The Eric Metaxas Show - Christian Solidarity International

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

CSI is starting its annual campaign with Salem and The Eric Metaxas Show and you can help. 

Welcome to the Eric Metaxis show. Did you ever see the movie The Blobs starring Steve McQueen? The blood-curdling threat of The Blob. Well, way back when, Eric had a small part in that film, but they had to cut his scene because the blob was supposed to eat him. But he kept spitting him out. Oh, the whole thing was just a disaster. Anyway, here's the guy who's not always that easy to digest.

Eric the Texas! Hey there, folks. to Monday, November the 25th. You guys, you know what I always think of on this day? I do not. You do not? I know you don't. That's why I asked you. Maybe I want you to say, no, I don't. No, I don't. But I'm going to tell you, and now you'll know.

November 25th, every year, I think, first of all, tomorrow is my brother John's birthday. My brother, John, he's hitting a big number this year. I think he might be turning 30, something like that. huge number. My brother John tomorrow, my only sibling, Johnny's birthday is tomorrow. But a millisecond after I think of my brother, I think my Tanta Eleanor, my mother's sister, and I would never give her age out on the air, of course. But I'll just tell you that she was born in 1935. But can you imagine my Tanta Eleanor, every year we celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time we celebrate my brother's birthday, my aunt's birthday, and she's, I mean, we're very close because it's my mom's

sister and we all grew up together. So that's what I think of when the calendar says, boom, it's November 25th. But there are other things, and I want to talk about some other things. We're going to get to a lot of stuff, folks. Number one thing I want to talk about is the Bonhofer film. I want to talk about Trump's Surgeon General Pick. I want to talk about the cruise update. Oh, my gosh. and the right we get into all this stuff and the Bonhofer stuff's a lot to talk about. There's a lot of stuff to talk about. I got Keith Junta. I got Chris Heims, and we're going to talk about all this stuff.

And later on we'll probably bring on Jim Kuntler, the genius James Howard Kuntler. He's always got insane, brilliant things to say. And he's very funny. But I want to say that yes, I campaign, Christian solidarity, international. Slaves in Africa are freed by you who listen to this program. Every year people participate in it. I want this year to be bigger and better than ever. There is that we have no excuse. God has blessed us outrageously. We ought to have lost America a couple of weeks ago. We ought to have lost this nation. God and his mercy move people to reelect Donald Trump.

We have tremendous hope. I believe revival is coming. I think Reformation. is coming in the church. Amazing things are going to happen. We're still in a battle. But, you know, today, let me ask you, thank God for what he has done and is going to be doing by giving to CSI. It is an outrageous opportunity that we get. There are people literally enslaved in Sudan. And CSI, which is a Christian Relief Organization, Christian Solidarity International, every year we partner with them. And for every $250 we give, right? So some people say, well, I can't do that. Can you give $10 a month? What can you do? Some people can certainly do that, $250, do it in the name of a relative and then make that a gift that you say to your relative at Thanksgiving or at Christmas. We did this in your name.

We freed a human being from slavery, literal slavery, literal slavery, not metaphorical slavery, not sort of. Like, this is the real thing. So the banner, it's our radio show website, metaxis talk.com. If you look at the top. There it is, metaxis talk.com. You'll see the banner or there's a phone number that we'll give. But this is like, let's do this now. This is an amazing, amazing thing. And today, we kick it off. Absolutely today. This is it. And so we're very, very excited. It's an opportunity for you to live out your faith. And I think more and more that becomes the, that's the mantra. We've got to live out our faith in a million ways when you see an opportunity to live out your faith, do it. And we can change the world. So, all right, what should we talk about first, Chris and Keith? Like, what's in the headlines?

I mean, I've got a lot to say in a lot of stuff. Well, I mean, you've been traveling. You were on Glenn Beck last week. I was. I saw it on Twitter, so it must be real, or I should say X. I've been traveling a lot. I mean, I've shared somewhat on. the program. Last week, I mean, I've been traveling so much that I've lost track, and that's sick. That's pretty sick. I was in Miami Beach a couple of weeks ago, and I talked about this. I did, I taught an eight-hour course on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and that's going to be put up by Peterson Academy in a couple of weeks. I don't know when. That was a big deal. Then we had a Socrates in the city event in Philadelphia, which was with Jonathan Paggio. That was great. I got to say,

A lot of people said, oh, this is the best one. Every time I do one, people come up to me. It's like, this was the best one. So, okay, it was, it was fabulous. Trust me on that. So we have that coming out. Then I flew to Dallas. Yeah, Glenn Beck's podcast. And I want to say, Glenn Beck is next level. I mean, if you watch the video, which I posted and we'll post it if you're signed up for the newsletter, it's next level because he knows so much about the Nazis. He got involved in it, I think, because of me. In 2010, when the Bonhoeffer book came out, he had me on his Fox program.

He didn't talk for a half an hour. He just let me go for a half an hour. Everybody said, Glenn never does that. He just let me talk about Bonhofer of half an hour. And I kind of kicked the book into the stratosphere and really introduced a lot of people who don't know me. to Bonhofer, to the book, to me. And it was an amazing thing. So all these years, he has been collecting information on that period, knows more about it than I do. It's amazing. So he interviewed

me on his program, and I want to tell you about what happened on that program and what he put in front of me. I don't want to spoil it yet. But he put something in front of me. I don't think I've ever seen anything like an object that he put in front of me. And it was a chilling moment, honestly. But before we get into that, the biggest news of all, this was the opening weekend for the Bonhofer film. I don't know what I've said on this program,

but insane people have attacked the film like everywhere in the media. Now, you've got to ask, why would people attack a film that gives God the glory, that points to Jesus, why would people do that? Well, I think the generous explanation would be they're out of their freaking minds. They're insane. They're lunatics.

The less generous interpretation would be they're animated by Satan because anybody who sees the film with an open mind will say, hey, this was a great film. It's not about like some interpretation of Bonhofer, but there's some people out there who are so nuts that they would want to crush a film that points to God. It's just, you know, I get like practically speechless because you think, why would people do that? Many of them, quote, unquote, Christians, these progressive Christians that, they, or they actually, anything. So, I have to say, And Chris and Keith, you guys have read some of this stuff, but I read some of this. I just thought, oh, my gosh, they are working hard.

So wait, so before I even get into the details, the opening weekend was a $5 million opening weekend, which is not good at all for a film that cost nearly $30 million to make. Now, you'd say if it's not a good film, that makes sense. It's a great film. So what's the disconnect? Well, you have a lot of worldly, I don't know, garbage, like the wicked film, which, you know, if you want to know, if you want to get your, if you want to have the pulse of how America is doing, that's what people are interested in, right? You know, they're interested in the wicked film. Like, maybe it's not the worst thing in the world, but, okay, it's not exactly going to lead you to a deeper, more significant life. And then the gladiator film, which I'm sure is a great film. So those films opened up Bonhofer Five. So I know that there are a lot of people listening to this program who haven't yet seen a film. So I want to say, we need your help because when a film comes out that points to God, we got to see that film.

This is a great film. So when we come back, I'm going to give you all. There's a lot of details. The Glenn Beck thing is crazy. And there's way more to talk about the surgeon general. Don't go away. Folks, I've got to be realistic about my diet in December. It's got to be the worst month of the year in terms of eating, no matter what you do,

you're inevitably going to find yourself eating things, treats, meats, dishes, leaving very little room for the right stuff. But I will take balance of nature every single day. Balance of nature is made from whole fruit and veggie ingredients, and I will not skip taking those daily supplements. It's the one thing I'll get right because feeling good is important to me, especially in December. Join me in pushing back against the dreaded December diet crash.

You can do that by getting balance of nature today. discount code Eric and sign up as a new customer to get 35% off plus free shipping and their money back guarantee. It's an awesome December discount, but you have to use my discount code Eric. Call them at 800 2468-751 and use discount code Eric or order online at balance of nature.com. Use discount code Eric to get 35% off plus free shipping balance of nature. 800 2468-751. Use code Eric. Hey folks, listeners to my show know I'm passionate about the work of Christian Solidarity International because they protect and free those who are being persecuted

and enslaved for their faith. Thanks to you to date, CSI has freed more than 100,000 people from slavery in Sudan, but the work is not done yet. It's estimated that there are still tens of thousands more still in bondage, and CSI is preparing right now for their final slave liberation of this year. I'm hoping you'll join me and help them liberate another 300 women and children. Your gift of just $250 will free a woman in Sudan. who has been enslaved for years and provide her with food and other supplies necessary to start her new life. Call 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522 Christian Solidarity International, freeing and healing captives in Jesus' name.

Go to metaxistocococ.com. Metaxistalk.com. Click on the Christian Solidarity banner. Metaxistock.com. Or 888-253-2522. God bless you. Folks, welcome back. It is.

The birthday of my Tanta Eleanor. Tanta Eleanor. Happy good birthstock. Tomorrow's my brother Johnny's birthday. That's what's in my head. When I see November 25th, November 26, we've got Thanksgiving coming up. A lot of exciting stuff, insane stuff.

But we've got to keep going about the Bonhoffer film opening weekend. First, let's remind people that we're kicking off our CSI campaign today. That's very exciting. Oh, yeah. Yeah. In honor of your tons of. In honor of my Tanta Eleanor. In honor of my brother's campaign.

birthday, my brother Johnny's birthday tomorrow, we want people to give a whopping gift to CSI. Go to the banner at metaxis talk.com or you can call 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522.

The greatest cause in the world, folks. We're just freeing slaves. We're just freeing slaves. No big deal. No big deal. Yeah, no big deal. No big deal. And by the way, if you're free, that's cool. Tanta, by the way, what kind of word is Tanta. Where does that come from? Tanta? You don't know this? You didn't, you didn't grow up in America?

I know Tanta. It means a aunt, aunt, aunt, aunt, Tanta Eleanor. And it's spelled Eleonora. It's not Eleanor like Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleonora, Tanta Eleanor. And tomorrow is my brother John's birthday. I get excited. I love Johnny. Johnny's the best. And so, Johnny, this is a little gift for you. if you watch the show and you hear us wishing you a happy birthday, there's a hundred bucks in it for you. He's not watching it. Let's see if you hear it. No way, no way. Okay. So, so, so, so this weekend was the opening weekend for the Bonhoffer film. And I was talking about how insane people have written long articles. Now, these insane people claim to be Christians, most of them. Christianity today wrote a big, nasty article, Christian Century, which nobody's read in a century. They wrote a long nasty article.

People are writing these nasty articles. And what is the gravamen of their accusations? I will tell you. Half of it is based on completely false information. Like they say, oh, this is a right-wing version of Bonhofer. And this is a way. And I'm here to tell you, folks, the guy who wrote the screenplay and the guy who directed the film and every single actor, they're like left-wing,

anything. There's not a conservative in the bunch. They're just filmmakers who made a great film. This is the true story of Bonhoeffer. It's neither right nor left, whatever. It's just true. It is accurate. So all of the people that have written these nasty articles, and actually, folks, we need your help because really it's done damage. It's terrible. The best review that I saw was by variety, which is Hollywood, mainstream Hollywood, says it's a great film. So only the the bitter leftist progressive Christians are coming out of the woodwork and writing these nasty stuff. And one of the things that they say, too, is they say, ooh, it's made by Angel Studios, that bad Mormon studio that is all right wing. And I think to myself, the film was not made by Angel Studios.

They're just the distributor. The film was made by people, some of whom I know, who are profound people of faith and who wanted to make the greatest faith film of our generation. And as far as I'm concerned, they succeeded. So these articles that say, Angel Studios made the film, Angel Studios didn't make the film. They're the distributor. You make a film. Then he say, who's going to distribute it, and you go to who you think it's going to be the best. In this case, that was Angel Studio. So it's, it's really fascinating when you're really closely involved in something. And then you read these articles and you go, that is wrong. That is wrong. That is like the stuff is. wrong that they're writing. And I guess because they, because I wrote a biography of Bonhoeffer

that sold a lot of copies, a lot of them just hate my guts. And so anything associated with it, they hate. But the point, the point is the film isn't even associated with my book. Like, it's just a separate, wonderful film on Bonhofer that points to God. So honestly, it is, it is amazing. So I hope whoever you are out there that you'll see, the film this week because this was a bad opening weekend. I mean, they did a ton of damage. And when a faith film comes out, I'm telling you, folks, the knives come out in the liberal press, whatever. They don't like anything pointing to God or they just, they don't. And so we've got to, you know, make sure that people who love God, who love, you know, who hate Adolf Hitler,

who love Israel, who love the Jews, like, we got to get out there and support this film. But again, it's like, go ahead, Keith. No, no, go. I was just going to say, in terms of Angel releases, this is ranks third, Sound of Freedom, opening weekend made about $20 million, and Cabrini made seven, and then Bonhoeffers after that, and then three other films that they did, so did less. Cabrini bombed. Yeah, I mean, not make a lot of money.

Yeah, I think word of mouth will continue to be probably robust with this film through the holidays. It's a good, like, oh, I went and saw Wicked or Gladiator. this weekend I'll go see it up. You know, I think Thanksgiving will be kind to it. But I think obviously, you know, hoping for something bigger, certainly in the opening weekend. So a bit of a disappointment for sure. And, you know, it's bad enough.

It's bad enough that, that, yes, we're going to be up against the predictable secular machinery. But the fact that Christian organizations and publications are coming out against it, you know, I think, Eric, it does tie back. to Megan Basham's book, Shepherds for Sale, because she tracks all of the dark money that is behind places like Christianity today and the like. And so I think they are being pressured from behind the scenes. I don't think a lot of these are their personal opinion.

And let's be clear. I think they're being told. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know that they're Christians. The way they behave, they don't behave the way Christians behave. So there are millions of Christians in this country. And so to me, the point is to get the word out to churches. I mean, again, every Christian in America should see this film. When does a film come out that gives God the glory that points to God?

That has Lauren Daigle with this amazing song that we should be like crazy tripping over ourselves to see this, to drag people to see it. And so, you know, these bitter people that have tried to harm it, you just have to wonder, where could they be coming from? What is animating them to do this to the film? And again, if your average liberal sees this film, they're going to love it. They're not going to go, well, it's a little right wing. There's nothing right wing about it. I mean, you might even say it's left wing because it points to the church in Harlem and the effect of the black church on Bonhofer and civil rights stuff,

all of which, by the way, is true. So it's just beautiful because it's true whether it's left, right, but it's called truth. It's history. So I think that that is just something I wanted to talk about when I came on here, that this is like, please, folks, see the film, drag your friends to see the film. A film doesn't come out like this once in a generation. I mean, I can't even think what's the last time a film came out that points to God in this way. That's a mainstream film.

That's a mainstream. When I say mainstream, like chariots of fire, like it is a mainstream film. It's not a Christian film. So I think the word of mouth, Chris, you said that. I think a lot of people at Tsakabrini were kind of like, eh, it was okay. This is a great film. So people who see it, I'm getting emails from people.

I see stuff on X. People are loving it. They're in tears when it's over. Their teenagers are in tears. It's so beautiful. So I just, I hope that it has a long run and that people get familiar with the life of Bonham. offer. And I have to say I am, I'm excited about it. Okay, before we go to our break, I want to talk

about the Surgeon General when we come back. I want to talk about TDJX. I want to talk about a lot of stuff. But the crews, wow, we have, we're approaching 200 people signed up. Every day, a couple more people sign up. So if you, as I mentioned that the folks sponsoring the cruise, This is a cruise to the Greek islands, June 6th through 16th. I'm going to be leading about six different, you know, I'm going to be talking about my books. We're going to have fun. We're going to have Q&A. We've got special guests coming.

John Zmirak will be involved. I'm going to do something with Zmirak. If you want to see Zmirak in the flesh, it's a scary thing. He's a real person. He's scary enough just on the radio or in video. But in person, he's a force to be reckoned with. But don't be frightened because we're going to have a lot of security, and they'll protect you from John Zmirak, who on the high seas is known as the Cracken.

So it's going to be crazy. But if you want to know about the cruise or if you want to look into it, and I think I see people, like we have one grandparent is taking their like 23-year-old grandkid. Couples are going with other couples, parents and kids. It's like it's just a fun thing. The website or the best website is Eric Mataxis.com slash cruise. if you want to sign up. Some friends of ours have signed up.

Albin is coming. Victoria Jackson is coming. My parents might be coming. I think my parents might be going. They're very excited as well. Are you kidding? Wow. I just texted me.

You think? So they've mentioned this to you. And I've got to hear about it on the air with millions of people listening in. Are you serious? That would be so great. Your father, by the way, I love your dad. He is just, he is, yeah, no, no, no. I love him.

He's, uh, he's, and, You know what's weird? He reminds me of you. Yeah, he's like an older, larger version of me. Yes, I guess that would be perfectly accurate. That would be perfectly accurate. All right, so the website for that is Ericmataxis.com slash cruise. Ericmatexis.com slash cruise, folks, jump on the bandwagon.

It's going to be a riot when we come back. Lots more in the news. Don't go away. So you're putting money away, saving for the future, for retirement, for your family. You're doing what you're supposed to do, right? Well, what if I told you that your 401k, IRA, and other investments are probably paying for gambling, abortion, and LGBT causes? Inspire Advisors can tell you where your profits are really coming from. Do what I did. Go to InspireAdvisors.com and order your free customized impact report and find out. Inspire is a recognized leader in faith-based

investing. They can empower you to put your money where your values are. They stand by their biblical values, donating 50% of their profits to Christian ministries each year, and they know that investing with Christian values has power. Get your free customized impact report now at inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. And together, let's show Wall Street what investing with biblical principles can do. Inspire advisors, biblically responsible investing, visit inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. Hey, this is Eric Metaxis. For years, I've told you about Nutrametics, a professional supplement brand trusted by doctors since 1993.

Nutrametics offers a variety of health bundles. Whether you want to support your immune system, improve your sleep, promote joint comfort or detoxification support, Neutrametics has a health bundle right for you. The best part about Neutrametics, every year they donate a minimum of 50% of their profits to Christian charities and missions. That's right, 50% of their profits. Neutrametics has a goal of surpassing 100 million in dollars. giving by 2030. Many of you take supplements already. Switch to neutrametics. It's the highest quality and they donate 50% of their profits. Get 15% off by using the code Eric during checkout.

Go to Nutrametics.com and search health bundles, support your health while helping others in need. Go to Neutrametics. That's N-U-T-R-A-M-E-D-I-X.com. Neutrametics.com. Use the code Eric for 15% off. Again, Neutrametics, N-U-T-R-A-M-D-I-X.com. Nutrametics.com, use the code Eric for 15% off. Hey there, folks. We've been talking about it. We are kicking off a new campaign with our dear friends at Christian Solidarity International. That's CSI.

We do this every year. We're kicking it off right now. This is about freeing slaves, ladies and gentlemen. This is an amazing thing that we get to do. So right now, let me welcome Todd Chapman. with CSI. Todd, welcome back. It's always great to talk to you. And this is always just good news, pure good news that we get to do this. Derek, we are so thankful for the longstanding partnership we have with you. And so grateful for the difference that your listeners have made across so many years.

I was actually looking back at how many slaves were freed in our year-end campaign last year. And it was north of 800 people freed from slavery out of North Sudan and returned to their home country of South Sudan set on a whole new life and equipped to thrive and become self-sustaining for the first time ever. So thank you. God bless you. And we're hoping for, I'm praying for another big response this year. Well, I think, you know, a lot of people think this is too good to be true. Like I give $250 or some part of that or some multiple of that. And you're telling me, first of all, I think people have to say, oh, wait a minute, there's slavery in the world. Ladies and gentlemen, yeah, yeah, there is.

hard for us to fathom. But then the amazing news that I could give money and everybody has some money, everybody has something, and I can do something that's an unmitigated good. It's just extraordinary. And it's because you guys at CSI have been there forever. I mean, since what? It's 1977, you know, kind of doing what you do. Yeah. Yeah. So CSI, it stands for Christian Solidarity International, It was founded in 1977 and really were a human rights organization and we work to stop religious oppression and free people that have been imprisoned for their faith in countries all over the world. We work in Africa, which is where this effort obviously is in Sudan, also work in the Middle East

and in India. And Eric, you're right. There are more slaves today in the world than there have been at any other time in human history. And a lot of times we here in America, we're really kind of shielded from that reality. but the reality is people are enslaved all the time. You see in Pakistan people having to make bricks for slave wages to try to buy themselves out of debt. And, you know, India, the same thing is going on.

In Africa, in Sudan, this slavery, the slaves that you're freeing as you partner with CSI, many of them have been held in captivity since the 1990s. They were taken captive during the Sudanese Civil War, and they were allowed to be taken into North Sudan. and they've been there ever since. Many of these slaves have actually had children in slavery. And so CSI since 1995 has been committed to freeing them. And every year we do what we call slave liberations five times a year.

We have slave retrievers that negotiate the release of these slaves. And then five times a year, we march two or three hundred, back down into South Sudan and into freedom. We've actually got one more slave liberation coming up between now and the end of the year. So I'm really excited to have you as an Eric Menter's, Texas listener, give your very best gift right now so that we can finish this year freeing more than 1,500 slaves. That's our goal. You know, this brings up some big questions, Todd, and I feel like I want to address this up front. I think there are people probably who ask rightly, how can God allow this? How can God allow people to be literally enslaved, to be raped by masters,

not in the distant past now? How can this? How can God allow this? And that's a big question. question. And it's a good question. But then I have to ask the follow-up question. God is allowing everyone who can hear my voice right now to do something about it. And if you don't do something about it, let's be honest, you're allowing it. We allow evil to flourish. God gives us free will. So this is just an amazing opportunity. I mean, if somebody tells you about slavery, you know, in 1775 or 1840, there's nothing you can do about it, but advocate politically for its end and obviously pray for its end. But today, we have the ability through CSI actually to do something. And this is something that I've been talking about for a long time. It's faith in action, folks.

God somehow, he allows evil, and then he allows us to participate with him in overturning evil, in undoing evil, but faith is not enough. We've got to put our faith into action. That's God's will. So I want to say right out of the gate, there's a banner at metaxistalk.com. Metaxistalkis talk.com. It's all there. You click on the banner and it leads you through to, you'll see everything there.

Metaxistalk.com. There's a banner. There's a phone number 888-253-3522. I'll be repeating it throughout the show. 888-253-3522 and the banner metaxis talk.com. But we do this to enlist you who are listening to this program to say, please be part of the solution. There's real evil in the world,

but God has given us the ability in this case to do something about it. And it's just a magnificent opportunity. Before we go to our break, I want to say it again, folks, the phone number. And I really hope folks will do this today. we really, when we have an opportunity like this, I mean, every year, it's amazing we get to do this. The phone number is 888-253-3522. Please write it down. 888-253-3522. Everyone listening to my voice has the ability to do something. You can do something right now, anything, right now. You can give monthly, if that's better, 888-25-5-5-4. 3532. This is a glorious opportunity to participate with God in standing against evil in helping real people who are suffering right now. The website, metaxistalk.com. Right at the top of the page, you'll see the banner, metaxisstalkistocot.com. Metaxistococot.com. We'll be right back.

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Eric Mypillow.com, 800-9783057. Folks, welcome back. I'm excited. We get to participate again with CSI, Christian Solidarity International, in doing something extraordinarily beautiful and good, freeing slaves, literally freeing slaves, and putting them into a life of freedom, setting them up in a life of freedom.

So we have our friend Todd Chapman from CSI to kind of give us the details on that. So, Todd, what is involved? I mean, we're asking people to give $250. And again, folks, whatever you can give, if you can give $25 a month or many people can give $10,000, we need everybody to participate at whatever level. But the question is when CSI says, okay, $250 does this. What is this, Todd? Tell us about that.

Yeah, so first of all, I want to be really clear because this is a question that comes up every year. Well, are you, you know, buying the freedom of these slaves? Are you using some of the money that I give? to pay cash, to free them. And no, we're not. We have never paid cash for any slaves. We've been doing this since 1995. And because the concern obviously would be, well, if you're creating a market, you know,

by paying, you know, these slave owners cash, there's going to take more slaves. Well, the fact of the matter is they're not taking more slaves. There are fewer Sudanese slaves than there were when we started this work 20, you know, 30 years ago. And every year, the number of them continues to decline because you give. Now, what we do do is we take some of the money that you donate and we procure a cattle vaccine because many of these slave owners are cattle ranchers and they can't get these vaccine that they need to keep their cows alive. And so we barter, you know, a slave in exchange for the vaccine. So there's that. And so the majority of your gift actually goes to providing a fresh start for these Sudanese slaves.

They're mostly women, but we do have some men as well. And now more and more we're actually able to negotiate the release of change. children along with their moms who have been enslaved, enslaved for a long time. And so we give them what's called a bag of hope. We marched them down into South Sudan, about two, 300 at a time, a few times a year. And we have a camp there. We capture all of their information that we can get from them. We take photographs.

We document their story. If they know their name, and many of them don't because they've been held in slavery since they were young children. But we try to capture that information so that we can ultimately reunite them with our family. That's our goal. But we also have to give them the resources that will need to start a new life. So they get a tent, they get some bedding, they get grains, they get a mosquito net.

We give them a female goat that they can use for milk and also for breeding and fishing supplies. And so they get a whole new start of life through that bag of hope. And then, of course, all the love and care and attention and counseling led by our pastoral staff in the community right there that we bring them back into. And so, Eric, it's so much more than, you know, just all of that stuff. It truly is setting them on a path to freedom. And story after story, we hear from these women. They have said, I never thought I would be free. I've never known anything other than captivity my entire life.

I was taken as a child or I was actually born into slavery. I never knew what it meant to be free. Didn't even know my name. It was taken from me and I was forced to convert to Islam, given a different name. And so this is literally a whole rebirth, if you will, of freedom in the name of Jesus that you're providing with your gift of $250 or whatever God lays on your heart. Well, this is what's amazing to me is that we have the ability to do something. But God doesn't force us. And I say this over and over to people that I think in the American

church people are so focused on faith by faith. It's like it's all about your salvation. It's not all about your salvation. That's a myopic anti-Christian view of the Christian faith. we are saved by God and then deputized now to live according to his will and to do his will. We're going to be an army of people sold out to God's purposes. It's not about going to church on Sunday and singing songs. That's a little piece of it. But then we have to live out our faith in every sphere. And this is a classic example.

We just had an election. Well, there's nobody to vote for this month or this, you know, season. what can I do? How can I get involved? God calls us to do many things. This is something that by the grace of God on this program, we get to do. And I want to say, folks, nothing could be a greater Christmas present to somebody than to say, hey, dad, in your name, we all got together and we freed a slave. And here's the information on that. Trust me, as a father, nothing would touch me more. than getting a gift like that, getting a sweater I don't need

or whatever gadget that's going to be in the garage in six months. Really and truly, this is an opportunity to do something beautiful for God that's meaningful. This is also something we can teach our kids about the meaning of life. Tell your kids, here's what we're going to do.

We're going to do for grandpa this year. We're going to all pull together and make a part of your house and we're going to get part of. We're going to do beautiful. beautiful thing. There is nothing more beautifulness. This is meaningful. And it teaches us, uh, our kids and it teaches us about this is the meaning of life. We get to participate in God's purposes in, in working against evil. And God has given us the privilege that we get to do that.

We have money. We have freedom. We have this radio program. We can talk about this. Uh, it's not oppressed. It's not suppressed speech. We get to talk about this. We get to do something. But then God doesn't force us to do it. He gives us the invitation to do it. And so, folks, I think this is just a beautiful, a beautiful opportunity. And I want everybody who's listening to participate somehow and to participate ASAP. This is really just an amazing opportunity. I can't say that enough. What an opportunity that we get to do this. We hear about this evil and some fix it. So the phone number is 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522.

The website is metaxistocococ.com. You see the banner right there, metaxistocococ.com. The banner's right at the top, metaxistococon. What an opportunity. And, Todd, do people give monthly as well? Do people sometimes want to do that? Yeah, absolutely. You can give monthly.

You can give a one-time gift. Obviously, you know, it's $250 per slave that you free. And one of the things I love about, say, your listeners, Eric, is every year, you know, I see some of the names that, that have given for a number of years now. And we see people coming back and making this a part of their annual giving, and we love that. And also what we see over time, people tend to give more and more because what you said, you know, when you participate in anything that you do in the name of God, yeah, you're bringing good in the world and you're doing, you know, you're showing God's love and transformative ways. But it also changes you. It changes our heart. That's why Jesus talked about giving and showing love.

And so if you want to change the world and also I have God change you in the process, be in part, and it's not just giving to CSI. Give to his work anywhere that you feel led. But I'm just a big believer and lover of what we do at CSI, freeing human beings. And then I'm with you. Freeing human beings, literally, freeing them from slavery, the website, metaxis talk.com. The banner is right there. The phone number 888-253-2522.

it today, call it today, give today 888-2533522, 888-2533522. And the banner, metaxis talk.com. Do it. God bless you. You're excited about this, the kickoff to CSI. This is, honestly, I say it over and over. It's just one of the privileges that we get to be a part of this. So I want to encourage you to do it today. What would I need to do? do to get you to do it today just to say i'm going to do it let's do it today um the phone number uh i'll give it again but the banner is at metaxis talk dot com the phone number is 888 253 35 22 um i really i want to crush this this is this is just exciting it's just exciting 888 253 35 22 uh i want to encourage folks to do this as a way of giving a gift to somebody

a dad, a mom, a grandparent, to say that in your name, we've done this. That's a beautiful idea. And you know, you can do a monthly thing if that's easier for you. The website is metaxis talk.com. But to free a slave, that is so meaningful and so beautiful. So I just want to say that. I also want to remind you of our friends at the Herzog Foundation. The homeschooling thing, you know, if you listen to me, this is the way to

go. This is the way to go. But how do you do it? Well, the Herdsog Foundation, they're there to give you free resources to help you think it through. It's just, it's a wonderful thing. We just had Chris de Gaulle on the other day talking about it. Herdsugfoundation.com. I think it's dot com or dot org. We always get this confused. I always have to like look it up. Herzog Foundation, Herzog Foundation. But they're heroes, and they're also at the forefront of Christ-centered K-12 education. Really, they're there to help. This is a foundation. So check out the Herzog Foundation.

And before we go, I'm going to be doing a lot of media this week, trying to get folks to see the Bonhoeffer film. It is such a beautiful film. It's such a meaningful film, you know, because a lot of these other films, oh, it's just entertaining. This is a great film. But it's also a powerful film about would you stand in the face of evil and what does it mean to be a real Christian? What does it mean to be a good person in an evil world and what is required of you?

So I don't know if they still have discount tickets, but it's in 1900 theaters across America. So wherever you are, you can go see it. I want to encourage you, if you don't see it now, it's going away. I've been saying that, that if they don't do big numbers, they, they, they, they, they'll, they'll give the theater to, you know, for another showing of wicked or something like that. So you have to go see it. So I want to encourage you to go see it. But the discount tickets, if they're still available, you can get them at angel.com

slash Eric. That's angel. Dot com slash Eric. And almost all of my books, uh, you can get them at soccer. in the city.com or at ericmetaxis.com. We've got some great deals at ericmetaxis.com and at socrates in the city.com. You can get autographed books for gifts. But before we go, there was one other thing. I'm forgetting something. What was I? Eric, I wanted to add that you in the past for CSI and the other campaigns have offered.

Someone can give a gift of $15,000 or more to have dinner with them. And so that's something. I have done that and it becomes a greater and greater sacrifice because I have no time. But it's something I put out there that if somebody can give a gift of $15,000, I will figure out a way. We'll get together, spend the evening together. Just did that recently. It's always a joy when I get to do that. But the website, you can find the banner at metaxistalk.com.

Metaxistalk.com. Thank you.