The Eric Metaxas Show - Bear Grylls – The Greatest Story Ever Told

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Outdoor survival icon Bear Grylls joins Eric to talk about what he calls his most important book yet: The Greatest Story Ever Told. Hear how his Christian faith fuels his bold adventures—and why this story matters most.

Welcome to the Eric Metaxas show. I shouldn't tell you this, but Eric hired someone who sounds just like him to host today's show. But since I'm the announcer, they told me, so I'm telling you, don't be fooled. The real Eric's in jail. Hey there, folks. At Socrates in the city, we're doing a new thing. It's called The Question of where we interview somebody. I'm not talking.

We just let them talk on an important question. and we've got a number of those. They're all like nine, ten minutes long. We're going to play one of those for you right now. Here it is. Can you define evil? People look at it in different ways without really thinking it through. Some people think that good is a secondary trait.

So you think of doctors and soldiers and police officers are doing good. But in order for them to do good, there has to be disease, and there has to be crime, and there has to be war. And so you're always looking at people as good if they are fighting the evil, which which means the evil comes first, and that is a really interesting way to look at life because it puts you in the position of thinking any good you do is really secondary to the evil that's inside you. I don't actually believe that's true. I believe that you start out to find a moral ethos, a moral way of behaving, and you have to believe two things. One, you have to believe that other people's inner lives are just as important to them as your inner life

is to you. And then you have to believe that both of them are equal. at some level to God. There has to be some standard, some overwatching standard that says both of these things are things that I love. These inner lives are things that I love. And so what I believe is that evil is actually the absence of that love. It's the absence of the recognition of yourself and others and God in others. And that's why murder is the ultimate expression of evil

because of essentially erases an entire other experience of the world, an entire other inner life that is just as creative, just as interesting, and just as deep as yours is to the person living it. And so I believe that evil is the disconnect from love, basically, and love is actually the primary state of human beings. I've often asked myself why so many stories deal with evil and why the great movies deal with evil, the great novels so often deal with evil. and I really think the reason is is because it is an indisputable example of the borderline

of morality. The idea if you are a materialist, it's easy to convince yourself that morality is a fiction, that it's something that we kind of make up, it's really it's game theory or it's evolutionary psychology or it's any of these things, but when you actually

see what one person does to another when he commits murder, for instance, you understand no. That's not true. There is no place. If you went to a planet of Nazis or murderers, they would still be wrong, even though they all thought they were right. It doesn't take an opinion to change that. And so when you deal with that, you then begin to bounce back into the more important question of what does it mean to be good? Does it just mean correcting this or does it mean living in such a way that you can achieve something? Is there a purpose to your life? Is there a purpose to being you? And of course, as a Christian, I very much believe there is, and I think that that road to that purpose is actually built into your personality. There is somebody, and everyone knows this deep down, there is somebody that you're supposed to be that you are not. And when you find that North Star that is God and start walking toward it, you start to find that as you leave yourself behind, you actually find the self that you were meant to be. And that is an incredibly beautiful thing.

And in some ways, it starts with the acknowledgement that there is a... a border to the moral order. And that border expresses itself in evil very clearly, whereas the good is something you have to move toward slowly as it unfolds before you. One of the things I love about being an artist is I believe in art is an act of the spirit, that the spirit moves through me to create art. Most artists believe that art comes through them, not out of themselves. And because of that, it turns everything it touches into creation, which is the opposite of evil because it's the purpose of love. Creation is the purpose of love. And so everything that art touches turns to light in some ways. And that's why I actually feel that reading about

stories of darkness can lead you into the light. It seems like a paradox, but it actually is built into the system of art and into the system of ritual and into the system of worship. And I think it's one of the centerpieces of a well-lived life. One of my great fears when I realized that I was becoming a Christian or that I had become a Christian novelist, was that I would become a Christian novelist. And I remember actually praying to God and saying, oh, dear Lord, please, do not let me become a Christian novelist. The reason I felt like that is that I naturally write very hard-boiled stories about very hard-boiled people doing very terrible things. And I thought, I just hate these stories that are supposed to be family-friendly or Christian-friendly in which

everything goes fine and you pray and you always get what you pray for. And yes, you go through a dark period, but ultimately it all turns out right if you believe in God. Well, that's true in eternity, but it is not true in the real world. And so I was very much afraid that I would start writing Christian fiction, which I really dislike mostly, modern Christian fiction I really dislike. But instead, something else happened, which was that understanding that there is a moral order and coming to know it more deeply through the Bible and through worship, I started to see the world is a very, very dark place. And in fact, my outlook on life became much, much darker. And at the same time, weirdly enough, I became a much more joyful person. And that was because I had an

outlook that was actually larger than life, literally larger than life. I didn't see things as ending with death. I saw things as being contained within a larger context. And what I've now tried to capture in my work is not the ridiculous idea that everything works out for the best, that You know, the arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice, none of which is true. I mean, if a murder victim never gets justice in this world, what I try to do is make all of my characters live within the moral order that I know is there. And that means that there is a price you pay for everything. And the price, sometimes that you pay for being a good person, is being excoriated or less

popular. If you tell the truth, maybe you're not as popular as somebody who lies. If you don't compromise your morals, maybe you don't make as much money as you. the guy next to you, that's the price you pay for that. The price you pay for evil is meaninglessness and separation from God, which is hell both here and I believe in eternity. And so at the same time, my view of the world has become quite dark. My inner world has become quite joyful. And that seems a paradox, but it's a paradox I would like to at least present to other people through my work. I see a lot of people who hesitate on the

threshold of faith because of the question of evil. How can an all good, all-knowing God, allow evil? There's always philosophical explanations for that. God believes in our freedom, and that means he lets us do bad things. I think that's true. But there's also all kinds of evils in the world that really have nothing to do with freedom, and it doesn't really explain the Dostoevsky in question of how can the evil that has done ever be made good? If a child suffers, can that ever be made good, even over the course of all eternity? And what I argue is that art starts to suggest

an answer to that question that is not philosophical, that is actually emotional and sensual. And that is this, that you can't see the beauty of a design when you're in the design. When you look at a statue, for instance, the P.A. T. Tob, on Michelangelo, This is one of the most beautiful pieces of human work ever made. It is uncannily beautiful.

And yet it depicts the worst thing that ever happened in the world, not just the worst thing that can ever happen to a person, which is the death of a child, but it's the death of God. It's the death of all goodness. It is a terrible, terrible moment in human history. And in that moment, people don't know about the resurrection, so it's a moment of complete despair. And yet this thing is beautiful.

It's unbelievably beautiful. And so you ask yourself, if a mere man, can make such beauty out of such suffering? What can God make of the suffering of the world in his greater design? And I think the question of evil really is a question of how small we are and how hard it is to understand the mind of God. And that is what faith is. Faith is saying, yes, I believe that I am part of a beautiful design that when I see it will make perfect sense to me. But I don't think you can make that argument now. I don't think arguments have the power to overcome the sheer pain. of suffering. Beauty in some way does and faith in some way does. And we know this from people who

suffer and yet continue to believe. Folks, right now in Texas, families are reeling from this historic flooding. Food for the poor is delivering life-saving relief, but they need our help. I'm Eric Metaxis. Call 844-863-4673 or text Metaxus to 51555 to send emergency supplies or visit metaxis talk.com. Click on the banner, metaxis talk.com. Thank you. Folks, just to remind you, the flooding in central Texas has taken over 100 lives. Many people still missing.

We on this program are asking you to join us in Food for the Poor as we rush. Emergency relief to devastated families. Please call 844-863-4673 or text Metaxus to 5155.5. to give right now, or you can click on the banner, metaxistalk.com. Thank you. A major retail chain just canceled a massive order leaving my pillow with an overstock of the classic my pillows, and this is your gain, because for a limited time, my pillow is offering their entire classic collection at true wholesale prices. Get a standard my pillow for just 1798. Want more upgrade to queen size for only 2298 or king size for 2498?

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Folks, right now in Texas, families are reeling from this historic flooding. Food for the poor is delivering life-saving relief, but they need our help. I'm Eric Mataxis. Call 844-863-4673 or text Metaxus to 51555 to 7-5-5 to 7.5 to 7. send emergency supplies or visit metaxis talk.com. Click on the banner. Metaxistalk.com. Thank you. Folks, welcome back. As I hope I told you in the previous segment, my guest right now is someone many of you will know, but some will not.

His name is Bear Grills. That's his real name. And we're going to get him to explain it in just a moment. He has a bookout called The Greatest Story Ever Told. Can he guess what that might? might be about the greatest story ever told. In any event, Bear Grills, welcome to the program. Hey, nice to be with you, yeah.

People who know you, know you. They've watched you eat frogs and snakes and do all kinds of extraordinary things that none of us wants to do, but we're voyeurs, we enjoy watching others do it. If people don't know anything about you, and again, there are going to be some listening to this program who don't. They're going to say, who's this guy.

Where did you grow up and how did you get, to do the things that you're now doing. What is your story before we go further? Some British. I was brought up a little island off the south coast of the UK. My dad was a former Royal Marines commando. Brought me out from a young age to climb, to love adventure.

Survival was a, I don't know, learning old sort of skills and survival skills was part of that upbringing. After school, I joined the British military myself. I spent four years then with the British Special Forces, with 21 SAS and had a free fall accident during that time. Eventually had to leave the military.

Put a Everest team together, climbing. It would be such a big part of my upbringing as well with my dad. We put an Everest team together. Two of us from that team reached a top. We had four people tragically lose their lives on the mountain. It was just a sort of a difficult time. But got back from that. to book on what happened up there.

Somebody in America at Discovery Channel read the book. They said, we know your background with all the survival stuff. Could we do a TV show where we drop you in the middle of nowhere with minimum equipment and you film the adventure, film what you do if you had to get out of there?

And I was like super wet behind the ears, hadn't got a clue about TV. I was young, I was 25 at this day, just married. And actually said no three times this producer to start with, just because I didn't know TV. And eventually my wife, who's much smarter than me, she said, you should try it at least.

We went, I went, small team, and they ended up Discovery Channel put it out late at night, one night, no marketing. And the timing was just, it was God blessed, you know, it just flew. That was the start of Man versus Wild, which we did for seven seasons with Discovery Channel. channel. And on the back of that, then, you know, I spent my whole career in the outdoors, in adventure making TV adventure survival shows for NBC, for Disney, for Netflix, for Amazon,

all over the world. It's been a huge privilege. And now we're in season nine of Running Wild, where I get to take incredible, like Hollywood superstars and world leaders and really interesting people away on mini-adventures, introduce them to the wild. There's so many world leaders. Yeah. I was going to say, There's so many world leaders I can think of whom I wish you would take into the wild and leave there if you could. I know in your contract you have to bring them back, but I just, I hate that. And sometimes you have to break the contract for the good of the globe. Listen, Bear, let me ask you some really simple questions to begin, because I want to talk about your book.

But simplest question of all, is Bear your actual name? Is that a nickname? Well, actually, it's a nickname. I was christened Edward. I have an older sister, eight years older. My mom had like three miscarriages between us. By the time I came along, my sister was so excited. She decided I was going to be called Bear. Eight-year-old daughter, she seemed to win that argument. When I was about six, I used to hate it. I used to wish I was much shy than she was much more extrovert, and I used to wish I could have a normal name. But actually, it's been a great name. name over the years. It's endured everything from Sergeant Majors to teachers to, you name it. So, yeah, it could be worse. But as a kid, I didn't like it. But it's funny because it does seem sort of prophetic. I mean, the fact that you spent so much time in the wild being named Bear seems strangely appropriate, of course. Yeah, yeah, I think that's right. It's been a great name. We have three boys

ourselves now. And they all have pretty unusual names. We have Huckleberry. We have Marmaduke. and we have Jesse. Jesse for the UK is actually much more unusual. I know in the U.S., lots of, it's much more common name. But I always figure out, boys, they might not get the job, but they get the job interview at least. You're going to want to meet them. And they're great boys. They're good fun.

Well, listen, I really enjoyed watching your show on the Discovery Channel. I don't know how I discovered the show, but I discovered it and really, really enjoyed your show. and was genuinely staggered and thrilled when I learned that you're a man of serious Christian faith. Just absolutely thrilled me to learn that. So I have to ask you as well, before we get into your book and what you're working on now, how did you come to faith? How did that come to be central in your life?

Well, it has, I don't know, I think as a young kid, I had a really natural faith. I never questioned. It was like I just knew something good was out there and it was for me. Then I went to school age like, I had to go to boarding school at age about eight and we had very formal church and chapel every day and half of it was in Latin. And the pastors would be wearing their white cloaks. And I just thought, wow, I've got God wrong. You know, God speaks Latin and he looks down his nose at me from on high.

And I kind of threw faith out of the window. But aged about 16, I remember losing my godfather, who was like really close to me. He was like a second father to me. And he died out of the blue. And I remember just being so upset at that time. Like going down the end of these like school grounds and finding this tree and climbing up it on my own and saying, just saying, God, I wish you were like. I knew you when I was young and it was free and it was beautiful. and I just really need you now.

If you're there, please be there. You know, and it didn't even have an amen or anything like that, but I now understand it's the only prayer you ever need. You know, it's a prayer of salvation. And nothing like crazy happened, you know, just small things. But from little acorns, big oak trees grow, and faith just started to burn from little ember and it grew. And it's just been a beautiful empowering part of my life ever since

through many expeditions, through my military time, through to the TV journey, through to my family time now. And I don't know, I can't imagine life without it. People say, what does faith mean? For me, it's like trying to describe blood. You know, it's like try living without it. You know, it's like, it's not window dressing. This is inside. This is, this is the light in my life. And it's a streak of steel we all sometimes need in life. And I don't know. I don't want to do life. without the Almighty, you know. So it's been a quiet but powerful part of my career and part of my life ever since that moment. Well, of course, which leads us to your new book.

Now, most people listening to this program, certainly I, when we hear the greatest story ever told, we think of a beautiful film starring one of my favorite actors, Max von Seedau, who plays Jesus. but your book is not based on the film, but it's related to it. What is this book, this new book called The Greatest Story Ever Told? Well, it's retelling the story of Christ for a new generation told of fresh. And it's written almost as a thriller. You know, in fact, a pastor wrote in the other day and said,

wow, this is like John Grisham was tasked with writing the Jesus story. and I thought, that's a good summary, you know, because I don't know. I think so many of us, even of faith, you know, we don't actually know the real story of actually what he went through. You know, we tend to know stories like the Good Samaritan or the Nativity or the Crucifixion. But actually, when you get into it, it's, you know, this isn't potentially the greatest story ever told or could be. You know, if this is true, it changes everything.

It changes our lives. It changes our friends' lives, our relationships, our families, our futures. how we build our career, how we approach life and risk and adventure and, you know, it changes everything. So I don't know, I kind of wanted to tell it as it is. I think we've had 2,000 years of sanitising a lot of this story. And if people are new to faith, they kind of like, and I'm the same, you grew up with a Christmas version of it, you know, where it's all very kind of nice. But actually, the real Jesus was incredible. and like, I don't know, this story blew me away,

and I thought, people don't know this. So I'm going to write it like short chapters, super punchy, 100% theologically accurate. I mean, that was the tough part of the book. We worked with about 15 incredible theologians from around the world to get this absolutely right. We just filmed a whole series of, with the Chosen, with that great TV show,

I did a bespoke version of Running Wild, where I took all of the main characters of the Chosen on Adventures and those TV shows come out early next year. But getting to know the Chosen Guys was really beautiful and working with their theologians to make sure the book is accurate and right was really important. But it's already superseded my wildest dreams. I mean, my dream is that every person on the planet

reads this story because it's, as you know, it's transformational. It's truly mind-blowing and unput-downable. It is. Forgive me. We're going to go to a break. Folks, I'm talking to Bear Grill. That's his real name. We'll be right back.

Nothing to do but frown. Rainy days and Mondays always get me dead. Welcome back, folks. I have the joy of speaking with Bear Grills. Don't ask me how to spell grills. Is that a Welsh name? It's actually Cornish, which is a southwest corner of the UK from Cornwall.

But I think my ancestors originally came over in the Spanish. Amada. You remember the story of the Spanish Armada and they came over and they all basically got shipwrecked on the south coasts of England. And then there was probably a lot of pillaging and, you know, that went on and a lot of there were shit wrecked there and then started families, those that survived. That's why I got quite kind of like dark Spanish skin. I wasn't expecting to hear that. So thank you, Sir Francis Drake. So I have to, I want to ask you, you were talking about the book, the greatest story. ever told. And you're quite right in saying that many of us, we grew up with a sanitized, I would say religious version of it. And the first time I really heard about that idea was C.S. Lewis, when he describes writing The Chronicles of Narnia, he wants to take this extraordinary true story away from, I guess, I think he calls it it it's stained glass Sunday school trappings and tell it afresh. so people can actually hear it, so people can actually receive it for what it is, because it is genuinely the greatest story ever told, but oftentimes the greatness of it is obscured because of these, the religious trappings, they become so familiar to us that we don't really hear it anymore. And so it sounds like that's what you have done in the writing of it.

That's so true, isn't it, I think. It's a good description by C.S. Lewis. But, you know, the response by people has been unbelievable. I mean, literally just before I was logging on chatting to you, I was looking at an email came in from a 70-year-old guy who's been one of the most successful CEOs of one of the biggest companies in America. And he goes, I've been a church girl all my life in, you know, in Texas. And I've just, it's been part of my life. But I have never read it afresh like this. This is the story.

This is history. His story. And he goes, I read this and I've been crying. My wife thinks I've been having a breakdown. but it's because I've always known the religious version from however good a sermon is. Often it's, but it's in church and it's from a pulpit. And the actual character of Jesus was so wild and so empowering and so free. And so, you know, he was, why did just regular people fight to be close to him and just want to touch his cloak?

And why did this religious elite fear him so much? And I wanted to answer some of those questions and tell the story as it would have been. I mean, the shocking thing is, you know, you have. actually get into this. You realize the average age of the disciples, and I tell the story from the perspective of five people that knew him best, but the average age of the disciples, they reckon was between 15 and 25. You know, so we get this idea of Peter and John and these bearded old men, you know, which I guess eventually some of them became. But, you know, they were young. They were like, what is going on? Who is this guy? And I don't know, I'm getting so many letters as well from

people of so many different faiths, which has been so surprising for me. I mean, just yesterday, this Muslim guy write to me from the Middle East going, I'd always heard about the story of Jesus. Like, and I thought I knew it from afar, but I had no idea. And I've had that from Jewish people. I've had it from, you know, Catholics through South America. And it's been my journey as well, learning this story afresh. And, you know, it's gone to number one now in the UK.

It's gone to number four straight in in the States. and the bestseller list there. And that is a dream is that people find it from themselves and have their lives turned around because, as you know, it's what it does. It turns life on his head. Well, that's the idea. And I guess I want to ask you,

it seems to me that we're experiencing the beginnings of genuine revival, something that so many of us have hoped and prayed for through the decades. And I think that part of that always happens when we get desperate. I don't know why the Lord does that, but things get desperate. Things are particularly broken.

And so people suddenly maybe feel the freedom to open their hearts to God or to open their hearts to the truth. Do you see that happening in the U.K.? Because I think Western Europe has become so secularized. But I just hope that, you know, the message of Jesus through books like yours, because you have such a big platform, might reach people who are otherwise somehow inoculated against it is happening it's happening all over the world it's happening in many different countries of different faiths as well and you know i don't know it's like that bible verse when the harvest is ready we've got to be ready as well we've got to we got to go and i don't know i've just felt this

powerful calling in my heart you know like when i wrote this book it was like clear the decks clear the decks of all you're doing write this and you know even i'm still filming all the time and that's that's still my kind of day job as such but this is where also my heart is, you know, because I'm seeing what's happening when people read it. And the one thing that never changes over the years is people's need for connection to the Almighty, their spirituality. I just think it's, as you said, the religious language that has turned so many people off and the sort of bad side of, you know, church sometimes gone wrong as inevitably happens because it's a human institution. you know, but at heart, what hasn't changed is our need for connection and to the Almighty. You know, I don't meet anyone who doesn't want to find home, find peace, be forgiven, be empowered.

You know, that is universal. So it's like, let's make sure that kind of message of Christ reaches people. And without maybe the bit that is like, I don't know, the stuff that wasn't of Jesus, you know, And I think of those white casics in the church and the Latin sermons and the kind of judging, boring, irrelevant part of church and religion. I want to pick up on that. We'll be back. Final segment with Bear Grills. The brand new book, The Greatest Story Ever told.

We'll be right back. A little shoe shine, boy, he never gets slow down, but he's got the dirtiest job in town. Bend and low at the people's feet on a windy corner of the dirty street. Will I ask him while he shine my shoes? How to keep from getting the blues? He grinned as he raised his little hit. He popped his shoe shine. Welcome back.

I'm talking to Bear Grills about his brand new book, The Greatest Story Ever told. And, Barry, you've just shared with us that it is really, it's just a retelling of the Jesus story, but done in such a way that comes across as fresh. What was it that led you to write this? because, you know, I don't think of you principally as a writer. I think of you as an adventure guy who does all kinds of amazing things in the wild with various people.

What led you to say, I want to write a book like this? Well, first of all, that kind of, you know, the adventure stuff has been my life and it has been my job. But you unpeel that a bit. There's been, I've learned over a lifetime of adventurers that I need help. You know, I don't want to be out there alone. I want to be empowered. I want to be connected to the almighty. I want to understand nature with fresh eyes.

And so spirituality and my Christian faith has always been at the heart of what I've done. But in terms of like, why is this important now? I just think there is such a hunger. You know, people are so hungry for it. And I don't know. It's just, sorry, sorry, what we, what was just remind me? I'm just asking what it was that. What was it that provoked you actually to write this?

Because it's very significant. You know, you're talking about working with scholars to make sure it's theologically accurate. I know as a writer, I know what I was going to say. Writing is in fact difficult. What was it that made you say I need? And one of the things I want to say as I asked this question is that because you have such a profile, you're a known figure. To me, it's that much more important that people who are well known as you are speak about their faith

because you give permission to people who are kind of wondering, oh, I don't know, do I want to be serious about God? Well, then they discover that somebody that they like, like you, is serious about God. So maybe it's okay. And so I'm thrilled that you chose to do this and you've been outspoken about your faith. But what led you to say this is the form that I wanted to take right now,

that I want to actually write a book that tells this story? So, you know, so that faith has always been. there, but I think I'm not scared now to share that. You know, I know, often I think people with public profiles sort of maybe get nervous of that, but it's kind of like, I don't know, I'm just not scared anymore, just to be honest and say the truth. And my faith has been a real backbone to me, to my life and help through so many things. And if that can help people, if it would feel strange not to share that. So, and also I think I have so many friends who kind of ask, ask me about faith. And they might not know the Bible. They might not read the Bible. And it's hard

to recommend to people just like, here you go, read it. I mean, you know, it can be for you and me with a faith, when we open it, it's honey and it's beautiful. But I think if you're not there, it's kind of cold to boiling in one step. And I think the beauty of the response I'm getting from the greatest story ever told is that it's so accessible for people and that is so easy to recommend to friends, maybe people who don't have a faith or who are inquiring or inquisitive or maybe in need of that sort of faith and light in their lives. It's easy to recommend. You know, it's short, each chapter's two or three pages. I mean, that's how I read. I have a super short attention span. And I don't know. I wanted to be, I wanted to be that bridge, I suppose, into a world of kind of

faith and empowerment and life and light. It's very funny. I wasn't going to bring it up, but the book I ever wrote, it was exactly the same reason of what you described. I thought to myself, I know so many people, and this is 20 years ago, but I know so many people that they're open to the idea of God, but they wouldn't know where to begin. They have questions. They're maybe afraid to ask the questions. And so I wrote a book called Everything You Always Want to Know About God, but we're afraid to ask, just as a primer, as an introductory book that you could give to anyone because I felt that there was a need for such books. I ended up writing three in the series,

everything I always wanted to know about God, but we're afraid to ask. Because I do think there are people that they're hanging back, they're a little bit shy, they don't know where to go, and you have to give them a way in. And just as you said, if you say, well, read the Bible. Everybody says that, is the cliche. Oh, you should just read the Bible.

The Bible is unreadable if you don't know something to begin with. I mean, you just crack open the Bible, and it can be completely mystifying, and you need someone to explain it. And so I'm really thrilled that you've written this book because I think it sounds like the perfect way in for so many people. And there have been books through the generations kind of like this, but there doesn't seem to be much out there right now.

So before we go, how much of the story do you tell? Where does it begin? Where does it end? Well, it starts very innocent with Mary as a young, scared 14. year old pregnant, confused, nervous, but also knowing what she's seen with that angel. And, you know, I think we kind of know that story, but also we don't know that story. I mean, how terrifying that must have been. And so it starts off innocent, but she grows into her faith and strength.

And then it goes to Thomas, and we call everyone by their local Aramaic name. So Jesus is Yeshua. Thomas is Taum. and he's seen this first miracle at Cana with the wine, these watered wine. And he starts off like, it's going to take more than a magic trick to change my heart. And his journey is beautiful, kind of his first-hand eyewitness account to what he sees of Jesus' life. But then he goes to Peter, who's wild, reckless, impulsive, but heart-led and just know something true and beautiful when he sees it and he's in. and then you have John who's much more clinical and studying

and then it ends up with Mary Magdalene who's just broken and when she encountered Jesus he healed her and he stole her heart and she takes us through to the end but it's pretty, it gets full on, it's pretty gruesome at times but it's all first-hand account and I don't know I look at all of my work this is the proudest thing I've ever done I would give up every Everest Summit, every METV award. I'd give up all of those things in a heartbeat.

I've written 103 books now. I'd give them all up to have written this. It's the most important thing I've ever done. It's the thing I'm proud of. It's the thing I'm most proud of because I see what it's doing to people's lives. And I pray like Noah, when he's built his ark and he sat there praying for the rain. Lord, let it rain and let it touch people all over the world. Well, Bear, I'm just praising the Lord for your willingness to do this and to be out there.

And I do hope that it leads to revival in the UK and beyond. We need it. You and I know Jesus really is the answer for which everyone is looking. So thank you, Bear Grills. Congratulations, folks. The book is the greatest story ever told. Bear, thank you. That's your pleasure and respect for all you're doing.

You're sharing light and love and goodness. encouragement every day, so keep going. And I'm going to dig out that first book, you said. I bet it's probably the most important one you've ever done, because faith should be simple. Keep it simple. Everything you always want to know about God, but we're afraid to ask. It is simple. Thank you, my friend. God bless you. All the best. Thank you. Hey there, folks. So much going on on the news. I never know where to begin. But one of the things that I find interesting, as the news gallops along, we forget stuff. and most of us have already moved way past the nightmare of the floods in Texas.

It's horrible, but then something else happens, then something else happens, and something else happens, and we forget about it. Well, the folks in Texas are suffering right now, and they need our help. And so they put the word out. This is an emergency disaster relief situation. And our friends at Food Food Poor asked us to ask you to help. So I just want to say, let's not forget our friends. in Texas. You know, you know, do unto others as you would have others do unto you. If you have lost

your home or your business and, you know, you're living in a tent someplace with your family right now waiting to get back to, who knows. I mean, this is, the stories go on and on and on. I want to thank those of you who've already given, but I know most of you haven't yet been able to do that. So the relief operations are underway. We're continuing our efforts with food for the poor. They are there rushing emergency relief kits. This is what your money is doing. Rushing emergency relief kits to people throughout the flooded area.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott had the privilege to meet him and speak with him. He says that the lives lost in this tragedy are still being tallied. Actually, we've got a clip from him. Let's play that. The numbers that I have of those who have lost their lives statewide in this flooding episode in the month of July is now 135. Those who have lost their lives in the Currville area because of the floods is now 116. We will continue the search for everybody in every single region that was affected by these devastating floods. All right.

that's Texas Governor Greg Abbott. So a gift of $50 rushes an emergency relief kit to a hurting family displaced by these floods. $100 gets a kit packed with supplies to two families. Whatever you can donate will make a powerful impact for the men, women, and children who are suffering right now in central Texas. So I want to remind you to the top of our website, there's a banner. Metaxistalk.com. There's a banner. The relief kits contain hygiene items, diapers,

emergency medical supplies, essentials needed to ease the crisis facing these flooded out residents. And to remind you, Food for the Poor is working with a trusted partner in San Antonio delivering shipments of emergency relief supplies. So if you can help, this is a big deal. Now, some of you listening, I know, can give a lot. If you can, I don't know, you've heard enough about these floods. Let me give you a phone number as well. It is 844-863-4673, 844-863-467-3, 8-4-8-6-7-3, or you can simply text metaxus to 5-1-55-5-5-5.

Text metaxis to 5-1-555-5. We really need your help. Before we go today, I want to remind you of our friends at the Herzog Foundation. If anybody listening to this program today is interested in homeschooling, or you've thought about it. You don't know whether you can do it. You're interested in getting your kids out of public schools because you understand that what they're learning there

is not what you would want to teach them. Maybe you're interested in Christ-centered K-12 education. Our friends at the Herzog Foundation are there to help you. They're not asking for anything from you. They want to help you. Herzog Foundation.com is their website. Herzog is H-E-R-Z-O-G. Herzog, Herzog Foundation.com. And I've said this, and I will always say it, education is everything,

folks. If these kids, you know, that are getting this Marxist indoctrination in public schools, if they get the truth, this sets them up for life, and this is our future. And I keep meeting kids that have been homeschooled. And I'm amazed at their wisdom, at their knowledge. They are the hope for the future, to use a cliche. So go to HerzogFoundation.com. HerzogFoundation.com. And then to remind you finally, metaxus talk.com, help Texas at the top of the page.