The Eric Metaxas Show - Larry Taunton (Encore)

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

Larry Taunton joins Eric discuss his incredible Christmas stories 

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to listen to a man of grace, sophistication, integrity, and whimsy? Well, so are we. But until such a man shows up, please welcome Eric Mat, Texas. Hey there, folks. I'm excited to get Todd Chapman back on the program. He's with Christian Solidarity International. As you know, we're doing a campaign this month, as we do every year at this time to free people. from slavery, literally. Now, I know we probably have atheist, Marxists that really don't care about

slavery. And you're listening to this program, we don't expect you to reach into your pocket. If you don't think that people are made in the image of God and shouldn't be enslaved, we don't expect you to give. But if you're some kind of Christian, obviously you do care about this. And obviously, if we give you an opportunity to help people get out of slavery, literally, we know you're interested, which is why CSI comes to us every year and says, Eric, talk to your audience. These are wonderful human beings. They actually care about this.

There are very few pro-slavery people who listen to the program. So if you're a pro-slavery person, hey, we're not judging you for being evil. God is judging you, but we're not judging you. But if you're not a pro-slavery person, I know you're interested. Todd Chapman, welcome back. Thanks, Eric. Great to be here. And thank you.

If you've participated already in this year's campaign to free slaves, we just had a tremendous last couple of days. Yesterday alone, nearly 50 slaves freed by Eric Metaxus listeners. So that's great. We're gaining speed. But we still have a lot of slaves that we're hoping that your listeners can free. And so we invite everyone to be as generous as you can. $250 gift frees one slave. Provides them a new start in life in South Sudan.

And hopefully the opportunity for us to reunite them with their family, who they have. haven't seen in decades many times. And yeah, it's a beautiful opportunity to literally save and transform someone's life through CSI. Well, I want to be clear with my audience. As of today, we have had 65 gifts. Now, I know that a lot of people listen to this program. So we've only had 65 gifts thus far.

So yesterday we had a bump. But our goal, it's a modest goal, is to free 600. 76 slaves. $250 is the price to free one slave and to set them up in a life of freedom. You could give $25 a month. That's more than $250 a year. So if you want to do it that way, the website is metaxis talk.com. We've saved or freed 120 slaves thus far.

goal is 676. So in fact, we're not doing that well in this campaign. And so we need you to step up if you're, again, unless you're pro-slavery. If you're a Marxist atheist that doesn't believe in the dignity of human beings, you get a pass. But if you're not a Marxist atheist who actually is not pro-slavery, we're talking to you. The website is metaxis talk.com. Metaxistalk.com. You can see there's a banner there. When you click on it, it'll take you through whatever you want to give, however you want to give. And I always say, it doesn't matter what you give as long as you participate. But this is an amazing opportunity. It's amazing opportunity. I'll give you a phone number in a minute to do this in someone's name as a Christmas gift. There are people who really, you know, they don't need another whatever. So if you say to them on Christmas morning and when you see them, we did this in your name. And you can show them the piece of paper that says, we freed a slave in your name. What a way to share your faith to say,

this is real. We care about this. So this is, Todd, it's an amazing thing. How many years have you been working with Christian Solidarity International? Because you've got a close up view. Yeah, I've been working with them for about four years now. And honestly, before I started working with CSI, I didn't even know about the slavery issue in South Sudan, even though it's been going on, you know, for decades now. And I think a lot of people find themselves, yeah, I think a lot of people find themselves in a situation, never heard about this, didn't know that, you know, over 100,000 people were taken into slavery back in the 90s and have lived that way ever since, much less that there's a Christian organization that is working every day to free them and is being

very successful. I mean, since 1995, thanks to generous listeners like yours, we've been able to free over 100,000 people, and we're estimating there's probably still another 30 or 40,000 still enslaved, and so we're going to keep doing this, and with your generosity, we're able to free more and more slaves every year. But, you know, Eric, it's easy to get lost in numbers. I like to talk about the stories of individuals because I think that's really what we need to focus on. You can give a gift and free a human being right now in the name of Jesus. And it's insane. I mean, folks, are you listening to this, how amazing this is, that you are able to participate with us. I say this all the time, like that there's this satanic evil, human beings enslaved. Like, it's unbelievable. And then you

think, oh, oh, I could do something about it. I mean, it's, I just see this as an amazing opportunity. and that's why I push it so hard. Folks, this is a beautiful thing you get to do. This is unadulterated, wonderful goodness that you get to free somebody. And think about what we're asking. We're not saying it's $2,000. We're saying it's $250 to free a slave. That's like a dinner for two here in New York.

It's crazy. And you can free a slave forever. This is not you buy their freedom for a month. This is forever to free someone and to set them up in a life of freedom. The website is metaxistalk.com. Again, metaxis talk.com. And the phone number, some people prefer to call. I will give the phone number 888-253-3522.

888-253-3522. 888-253-3522. I can't imagine people don't want to do this. I cannot imagine that people wouldn't say, we can do this. Our family will do maybe we'll just do $250 through the year. So we'll give $25 a month. Folks, this is an amazing, beautiful thing. You can get your kids involved and explain to your children, hey, we're Christians.

We believe every human being is made in the image of God and is sacred to God. And we have to do what we can. Historically, it has been Christians that led the abolitionist movement in the 18th century. under the leadership of my hero, William Wilberforce, in the 19th century, it has been Christians that led the battle for abolition. Why? Because Christians are different. They believe that every single human being is made in God's image. They don't have an evolutionist Darwinian view that says some people are worth less than others. And we believe in the free market. We don't believe in what the Bible says. No, this is, it's an amazing opportunity in our own day to participate.

in an abolitionist movement and to free slaves because we believe that the God who made us made them. And so the website is metaxis talk.com. You'll see the banner there. And I say this again, folks, you know, you can, some of you, maybe can't give $250, you can give something. Some of you can give multiples of that. Some of you can give $1,000 to free for human beings and set them up in a life of freedom. And I say anybody out there that can get $15,000, this is tax deductible. I will have dinner with you, we'll figure it out in your town or our town or whatever. We do this every year somebody steps up. And it's my privilege to take my valuable time. It's become insanely valuable. But it's my privilege to take my time and to spend it with people

because you care and you've expressed your caring in this way. way. We've just got a minute left, Todd. Talk a little bit just for 40 seconds about how we set them up in a life of freedom once they are free. Yeah, so four or five times a year, we have negotiated the freedom of these slaves and we march them en masse, you know, two, three hundred at a time into South Sudan, where we have a camp where we gather them together. We document their story. A lot of times some of these people don't even know what their original name is, much less who their parents were, where they're from. We try to reunite them with their family if we can. And then we set them up with grains and a she goat and supplies to start a new life because they've got to have something to go

to. We can't just get them out and say, okay, you're on your own. We don't do that. We try to get them back with their family, with their community. And if we can't, we've got communities of slaves who have all been freed and they form their own communities. It's a new start in life. Many of them now, women bringing children with them into freedom. That's a new thing we've been able to do in the last couple of years. So we can't do it without you, so thanks for giving. Please go to metaxistock.com, metaxistock.com, metaxestalk.com. Metaxestalk.com. 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 for 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, 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 today, 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 metaxis talk.com, metaxistock.com. Click on the Christian Solidarity banner, metaxistock.com or 888-2533522. God bless you. Folks, welcome back. As promised, our friend Larry Taunton joins us from the great state of Alabama. Larry, welcome back. Roll time.

I'm currently in the great state of Connecticut, which has an amazing colonial history. But I want to talk to you, you know, about everything and anything. There's so much going on in the news. Let me just, let me throw the drone question at you. I haven't really talked about it on the program. And any thoughts? I mean, but we're recording this today. We're not going to air it until tomorrow.

You know, tomorrow we may be taken over by aliens from another galaxy. What do you think is happening? Well, what I think is, you know, when you take a laser pointer, with a cat and you run it across the ground or the wall and a cat will paw at it endlessly. I think it's a bunch of nonsense. I think it's a distraction. I think it's meant to do exactly what it is doing to distract from other bigger issues. Like, for instance, 1400 pardons.

Okay, so we have two things to talk about. We got the drones, we get the pardons. So you actually think that our guys, government is doing this so that we won't talk about the 1400 pardons. I mean, that's that's your theory at present. We don't know, but that's the theory. That works for me as well as anything. I just think the drones are a big bunch of nothing. And I think they do not want us paying attention to the pardons. I think they do not want us paying attention to what the Biden administration is doing, which is trying to gum up the works, you know, before Trump takes office.

and yeah, I mean, I think that they're just as corrupt as they've ever been. I think that they want to try to make it very, very difficult for Trump to govern. Well, this is, it's interesting because part of the equation here, this keeps coming up for me over and over, and I keep saying it on X when I'm posting, the contempt that the left has for we the people is, mind-boggling. It is so despicable. It is the very antithesis of the founder's vision of self-government that we the people would govern ourselves, that our elected officials would answer to us, to we the people. And the contempt that they have, it is mind-boggling, hard to take in.

They don't seem to have any inkling that what they're doing is unconstitutional. and flies in the face of 250 years of our history, that this is the kind of thing that the dictators do. I mean, for example, I mean, there's so much to talk about, but just referring to what we're talking about recently, the idea that they would do this, that they would say, we don't need to explain to the American people what's going on with the drones or why we don't shoot them down or whatever.

They just kind of act like, we're not accountable to you. who are you? And I find that to be the central piece of the story. For me, that's the headline, is their contempt. I mean, it's simply mind-boggling that, you know, it would be like saying to a general, you know, what's going on. And he just wouldn't tell you, you know, like, who are you? I think that, you know, if you're the president is what I mean. And we the people, we're over the president. We have a right to know what is happening. And they don't, they simply don't seem to see it that way. That to me is the headline. It's kind of amazing. Yeah, no, I think you're 100% correct. What we have seen in recent years is a great seismic shift, not only with politicians,

but with corporate America, who are all obviously being told to ignore their customers or ignore their constituents, maintain the globalist course, and just keep going. And as you know, in a month's time, I'll be in Davos, Switzerland. I'll once again be at the WF. And that's where a lot of these marching orders are coming from. They're all following the same globalist playbook. Ignore your customers bud light. Ignore your customers at Disney.

ignore your customer's target on and on and on. This is what you need to do. Even if you lose money, just keep doing that. And of course, it cost them dearly in November. Well, yes. I mean, in the end, this kind of stuff doesn't work. But it's high-handed and they're kind of gambling that they can rob us of our liberties, our freedoms, our voice, and they can get away with it.

And, you know, in the past, you and I both know that sometimes people do get away with it for a few decades. But that seems to me what we're facing right now. And they are, things are so bad that they double down. In other words, rather than back off and say, oh, yeah, we were wrong. That wasn't working. They, you know, like you just said, rather than accept defeat at the polls and they say, well, maybe we should rethink our vision for America. they're now trying, as you just said, to disrupt what we the people want to happen, which is for Donald Trump to govern in a completely different way.

Now, when you say that, though, what specifically do you think they might be doing to disrupt his ability to govern and enact the will of we the people? Well, certainly they want to shoot down most of his nominees. I mean, the effort to smear nominees is quite incredible. And it is because they are a threat to the deep state. These are individuals who, for the most part, are not Washington insiders. And I think this is part of what Trump learned from governing in 2016 is I think he came in in 2016 with some naivete, you know, thinking he could deal with the Nancy Pelosi's. He could negotiate with the Chuck Schumer's.

He would be able to get the Mitch McConnell's to do the things that needed to be done because they would act in self-interest or perhaps on occasionally, on occasion in the interest of the American people. And I think he discovered such a level of dishonesty. And, of course, efforts to destroy him personally that were just mind-blowing. And this time around, he's not playing that game. He's come in and he's choosing mostly outsiders. I mean, the nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. is about as outside as you can get. I mean, he is, he is such, so jarring to the establishment.

And, you know, these are, these are things I think he learned from this. And so, anyway, I think they want to smear and to destroy. these nominees so that he will appoint people that are, you know, they're rhinos. They're sort of, they're part of the club. And there are people who can be relied upon not to rock the vote. And of course, that's not what Trump wants. That's not what the American people elected him to do. We want the swamp drained. Yeah. Well, again, I think that, you know, we're in a state of war. I mean, we were able to remain alive by re-electing Donald Trump. And now we have to go to work.

Now we have to take a flamethrower to the deep state. And the deep state is not, you know, they care about their power infinitely more than they care about America. And so they're going to do everything. And you're talking about it right now, trying to scuttle these nominations. they should be scared to death. I mean, what, can we even imagine, can we even imagine that Elon Musk is going to help do this?

I mean, that, that you think this is like a dream. We'll get the richest man in the world, one of the most brilliant men in the world, one of the most creative men in the world, to help us destroy the woke, the woke mind virus, destroy government blow to the deep. I mean, it's like a dream come true. And of course, if they could put a bullet in his head, they would do that.

But by the grace of God, I think we're going to succeed. But it's a war. We're in a war. Yeah, you're absolutely correct. A domestic war with an enemy within. And, you know, Elon Musk is one of the most intriguing, you know, appointments that here's a guy who's going to, you know, downsize government. He's going to cut all of this government waste. And I think that's going to be a lot of fun, you know, to watch that. I mean, looking at what he did at Twitter, and I think I'm, I think I'm right in saying this. I may not have the statistics exactly correct, but I want to say that that Twitter, under the old regime, had something like 7,000 employees, and he's now running it with something like 300. And it was, it was overwhelmingly women, and now it's almost entirely guys. You know, it's, it's interesting to watch.

And it's going to be fun to see what he does with so many of these bloated bureaucracies. It is, it is fun. We should rejoice and we should enjoy it because this really is like a dream come true. This is Christmas morning. How many people have fasted and prayed? How many people have fasted? and prayed and prayed. And to get to see something like this in our lifetimes,

what a joy. Praise God that we get to live to see this. We don't deserve it, but by God's grace, it looks like we're still in it, and we get to see some of this good stuff. We'll be right back talking to Larry Taunton. 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.

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You can do that by getting Balance of Nature today. Use my discount code, Eric, and sign up as a new customer to get 35% off plus free shipping. 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, this is Eric Metaxis. For years, I've told you about Nutrametics, a professional supplement brand trusted by doctors since 1993. Nutrimetics offers a variety of health bundles. Whether you want to support your immune system, improve your sleep,

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Go to Nutrametics. 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-E-D-I-X.com. Nutrametics.com use the code Eric for 15% off. Folks, I continue my conversation with Larry. taunton, but before that, let me remind you of our friends at Medeshare. MediShare is, they've got something now called Medishare 65 plus.

The idea behind it is that health care costs are rising, have been rising. They're high. If you're 65 and older, maybe on a fixed income, it's tough. Even if you have Medicare, parts A and B, they're still out-of-pocket expenses, there's still deductibles. So Medeshire 65 plus makes it possible for $99 a month up to age 75 to deal with those overages, those expenses, $99 a month per peace of mind. If you're interested in finding out more, dial 86688 Bible. That's 86688 Bible. Metashear has been supporting the Erkman Taxis show for several years now, creating a great community.

of people just like you. So to find out about Medashare 65 plus, call 86688 Bible. All right. So talking to Larry Taunton, Larry, we are, you know, we're rejoicing at the possibility of taking a flame thrower to the deep state. I mean, I almost didn't believe I ever would see such a thing. I mean, we didn't even know, you know, five years ago there was such a thing as the deep state.

Most people didn't. And now it's almost like, you know, millions and millions and millions of Americans have awakened to the reality that we were blind to for decades. Yeah, I agree with that. I think that the American people have become increasingly aware of the fact that they're being manipulated by their government, that their government has weaponized their tax dollars and their institutions against them. And I think one of the primary reasons that Americans are aware of this is thanks to Elon Musk's

saving free speech with Twitter, with Axe, so that there is a place that, listen, X is full of information and disinformation. There's, I mean, it's everything. But, you know, reasonably intelligent people can navigate it and can find real sources of news and truth that is reliable. And that's been a game changer. That's been a huge game changer. Trump does not win without Elon Musk's It just would not have happened. Well, I mean, and think what we're talking about here. I mean, I've often just talked about how many Christians do not live out their faith. They don't die to self and sacrifice for what is right and good and true.

Here you have somebody, Elon Musk, not a self-professed Christian, and yet he has done something beautiful for the world, for America. He spent billions of dollars not to make more money, but to do something. beautiful and amazing. And he did it. And it's, it's, it's kind of amazing that, you know, you mentioned that he fired thousands of Twitter employees. And I think that, you know, the downsizing to say, oh, yeah, this is bloated. We need a tenth of, even the name, Twitter, seven letters, he reduced it to X. So it's one seventh. It's like if you ever wanted a picture of what that is. It's like, yeah, we don't need seven. We just need one, X. But that's kind of what he

did. And I really think that there's something in the zeitgeist by God's grace right now, where people are waking up to this. The DEI stuff is being rejected. But it had to get as bad as it did for this revolution, you know, to occur. Yeah, I think that's true. I think the American people, for the most part, want their country back. I don't think they want a government that is forcing perverse ideology upon them, paring away their freedoms, weaponizing their institutions, their schools,

and so forth. And they want their country back. And they want, by and large, to be left alone, which is a very American sentiment. And that's kind of how we got in this position in the first place, because, you know, as I like to say,

the average conservative gets up in the morning, grabs a cup of coffee, and begins thinking about their day. The average leftist gets up in the morning, gets a cup of coffee, and begins thinking about your day too. That's all they can think about. And finally, the American people decided,

look, we've got to stop these people because they're going to be the ruin of us all. Let's hope that we don't sit on our hands for the next four years, but that we see some tremendous progress and something that I know that you have tweeted about frequently, spoken about frequently,

have long to see, as I have, is revival in this country. And I think we're not there yet, but I feel like we could be very close to a spiritual revival in this country. And if that happens, Katie Bar the Door, I mean, we will see some extraordinary things happening in this country. But if we don't, and the American people remain an inert mass, and we just say, okay, we save the world, we can go back to business as usual, then in four years, we'll be looking at Armageddon, once again. Well, there's no doubt about it. And I think that it is interesting because I'm just reading a book on the American Revolution. And I have to say, it really is never everybody. It's always a core group of radicals, of patriots, of people who care and are willing to sacrifice.

And they lead the way. And you're seeing the same thing today. I mean, many Americans, you know, they don't know the name of the vice president. They don't know anything that's going on. They're just, Yeah, well, that's another problem. But I guess there are always, it's always going to be, you know, a kind of a radical quorum, you know, a group of people that really do care. And there are many of those in America. And that's all you need. You don't need everybody to be on board. They're always going to be Tories. They're always going to be people who have their finger in the wind to see which way the wind blows. And I think, but those of us who have been awakened to the hard. of the last few years, you know, we're, we're loaded for bear, as they say. This president is loaded for bear. He's putting together an amazing team. We'll be right back, folks. We're talking to Larry Taunton, 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.

InspireAdvisors, biblically responsible investing, visit inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. Hey, folks, the story of My Pillow is a testament to faith and transformation. Mike Lindell, once battling addiction, found a new path when he embraced faith and began following Jesus. In gratitude, Mike is excited to share an exclusive offer with our listeners. Right now, the standard My Pillow, is available for just 1488, a savings that's too good to pass up. There's a limit of 10 per customers,

so don't wait to take advantage of this amazing deal now with promo code Eric. Mike believes God gave him the idea for my pillow in a dream, and it's designed with your comfort in mind. The pillow holds its shape and adapts perfectly to your unique sleep position, helping keep your neck aligned for the best night's sleep. And there's more, take home a four-piece kitchen set for only $25. Enjoy their new mattress topper, starting at just $99.99. Oh, it's great.

or pick up the luxurious MyPillow bedsheets starting at 4998. Visit MyPillow.com or call 800-978-3057. Use promo code Eric to unlock huge discounts. That's promo code Eric, Mypillow.com, 800-978-30577. Hey, get rhythm when you get the blues. Come on, get rhythm. Welcome back. I want to remind you of our friends at the Herzog Foundation.

If Larry Taunton and I are talking about, you know, taking the country back in what's necessary and a lot is necessary. One of the things that needs doing is, you know, education reform. And I typically would say that the best thing we could do, the best thing we could do is take our education back from the public schools, do homeschooling, do quality K through 12, Christ-centered education. if you're interested in that, and I certainly hope you are, our friends at the Herzog Foundation are there to help. They provide all kinds of free resources. Folks, they are there to help. They don't want something from you.

They want to help you, you know, take our country back in this area, in the area of education. They offer many free resources. As I say, they're there to help. All you have to do is go to herdsogfoundation.com. Herzog Foundation.com. Avail yourself of their help. They're terrific.

They're friends of the program. And we'll have Chris DeGal on again soon to talk about that. In the meantime, we're talking to our friend Larry Taunton. Larry, do you have a Christmas story that you might share with us? Yeah, I thought I would tell you a little story, Eric, that might interest you. I've been recently, you know, that was reminded of the story. When I was an undergraduate, I was a very young undergraduate. I was driving a truck during the day, semi, and then I was going to school at night.

And I was asked to pastor this little country church, which was, you know, maybe on an Easter Sunday, might have 40 or 50 people, not very many people. And I'm a 21-year-old. This is a group that's out in the countryside, sitting on a lake. they meet only every other week. And there have been a desire to sort of close this church, but they were ornery sorts. The youngest in the church was probably 65 or 70, and they didn't want to close it. And they asked me if I would come and I would be, you know, I would teach.

I'm not really much of a preacher. I'm more of a teacher. If I would come and do that whenever they met every other week until they found someone else. And I said, sure, I would do it. And it stretched into not just a few months, but a couple of years. years. They had no intention of replacing me. So here I am, and I get out there, and I believe it's Christmas Eve. I'd have to look at the date for sure, if not. It's the Sunday before Christmas of 1988. So again, I'm 21. And I'm exhausted, Eric. I am, you know, I'm studying. I'm a full-time

student. I'm a full-time truck driver. I mean, I can't believe that I didn't know this about you. You drove... That means? You drove... I can't even. I can't even. I can't even. I'm a full-old-old. I'm a student. I'm a full-old-old-old. I mean, I can't even believe that. That's, anytime I see somebody driving a tractor trailer, a semi, I'm in awe of that. Like, that's a big... I drove a for a forklift for two years. And then I looked, you know, I started driving a truck because there was more money in driving a truck. And it could work around, you know, my schedule. So I'm full-time student. This Sunday, Eric, I'm exhausted. I have not had any time to prep. And so to disguise the fact that I've nothing really prepared, and we're talking about 30 people.

I say, you know, this morning, we're going to take time to hear your favorite Christmas memories. And after the usual, you know, awkward silence, a man stands up, and a bear of mind, this is, again, 1988, very elderly congregation. A man gets up and he says his favorite Christmas memory was during the Great Depression when his mom and dad, and this is rural Alabama, his mom and dad said that they would not be able to, to buy them Christmas gifts that year, and they meant it because they were just that poor. And then he said, King, Christmas morning, and his dad got a gleam in his eye, and he disappeared into another room, and he came back with an orange and a candy cane for each child. And he said, my dad had been able to negotiate a, to buy those on credit, on credit, an orange and a candy cane for each child. And he says it was it was the greatest Christmas ever to get that orange

and to get that candy cane. And I can remember hearing that and thinking, oh, wow. Oh, wow. I mean, this really puts things into perspective, but he was talking about how hard things were and their poverty. And then another man got up and he said, on this day, I was fighting in the Battle of the bulge. And tears started coming down his face. And he said, I, I this time of year, I can never not think about the bitter cold and the lack of food. I was at Bestone. We were surrounded. We had no hot food.

And he said, I watched my best friends slowly die in a foxhole with me. And now he's sobbing as he's telling the story. And then he says, Eric. During one of the battles, a German soldier jumped into my foxhole with me. I was out of ammunition, and he said, I just held his rifle away from me, and I beat him to death with my helmet. Not your typical Sunday school church fair. And yet somehow it was extraordinarily appropriate because he was talking about the cost of freedom. It's even hard for me to tell the story now as I remember it.

He was talking about the cost of freedom and that our freedom had been purchased with the blood of men that he knew, men he knew who died at Christmas, never saw their home or their families ever again. And then he went on to talk about Christ shedding his blood, you know, for our spiritual freedom. Eric, I've never forgotten that Sunday and those stories, which I was wholly unprepared for. I thought somebody would get up and say, yeah, I remember getting a, you know, a bicycle, you know, or someone getting up and saying, you know, I will never forget, you know, singing the Christmas cantata, you know, at my church. but these were these were stories of a different generation of people who had known suffering they'd known deprivation they had known war and they were just a generation of Americans that I miss you know they're they're you know almost entirely gone anyway at this time of year I think about that and there was there was one more that went along with it if I have time

before the break. Actually, you don't have time before the break, but we will hold you over because we want to hear it. Folks, please don't forget, there are people who are enslaved who need your help.

Please go to metaxis talk.com. You'll see the banner, metaxis talk.com. I can think of nothing more meaningful than doing that this Christmas, metaxis talk.com. Please go. You'll see the banner.

Taxestalk.com. You sheltered me from her. Hey there, folks. As promised, I want to get my friend Kevin McCullough back on here to talk about CSI. This is an insane opportunity. I beg you, take advantage of the opportunity to free a slave. There's nothing more significant. Anyone could do no better Christmas present. You could give to someone to say that you've done this in their name.

You've freed a slave. You go to metaxis talk.com. Metaxistalk.com, the banner's right there. So my first question for you, Kevin McCullough, you were recently on here talking about the work CSI does. I thought I'd have you back so you could detail further the impact that is made. So what do you say? Well, the great thing about what CSI is doing, and I love the fact that our shows do this together. We're both in the process of asking people to join the effort.

And what's great about doing it at this time of year is that we, We are just around the corner from another major liberation with Christian Solidarity International. And what that means is that people are going to be freed and they're going to be allowed to go home. And as you think about the holidays and kind of what this is normally, you know, all about, going home is a big thing for a lot of us at this time of year. But imagine being someone who was kidnapped from your home when you were maybe six, seven, eight years of age. you're a girl, your parents may have been killed in front of you, your mom may have been raped in front of you, there may have been things that you've seen repeatedly in how people treated you over and over again for dozens of years. And now as an adult, you have the first opportunity this Christmas to be with people that love you,

to be with people that have missed you, to be with people that have wondered if you were even still alive. that's the beauty of CSI at Christmas time. We have a liberation that is just around the corner and we can give them that new life, that return home, that blessing that we all enjoy when we go home for Christmas, we can give that to these hurting hearts that have not felt it in years and in some instances ever. Kevin, where does the $250 go that it frees the slave? I mean, there's more. How are those resources specifically utilized? The CSI program is pretty straightforward. There are what we refer to as retrievers that are Sudan Arabs that want to have good

relationships with South Sudan Christians. And they have been recruited over time, over the number of years the CSI has been doing this, to go into Sudan and look for slaves that are thought to still be alive, thought to still be there. At one point, there were 185,000 women and children that had been taken as slaves. We believe the number is somewhere around 35,000 now, after years and years and years of CSI, basically being the lone voice in the wilderness, saying, we've got to do something about this. But these retrievers locate them. They alert CSI. They engage in negotiation, and they secure the release of the slave. Now, what the slave master will usually release the slave.

for in exchange is a very hard to get cattle vaccine that helps their cattle withstand the extreme temperatures of what they are going through. Many of these slave masters are ranchers. Cattle is their only means of material wealth or income. And so, you know, you can't be having cattle die on you and be successful. So the life of the cow or the bull is more, valuable to the slave master than the life of the slave. And CSI is able to effectively say, if you'll release this slave, we will see to it that we get a vaccine for your cattle. I know that everybody's in a different place, but everybody can do something. Whatever you can do, please, folks, join us in this beautiful, beautiful thing. Go to metaxis

talk.com. You'll see the banner there. You click on it. It'll walk you through everything. And right now, we're going to hour two. I guess I just want to leave the phone number with you. 888-253-3522, 888-253-3522, or the website metaxisstalkystalk.com. Metaxistalk.com. You'll see the banner. This is the right thing to do. Jump in.

God bless you.