The Eric Metaxas Show - Canon J.John

Episode Date: December 7, 2021

Canon J.John, author of "Will I Be Fat in Heaven," shares adventures from his incredible international ministry -- and a Miracle Monday story with an "unexpected" result from praying for a comatose neighbor about to be taken off life-support.

to the Eric Mattaxas show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Oh, hello. I didn't see you come in. My name's Eric Mataxis. I'm the host of the Eric Mataxis show, and I have a guest today. I have a guest almost all the time, but I rarely have a guest who's anything like the guest that I have sitting here. And I don't know how to start, Albin.

I'm at a loss for words. When can you say that of me? Rarely. Canon J. John is my guest. Jay John, welcome. Eric, you delight. You just crack me up. You're one of those people that you just, you crack me up and I just, I want to joke.

I want to be silly. I want to be serious. Where do we start? How about this? You are from England. What brings you here to what I like to call my country? Absolutely. Well, as you know, we weren't allowed to come here for a long, long time.

And that was funny, Eric, because the Brits allowed the Americans to go over there. Yeah. But the Americans. wouldn't allow us to come over. So we actually came for Thanksgiving with a family that we've done a bit of life with in Nashville. And so we... Do I know this family?

Well, I don't think you do. I don't think you want to say their names on the air. Oh, well, they're called David and Dana. But when they're... She was told to abort her baby. This was 12 years ago. And I was in England, and I had a prompting of God to phone her

because I felt something was wrong. She had just walked out of the hospital. The doctor said, you got to abort your baby. And I said, well, is your life at risk? She said, no. I said, that means you can't do that. She agreed. I prayed for her over the phone, and the baby was born 1 pound, 6 ounces.

And so Kili and I came over to the hospital. I put my hands in the incubator. This is how many years ago? 12 years ago. I put my hands in the incubator. I held this one pound baby and prayed life. And that baby is now 12 years old. And David and Dana have been begging us to come for Thanksgiving to celebrate his life.

And we managed to do it after 12 years. I have to say, this is what makes you you is that I just start out. I'm very silly and whatever. And before you know it, we're talking about something as deadly serious and beautiful. as what you just said. That is amazing. Let's, for folks who don't know you, you've been on this program a number of times, you've been on Socrates in the city when I was in Oxford a few years ago, but for people who know nothing about you, I mean, the thing I would say is you're an evangelist.

That's mainly what you are and, you know, but tell people. I mean, you know, how did that happen? And when somebody says, evangelist, I guess the first question is, do you have a local church or are you full time traveling? What is your, what's your shtick canon? Sure. Well, Eric, you know, I say different things to different people and I often say to people when they ask me, what do you do? I say that I'm a motivational speaker for behavioral alteration and that engages with people and I'm able then to clarify what I am, who I am and what I do. Basically, Sadly, the word evangelist isn't very kosher, and people can be very offended by it.

And therefore, we need to kind of clear out some misunderstandings. Look, a lot of people's understanding of Christianity is a misunderstanding. And what I do is try and clarify what Christianity is and what it means to follow Jesus. And I've been doing that for 42 years with all types of churches. So that's one of the things I love. I've traveled with my wife globally to 69 countries. Is this woman your wife? Absolutely.

I already knew that. Hello, Kelly. My best friend, we've been married 38 years. Consecutively. Oh, yes. See, that is amazing. And 38 years married, Eric, 37 happy ones. Really?

Yeah, the first one was tough. I was going to say, is the current year the tough one? The first one was the tough one. Well, you know when you at Christmas. No, she's all smiles, but I know behind the scenes, she's tough. Well, you know at Christmas, Eric, when you bring a Christmas tree into your home, you have to rearrange the furniture. Well, when you bring a person into your life, you've got to rearrange a lot more.

You know, I've never thought of it that way, and I will never think of it that way again. Do you understand you've just cast your lovely bride in the role of Christmas tree? What's the point of that? She's so lovely and so sweet. and she laughs at your terrible jokes, just like my wife laughs at my terrible jokes. Look, when you say you're an evangelist, you have an ability, let's be honest, to communicate

that's just extraordinary. It's beautiful. And England is even more secular than America. So to be able to do what you do, now you do it around the world, though. Yes. How does that work? I mean, right now we're here in America,

but before COVID, let's just skip COVID. Let's forget about that. Sure. You travel a lot. You've been to how many countries? 69 countries. Wow. So.

And do you do large events or do you speak in small churches? How typically do you run things? Well, having done this for 42 years, it started with youth meetings and schools. Then it was colleges. Then I led 102 university missions. And then I started doing church missions. Then I started doing town missions. then I started doing city missions

and pre-COVID I started doing football stadiums. Cheese whiz. Football stadiums. We call them soccer stadiums. Soccer stadiums, yeah. You're not a soccer hooligan, are you? You're a football hooligan. There's a difference. Okay, so...

Well, what's interesting with that is, though, Eric? You know, people who go to sports events, when they jump up and down and they shout, they're called fans. but when Christians jump up and down, they're called fanatics. Yeah. Well, do you know what the word fan means? Tell me.

Fan is just a shortening of the word fanatic. It's true. No, that's true. I'm an etymologist. I care about words. And I remember one day when I realized, I love this. There are these moments in life when you realize, like, hey, wait a minute, that word really means that. I'll give an example.

Some people are familiar with the online thing called Yelp. Are you familiar with that, right? It occurred to me one day. Now, tell me if you know. knew this or not. A lot of people who are listening right now, they're going to say, I didn't know that. It occurred to me that Yelp, somebody came up with the title Yelp. Albin, did you know this? It's just yellow pages. Yes. Okay, you knew that.

I did know that. You knew that. Did you know that, Albin? Okay, Melanie's sitting there. She was born yesterday. She doesn't know this stuff. You don't know this stuff. You think Yelp. But it just occurred to me that people, Melanie's age, they, they, they, They have never heard of the yellow pages. They don't know. What are the yellow pages? And the yellow pages, we didn't need to go into that.

Let's just cut this out. Cut this out. Okay, you have a new book out. So I want to start with the book. And this is a book that only you could have written because it has a title. If you read it, it will sound better. So read for my audience, read the title, this is by you, Jay John. And the title is?

Will I be fat in heaven? and other curious questions. See, if I read the title, it just doesn't sound as, what's the word I'm looking for? There's a lelting quality to the way you put that. Will I be fat in heaven? Yes. And other curious questions.

Absolutely. So what is this book? Why did you write a book with the title, Will I be fat in heaven and other curious questions? Okay. Well, someone recently, Eric, asked me, well, how long did it take you to write? And I think it took me 42 years

because I've been thinking about these questions for at least over four decades. And I wrote it during lockdown in England. I basically took 38 questions, major questions, minor questions, but what might be a minor question to me might be a major question to you? And a lot of those questions in my book you will never find in apologetic books.

So I've tried to put together a book that will engage both the Christian so that the Christian can see how I answer the question, but for the curious, the unbeliever, the seeker. And they'll open the index and they'll just dip into it. So for example, when the book came out, I went straight to my dentist. And I said, hey, my new book's out, because I've always been talking to him about, Jesus. He's a Hindu. Yeah. And he stood there. He looked down

the index. He goes, I'm going to read this question tonight. And the question he said was, do all religions lead to God? Okay. This is exciting. You're not going any place. I know that. We'll be right back. Hey, folks, do you wish you remembered names better and thought more clearly?

Hey, improve your memory with Vivalour. Memory support. Vivalore's founder actually prayed that God would show her the solution to memory loss when her mother had dementia. She had divine encounters, and her faith in her background as a pharmacist led Susan Gibson to create Vivalour memory support. Vivalour is a premium quality all-natural supplement with five to 20 times more nutrients than any other memory supplement. Wow, it's won many awards. It has three books independently written about it. Visit Vivalor.com for testimonials

about the life-changing improvements people have experienced. Vivalor is for those with normal memory, mild, or severe memory loss. Don't wait until your memory slips. The pathology starts 20 years before your first memory loss symptom. Wow, Vivalore is V-I-V-O-L-O-R. Go to Vivalore.com, buy three, and get 40% off with code 3-40. That's 40% off with code 3-4-0. The makers pray that God's glory rests on every pill. V-V-V-O-R.com. V-I-V-O-R.com. Folks, welcome back. I'm talking to Canon J. John. Now, what's that all about? Before we get back into the book, Canon J. John, you go by J. John. It's a great marketing idea because there's no other Jay John. But what, how do you come to be, forget about Canon. We'll get to that in a moment. But Jay John, what is this? Well, Eric, you're Greek.

Guilty. I'm Greek, and my name in Greek is Janagis Yuanis. And if you translate my Greek name into English, it will be John's son of John. Janakis, Yuanis. Yuanis. So when I wrote my first book. Wait, your first name is Yanakis? Yes. Now, I've never heard that. Yanagis is John and Yuanis is son of John.

Well, Yanis or Ionis is John. That's right. Yanakis is like the diminutive of John, like Johnny. It is. So my brother's name is John. We call him, you know, Yani, Yanaki, whatever. Okay, so you decided living in England to keep things simple, to be able to communicate this. You're never going to pull off this Yanakis thing.

No. So I anglicized my name. And then when I wrote my first book several decades ago, I just had this idea, oh, I'll just call it j.john. But I never, ever dreamt that the book would do really well. And then that person, j.com, was being invited to go and speak. So I never intentionally decided. But so then I did. And it stuck.

It's a bit like C.S. Lewis. T.S. Eliot. Yeah. D.L. Moody. Yeah. Yeah. E.J. Metaxus. Nah, it's not going to work. It's not going to work. Okay. So, and what is, for people, most people listening, are not familiar with the Anglican world. So what is it to be a canon? C-A-N-O-N. What does it mean that you're a canon? Right. If I was a Catholic, the equivalent of canon is Monsignor, which sounds actually a bit more grander. But I'd rather be married. And so I am married. You're just saying that because Killy's sitting right there. What are you going to say? What are you going to say?

But the word canon, right, is a title that is given to you by a cathedral, and it is a seat of authority. So I've been given a seat in Coventry Cathedral, and that seat is a recognition of the authority that the church has bestowed upon me for the work that I do. Okay, I have no idea what he's talking about. I know. But let me just say this. It's an opportunity to go back to etymology and back to. to our Greek common heritage. The word cathedral, where you get the word cathedral, cathedral means the seat, the throne, right? So when the Pope, for example, is speaking ex-cathedra, he's speaking in the role of the pope. So a cathedral is the seat of what? A bishopric? How does that work? Yes. Of a bishop, yes. Of a bishop. Of a bishop. And I, he's.

I've been given a seat at that cathedral? It's just so fascinating that even though we're speaking English, I have no idea what's going on. Okay, the book is called, Will I Be Fat in Heaven? I was saying this to you earlier. We hit it off immediately just because I think we have similar mischievous senses of humor, and yet we're very serious about God. And so when you write a book with the title,

Will I Be Fat and Heaven? Another curious questions, most of the questions in the book are not nearly as flippant sounding as will I be fat in heaven, but will I be fat in heaven pulls people in. Yes, and also it is a bigger question because the question behind that question is, you know, what will I look like? If I'm going to be in heaven and I'm going to be perfect and I'm going to have the perfect body, does that mean I'm going to shrink?

And if I shrink, will people recognize me? So it actually is a big question. These are all big questions, but isn't the real answer to most of these questions, we don't know? In other words, you're talking about, when you talk about heaven, we're talking about other dimensions. I mean, the idea that, you know, you say, what will I look like in heaven or whatever, there is no answer on this side of heaven that can suffice. So we can talk about it. We can.

And there are clues that we can give that help illuminate our thinking. But I'm hoping that the book will just engage with people about faith and the journey of faith and help people rather than hinder people towards Jesus. Now, the book, by the way, it's called Will I Be Fat and have another curious questions. It really is something that it's written on a very simple level. So it could work for young people, right? I mean, this is not a kid's book, but it could work for young people because of the way that you've done it with beautiful illustrations. Absolutely. Eric, you know, adults say to children, grow up, but Jesus said to adults unless you become like little children.

Oh, snap. Seriously, these are very profound questions you have in here. Look, let's just start with the title because it does lead to everything. When somebody says, will I be fat in heaven? First of all, it's funny because we want to know what, you know, what's going to happen when I get to heaven. will Jesus's sinlessness immediately be imparted to me, and therefore my past, my history of poor diet will instantly be washed away, and I will be perfectly healthy. I mean, it's something like that, isn't it? Absolutely, Eric. And yeah, of course, and coming in at a slightly different angle,

it provokes people's thinking. And yes, at the end of the day, we know. that we're being given the option. I mean, first of all, Jesus said, men and women are traveling along one of two roads. Men and women are serving one of two masters. Men and women are going into one of two doors. Men and women are building their lives on one of two foundations,

heaven and hell. I mean, so we are talking about very serious things here. There are two doors, two foundations. They're two destinies. So it's, I mean, again, this is, it's such profound stuff, it's such important stuff. But when you were saying earlier that Jesus said, you know, unless you be as a little child, the fact of the matter is, everyone has these same basic questions. Whether you're talking to a seven-year-old or a 70-year-old, we all want

to know the most basic things. Who am I? Can I know who I am? Can I know where I'm going? and ultimately it comes to the question of, is the God of the Bible real? What does he require of me? And we live in a culture where often people shrink from having these conversations. It becomes very divisive. And you have a way, thank the Lord, of talking about these things in a way that I think pulls people in. And the title of the book, Will I Be Fat in Heaven? And it does that because I think everybody immediately starts trying to work out.

What does that mean? What is that implying? So you don't shrink from the idea that there's a heaven and there's a hell because you can't, because it's true. But how one communicates that, of course, is the key. Of course. Always that's the key. And that's what an evangelist endeavors to do.

The thing about, look, there are. are two reasons today, Eric, why people are not yet Christians. One, they've never met a Christian. Two, they have met a Christian. They're the two reasons. Hey, this guy's funny, Albin, right? Make sure we get him back. He's funny. They're the two reasons. And the point I'm making there, Eric, is we can either help someone in their journey of faith, or we can hinder them in their journey of faith. And I love, I love the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Should we do a quick Bible study? Right? Oh, why not? Why not? Jesus is at one point going to another point. Now, if he was any other Jew, he would have walked around Samaria, because as you know, Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But what did Jesus do? He broke longstanding traditions and he walked into Samaria. He then meets a woman at well. Now, what were the barriers that existed between the woman and Jesus? Well, she was living in adultery. He's the high priest. You've got a moral problem. barrier. She's a woman, he's a man. You've got a social barrier. She's a Samaritan. He's Jewish. You've got a racial

barrier. She's a Samaritan. He's Jewish. You've got a religious barrier. You've got four barriers. So how does Jesus connect with this woman? He focuses on what they've got in common. And what have they got in common? H-2-0. They start talking about water because that's what she wants. That's what he wants. And then he talks about this other type of water that you don't thirst from. And what's amazing about that story is she addresses Jesus four times. The first time she addresses Jesus, she says Jew. The second time she addresses Jesus, she says, sir. The third time she addresses Jesus, she says, prophet.

And the fourth time she addresses Jesus, she says, Messiah. Look at the impact. And then she drops her pot, goes and gets the neighbors. They all come, and that's how the Samaritan revival began. Have you ever thought of being an evangelist? You're very good. He just had that at the tip of his, it's amazing. It is beautiful to look at these stories because we realize it's not just some coincidence

that they ended up in scripture, that Jesus was living out this perfect life, showing us how to communicate with people that there may be barriers between us. and them. So that is really beautiful. When you talk about Samaria, and this is why Bible study is so important, when you start understanding the context that why would a Jew typically not walk through Samaria? When we come back, I want to talk about that because it's at the heart of a lot of what we're talking about. The book is, will I be fat in heaven? And other curious questions, the author is Jay John. We'll be right back. Hey, folks, Eric Mattaxas here. Joe Biden and the Democrat

have laid out the most socialist agenda our country has ever seen. Instead of following President Trump's blueprint that had the economy booming, the Dems are going to raise taxes, increased regulations, and skyrocket an already outrageous national debt. If your retirement is in traditional investments, it is in jeopardy. Americans should be diversifying their investments with gold and precious metals. Gold gives you control over your wealth and protects you from market volatility, inflation, and a weakening dollar. When investing in gold, I turn to leg Legacy Precious Metals. Legacy Precious Metals has over 40 years of experience in helping Americans protect their finances, and this team is prepared to patiently consider your own

personal financial needs. If you're looking to invest in gold, call the good folks at Legacy Legacy Precious Metals today at 866 473-6204 or visit them online at Legacy PM Investments.com. Don't leave your retirement to Chance Friends. Contact Legacy Precious Metals today. That's 866 473-6204. Hey there, folks. I'm talking to Canon J-John. What kind of name is that? Cannon is a title, C-A-N-O-N. All right, we've covered that. J-John, J-P period, John. We don't have time to get into this. All I know is that's your name, and you've written this book, and you're my friend, and we're talking about, you were just talking about that passage in scripture where Jesus is talking to the woman at the well.

Now, some people know this very well, and other people don't know it. But I love the idea that when you get to know what the Bible says, it makes more and more sense. So here you have the idea that the Samaritans, how would we describe them today? They were like half-breeds. The Jews thought we're pure, we're Jewish Samaritans who live in Samaria. We don't really want to get near them. They're basically, what are they? Like second-class citizens?

We look down on them. I'm not really, I don't remember exactly what the context was. Absolutely, Eric. And they despised them. And as I said, there were longstanding traditions that Jesus ignored. And I think some of our traditions in church today, they're good. But I think we've got a lot of traditions that hinder people. And I find it refreshing that Jesus was willing to break longstanding traditions and go into Samaria. And he wasn't doing it just to be a rebel. Let's be honest. I mean, this is the funny thing, is that sometimes being rebellious or breaking traditions itself becomes a cliche and a tradition and a cheap way of avoiding truth, right? So that, you know, people can say, like, well, I'll never wear a tie.

But then everybody doesn't wear a tie. And so then the person wearing the tie is the rebel. And we always have those tendencies as human beings. But Jesus was God. And so he really wasn't doing this just to be cheeky or, whatever, he was actually trying to point to the truth. And when he spoke to this woman, you didn't exactly say it, but it's the middle of the day. Why is a woman there alone at the well in the middle of the day?

A lot of people don't know this. Explain that if you were. Well, of course, she came out in the middle of the day because she didn't want to engage with the other women because she obviously had caused. a fence because she had had five husbands. And the man that she was living with at that time was not her husband. Okay, so she was considered a loose woman. People looked down on her, despised her. So she shows up in the middle of the afternoon, and anybody who's been to that part of the world, whether Greece or you don't want to go out at three in the afternoon. It's miserable. You hide in the shade. But she comes out. Jesus is there. And he begins to talk to her. At what point, because I'm

trying to remember the conversation, how it goes, he says to her, no, she says to him, like, why are you a Jew? You know, why are you even a man, a Jewish man, a rabbi? Why are you talking to me? She was stunned. Oh, yeah. She was totally blown away. She couldn't really understand. And that's why I love the conversation and the effect of the conversation of Jesus, first of all, focusing on what they had in common, which was H-2O, rather than focusing on their differences, and engaging with her about this living water that he could offer her, but then also speaking into her life. And I think that's what we all need to do. You know, many churches, Eric, they often advertise, oh, go on a missions trip, go on a mission's trip. And I say,

yes, go on a missions trip, walk next door. It's cheaper. You don't have to spend a year fundraising. You know, why aren't we walking next door? Why aren't we speaking to our neighbors and our family and our friends and our colleagues? Well, I'll tell you why. I think that there are certain bad ideas out there. One of them is that everyone in the English-speaking world has heard the gospel.

That's nonsense. You know it and I know it. It's complete nonsense. Just because the Bible has been translated. into English for many centuries doesn't mean that everyone who lives in the United States or in the UK is really familiar with this stuff. So there's this kind of ridiculous assumption that in order to find somebody who doesn't get this, I have to travel to some distant land. Now there's nothing wrong, obviously, with traveling to some distant land to bring Jesus to people. But the idea that everyone

here has already been covered is ridiculous. Oh, totally ridiculous. And I thank God that a friend of mine, well, I arrived as a student in college in London. I met a guy who became a friend of mine, and he introduced me to Jesus. And I'll often think, Eric, if he had never introduced me to Jesus, and I said this at my baptism, I said that my friend Andy built a bridge from him to me, and when he did, Christ Jesus walked over it. And I've often wondered, if he hadn't built that bridge and Jesus hadn't walked over. You know, what would I be doing now? I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.

We can't ask these questions. They're too painful. I've asked the same question. I try to embarrass my dear friend Ed Tuttle every opportunity I get. He was the one who introduced me to Jesus. And when you begin thinking, what would have happened if he hadn't done that? What would have happened if you can go crazy? and that's when you do have to recognize the sovereignty of God

because, you know, on some level you can ask the question what would have happened. And on the other side, you can't ask the question because God is sovereign. Somehow he had a plan why it involved my dear friend, Ed, I don't know, why it had to happen when it happened. I don't know. I mean, there's sort of two sides is my point.

Of course there is. But I tell you there was one day, Eric, I said to my wife, Kili, I feel God wants me to go and tell this woman about Jesus. So Killy said to me, well, you better go. And I said, oh, it's an hour's drive. And then I'll end up spending an hour there. And then an hour back is three hours. You know, I've got to find three hours. Anyway, a few weeks went by. And I said to Kili, I just feel God's telling me to go and introduce this woman to Jesus. She says, well, you better go. Okay, now this is what's called the cliffhanger, folks. You have to stick around to hear the

rest of the story. Don't go away. Hey folks, I've got to tell you a secret about relief factor that the father, son, owners Pete and Seth Talbot, have never made a big deal about, but I think it is a big deal. I really do. They sell the three-week quick start pack for just 1995 to anyone struggling from pain, like neck, shoulder, back, hip, or knee pain, 1995, about a dollar a day. But what they haven't broadcasted much is that every time they sell a three-week quick start, they lose money.

In fact, they don't even break even until about four to five months after if you keep ordering it. Friends, that's huge. People don't keep ordering Relief Factor month after month if it doesn't work. So yes, Pete and Seth are literally on a mission to help as many people as possible deal with their pain. They really do put their money where their mouths are. So if you're in pain from exercise or even just getting older, order the three-week quick start for 1995. Let's see if we can get you at a pain too. Go to Relieffactor.com. Relieffactor.com or call 800,500,000-584. Relieffactor.com. I use it, it works. Don't you want to hear the rest of that story, folks?

Thanks for sticking around because I am dying to find out what happened. Canaan and J. John, you're just sharing that you had this compulsion. You felt God telling you to go speak to this woman about him. Yes, absolutely. And I had this second prompting. I often say it's like a quiver in the liver. You know it. You feel it.

A quiver in the liver. It's a stirring. What an unpleasant image. I know. No. Anyway, Eric, the next day, we wake up to an alarm and the news comes on. And the news came on our radio station and she was top of the news. She died. That lady was called Amy Winehouse. Now, you're probably wondering, how could I got to Amy Winehouse? Amy Winehouse rented my cousin's house. And my cousin said to me, do you want to? to come and meet Amy Winehouse. Okay. Right.

So I was distraught because I knew that God had told me to go and pray with that woman and introduce that woman to Jesus. I knew that. And I just didn't bother to go. Well, okay, this is where it gets complicated, right? Because there's this thing called the sovereignty of God. And then on the other hand, there's exactly what you're describing. And I think we have to say, on the one hand, there's a mystery.

otherwise it's just too painful to try to comprehend that we might be used by God in these eternal ways. And on the other hand, that's exactly correct. The Lord uses us that way. And maybe, Eric, that God had a plan to, but we don't know about it. But I vowed, I repented, and I vowed to God that any time he prompted me, I would do it. And since that day, I've never missed the prompting. Well, when people, you know, some people listening to the program won't know who Amy Winehouse is. She was one of the most talented singers that I have ever heard and one of the most troubled souls.

I mean, she was a deeply troubled, drug-addicted person. And I know that we use at least one of her songs as the bumper music on this program. So the idea that this is not just some person in the news, this is a real human being, and that somehow God was speaking to you, it's really moving to me that you would be open about that because it's just, it's so hard for us to comprehend that God can use us in that way. I just don't know. I hardly know, did you know people who knew her? I mean, you said that there had been some kind of a connection,

but if somebody just shows up at your door and your Amy Winehouse, It doesn't strike me that she would necessarily be, you know, come on in and tell me about Jesus. No, I think because she rented my cousin's house in London, I had access to her. But I think the thing is, I've changed since then. I'm like, Lord, I want to be at the center of your will. Lord, I want to keep in step with your spirit. Lord, even if I look foolish, I don't care. I'll do whatever you want me to do, go wherever you want me to go.

And at the end of the day, Eric, that's what it's about. Okay. But I do want to give you a little pushback here because I think in the interest of being honest, I know you well enough to know that if you really knew the Lord wanted you to do that, you would have done it. The reason you didn't do it, I am suggesting, is because you weren't so sure. You were trying, I mean, if the audible voice of God tells you to do something, it's a lot harder to ignore. But we all get promptings. We all get, you know, quiver in the liver. And the question that we have, which is not, it shouldn't be so easily dismissed, is this actually God? How can I know whether it's God?

In other words, it's easy to say, well, I was disobedient because now you know what happened or whatever. But the fact of the matter is, I know you well enough to know that you're not saying, I don't care what God thinks, I'm busy, leave me alone. You're not that kind of a person. No, no. I think subconsciously, Eric, I think as all of us think, there's more time. Okay, that's... Do you see what I mean? Yeah.

And like, okay, I didn't go, maybe I'll go next month. Maybe when I'm not as busy. But actually, you know, we don't have time. And time's running out. And there's an urgency. That needs to be said. What you just said is very rarely said. we often, I mean, because there are always two sides of the story.

I mean, there are people who live with a kind of urgency like you're describing, and I don't recognize it as God. I see it as the flesh. I see it as religious flesh. A kind of fear. In other words, it's a religious fear that if I don't do this, if I don't do this, if somebody's going to get hit by car, I've got a witness. And at that point, you become paralyzed and insane because you think,

I've got to go outside now and share with everyone, otherwise I'm being disobedient, which of course isn't quite right. No. And we've seen that. And I'm not hinting that. No, no, I know you're not. You're the opposite side. And I'm saying, Eric, look, you know, when we become children of God, how do we know where children of God,

we know, as the book of Romans says, his spirit lives in us. Now, that spirit living in us is the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. So we carry the presence and the peace and the power of God. So I think the emphasis for me is wherever I'm going, I'm carrying the presence of God. So I want to be able to allow that to touch other people's lives. But there are times when you feel God is prompting you. You know, sometimes you think of someone that you've never thought about for years. Where on earth did that come from?

Well, unless you reach out to that person, you'll never know. man I'm being convicted and I hate being convicted cut it out no I just I it's so beautiful it's such a joy to have this conversation with you I didn't I didn't think we'd be talking about this but I I think it's important to go back now you were we were going to talk about the dentist a moment ago did we meant did we leave a thread there well well he was curious out of the 38 questions he said my dentist said I'm going to read your answer to this question do all religions lead to God? And what's interesting about that question, Eric?

Okay, what's the answer to that question? No, they don't all lead to God. Why? Because only one teaches that. So you see what I'm trying to do to help Christians? I'm trying to help also Christians understand that actually we're not putting down other religions. Right. We're just telling the truth.

Right. There's only one that teaches that, and it's Christianity. There's so much here. When you spoke about the woman at the well, what we didn't get to, and it comes to the Amy Winehouse story, God speaks to us today. The father was speaking to Jesus about this stranger, giving him supernatural revelation about that woman,

in the same way that the Lord has spoken to you and spoken to me and giving us promptings and things. I want to talk more about that. When we come back, folks, you may as well just go to canonjjohn.com, and we'll be back. Hey, folks, we have to start with a letter. We have to. I want to read this because we get a lot of letters. If you write to ericmetaxis.com or you write to metaxe.

We read all these letters. I read all the letters. I can't respond to most of them, but we read them. And every now and again, we get something I think, you know what, Albin, we got to read this on the air. Yeah, a lot of fun. So the other day, we were talking, now this is, you know, you go from the tragic to the ridiculous. There's been such bad news in this country. I don't want to touch on that right now.

I just want to say that we had John Zemirik on the other day. Yes. By the way, there's a reminder to you, folks. Go to Mataxas. Go to Eric Mataxis.com. Sign up for my newsletter because you don't want to miss these interviews with Zmirak and all these people. Please. But we had on John Zmirak, and he was mentioning this place in Wisconsin where this horrible thing happened,

and he pronounced the place Waukesha, Wisconsin, right? And it's Waukesha. Well, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. You don't know that. I don't know that. My wife told me it was Waukesha. Oh, she did? Yeah, yeah, she did.

She knew that? Yeah, I interviewed John the week before, and I told him it was Waukesha. But he forgot, and he said Waukeeshaw. Okay. When he talked to you. So now we got a letter. Yeah, this is great. It says, Eric, we can't mention this woman's name, but it might be Ann Cornelius.

I can't read this. This is typed illegibly. But she's from Wisconsin, and she says, Eric, love your show. Waukeeshaw is Waukishaw. Emphasis on first syllable, short E on second syllable, Waukeeshaw. Wau. Wachashaw. Want you to sound real scunny.

That's like Wisconsin. So I guess if you're from Wisconsin and you sound like a local, you sound scunny. Is it scunny? Now we're going to get another email saying it's scony. Scony. But I want to thank you, Anne, for writing and telling us how to pronounce Waukesha. Yeah. Waucahaw.

It's Waukishaw. I just love this. Look, if you sent us short pithy emails, we are much more likely to read them on the air. So I want to encourage you to do that. And I want to remind you, folks, we're doing a fundraiser with Christian Solidary International. Now, I don't know if I've said this recently, but Donald Trump, President Trump, gave me three Make America Great Again hats. Actually, he gave me more. He signed a couple.

But there are three that he did not sign, but that he gave to me. He didn't have time to sign them. But he also gave me the pen that he used. to sign the other ones. It's a special Donald Trump pen. And I said anybody who gives $250 can free a slave.

If you go to our website, metaxis talk.com. And I just think it's a beautiful thing. But then I thought there are people out there. If you can give $2,500, you're going to free 10 human beings from slavery. We want to thank you by sending you

one of these hats that the president gave to me and I will sign it to whomever, to you, to a friend, to an uncle, whoever you want to give it to, whatever, I will sign it, you know, to so-and-so, God bless you, your friend tax, whatever. With the pen, the president gave to me when he gave me the hat. So this is kind of a cool thing. It's kind of a fun gift. Hey, if you're looking for something to give to somebody that, you know, you couldn't get any other way, I know there people out there who can afford that. And there are only three hats. So it's got to be the first three people. Well, there were only two hats. We found.

the third hat today. So we're hoping that. I also want to say if there's anybody that can give $10,000, and look, at Christmas time, folks, this is, it doesn't get more beautiful than being able to free people from literal slavery. So if there's anybody can give $10,000, I want to have dinner with you. We've done this many times, whether it's here in New York or another city, you know, we get together. It could be, you know, three of us or two of us, or it could be 20 people in a big, right? That's all on you. but I just want to personally thank anybody who's able to do that. So we want to encourage you. Metaxistock.com or 8882533522.

Read that again? 888253-352. Give something. Or just go to Metaxus talk.com. God bless you.