through the reformation uh and they lost the thread but i really believe there's a there's a chapter in my book that there's a whole essay that john adams writes in 1765 he's 30 years old he writes this big essay and it's like he's speaking prophetically about these kinds of things i mean i've never seen that side of

john adams but i feel like there were there were people back then who had a sense that England wants this too. And, you know, what happened over there is another story. But I am really excited that you're going over there. Because I've been thinking this a lot about this a lot recently that, you know, we need to restore this republic. We need this. But I think we will. I think we're in the process of that.

I think May 17th when we rededicate the nation to God on the mall, I'll be there. But I believe that I will be there for sure. I'm still going to be overseas. and I was there. I mean, you know, you and I have talked about this. Eric, forever that we have to renew the covenant.

That has to be done. Are we? And I don't, I don't know enough about this. The people I'm assuming that are putting this all together, they understand the covenant, and that is the object of this, right? Well, that's my understanding.

There's also an event the night before where maybe that will be more explicit. It does seem to me that that's what this is all about. And by the way, when they picked May 17th, they didn't know, when they picked that date for the mall to rededicate the nation to God, they didn't know that May 17th, 2026 is the exact 250th anniversary to the day

of when Congress issued a proclamation of a day of prayer and fasting. May 17th, precisely 250 years to the day. I believe this is God speaking in history, prophetically. We're going to go to another break. Folks, I'm talking to Glenn Beck. Don't go away. Hey there, folks.

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I'm talking to Glenn back and we're getting excited. Glenn, you know, your heart for this kind of stuff. It moves me. The rally is the 16th. So the mess you that the serious stuff that you just said was happening, that's when I'll be at the rally in England. I mean. Well, I want to tell you there was, and again,

I don't see anybody who has seen this until I saw it. So when I saw it, I thought, is this just me? This happens to me every time I write a book, it happened with Bonhofer. I kind of read stuff and I go, wait a minute. Is anybody seeing this? this is and I realize in a way nobody has and so it's a gift from the Lord that I get to kind of notice something and so what I noticed was this link between the Sons of Liberty in the colonies.

Now imagine 1760s nobody's thinking about independence. They're all thinking about restoring the rights of all Englishmen that are rights come from God. So you have people like William Pitt, he gets it. Edmund Burke, he gets it. There are many who get it. As we know, King George the Third doesn't get it. Lord North doesn't get it. And so they go a different path, which leads to tragedy.

I mean, I just saw, I don't recommend it, but there's a movie, Mike Lee made a movie called Peter Liu about, kind of about these issues, about the oppression of the working classes in England, in the early part of the 19th century. And you realize they didn't have what we have here. They didn't have everybody gets to vote, representational government. They didn't believe in these ideas. And it was really, it was a beastly world, basically, for the common man.

And so I have this crazy idea that it's God's will now to bring these ideas to the people in England. And I think they're hungry for it, Glenn. I think if you talk about God, I think your average Englishman who loves England knows, just as they did in World War II. They, they're not, you know, this is not like you're speaking to, I don't know, people in Sweden.

Or you're talking to people who I think they have this in their DNA, in their culture, you know, they had it in World War II. You know this. At Dunkirk, people were praying. It is a big part of their history, their national history. You know, I might want to call you,

when I'm over there because I think I'm going to be speaking at the, is it the Oxford Club or Cambridge? I can't remember. Oxford Union, yeah. That's what it is, the Oxford Union. And again, I was thinking, they said, you didn't pick the topic and I was thinking Declaration of Independence. So maybe I could talk to before I go in there because that's just a lion's den.

But I think God and the Declaration of Independence is what I'm supposed to talk about there as well. Well, I mean, look, I spoke at the Oxford Union. I debated there about 20 years ago. And it's really, it's become worse and worse. But, but I mean, listen, what we all need to be clear on, every America needs to know, you know, Thomas Jefferson didn't come up with the idea that all men are created equal. He just wrote some sentences in a beautiful way, but we act like these are his ideas. They're not his ideas. They're not his ideas. They're the ideas of everyone who preceded him. These are the ideas of Samuel Adams and John Adams and down the line.

They all understood this. And it was the heart of everything. And so it's important. Have you gone through any of the sermons that we have at our museum? We have thousands of sermons from the founding era. and all of this stuff that you're talking about, all of this, it's all was on being preached from the pulpit.

You would not be. That's the point. Yeah. They didn't come up with this in 1776. Thomas Jefferson didn't come up with this. This had been preached from pulpits for decades and decades. You've talked about the Black Rope Regiment. And I was recently with Tim Barton and saying to him,

like, it just kills me that I didn't get over to the museum and that I didn't have time before I wrote my book. But so much of this is, you know, this is our history. history. In fact, there was, John Adams references a sermon that was preached by a Jonathan Mayhew in Boston in 1750, where Jonathan Mayhew basically says that, you know, the interpretation of Romans

13 that we're supposed to do whatever the government says that that's wrong. No, we have a duty to stand up against tyrannist government. And John Adams says that that sermon preached in 1750, everybody knew the sermon it had been printed everybody was aware of it so this was part of the culture the christian culture absolutely of puritan massachusetts but this is what led to the american revolution and there's no other way to get there we have to go to another break forgive me but there's no other way to get there and most americans don't know this most americans don't know that it was george whitfield and others it was his preaching that that stirred this up so that the black row of Regiment is preaching this stuff. We'll be right back talking to Glenn. Back.

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Hey folks, welcome back. I got a couple of Dutch people on the program right now. They're related. They have one of those Dutch names, Formsma. What kind of my name is that? I'll tell you, it's a Dutch name. I don't like the Dutch, but I believe as Christian, I need to forgive all the bad things that Dutch people have done in the world. And welcome my guests, Brad and Drew Formsma. Welcome. Great to be here, Eric. We're talking about America. We're not talking about, you know, Holland or anything, so I can joke around.

But seriously, where do I start? First of all, you, Brad, our best-selling author, a Forbes top-rated speaker, host of the Wow Factor, top-ranked podcast. And you and Drew have been involved in something. I don't want to explain it. I'll let you guys explain it. Drew, can I let you start and explain what we're talking about this, the grateful, stateful road trip, which you've turned into a book. Staples Preferred Business Membership, built for busy business owners, because you've got bigger things to think about. With Staples Preferred, get free delivery. No minimums. Staples Preferred unlocks up to 3% back. Plus 10% savings. on print and exclusive wireless offers.

One less thing on your plate. Actually, a lot less. Visit staples.ca slash preferred. That was easy. Yeah, I mean, we are seeing culture shape the next generation like never before. Materialism is at an all-time high, consumerism is at an all-time high,

anxiety, depression, culture, social media, and something is shaping the next generation. And it's a self-focused mentality. And so what Brad and I have discovered is that actually you find life when you start looking to the needs of others. And Brad, why don't you talk a little bit about what we've created with this new kids book? Now, since you guys have the same last name, are you going to clue us in? Is that just coincidence or all Dutch people named Formsma? Like, what's the connection between Drew and Brad?

Absolutely. Well, father and son, but we have to take two steps back and go to the Dutch grandpa who told me, You make a living by what you earn, but a life by what you give. He modeled the generous life to me in my early teens. And it stuck. And then when Laura and I had kids and Drew's our middle son, we made that pre-decision. We want to grow up our kids to be generous,

not just with money, but with their time and their words and they're sharing their belongings, their attention for crying out loud. And to be fully present in a conversation, What an idea. And so out of that, I sold a business in 08 and started a nonprofit called I Like Giving in 2010. And the whole mission is to equip people to love God, love others, and live generously. Out of that came this idea that what if we could help teach and instill values that last?

And so America's grateful, stateful road trip came into my heart in the fall. and it just came off the press recently, and I thought Drew could then speak into more of what we're trying to do there in this kind of, call it Christian Dr. Seuss-style teaching. So we... Okay, so we're talking about a children's book called America's Grateful Stateful Road Trip.

So go ahead. Go ahead. There it is. The fun part is Candace Cameron Burray from Fuller House, your audience might remember. We came together and we said, we are tired of talking about all this noise in America and the world.

What if we look at teaching kids values that last, values that matter? And including our country, left or right side, we have so much to be grateful for. We live in one of the greatest countries in the world with freedoms and a constitution and an opportunity to go for a dream. And that dream starts with service. And it really starts with reflecting on, it doesn't matter if you live in California, New York, Florida, or Michigan. There is something beautiful about where you live and there's something to be grateful for. And Drew, I just, I hate to correct my guess, but it's actually not one of the greatest nations in the way.

It's the greatest nation. Now, I don't say that just because I happen to live in America. It really is. And it's not because we're better. We're no different than anybody in the world. You have the same amount of original sin with the same amount of original sin. exception, maybe the French have 20% more. But we are no different, but our country and our government is such a gift.

It's so amazing. And I just want to applaud you for celebrating the country in this children's book. Again, it's called Celebrating America. I'm sorry, it's called the Grateful Stateful Road Trip or is it the American show to us again so we can see. So it's called America's Grateful Stateful. road trip. It all starts with a couple of giraffes complaining to their grandparents that they're bored for summer vacation. And the grandparents say, not a chance, here we go. And as they go through

the country and notice the different geographies and the beauty, gratitude continues to get instilled. And yet we get to that special place where the grandparents can call out that first freedom that's so special to us, the freedom to worship and to pray and to have a freedom of speech. And then they walk into Washington, D.C. and learn more because we kept finding kids are just idiots when it comes to these kinds of basic things that we should all know to be true. So we even slide in the Bill of Rights and we even have a highlighting of what makes America so great is the people. and we really want to use this as a tool to help families and generations this heading into this summer and beyond, hey, let's reorient. Let's be grateful. Gratitude is a gateway to the generous life.

And the thing, too, is that even if you have nothing, you should be grateful. But when you have what we have in America, it is really particularly sinful not to be grateful. And we've all been hearing this narrative for decades about, you know, the sins of America. And there's nothing wrong with acknowledging your sins. But as Christians, you don't acknowledge your sins to beat yourself up. You acknowledge your sins so you can repent and be renewed and restored and forgiven. And you move on and you improve. God wants to restore us not to keep us wallowing in our sins.

And that's the kind of leftist, cultural Marxist narrative that, oh, America is a racist nation. America has always been a race. Those are lies because they really go against God, right? The idea that God says, no, I, you are, I can redeem you. If you were a racist, I can redeem you. If you are broken and it is this way, I can heal that. And that's a positive, beautiful thing. That message needs to get out there. So I'm grateful for you doing that in this book. So again, the title is America's Grateful, Stateful Road Trip. So, Drew, I didn't get to say what you do. I mentioned what your dad does with himself.

What are you up to when you're not doing something like this? Yeah, really, my big focus is I got to sit next to Charlie Kirk several times at different events. I have been very pushed and motivated to continue to teach values that matter. I'm a guy who's trying to stand up for what he believes in and God died on, his son died on a cross for my sins and that I get to receive that love of my father. And the way you give love to a world that desperately needs it

is through generosity. And that is our pathway forward. But you first have to receive it. And you have to receive it from what Jesus did on that cross for each and every one of us. And that is the thing that I go for. It's what Charlie Kirk talked about. It's what we push every single day

is that this world, if you want significance, if you want to live, we have more self-help books than ever before, yet we're worse off than ever. It's because we've tilted inward. And it's sad to see we're having less kids than ever. People aren't getting married. Why aren't they getting married?

Because when your life is all about you, it's tilted inward. And what Brad and I have talked about is what would life look like if you're grateful for what you have and you start to look every day to the needs of others. And that is what I live for every single day. And it gives me purpose and it's exciting. And that is what is going to turn America.

It's what started America to be so amazing. Selfless behaviors that help build where we're at. And it's how we can shift culture. Because culture's not neutral, Eric. It's not. It is the things how we live, the things that we do, shape us every single day. and if we do nothing, you'll see where we're going to go.

And I just take it. Oh, I see where I see where we're going to go. I'm 100% with you. I've been talking about this for probably as long as you've been alive. This is at the center of everything right here. Cultures are not neutral. We need to love God. We need to talk about him.

And we need to understand that without Christian faith and Christians, America would have never come into being. We have a tremendous privilege of living in this country. We really truly don't deserve it. It is a gift. And if you're not grateful for this gift and want to use this gift to bless others, you're missing it. It's just absolutely huge. So tell me a little bit more about the book.

Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah. It's important to note, you know, we have a vision to raise the most generous generation in history. This is not two guys that thought we would write a book. This is a nonprofit that has stood up to say we want to equip people to love God, love others, and live generously. This is one of the avenues.

This is part of a series of 36 kids' books. We produce a new world-class kids' book, just like America's Grateful Stateful every month. Of course, they said we couldn't do it. Wait a minute. That's a big deal. Now, what's the website, before we go to a break? Got to go to a break.

What's the website for this? It's generous. New Generousfamily.com. And they're all about teaching values that last, and we partnered with Candace Cameron Bray to get this in to families across America, hundreds of thousands of families. That's right, generousfamily.com. Okay, so if anybody wants to see all the stuff you're doing,

including the book we're talking about, America's Grateful Stateful Road Trip, they should go to generousfamily.com. Generousfamily.com. We'll be right back. Folks, I'm talking to Brad and Drew Formsma, and we're just getting started. Don't go away.

Stick around. Folks, welcome back. I am talking to Brad and Drew Formsma. They have the last name because their father and son. What are the odds of that? Having two guests, it's just unbelievable. It's like, it's got to be a miracle. They are behind generousfamily.com.

And they have a new book out called America's Grateful Stateful Road Trip. So gentlemen, tell us more. How are you getting this message and these books? into the hands of people around the country. Yeah, what we've seen is we started with a mission of, Dolly Parton does an incredible thing for ages zero to five with distributing kids' books across America. But ages six through 12, there's really nothing there,

and we're getting called on states across America to help distribute kids' books to military families, veterans, single moms, pro-life movements. We have partnered with organizations like Embrace Grace down in Texas to give every mom that chooses life kids books for her kids, to folds of honor and helping those military families get kids books, to an event that's happening

at Allegiant Stadium for veterans. That's the Gratitude Day, where they're having a lot of big name singers and over 30,000 veterans and we are distributing kids' books to every one of those families. To Good Day neighbor, good neighbor day across America, where there's literally millions of people who are serving communities,

and we are giving out kids' books. So right now we're at 225,000 kids' books distributed, and it's only May 4th this year. Holy cow. That's a lot of kids' books. I'm familiar with kids' books. I've written 30 children's books myself over the years, and I really love kids' books.

And I think the best kids' books are books that are fun for people. parents to read to their kids. And so tell us, you know, this is a big vision to publish so many books. Do you have just a raft of authors? How do you do this? Well, we have a theme of 22 people, and we believe God's brought them to us. We're 14 states wide. And what's powerful about the organization is we're not institutional. We're entrepreneurial spirit, and we like giving. And so, So what we said was let's create world-class content that would get into the heart and the home. And so like one of our titles, Ellie the Elephant and the Stinkin' Thinking, we're highlighting the idea of your thought life and connecting it to scripture in the back of the book.

Every one of our books is designed to create conversation and use for future teaching inside the family. things like kindness and generosity and being aware of others' needs and being outward reaching and being filled with gratitude for what you have. It's one of the things we say, I want what I have. What a novel idea. And so, you know, daily, weekly, monthly, as this gets into your heartbeat. And as I said earlier, my grandpa modeled it to me. Okay, we know this as facts.

when kids are taught the generous life and values ordained life based on biblical principles before the age of 10, it's serious business because that's right when they're moving from concrete to abstract thinking. And that's generosity is an abstract concept. And so that's when they're first established in their values, their morals, their worldview. So let's get them then. And so what better than to have my son who has a clear calling on his life come along with me, in our team of 22, as I said, to go out and do big things, and that's what's happening. God's blowing his favor all over this.

We just partnered with America 250. This book's now on the White House gift store. I don't know anybody in the White House. I've never even been there. I drove by. I love it. I mean, I'm not at the White House gift store. Holy cow.

I didn't even know the White House had a gift store. What are you talking about? That's amazing. It's a lot of fun, but I think what we're seeing is. momentum and movement that's happening. We have found ourselves just blessed by teaching these stories. It's kind of what Jesus did. He told parable-like stories that helped you see something, and it brought just great wisdom. And Dr. Seuss has an incredible quote. He said, my kids' books are for ages zero to 90. And I think that's the same for us. We find parents

often saying, look, I find myself constantly thinking negatively about others. I find I find myself being a blabbering blabber mouth. I find myself in these same stories. And honestly, your whole audience, I would challenge everyone. Go read a kid's book. 50% of parents are not reading kids' books to their kids. It's devastating.

The child illiteracy rates across America are devastating. I would tell you, it's the last time where technology is not involved. Pick up a book. Read it with your grandchild or your child. It's one of the greatest reasons to become a parent. You get to read kids books to your kids. We're at a time.

Absolutely. And if you're a grandparent for crying out loud, sit with your kids, you no longer have an excuse. Go for it. We're at, we're at a time. Folks, go to generousfamily.com. Brad and Drew Formsma, God bless you. Thanks so much. How blessed.

Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Hey there, folks. Welcome back. We interrupt our usual programming to talk to you about an opportunity that I find, frankly, almost unbelievable. There is slavery in the world right now, real slavery, not metaphorical, not sort of. It is radical Muslims who seem to think this is fine and Christians who seem to think it's not fine who want to do something about it. And so every year, once or twice, we on this show

partner with Christian Solidarity International to do something about it. And every year we do something about it. You step up. God bless you. And so I wanted to bring on CSI's spokesman, one of the spokesman, Todd Chapman, to talk more about what it is that's actually happening. Todd, welcome back. This episode is brought to by Nespresso. Hear that. That's your next obsession. Every coffee, a new world. Every sip, a new taste. This is the new espresso. One touch, endless possibilities. Iceed, flavored, long, short. Because, some days call for that espresso kick. And sometimes a smooth, silky latte just wins.

It's exceptional but effortless. Like actually effortless. Simply press, brew and explore. Nispresso. What else? Keep exploring at nespresso.com. Hey, thanks, Eric. Great to be here with you.

Always thrilled to be able to come on your program and tell your listeners about something that most people don't even know is a thing. And that is the fact that we have a beautiful opportunity to free slaves slaves that have been held captive for decades in North Sudan and bring them back to their home villages, reunite them with their family after decades of slavery and abuse. And it's just a beautiful opportunity. And I just got to give you and your audience just amazing, I want to say props, but that kind of cheapens it. I just want to sincerely thank you because over the many

years we've partnered with you and your various programs, your listeners have literally freed tens of thousands of these precious human beings. They had no other hope of getting free. But you've allowed us to come on your programs. You've used your platform to do so much good through the generosity of your listeners. And we're so grateful. Well, there are people listening right now who can do $250. That sets one of these captive slaves free, sets them up in a life of freedom. It does just free them, but it sets them up in a life of freedom. Their details on that, if you go to Ericknetaxis.com and click on the banner, you'll see more about that. But I want to say that there are people that can do many multiples of this.

And folks, again, I can't imagine anything more simple and user-friendly. Every $250 you give sets a human being who is enslaved free from slavery. That's, again, almost unbelievable. But, you know, you can look into it. You can look into CSI. And there are people that can do multiples of that. And I just want to encourage you, folks. By the way, did I mention it's tax deductible?

And it is real. And I have always said if there's anybody, sometimes there's somebody out there that wants to spend an evening with me to have dinner or get a group together to have a dinner with me. And I will offer my time. My time has gotten preposterously valuable. I have very little time, very few evenings. but anybody who can gather together $15,000, you can do it with a group of friends or do it yourself.

It'll be my honor to spend the evening with you, to have dinner. You set that up. It can be 20 people in a private room in a restaurant or it can be just a couple, two people and me or me and my wife, and we can do it in your city or in my city. But I feel like this is a great, great, great opportunity. And I want to exhort everybody listening to understand how wonderful it is that we get to do this, that we don't just complain and say, well, please pray. No, we can actually do something right now. And that's why we partner with CSI.

And Todd, you have been there. You've met some of these people. Again, it seems inconceivable to me, all of it. Yeah, it's mind-boggling when you meet these, these, primarily women. There are some men that have been helped captive. many of them were taken captive, again, when these villages were raided back last century. But, you know, imagine that being taken captive as a child, removed from your parents, maybe watching your father killed right before your eyes, and then enslaved and not just, you know,

doing physical labor, but we're talking about physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, medulation of Christians being forced to convert to Islam, just a horrific life. I've had so many of these women tell me when they come into freedom back in their home country, I never thought I would be free. And you can't hear words like that and come away untouched. And it's just incredible that that can happen for $250. And so we would just invite you if you're able and can liberate a slave all on your own, $250. If you can't give that much, look, give as much as you can.

And then, you know, your gift along with others, it all turns into slaves being freed. And this month, during the month of May, we're just bringing this back front and center here on your program. And we want to invite your listeners to help us free another few hundred slaves. We've got another liberation March coming up here in the next couple of months. And it would be great to have as many people rescued by your listeners as we can. Look, again, I know there are people. I know that everybody listening can do something, folks. So you're without excuse.

Just go to Ericmantaxas.com, click on the banner. Do what you think you can. but there are people that can do huge amounts of money that we could tomorrow free practically all of those who are still enslaved. So the fact that we can do that, here's the phone number 888-253-3522, 888-253-3522, or go to Eric Metaxus.com. God bless you as you give.