The Eric Metaxas Show - Yankee Doodle Mugsy & Ask Metaxas (Encore)

Episode Date: July 3, 2021

It's time for Eric's annual reading of his colorful, patriotic children's book, "Yankee Doodle Mugsy"; plus, get ready for a healthy dose of wit and wisdom as Eric answers questions submitted by listeners. (Encore Presentation)

To the Eric Mettaxas show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Hey, gang. Oh, ho! Guess what this weekend is. What is it now? This is National Hot Dog Day or something. Yeah, yeah. Or National Fireworks Day.

What is that holiday? It's on the fourth of the seventh month of every year. Yeah. Is it the month of Tammuz? What is the month? Oh, it's July. July 4th. It's coming up.

Yes. It's called Independence Day, folks. We don't celebrate hot dogs. Okay. We don't celebrate. We celebrate, you know, fireworks. We celebrate the birth of America. Yes.

The birth of liberty on the world stage. It happened in 1776, which is coming up on 250 years ago. I need to write a book to come out for the 250th anniversary. Well, I like to do this every year. If you get an 81-year-old guy, okay, and you go back to the day he was born, find another 81-year-old guy and go back to the day he was born, find another 81-year-old guy. and you go back today he was born, you get to around 1776. Only 3, 81 or 82 year old men or women go back. And 81 today is more like 61.

So we're really only talking about 180 years. There's something like that, yeah. Okay, so here's what's happening this weekend. First of all, let me say before we get to July 4th, which is on Sunday, and we're going to get into that in a second here. But I want to say July 3rd, there's a big celebrating. in New York City. Sean Foyt, F-E-U-C-H-T, let us worship.

Let us worship.us. They're going to be in the Bronx on Saturday. I'm flying back from Kansas City to be there. I'll be speaking. It's going to be seriously amazing. If you can get there on Saturday, I think it starts at 5 p.m. officially, I think you want to be there.

This is going to be a scene man, and a lot of my friends are coming, and it's just going to be incredible. So I want to say that. Number two, I want to say this weekend is Independence Day. And so we, on this program today, and we may re-air it, we want to celebrate, both on Thursday and Friday, we want to celebrate July 4th by me doing a dramatic reading extremely over-dramatic. Yes. I'm chewing the carpet, folks. Oh, it's great.

I want to do dramatic reading of Yankee doodle Mugsy. which is a children's book that I wrote in verse. I wrote it in verse, but it doesn't read in verse. Actually, no, it does. It does. It's in verse. It rhymes with Tim Raglan. He is my creative partner, and he and I have done a number of books together.

We did the Donald Caveman books. But these books, the Uncle Mugsy books, which is Yankee Doodle Mugsy, Uncle Mugsy, and the Terrible Twins of Christmas, and then our, the birthday ABC. they're much more sophisticated than the Donald books because the Donald books are, you know, they don't rhyme and they're not in, it's more of a cartoon illustration style. But Tim's illustrations in the Mugsy books and in the birthday ABC books, which you can all get at my store.com, they are some of the most, they are genuinely worthy of framing. That is not even a slight exaggeration. They are the most heavenly illustration. I've seen in the modern era. I can't think of any children's illustrator that has more beautiful stuff. You'll see, folks.

If you get the Mugsy Books, you'll be astonished. And by the way, Chris Heim's did a great job producing this thing with music and sound effects and all that. It's a great... Is Chris here? Chris is not here. All right, then why mention them? Okay.

No, seriously, Chris Heim's produced this. And so at the end of this segment, we're going to play. It's the 10 or 11 minute dramatic reading. overly dramatic, drippingly emotional. There's weeping, there's gnashing of teeth, there's crying and laughing, and all kinds of emotional tomfoolery that's going to happen, and I'm going to read it. And then you hear a slap and you slap. And then I kind of come out of it, and then we cut to the end.

But seriously, it's a fun celebration of the, I think, you know, one of the most important holidays we could possibly celebrate we need to take it seriously by at least celebrating it and acknowledging it so it's called Yankee Duel Mugsy and I'm gonna read it when we come back okay now before that I should set up so people understand what it is so I'm gonna tell the story real quick ready go okay the first book is Uncle Mugsy and the Table Twins of Christmas and again these are all available at my store.com uses code Eric prices are insane but the first story is about a bachelor bulldog named Mugsy Mugsy lives on

a mansion in a mansion up on the Hudson. He's wealthy, you know, kind of 1920s plutocrat. He's got a manservant or a butler named Peaves. And he lives his life for himself. He's a little self-obsessed. He has a lady friend named Margaret Dogmont, which is a kind of a nod to Margaret Dumont from the Marx Brothers. You know, she has a lorgnette and a tiara. And if you don't know what those are, read a book. But seriously, it's kind of like he's. like a W.C. Fields character, a little bit like Ralph Cramden if Ralph Cramden was wealthy, right? And a dog. And a dog. And so he lives in this mansion. And for Christmas, he gets a telegram or something that his niece and nephew, the cutest bulldog puppies ever are arriving for Christmas.

And he's thinking, I don't want this. I want to live my life. I don't even celebrate Christmas. I just want to live my life in peace and do what I want to do. So of course, these kids come and they inject mayhem and kookiness into his life. A lot of crazy stuff. It's a little bit like the little Rascals meets Frazier because it's kind of sophisticated but wacky and they turned his life upside down and he has this moment of introspection kind of a Scrooge moment where he sees himself what it's become of him and then he blows his brains out in an alley it's a sad ending just kidding no no he has this moment and he sees what's become of him and so he really repents and it's like Scrooge on Christmas morning he loves Christmas so it's a really happy

story and he adopts the the niece and nephew and he gets married to Miss Dogmont so that's the Christmas version I'm glad to I think of they got married. Me too, for crying out loud. Yeah, hanging out together. And so, but anyway, when Tim and I wrote the sequel, we said, okay, now they're married. They've adopted these two kids. What would the sequel be?

And we thought it needs to be a July 4th story. And the July 4th story is just like the Christmas story, except now Mugsy is the hero. And it starts that they get a visit from Aunt Hortensia, who is his mother-in-law. And she's a nasty old woman. a real dog. And I mean that literally. And she is from England and she arrives around July 4th and she doesn't want the kids to celebrate July 4th. So she has them doing stuff like, you know, practicing their violin and having high tea and wearing red coats.

Red coats, folks, red coats get it, red coats while they ride their horses and stuff. And Mugsy is furious. He wants them to celebrate the 4th as every red-blooded American kid or dog should. and so he does a kind of behind the scenes thing. It involves firecrackers and explosions. Very dangerous. Don't try this at home, especially if you're not a cartoon dog. Do not do this.

But it's really a dramatic ending. And of course, at the end of the day, you know, Liberty and the Americans went out over the red coats. And it's just a celebration of America. So if you don't listen to me, read this in the next segment, you might be communist. I'm just saying you might be wearing like Nike Uighur shoes or something. Yeah. No offense. We're not here to judge.

Or a Democrat. Or yes. Whatever you think you are, you might not be that. So I just want to say, listen to the next segment. It's very important. And we should emphasize, Albin. Yes, sir. That speaking of celebrating America, now this is the next segment.

But speaking of celebrating America, the other day I had a conversation with President Trump. Yes, you did. And you were there. I was there. And I didn't listen to it until yesterday. And I videotaped you listening to it and talking to it. Oh, you did? Yes, I did. All right. Well, anyway, but the point is that I listened to it yesterday and the whole thing was different than I remembered. Yeah. I mentioned speaking at the faith and freedom thing and talking, mentioning Pence and, you know, whatever. And the president, Trump, in our phone conversation said, oh, yeah, that was the best part, blah, blah, blah, blah. In other words, he watched me give my speech. Oh, wow. And I thought, whoa, like that's kind of creepy. I don't like people watch me. I like to give my speech. I like to give my speech. peace and privacy. I don't want anybody hearing me give my speech. But the president evidently heard it and I thought we need to get that speech and air it either on this program or put it on our

YouTube, I'm sorry, on Rumble or whatever. So we're going to be doing that because the president Trump, he heard the speech and he liked it. There's so many neat things. People got to get the newsletter because this is where all these pieces come together in your newsletter. Go to, well, you tell Yeah. Eric Mataxis. It's my current name, Eric Mataxis, ericmataxis.com. If you don't spell it correctly, you're going to be in Dutch with the authorities. When we come back, a very dramatic reading of the greatest children's book ever. And then after that, we have Ask Mataxis and more fun stuff stick around. Hey there, folks. How many years have I been telling you about relief factor? What, like four? The truth is, I know there are millions of people. In fact, some say over 100 million people struggling with some kind of pay. pain, maybe from exercise, just getting older. That could do it, getting older, which is why I am so impressed with Pete and Seth Talbot. They are on a mission.

You rarely see this kind of focus and commitment. Seriously, they recently shared with me that they are doubling down and want to literally double their total number of happy customers in the next year. And I believe they'll do it. So here's the deal. If you're struggling with back, neck, shoulder, hip, or knee pain, even general muscle, aches and pains, then I'm suggesting you order their three-week quick start, still discounted to only 1995, about a dollar a day to see if we can get you out of pain too. And then after that,

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And now, Yankee-Doodle-Mugsy. Read by me, the author, Eric Metaxus, and the book is by Eric Metaxus and Tim Raglan, and it's dedicated to the children of the American Revolution, past, present, and future. Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the 4th of July and old Mugsy, dear. A greater patriot could ne'er be found, and hardly a man is now around who doesn't remember that famous day and cheer. On that hallowed day of our nation's birth, Mugsy, our hero, once more, proved his worth as protector of Margaret, his beloved new wife, and Emily and Habakkuk in their happy new life. The morning began with a children's game. I was there as a witness, and the truth I proclaim, and just for the record, Peaves is my name.

The stairs now he mounts. Hush, the children still sleep, their door we approach, and inside now creep. Uncle Mugsy do or die. You're my niece and nephew. I your uncle am. And today is the 4th of July. Today is a Yankee Doodles daydream. A day when flags and rockets fly.

Uncle Mugsy went to London called King Georgia Phony. I am that Mugsy Doodle guy. Then down the hall of history, they mark. our freedom's trail as Mugsy named the noble names George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Nathan Hale. And told how, as one, the framers answered Liberty's sweet call by making their great declaration at Independence Hall. And he told how Betsy Ross in haste the stars and stripes unfurled and how Lexington and conquered was the shot heard round the world. Then he told of the winter of the troops who camped at Valley Forge and how their stoic sacrifice, in Pennsylvania's snow and ice defeated Old King George.

Yankee doodle dandies, let's make a joyful noise and sing. We're the star-spangled children of our Uncle Sam, and today make the freedom bell ring. Let's cut a Yankee doodle caper. Salute our founding fatherhood. Let's recite some happy birthday poetry. to the land of the free and the good. But in the midst of their festive song,

the downstairs doorbell chimed. And so they left off their fiefing and drumming. The British they giggled are coming. They're coming. One if by lap, two if by knee, and I'll dust the banister. Mugsy cried, we. And so down the handrail, a flying they came,

and made such a scene in the hall. At the bottom they discharged. as though from a gun with Mugsy a great cannonball. Poor Mugsy in crashing had smashed all to bits, some luggage there piled all around. He'd assaulted the ramparts of civilized taste in a single opening bound. And then from that wreckage, he looked up to see

that English Medusa, that Gorgon, that ghoul. It was Margaret's mother. She had come unannounced. A one-woman finishing school. E-GAD. And there she glowered Jowley. so grim and grimly proper. Her teaching the children to fall again

was a cold conversation stopper. That's not it at all, groaned Mugsy, you see. I was teaching the twins of our history. I see what you're teaching them, Ambrose, she snipped. Mugsy winced at that name painfully. In England, she went on, when Victoria was queen, we'd have music, then riding, then tea. But great on Hortensia, the children now piped,

Today is the 4th of July. The parade starts at 4, Mugsy said, and what's more, the colors of freedom will fly. What nonsense, she sniffed and declared, in summation, the 4th of July is merely a day for proper education. And true to her word, without thought for the day, she commenced her campaign in the British way. While the twins were put through their proper paces, their thoughts could be seen on their sad little faces. They'd missed the parade and the firework. too. Would their dear Uncle Mugsy somehow come through? Might he yet save them from this hopeless to do? Who knew? And what could he do? As promised, first music, and Hortensia would sing.

Habakkuk's new violin popped a string. The tick of the metronome crisply kept time as the two of them saw it on and on. What a crime. I'll free you, thought Mugsy. Just give me some time. Equestrian training was next on the list. Emily's pony jumped first and missed. They trotted and cantered and hobbled and hopped. Hortensia's enthusiasm never stopped. But most painful of all was the deep crimson hue of their traditional horsey attire. Red coats on the fourth, this is war!

Mugsy cried with patriotic fire. And by far the worst insult to that sacred gay meant to honor the brave and the free was that starting at four with Hortensia's friends, they would suffer in English high tea. By Gadfrey, said Mugsy, I'll save them, I will, with some red, white, and blue rocketry. I'll remind them of all of our battles of yore. I'll show them once more who it was won that war

on this day of our great liberty. And soon he'd returned with a wheelbarrow, full of crackers and candles and bombs, a true bunker hill of explosives it was, a gunpowder mountain of arms. He arranged them like minute men, ready to fight. He stood them behind rocks and trees. There were serpents

and spinners and sparklers and snaps. There were mortars and missiles and whistles and caps. It would bring the red coats to their knees. Whiz! Bang! Crack! Boom! The battle at last had begun. The chit-chat now ended. The sipping now ceased. The ladies were blasted clean

out of their seats. And the twins were at last having fun. I say, I can't see. Old Hortensia declared, amidst the bombs bursting bright and the rocket's red glare. We are allowed to, ladies, abandon the field. Lady Daphne fainted. Virginia reeled.

Across the land of the Liberty Bell pealed. The battle was won. The day was now done. I had hoped we might cease and desist, but it wasn't to be, for now giddy with glee, true to form Mugsy couldn't resist. For there yet was one rocket of red, white, and blue. They called it Big Martha for Washington's bride.

The match now he struck, the fuse now. he lit, but the missile took off with dear Mugsy astride. How high o'er the treetops like Lindbergh he flew! The world grew more distant as father he zoomed, and Margaret Hortensia, the children and I all knew in our hearts that poor Mugsy was doomed. Shades of Vickras, barked Mugsy, a turn for the hearse. Victory wasn't supposed to be this hard.

It puts me in mind of that line from the bard. I've been hoist by my own partard. But fortune besmiled upon Mugsy that day. The bomb, though it flew, was a miserable dud. It fell and it fell through the clouds to the ground, then fizzled, and crashed in some mud. And when the smoke cleared, how Mugsy rejoiced, his life had been spared and the day was yet young. And to top it all off, he'd been given a mule. And now to his main Mugsy clung.

Onward, Busephalus, onward, he cried. We'll catch that parade by the tail if we must. The Republic depends on us, so do the twins. Hi-ho, Yankee-Doodle or bust. Now swiftly he galloped and spread the good cheer to every village and farm far and near. Awaken ye citizens, harken and hear. America's birthday is here is here. America's birthday is here.

All solemn and grave set Margaret the Twins in Hortensia, too. they'd come out to see, but for sadness or not, it was what Mugsy would have wanted to do. But low in the distance came a cry and a hue, twas a mule hasting toward us in red, white, and blue, and atop that old mule flying fearless and fleet, atop that swift steed racing down our main street, sat a fanciful flop quite familiar somehow,

and happy birthday America was writ upon his brow. When the mule, he stopped short, rider was thrown, Mugsy landed and made his identity known. He lay battered and blackened with many a wound. A ghost! cried Hortensia and swooned. You've come back, they all shouted. Hurrah, you're alive.

Of course, Mugsy laughed. I'm just sore from the ride. Then each twin took an arm and helped him to stand. He lifted old glory and gave the command. Let's join the parade, Mugsy cried. Fall in line. The fight pierced the air and the drum marked the time and the air and the afternoon swelled with their song.

It rose to the heavens till marching along was another parade filled with heroes of yore. We've seen some of them in our story before, but others we haven't whose song now we sing, and to them humbly make this our small offering. Yankee doodle to all and to all a good night. How, was that Mugsy reading over the top or what? Oh, man, you were chewing the carpet there. I was really, yeah, I was just, I was just, I left it all in the field, Alvin.

I got nothing left to give. Oh, man. I got nothing left to give. And we got a whole couple of segments that we got to fill. And I'm just emotionally drained, man. You know what, now would be a good time to do an Ask Metaxus segment. You know, people write in and they have questions. Yeah.

And Ask Metaxus, or technically should be Axemetaxis, is where you read the questions, and I try to answer. them let's try it yeah yeah yeah and we're going to combine it a little later on with a listener rights because we have time two powerful segments to very very powerful they shouldn't be combined they're so powerful yeah so hang on to your hats ladies and gentlemen here we go the first ask metax's question comes into us from brad somewhere in america or the world or the universe somewhere brad we are huge fans and this is brad this is brad is writing go ahead yeah we are huge fans written in all caps wow we are visiting greece September, do you have any recommended history books or biblical readings before we go? Oh, that's easy.

Yeah. No. Okay. Okay. That's on next question. Let's move on. Okay. Okay. Ben, right. Right. Okay, where you are moving on. Dear Mr. Metaxus, he calls you Mr. I am writing to you to ask a question. He didn't have to write that, but he did. When will your sequel to seven women be released? Okay. Most people know I wrote a book called seven men. Yes. Then I wrote a book called seven women. then I was going to write a book called Seven Drag Icons, Chair, Liza Minnelli, Joan Crawford, Betty Davis, but Thomas Nelson didn't want to publish it. They thought it was too controversial. So I thought, okay, why don't I just do a sequel to seven men?

I'll call it seven more men. Okay. So I did. And then I said, of course, I'm going to do seven more women. But Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, I think they got cold feet because sequels, they say, don't sell as well. So I don't know if I'm going to get to do it. Look, I know I'm going to write the book. In fact, it's more than half written.

But when we publish seven more women is an open question. Seven more men came out last year during COVID. So it probably didn't sell as well even as we thought. That's the problem with COVID. So try to launch a book not during a global pandemic. That's just a tip of advice from a longtime writer. And that was the only problem with COVID. Yeah, that was the only problem is that my book didn't do as well as expected.

But actually people read seven men and seven women and they want more. And seven more men is that book. Seven more women, we will publish it. We just need to find the right publisher. Or you know what? I would publish it myself because so many people keep asking me about it that I'm getting sick of it. I'm thinking, I just want to go, here it is. And I can't do that until I finish writing it and get a published.

So thanks for asking. Yes. And, you know, write an email to your favorite publisher and ask them why they're not publishing it. That's right. Honestly, I can't wait to get it out there. People, I'm not kidding, all around the country. They love these books. And that's all I'll say. Great. Now, this next question is terrific because yesterday or the day before, we had Kevin McCalla on. And you call him Votstradamus. Chris Himes came up with that great name, but you use it all the time. This listener named Rick says, I like listening to your program. However, I wonder why you disgrace Kevin McCullough by calling him no stradamus. No,

Stradamus. It's actually vote Stradamus, but Nostradamus was a false prophet who had a few wild guesses cloaked in vague terminology that could be interpreted as accurate prophecies by an interpreter biased in his favor. Just wondering. Well, Rick brings up a very, very important issue. Unfortunately, this is not that important issue. No. This is a kind of a silly thing. He says, why would I disgrace Kevin by calling him Notztradamus. First of all, I don't call him Notzradamus. I call him Votesradamus. And really what I'm doing is making fun of Notstradamus. So if you think that I am lauding Votesradamus, then you're not really catching it, Rick. I want to say like I'm kind of making fun of Notting Nostradamus. Nostradamus was a 15th century French versified.

who wrote these, you know, these quatrains. And at one point, he says something about Hister or something. It's almost like Hitler. A lot of his stuff could be seen as potentially true. But listen, we need to understand that prophesying the future, God can do that, but the dark side can do that too. So if you just want information, you don't care where it comes from, hey, you know, the devil and his minions are happy to provide you with secret knowledge, as long as you give them your eternal soul. That's all they ask. So when you're dealing with somebody like Notistradamus, I would never suggest that I think much of him. In fact, what I would do is make fun of him by calling Kevin McCullough Votesradamus.

So I am, in fact, not praising Nostradamus as much as I am kind of teasing anybody who thinks that he's worth taking seriously. And Kevin McCullough, by the way, far from being disgraced by that appellation, he is honored by it, okay? More honored than anything in his life. Beyond his marriage, his children, being called Votstradamus is his number one thing. Now, see, I saw a different side of him because when he was in the green room after this last interview, which people can watch online at Rumble, he was weeping.

I mean, this is a grown man actually. Well, because he's so honored by this honorific. And that's what it is. Tears of honor. He was weeping. He was like, Eric and Chris, thank you, thank you. This means more to me than anything. And I had to tell him, no, no, no, God and your family should be more important.

But it took a while for him to get that. Yeah. I think he hasn't actually tattooed right across his chest now. Votes Trudamus. When we come back, because it looks like we're going to a break here, we're going to get into some more questions and also a listener rights. We may have time for a listener rights. We're having so much. fun. It's just crazy.

Hey folks, I've got to tell you a secret about relief factor that the father, son, owners, Pete and Seth Talbot have never made a big deal about, but I think it is a big deal. I really do. They sell the three-week quick start pack for just 1995 to anyone struggling from pain like neck, shoulder, back, hip, or knee pain, 1995, about a dollar a day. But what they haven't broadcasted much is that every time they sell a three-week quick start, they lose money. In fact, they don't even break even until about four to five months after if you keep ordering it. Friends, that's huge. People don't keep ordering Relief Factor month after month if it doesn't work.

So, yes, Pete and Seth are literally on a mission to help as many people as possible deal with their pain. They really do put their money where their mouths are. So if you're in pain from exercise or even just getting older, or to the three-week quick start for 1995. Let's see if we can get you out of pain too. Go to Relieffactor.com. Relieffactor.com or call 800, 500, 500, 8384, 800, 500. 8384 relieffactor.com.

I use it. It works. Get rhythm. When you get the blues, come on, get rhythm. When you get the blues, get a rock and roll. Hey, Albin. Hey, hey, hey, you're right. You know what time it is?

What time is it? It's time for a special segment. We like to call a listener rights. And since we produce the program, we can call it a listener rights. We don't just like to call it that. We're able to call it that in reality. I try to add something like an echo. Right.

A listener writes. And by the way, when we say a listener, that listener could be you folks. If you write us, we might read your program on the air. We might read it privately and just snicker at it and make fun of you behind your back. But we probably wouldn't do that. We probably would take it seriously and read it on the air. For example, Ron. If your name is Ron.

If your name is Ron. And you wrote to us, today's your lucky day. Because Albert is now going to raise it. I'm going to read this one out. you with a formal reading of your question to the Eric Mataxis show. And if your name isn't Ron, change it right now. Right. You could be this Ron. Your bottom line says Ron, writes Ron, seem to be your bottom line. Okay, Ron is writing to me, Eric, and he writes. Okay. Dear Eric, go ahead. Your bottom line seemed to be that we the people need to wake up and fight back against

Marxism, right? But the closest I saw anyone come to that was the Trump supporters on January 6th. And look what happened to them. We also see that the ballot box doesn't work with the counting machines controlled by the leftists. So what exactly is an ordinary, anonymous, obscure, non-celebrity citizen supposed to do about this? All avenues of expression for conservatives and Christians have been shut off. Is the only solution going to be a civil war? All right. So let's just deal with this. Ron, you say all avenues of expression for conservatives and Christians have have been shut off. And yet, rather ironically, I am speaking and you are hearing me speak. So clearly, this show is one avenue of expression for conservatives and Christians and anyone else.

So that's just not true. I know what you mean, Ron, but I think that there's always a temptation to get negative and to say there's nothing we can do. That, since we don't have a lot of time, let me cut to the chase and say, that's the voice of the devil. God wants us to hope and to fight on for the truth, no matter what. Whether we win or lose, we need to be hopeful, joyful warriors in the fight for truth and justice and honor and liberty. And to say the only thing we could do is, you know, showing up at the Capitol or whatever. I mean, look, most of those people were wonderful people. But that was just, you know, a demonstration, a show of numbers to say, you know, we question this election. And yes, they were demonized and they've been treated poorly. And I believe that, you know,

God's going to deal with all of that. honestly because that in America we ought not to ever allow people to be treated the way many of them have been treated. That's a separate issue. But I want to say there's many things you can do and you need to do them. For example, stop being negative. That's number one. Number two, find a good place of worshiping a good community of people who believe similarly to you and who can encourage you in doing what you can do. If you're some kind of a believer in the God of the Bible, one thing you can do is pray and pray with joy and faith that God would use this nation for a new birth of freedom in the world. I really do believe that, well, there's no question. God hears our

prayers. And so when people say, yeah, but what else? Before you get to the, yeah, but what else, you do need to pray because God asks us to pray, to come to him with our problems in prayer and in faith. And guess what? These are some problems. And everything you say is exactly. right. We need to acknowledge this is a problem, but we pray and ask God to open up more places. I mean, look, I say to people, one of the reasons I say to folks, please share this show. Subscribe to my newsletter, Ericmetaxis.com. Subscribe there so you can get these videos so you can share them with people is because we do need more avenues of expression. I mean, this is a dramatic problem. So you raise some real issues, but sharing what is out there. And again, we haven't all been

shut down. I'm here. I got knocked off of YouTube. So what? Now I'm on Rumble. Now I'm right here talking to you. And I think that there's, we've got to make the best of it and do what we can in faith. I got to say, we went to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention last week. There were so many uplifting things happening that I get down about this too. I really do. And actually working with the show and working with Eric and working listening to the guests. I mean, sometimes I tell my wife, you know, it's like I was at a Bible study today because some of these Erwin Lutzer we've had on. Brian Gibson as a guy, you've got to go to Rumble and hear.

Now, he's a pastor, and he was in the midst of the January 6th. Oh, my gosh. Fiasco. And, of course, the press is going to tell you one thing, but the real people on the ground that were there. Well, I know many people who were there, and I have to tell you, if there's any reason to fight and to do everything you can, it's because we're not being told the truth. I mean, that's a scandal in the United States of America, so we need to get the truth out. But I want to say, you know, to piggyback on what you just said, Brian Gibson, he has a church in Kentucky and a church in Texas. Jack Hibbs has a church in Chino Hills, California.

There are many other pastors who are really preaching truth and hope at a time when many Americans are desperately hungry for it. I would encourage you to find one of them online. If you can't drive to the church, if you can't go to Rob McCoy's church, in Thousand Oaks, or go to Pastor Hibbs's church, or go to Greg Locke's Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, or Ken Graves Church in Bang or Maine. There's many I'm not mentioning. Greg Denham, my goodness, that's D-E-N-H-A-M. So many pastors I have met, and again, I'm forgetting half of them. They are heroes, and they're preaching the truth. They're speaking the truth without fear. I really think that the answer to this question, the big answer to this question,

is any American who cares about what Ron just raised needs first and foremost to find one of these churches or two of these churches and to take in these sermons and these worship sessions and stuff. Because if you don't do that, the most natural thing is to lose hope. Yeah. And questions like the CRT, right? Vody Bachman. Balkham. Bokham. I think he pronounces it Bokham.

But either way, B-A-U-C-A-U-C-A. H-A-M. He has a great book. But we know it's VOTI. Right. Fault lines. I've been reading it. It's unbelievable. You've got to see unrobable. You've got to see that interview as well. And if your pastor doesn't know what's going on, he's got to watch VOTI and he's got to read the book. It's incredible. But that will give you hope. Well, that's right. We try on this program, which is an avenue of expression, Ron. I just want you to know. We're still here. I'm still here, as far as I know, we want to just encourage people. I say this all the time, but there's a lot you can do.

There's a lot we could have done and we didn't do. Let's start now. Let's start today. Subscribe to this, and I'm not trying to be self-serving. I'm trying to say I interview amazing people, whether it's Charlie Kirk or Voddy Baucom or whoever it is, spread that with people you know, with your pastor, with anybody you know. It doesn't matter what kind of church you go to, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical, whatever.

Get involved. And you don't need to go to church. If you don't go to church, find one of these that I've mentioned, you know, if you're open to the truth, that's my suggestion. Doggone it, we're at a time. We may have a little more time in the next segment. Maybe. Okay, we'll be right back.

Albin, I'm exhausted from the previous two segments. Me too. I am just, you know, rung out. I know. I mean, first I did that very dramatic over the top, almost effeminate reading of, uh... What are you going to do? Of Uncle Mugsy, the sequel, which is Yankee Doodle Mugsy.

It was kind of an Italianate, uh, Southern European kind of just just the emotion was on the sleeve there and I couldn't help it man No but but then we did an Ask Metaxus and then we did a listener writes Yes we did and man That's just high quality content

If anybody listened to it or missed it You need to go back folks Because this will be on the test I can tell you right now I want to say um The other day of course was my birthday And I and my birthday by the way is also my father's birthday I was born on his 36th birthday And I tell the detail

of that in my book, fish out of water. I understand the Greek culture that the firstborn son must be born on the same day as the father to continue. That's in the contract. It is. And if my mother hadn't fulfilled that, I mean, if she delivered late or some weird thing like that, the marriage could be off. Yeah. It's really serious in the Greek community. So anyway, the point is we pulled it off.

I was born on my father's birthday. And that was, so we celebrated my dad's 94th birthday this past Sunday. and obviously it was my birthday, my mother's birthday's three days before, it's kind of weird. We didn't plan that, by the way. Okay. But then I find out the day after our birthday, my dad's in mind, is the birthday of Mike Lindell. Wow. And so my father's thinking of adopting him now as a third son.

I got a chill. Yeah. And I just want to say, folks, that could happen, but it might not happen. I wonder if Jonathan Kahn can cover any of that in his Bible prophecy and things like that. I know. I know. Man. Wow.

Okay, so, but anyway, on my birthday, I said to folks that since this is my birthday, if you want, if you're inclined to do something nice for me in my birthday, please pre-order my new book. I don't mean the new book, fish out of water, but the new book that's coming out in October, it's called Is Atheism Dead? And I am extremely excited about that. So I tell people, you can go to Amazon, you go to Barnes & Noble, you can go to, I don't know where you can, you know, like, I don't know where it's available, but you can pre-order it from those places I know. hit like number one in atheism in all seriousness. I was number one in atheism. It's not something. And I thought if more people ordered it, it would have dropped to number zero in atheism and

the internet would have been broken. And then they were approved. Your theory was correct. I want to break the internet. Help me to break the internet. Help me to smash it. Help Eric. I want to go back to A track cassette tapes.

Help Eric. Eight track tapes. Okay. So we were talking about Mike Lindell. So I said to people, please, if you haven't done it, pre-order my book. because it really makes a difference, huge difference. I mean, look, I'm getting canceled and banned.

And, you know, by the way, John's Merak. Yes. You can't do a Google search on him. He's being banned by Google. Wow. If you try to get a Google alert that Katie, who works with us, she said that that. So this is happening.

Yeah. And what happens to me and my friends, I know, whoop, it's getting creepy. But we put in a happy face and we march on. And I say, if you can help us, we'd be grateful to you. You could help us by pre-ordering the book, which is called his atheism dead.

Also, you get the lowest price between now and October. They guarantee that. So if the price drops in September, October, you'll get that price when it finally ships. But Mike Lindell, when it was his birthday, I thought we need to tell people, if you want to celebrate Mike Lindell's birthday, because the man has spent his own money and time and energy

for this country. And, you know, a lot of people say, well, you know, Mike Lindel's, he's to this or he's to that. Hey, folks, he's spent many, many millions of his own money trying to get the truth out. So if for that only, I mean, I love him. He's a friend. He's a dear soul.

But I just want to say, like, this guy's a hero. And so if you go to mypillow.com or my store.com, obviously use the code Eric or you're going to jail. But if you use the code Eric, you get a big discount. And a lot of my stuff's available at my store.com. But we haven't recently spoken about the pillows and stuff. Folks, I'm telling you, you glance at the pillow. You're out like a light. The towels are so thirsty that if you, like, put it into a room, it sucks out the oxygen, and the plants die.

We're talking freaky technology. We're out of time. Mypillar.com. Use the code, Eric, or you run a prison.