The Eric Metaxas Show - Phil Hotsenpiller

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Pastor and Author Phil Hotsenpiller  joins to discuss his book "Midnight in America" 

Folks, welcome to the Eric Metaxus show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m. Investments.com. That's legacy p.m. Investments.com. Welcome to the Eric Metaxis show. Did you ever see the movie The Blob, 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 them. But he kept spitting him. Oh, the whole thing was just a disaster. Anyway, here's the guy who's not always that easy to digest. Eric the Texas! Folks, welcome to the program.

Today, I talked to a pastor, an author. I've known for quite some time. The toughest part is pronouncing his name. Phil Hotson Pillar. I got it. Phil Hotson Pillar. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

And you're in a position to know, because you are, in fact, Phil Hotson Pillar. You're the founder and president of American Faith, senior pastor of Influence Church in California. You don't shrink from dealing with Bible prophecy and all this kind of stuff. And so you have written a book, another book. This one is brand new called Midnight in America.

So Phil Hotson Pillar, first of all, welcome to the program. Thank you so much. Good to be with you. And I think the first time you and I had a formal meeting or a social meeting was in New York in the year 2004. So it's been 20 years. We were just kids back then. I know I was.

I don't remember the context. What could I have been doing in 2004 where we kept bumped into each other? I think Bonhofer book had just come out or getting ready. No, no, no. Bonhofer book came out in 2010. This is way before I had written any books anybody cared about. Yeah. Oh, well, that's a great book, by the way.

Thank you. Remains a great book. Yeah. Well, that's the key. You want it to remain a great book. Exactly. Well, look, speaking about books, this book is a big deal. I mean, the title is Midnight in America.

So why don't I start with the simplest question? Why is the book titled Midnight in America? Well, you know, one of the things that I get asked all. all the time kind of because I kind of work in that in-time prophecy world is where is America and biblical narrative? And so that question really has never been answered very well. If you do any research on it, everybody says the same thing and says nothing. So I thought, well, what if I jump into that, begin to look at it through the lens of prophecy? And at the same time, what was happening was the lockdown from COVID in 2020. And we made a decision at that point.

point to not close our church. And so the opening chapter is this is a dress rehearsal. And my whole theory is that what happened during that was really almost a test case to see how people would react in an environment where total control or almost total control was being exercised by the government. And if it was a test, then we failed or we passed, whichever way you want to look at it, because we complied pretty well to a whole lot of regulations, including including the church being classified as a non-essential business. So that was kind of the interest in it. And then when I began to look at fulfilled prophecies,

and I created one chapter called the prophetic clock, and I said, let me just look at prophecy from the time when Israel is dispersed and then move forward through prophetic events like Israel becoming a nation, the great deportation of Jews, dispersia around the world, and just kind of look at some things and see where we are. And I realized that I had nine

really important key, trackable prophetic events that have happened since 1948 and three remaining on the board to be fulfilled that would bring about that introduction of the man of lawlessness, the Great Tribulation,

etc., the Battle of Armageddon, all those things, those key words, hot words, people know about and talk about. Well, you've really sucked me in now. I've got to ask you, what are these, I don't know what you just call them, these six markers, these six moments in prophecy from the founding of National Israel in 1948. Can you walk us through that? Yeah, let me walk you through a few of those. In 1950 was the law of return. And the law of return, basically Israel said any Jew living anywhere can be a citizen of a citizen of, of Israel. And that followed that with obviously a lot of movement happening, especially in, from Russia. There was a lot of persecution, a lot of difficulty during USSR times. And that relates to

a scripture where it says, I'm going to call my people out of the north. And so we see all these Russian Jews coming into Israel. Then in 1980, 84, you see the Abraham, the Solomon airlift out of Ethiopia. So you've got these Jewish people that are Ethiopians being airlifted out during a time of difficulty, another fulfillment where God says in Zechariah will call my people out of Ethiopia. And so you begin to see all these, you know, these kind of things happening. And you go like, wow, this is really, really an interesting kind of thing. Then you see 1967, see the six-day war. It says that it talks about the times the Gentiles will be fulfilled until basically the restoration of Jerusalem. So for the first time, these IDF soldiers are standing and touching the wailing wall, always prohibited before that, but now under Jewish control.

They still monitor obviously the Temple Mount. But this was a, I believe at least a partial fulfillment of that scripture. we see in 1914, let me back up a little bit, I'm a little out of sequence, 1914 in Matthew 24, it talks about nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and this is not the end, this is just the beginning of the birth banks. Well, the first time there was a nation, nation, nation, kingdom, war was World War I. So if you're reading in Matthew 24, you can mark in the margin there, 1914, 1917, World War I,

this was a global event that I think has prophetic significance. So those are a few things that kind of lead us up to there. I really believe 9-11 was actually a prophetic event in that it talks about how nations, in the book of Job, how nations are like a drunken man wandering, trying to figure out what's happening. I think that was the day that marked really an open door for evil in America. that would change everything. You and I, you know, we both lived there in the East Coast and during 9-11, and so we experienced it.

We know what it was like. But it was more than that. So those are a few of the highlights that you'll read and understand in the book. I go into a little bit of depth on each one of them. We'll be right back. I'm talking to Phil Hotson Pillar. The book is called Midnight in America. Dare to challenge the status quo with the movie The Real RFK Jr.

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Legacy pm investments.com. Check it out. Welcome back. We're talking to Phil Hotson Pillar, Pastor Phil Hotson Pillar, who is with Influence Church in California, and his new book is called Midnight in America. You were just saying, Pastor Phil, that something happened at 9-11, something happened at 2020. So again, this title, Midnight in America, where do you say we are today? Where are we on the prophetic clock? What is your sense? You said six prophecies had been fulfilled. we have three more to go before, you know, the actual end times. Help us understand where we are right now. Well, one of the things the book does is it makes it simple for people to understand prophecy. And that's the challenge. You know, someone says, I want to know about it. I guess I'll go read the book of Revelation.

And then they get lost about chapter 7 and go, I give up. You know, I'm crying uncle. So what I want to do is make it very simple. So what's left to happen? You know, the Lord, there's a sense that which God can come back anytime he wants, but he does give us a framework. So one of the things that's really interesting that's been talked about in some measure is Ezekiel 3839's prophecy. And it talks about a time when a coalition of nations will come together. They're portrayed there in ancient names like Gog and Magog and Persia to Garma, Gomer, Ethiopia of the North.

and when you break those apart, Gog and Magog and Rosh, that's actually Russia. And then when you look at Persia, that's modern day Iran. Gomer is Germany, Tagarma is Turkey, and then Ethiopia of the north would be the area of Saudi Arabia. And so when you put those things together, when those come together and they say, we're going to go against Israel, then you know that when that event happens, when that war happens, you know that you're three-step. away from return of Christ. Well, we're not, I mean, when you mention Iran, Russia, and Turkey, that coalition makes perfect sense.

Germany, that's a little bit of a stretch for most people. It would be like, wait a minute, Germany. Why would Germany ally themselves with these three, you know, generally unpleasant, hostile nations? Well, one thing about Germany, it has been its entire history warring people. They've not been afraid to get in the battle and get in the men. they've also been very strongly anti-Semitic, and the ultimate issue that is happening in Israel today

is the hatred for the Jews. And that's one thing everybody there has in common. Russia has done so much recruitment because of all their countries that end in the word Stan that they have got a great portion of their military is actually Muslim, so they would be very happy. But now here's the interesting thing that happens in this battle, It says, every wall will fall in Jerusalem in Ezekiel 38.

So let's use that literally, like I like to do with the Bible. Literally every wall falls. That means a wailing wall falls. All walls holding up the temple mountfall. They slide down into the Kidron Valley. And now you don't have a mosque anymore. The devastation of armies because of God's intervention is four fists of the armies are wiped out. That means four fifths of the armies of all those countries are wiped out.

all those countries are basically largely supplied by Muslim soldiers. So now enters what? The man of peace. This is who we call the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness. What does he do? He's going to bring the world together. He's going to establish a peace covenant with the nation of Israel. That's when I think he gives the permission for Israel to rebuild the temple on where the mosque once was before the great earthquake.

How do we get to the mosque and the entire temple mount becoming rubble? I'm not really clear on that. Yeah, okay. So Ezekiel 38 talks about God intervening and earthquakes. And it says in Ezekiel, every wall crumbles and falls. So if that's true, if you look at what's happening where the temple mount is, it's literally held up by rock, but also it's supported by all the former stones of the temple. So you can imagine an earthquake could, this is a scenario.

This is a scenario, because we know one thing. We know there has to be a rebuilt temple because the Bible says in Thessalonians that the Antichrist will take his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. The corollary scripture for that is Revelation 13, and that's the mark of the beast, where he demands worship. That's the beginning of the great tribulation period. That's the last three and a half years of the seven-year tribulation period. So how far do you surmise we are from this event, these walls coming down and the entree to being able to rebuild the temple? Do you have a sense of where we are in terms of approaching that event? Well, you know, the head of NATO came out not too long ago and reported that Europe should prepare for war.

I don't know if you saw this, but he said, gather flashlights, gather food, gather water, because there's going to be a war. It's probably going to start with Germany and Russia, which is an interesting combination of people. I don't get that. What do you mean it's going to start with Germany and Russia? This is all he said. He said, it's going to, this is going to be the, the fuse is going to be lit because of this relationship. I rather suspect that the Russian natural gas is going to play a big part in creating conflict.

but I think that could be really just almost a diversion for what's happening. And many things that happen, you know, everybody, every war that comes up, people say, well, is that in the Bible? I said, no, not every war is in the Bible. That's why Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars. You have to take a look at what's happening in the Bible, looking at your current events, and say, is there any corollary here? Is there any connection that I can make?

If not, then I set this aside as a, war that might lead to something, but it may not. For example, what's happened in Gaza Strip? Very interesting from what we're talking about today, because no one would have anticipated it happened. No one of it anticipated the extent at which it happened. And now you've got this moral outcry of the world, why this is the most densely populated place on planet Earth. You've got 65% of the people living there are under 24 years of age, and a lot of people are suffering. And so you're seeing this tension that's happening. And by the way, it biblically, if you want to connect Gaza, that ties you back to the Philistines.

And when they captured Samson, and they brought him into the temple of Dagog. And remember there, they were worshipping all these pagan idols. and it was Samson that pushed the pillars down and destroyed more Philistines than his dying than he did in his living. What's interesting about that is they were celebrating all these pagan gods, the music festival that was happening where the attack took place, it was basically the same thing. They were celebrating all these pagan gods.

And we miss out on what the significance and God's judgment that comes sometimes, even from a foreign source, where you've got this debauchery in the land and this idolatry function. in God's land, the land of Israel. I had not heard of this music festival where these sadistic attacks took place as being described the way you just did.

In other words, that it was not just like a happy folk music festival. No, not at all. Not at all. It was very pagan, drug-filled, very pagan. And so I'm not saying that it was a God-cause thing. I'm just saying that it's an interesting connection whenever idolatry came in the land, God would bring in a foreign people sometimes. For example, Habakkuk,

he couldn't understand why he was using a foreign army to punish Israel. And God said to Habakkuk, wonder and be astounded, for you will be amazed at what I'm doing in your day. You will be confound, not even understand what I'm doing in your day because God was going to use foreign nations to bring about a judgment on his people to bring them back to God. So going back to this timeline, you had six events since National Israel in 1948. You talk about 1950, then you talk about Ethiopia, the Six Day War.

The last one, I guess, that you mentioned of the six is 2020, is the COVID. Am I tracking that right? Or is that just, you just mentioned it? No, we also have the Red Heifer. Now, this is really interesting because according to Jewish law, you can rebuild a temple. you can get a priesthood, which they already have the priesthood, they already have the architectural drawings for the rebuilt temple. This is already done.

And you can build all the instruments that are going to be used in the temple, but you cannot purify the temple without the ashes of a red heifer. This is according to Old Testament law. And so the problem is that a red heifer is an anomaly of nature. That means that it is completely pure red. There's not a white, black, brown hair on its body. And so over the years, the first time they thought they had one was in 1972. It was discovered in Texas or in Arkansas maybe.

And it was turned out that they watch it. So they watch it for a year to make sure that it hasn't been died, that something hasn't been trickery has been done here. But now just in 2022, they delivered not only one, heifer, but multiple heifers of two years of age, because it has to be at least three years of age before it is then sacrificed. The ashes are then taken, and they use it to sprinkle the holy place. So not only did they have one, two, or three, but Israel had a special event at the airport. And they celebrated... Before you get to this, we're going to go to a break,

and I want to pick up on the other side. This sounds so kooky that I'm tempted to be an atheist. I'm not, but it sounds pretty kooky, folks. You can understand why atheists are like, you know what, You're nuts. We'll be right back. Our God-given freedoms are facing unrelenting attacks. It's a battle for truth, and the only way we win is if we stand together. Thankfully, Alliance defending freedom has been defending our rights for 30 years and winning. Right now, they're involved in two critical cases before the Supreme Court. They're suing the FDA for endangering the health and safety of women and girls,

and in the second case, they're assisting the state of Idaho to defend its law protecting the lives of women and their unborn children against the Biden administration's attempt to override the law and force doctors to perform abortions. Think about it. They need your help. With your best gift, you courageously join ADF in fighting critical Supreme Court cases against government lawlessness and help defend our cherished freedoms. Call 855-385-096 right now or go to Metaxus talk.com. Click on the ADF banner, Metaxistock.com.

With your help, I've pledged to raise $35,000 by March 31 for ADF. Go to MetaxusTalk.com or call 855-385-096 to make your best gift now. 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, Nutrimetics has a health bundle right for you. The best part about Nutrimetics, every year they donate a minimum of 50% of their profits

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Support your health while helping others in need. 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, Nutrametics, N-U-T-R-A-M-E-D-I-X.com. Nutrametics.com, use the code Eric for 15% off. Welcome back. I'm talking to Pastor Phil Hotson-Piller, author of Midnight in America.

And we're just talking about these prophetic moments. And you just said that the existence of a red heifer, a lot of people who are really into this stuff, say that's important. We need the ashes of red heifer. You know, we can build the temple. We can do all this stuff. but unless we have the ashes of a red heifer. So you're saying that, I mean, I know that people have been trying to breed red heifers.

You're saying in 2022, we got some red heifers. I mean, it sounds comical, but I know it's not entirely comical. So you're saying there was a celebration at some airport for these red heifers. Break it down for us. And why wasn't I invited? Go ahead. Yeah, I didn't get the invite either. I did see an invite, but I didn't get the invite.

So they actually flew them into Jerusalem. They actually celebrated this event as the arrival of the red heifer. Now, for us, I'm a Gentile, okay, I'm a believer, but I'm an Old Testament. You know, Bible, you know, I wouldn't call myself a scholar, but I love the Bible. I study it. So I look at it and go like, I have to put myself in a different period of time and a different mindset. So I'm going back to this period of Moses and this revelation that was happening, you know, thousands of years ago. and God had a purpose for everything he did.

Everything pointed to something and pointed to a sacrifice would point to a reality. You know, and so when I look at that, I say, I don't know why God did this, but this is what God said. These were the instructions of God. So the problem is that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD by Titus. And at that time, the Jews have not had a sacrificial system since 70 AD.

So now they come back into the land, in 1948, now the prophetic clock begins to tick, and what are the things are on that clock? One of them is a rebuilt temple. Well, that's great. Even if we had the temple built, we can't operate a sacrificial system because why? We can't purify the temple, all right? And so once that happens, now the game is on, because now they can return. So during the tribulation period, the Jews will return to a system of ultimate.

Testament sacrifice. And that's why the Bible talks about, for example, in I believe it's Revelation Chapter 14, it talks about an angel that circles the world preaching the everlasting gospel. And it's called the gospel of the kingdom. And the gospel of the kingdom is not the same as the gospel you read about in the biblical narrative in the New Testament. It actually is speaking directly to the Jews because tribulation is for the Jews primarily. It's called the Day of Jacob's Trouble in the book of Jeremiah. It's a time to bring Israel back to the true God. And there's many conversions, many revival that happens place.

And you see all these people that are converting, you know, into the true God, and then many of them are martyred for their faith. And you see this tension going on. You see 12,000 from every tribe, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists that are preaching the Word of God. You see the two witnesses, probably Elijah and, Enoch. Some people say Moses, but preaching the gospel. God's giving witnesses during the darkest period in human history. And when do you see this happening? Forgive me, but it's, you know, I'm still trying to track. Where are we now and how far in the future do you see this? Let's say, I think the next

big event is the invasion of Israel. When you see the invasion of Israel by that coalition of nations, then you can really start marking your calendar. Up until that point, you really can't. You have to kind of step, back and say, wait. Now, you asked the great question because it's exactly the same question the disciples ask on the Olivet discourse in Matthew chapter 24. He said, when will be your return and what will be the sign of your return? So everybody wants to know the when. You know, we want, we want chronology. But chronology doesn't work exactly great when you're trying to understand the Bible because God has got, God can bring something in and bring a revelation to you and go, like, wow, I never saw this in scripture.

I remember one time I was reading a commentary that was written in the 1890s on the book of Revelation. And the author said, when you see Israel become a nation, you know that we're moving into the last days. Now, he wrote that, you know, not knowing, you know, 60 years before, 50 years before Israel ever became a nation.

So he saw it prophetically, that there would be a nation born in a day, Isaiah chapter 66. And he saw it and he spoke of it, even though it took some of us later to figure it out. But it sounds to me like you're saying that Iran, Russia, Germany, and Turkey will invade Israel rather imminently. We're not talking 10 years, 20 years. How about that? All right.

But so it's not necessarily that imminent. In other words, it's – but you could see it happening. And that, of course, will begin to set this clock. You seem to say that you think an earthquake will bring down the temple mount, will create this rubble. So it sounds like you're talking about something 20 or 30 years out, these events. We could say that. It could happen, though. But look how quickly things escalate when war happens.

Look how quickly Ukraine escalated really kind of a global concern and more than just a territorial war and scrabble between Russia and Ukraine. So things, once the fuse is lit on things like this, it doesn't take long for countries to get upset, pull all their pieces together and say, I've had enough. It's time for domination. You know, with Putin and his recent just landslide, you know, approval, I mean, he lives as a megal maniac wanting to be the czar and return Russia to its old territories. I mean, that's just who he is. Yeah. And he's going to do everything he can to do that. And you can find Phil Hotson Pillar at Americanfaith.com. Americanfaith.com.

We'll be right back. It's my privilege on this program to highlight the work of heroes in America. And the Alliance Defending Freedom, they're at the top of the list. Metaxistocococ.com is the website. We're trying to raise a lot of money. Every tiny bit will help. We want you to be generous. Go to Metaxistalk.com.

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972 Patriot. 972 Patriot. Get free activation when you use the offer code metaxus. Join me. make the switch today. That's patriotmobile.com slash metaxus. Welcome back. We're talking to Pastor Phil Hotsonpillar. You can find about Americanfaith.com. The brand new book is Midnight in America. There's so much in this book. Let me ask you one quick question. Maybe you can give me a quick answer. A lot of people really get exercised over

details of eschatology. I don't really have a particular eschatology. I don't really have a particular eschatology, but when I was agreeing with someone on this program about the implications of some of these theologies, so a lot of people got very upset. They seem to be, we talk about pre-millennial rapture, or I'm sorry, pre-trib rapture. Do you believe that the church will be raptured out before the tribulation? I do. And, you know, there is, you're right, there is some variance of understanding. Some people will say church will be raptured out. Some say mid-trip kind of thing before the great. And then some say not at all. So that is, let's call it, that's the debate, but I think it's a friendly debate. It does make a lot of difference. It's really interesting. I always say that scripture is the best way to unlock truth. and I always like to refer to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, and the personal pronouns unlock the chapter.

Because he talks about, you yourselves know perfectly well, the day of the Lord comes as a thief and night, for when they say peace, all right, and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them. And this is the context of this, if you read it,

just prior to that is the rapture scriptures in chapter 4 verse 16. and here now he says, now God is not destined our people unto wrath. Tribulation is called the time of wrath. So that's why I can go to First Thessalonians 5. I can unlock the passage, and it makes complete sense. Among others, that's just one. Now in the book you talk about a lot of stuff, for example,

one world currency, election integrity issues, cashless society. Can we talk about those three things in the few minutes we have left? Because, I mean, I wouldn't see. To me, election integrity is, one of the most important things for the future of America, for liberty. And anybody says, oh, shut up. I know they're afraid of looking into this because it's the end of having a constitutional

republic when we the people are not choosing our leaders. But where do you see that in scripture? How do you bring that up in your book? Okay. So to kind of make it simple, one world government was introduced in the Bible in Genesis chapter 10 and 11, with a man by the name of Nimrod who formed the first human kingdom called Babylon. Babylon was more than a geographical location. It was also a spiritual and mental mindset. And you see Babylon, the mindset, runs all the way through the Bible until it's culminated and

judged in the book of Revelation chapter 17, where it's called the mystery of Babylon, the great horror has been destroyed by God. So one world government, everything that's happening there was there's always been this figure in history that imagined themselves to be the one world leader. It was an Adolf Hitler, you know, for example. It was just go through it, Mao Zetang, you can just pick your despotic rulers. They had this vision of controlling everything. And we have a lot of talk about a one world government today. So biblically, it's, and I trace this for you in scripture through my book, and it's very helpful to see it.

and it's very easy to put your hands around. Well, I have to say that I have a book coming out in April called Religinalist Christianity, and I touch on this, this idea that the Tower of Babel was this attempt by mankind, in a sense, to usurp the role of God. It's a satanic project. And of course, the Lord did not let that happen. But you see that happening now, again, for the first time in the history of the world, we have the ability because of these globalists really to accrue power in a way that simply hasn't been conceivable, really, since the Tower of Babel.

And so that alone makes me sensitive to the timing of where we are, the ability, the idea that we have the ability to talk about one world government. These things are frightening because, again, if you understand power is the temptation. It's this temptation to power that we've really never had the ability to have this much power consolidated. That's what's so frightening. And, of course, our founders established a system where we have checks and balances. Because of the nature of human beings wanting power, we have set up, you know, three branches of government to hold each other accountable. We've got all kinds of other sort of baffles in the system on purpose. When you pull those away and when you begin to see the possibility of,

power being in the hands of the few. It's very frightening. And so that's what we're seeing with globalism. That's what we're seeing with the intentional erasure of our sovereignty, of our national borders, literally. So it's interesting to think about that as an end time marker. Yeah, and to speak of currency, so one of the things that happens in Tribulation is there is this basically control of everything you buy or sell without a mark. Now, the market, Mark has been speculated a lot. I remember when I preached on this 20 years ago, people thought I was crazy. Now people go, I have people who aren't people of faith who go,

this looks like what I heard about. Is this that? When we're seeing cashless society, when we're seeing the ability to do digital currency, especially in the hand, yeah, is this that? Yes, this very well could be that. But remember, when John wrote this, it was 2,000 years ago. John also wrote, very interesting, that there would be an invasion by the kings of the east,

which would be China, okay, into, in this period of the Armageddon, and he said it would be a 200 million man army. There was 100 million people that were alive in the first century. He said there will be an army twice the population of planet Earth that will invade. 1963, Time Magazine ran a feature in the May issue that China had reported that they had a standing army and militia of 200 million men. Now, how did John come up with that number?

Well, inspiration in the Holy Spirit, divine revelation. But he knew something. He saw something because he was speaking from the heart of God about our times. He also said that when Christ returns, every eye will see him. Is that going to be literally or is that going to be on a device? We don't know. But imagine that concept 2,000 years ago. That's why the Bible's so exciting.

Well, we've got one final segment with Phil Hotson Pillar. The book is Midnight in America. And you can find Phil Hotsonpillar at Americanfaith.com. Welcome back talking to Pastor Phil Hotson Pillar, the brand new book, Midnight in America. One of the things you talk about is, you know, something that I talk about a lot. I talked about it in my book, letter to the American Church. There's so many in the church that are not being the church. They are not bold. They're not warriors. They went along with the COVID lockdowns. They really don't, they don't want any

trouble. And whenever Christians says, I don't want any trouble, I'm thinking, you are not exercising your faith because God calls you to trouble. You should, the people who stand against God, they should worry about you. You should not. worry about them if you know who you are in Christ. And we really do have many in the church. That's why I'm trying to wake up the church with the book letter to the American church and the film. Many in the church that are not getting this. They don't understand this. And I know you deal with that issue in your book. We do. In fact, I did an interview for the Epac Times in 21. They asked me, what do you think the difference is between the church in China and

the church in America? And without even thinking, I said, well, you have the underground church and then you have the state-sponsored church in China. In America now, what we have is we have the conforming church and we have the biblical church. That is exactly, I say the same thing, not in those words, but that is exactly correct, yes. You know, and so when you're conforming to the government, you're falling lockstep into a bad pattern

that we've seen hasn't worked. I pointed out in Bonafor book. I mean, it's just, it's there. When the religious leaders, Kanaberry Tales says if the gold russ, what will happen to the steel, and if the priests fail, what will happen to the people? It's an amazing, it's an amazing thing. In Germany, you had the Reichs Kirshah.

You had those that are conforming, the Nazis are saying, we want to impose our Nazi values on the church, okay, church? And there many said, oh, okay, we can, we'll work with you. And you think the moment you say that you cease to be the church, you cease to be the remnant, but obviously you have that in China, When you talk about the official church in China, that's the dead church. That's the devil's church in China. The underground church, people are risking their faith and persecution dramatically.

Those are the people of God. And you see the same thing in America. And I'm, you know, everywhere I go trying to call the people of God to be the people of God. We've got to stand up. We've got to understand who we are in Christ. But there's so many voices within the church. And this is the horror. Calling for us.

Don't be political. just to go along with the government. The irony is that's exactly the German church in the 30s that failed to stand up to the evil of Hitler. We've seen this through history, but to see it in America right now, so it's just delightful that you're talking about this because we need to be talking about this.

Yeah, one chapter I have in the book that's interesting, it's called We Need More Blacksmiths in America. And when the Philistines took over Israel, they removed all the blacksmiths, so they couldn't make instruments of war, nor could they sharpen their instruments of agriculture. And what they did was they controlled the entire world by controlling weapons. So one of our weapons is free speech.

So if you can control free speech, if you cancel that, if you cancel First and Second Amendment rights, then you can do exactly what the Philistines did to Israel. Well, and that's where we are. Well, I just have to say I am champing at the bit to read the book. I've got a copy at home. It is Midnight in America by Phil Hotson Pillar. And I just want to say congratulations.

And AmericanFaith.com, just 20 seconds. What is AmericanFaith.com? You know, it's a news you can trust. We produce about 30 original stories every day. We have 22 million people on it right now, so God's blessing it. And it was a great experiment that actually worked. And where is your church in California? What town?

It's in Anaheim. In Anaheim. Yes, I've heard of Anaheim. I will never be caught dead at Disney World, but I will come to Anaheim to see you. Pastor Phil Hotson Pillar. Thank you. Congratulations. The book, folks, is Midnight in America.

It's my privilege on this program to highlight the work of heroes in America. And the Alliance Defending Freedom, they're at the top of the list. Metaxistalk.com is the website. We're trying to raise a lot of money. Every tiny bit will help. We want you to be generous. Go to Metaxistalk.com or call 855-385-0-5-9-6-8-55-8-5-9.