The Glenn Beck Program - Ep 180 | Is Another ‘Jesus Revolution’ Upon Us? | Greg Laurie | The Glenn Beck Podcast

Episode Date: April 8, 2023

“We need a spiritual awakening in America so bad right now,” Pastor Greg Laurie tells Glenn on this Easter weekend episode of "The Glenn Beck Podcast." Our society has abandoned God and embraced sin … but he’s seen this before. Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, Greg was a part of possibly the biggest Christian movement in American history, now dubbed the “Jesus Revolution,” when hippies gave up their LSD and embraced Jesus Christ. It’s now at the heart of the recent film “The Jesus Revolution,” featuring Kelsey Grammer and Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen.” Greg tells Glenn just how similar today’s America is to the era of the Jesus Revolution and why he believes “we might be poised to see another spiritual awakening” very soon. He and Glenn also discuss the importance of family and parenthood, especially given everything children struggle with today. And he reveals some of the events only God could have orchestrated that led to the filming of “Jesus Revolution,” including the true and tragic story of Lonnie Frisbee. But, as Greg tells Glenn, it’s often the greatest tragedies that bring total redemption.    SPONSORS:  Home title fraud is growing 2.5x faster than credit card fraud. You could be a victim and not even know it. Visit https://HomeTitleLock.com and use the promo code “RADIO” to register your address for your no-obligation home title report – that’s a $100 value FREE!     Right now, you can save $200 on an EdenPURE Thunderstorm Air Purifier 3-pack for whole-home protection. You’ll get three units for under $200. That's a fraction of the cost compared to other air purifiers that can go for over $600. Just go to http://edenpuredeals.com and enter discount code GLENN.   Better Spectacles - Go to https://BetterSpectacles.com/BECK now to schedule a Tele-Optical appointment. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your home. They’re offering an introductory 61% off their progressive eyewear plus free handcrafted Rodenstock frames.   If you're one of the millions of Americans who suffer every day from pain, there is hope, and it comes in the form of Relief Factor. If you want a drug-free and natural way to get your life back, go to https://relieffactor.com or call 1-800-4-RELIEF to get the $19.95 three-week quick start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Matthew 16, 3, Christ tells the Pharisees, today it's going to be stormy and the sky is red and overcast. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you can't interpret the signs of the times. Today's guest knows how to read the signs of the times. These days, he serves as a senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship. But before that, he played a crucial role in the biggest Christian revolution in American history, at least modern day history. A weird moment in the 1960s when the hippies

gave up their LSD and joined hands with Jesus people. And they all became Jesus people. It's about the people within the hippie generation who truly did want peace and love and the old guard willing to be Christ-like. His story is. at the heart of the Jesus Revolution. It is his story. Great new movie, Kelsey Grammer is in it. Jonathan Rumi, the actor who plays Jesus and the Chosen is unbelievable.

The Jesus Revolution, that's the movie. It captures one of the most misunderstood realities of Christianity. People don't go to church because they're perfect and have all the answers. We go because we're lost and want to be found. We are blind. and aching to see. At least that's why I go to church.

Anybody who cries out, I need help, is offered unending help. Redemption from the things that are immune to everything else. Addiction, depression, anger, moral weakness, hatred, violence, everything we experience every day. One of the most important things you learn as a Christian

is that I need help is actually a joyful praise. It is praise when you say it in many ways because you know it's the center of God helping others and him helping you. It is the power that's revealed on Easter, the day that Christ's resurrection answered that cry for help once and for all. Today, I think you're really going to enjoy Greg Lorry.

Before Greg comes in, let me just tell you about home title title lock. How often do you think about making sure your wallet doesn't get stolen or your phone, your car? It's probably more often than you think. But one thing you never think about is, hey, where's my home? Has anybody stolen my home? That never crosses your mind, but it should. Listen to this. Nobody thinks that I can take their house and borrow against the house. Oh, no, I have title insurance for that. No, it's in my name or he would have to get some special document. They would call me, you know, what he's calling you? After I've stolen the title, borrowed against it, or sold the property or done, whatever I've done with it, it's 60 to 90 days, even figure out

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to join me on a fast in prayer for the nation Because we are just, we are the tale of two cities. It is the best of times and the worst of times. The blessings that we have just over the horizon, game changing for all of humanity. And at the same time, we're just destroying ourselves. And I was talking to Jonathan Kahn today about the ancient God. that we are worshipping. Yeah.

So we have that going on and that beats people down. Right. But we also have, I think, I hope, the beginning of what some people would call the third great awakening in America. Yeah. And you've been through the last Jesus revolution. Right. So I want to talk to you about that.

Okay. Your movie is fantastic. The Irwin brothers did a great job with your story. Yeah. So let's go through it. First, just for anybody who hasn't seen the movie or haven't heard your story, because the movie is your story.

Tell the story. Well, it's the story of the last great spiritual awakening in America. And it's interesting because the title of the film is Jesus Revolution. In the day, we didn't call it that. We called it the Jesus movement. And we called ourselves Jesus people,

which I kind of like, you know, because you hear the word Christian. People load a lot of meaning to that, depending on your view of Christians. But Jesus people, that's what it was about. We were people that met Jesus quite literally. I think those are different than some Christians. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. And sometimes, I mean, I've thought about, you know, people say, what are you? I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. I'm a student of Jesus Christ. because too many people just Christians, it means dirty things, even if it's 400 years ago, it means dirty things. Yeah. Well, the Christians never called themselves Christians.

They call themselves followers of Jesus, followers of the way disciples. Someone else called them Christians. And it happened in a city called Antioch. And it wasn't necessarily meant as a compliment, but it was meant as a description. Because a best definition of it is little Christ. It's like these people are like little Christ walking around. And so, of course, we have adapted it and we believe it.

And it's a biblical thing to call yourself a Christian. But there's other ways you can define yourself. But for us, you know, we were people who came into a relationship with Jesus. I myself, you know, my mother was married and divorced seven times. She was a raging alcoholic. I had to grow up fast because I had to literally take care of her even as a little boy. and she would pass out almost every night from drinking. She had drive drunk.

I'd be in the car with her, you know, when I thought I was going to die. And it was a really, really hard upbringing. And she was a violent drunk. She would get into fights with her husbands, and one of them knocked her unconscious one night with a wooden statue, and she was laying on the floor in a pool of blood.

And I'd climbed out the window and went to a neighbor's house, and she left that guy. So this was my upbringing. And so I knew as a kid, I thought, what is the meaning of life? Because I looked at this adult world I was exposed to. And I didn't know a single adult that I was impressed by or admire. So the 60s thing is happening. It's mid-60s now.

And we're hearing messages like, you know, turn on, tune, and drop out, right? And I was believing that. It made sense to me. They said, don't trust anyone over 30. That resonated with me because everyone I knew over 30. I didn't trust. So I started using drugs and for a couple of years and I realized this is a dead end street.

Even before I was a Christian, I knew this is not the answer for life. How did you know that? Because I saw what it did to me. And we tried to show this in the film. We tried to show that when I start, when my character played by Joe Courtney, goes down this road and meets Kathy, my girlfriend at the time played by Anna Grace Barlow,

we're trying to show it looking exciting in a whole new world. And at first it was, but that's what sin is like. You know, it's exciting at first. It's sort of like, it seems like a great idea to have six Krisby Cream Donuts until about 20 minutes later and you go into a food coma, right? But it's far worse than that. I like Krispy Kreme Donuts, fine. But I'm just saying.

No, I'm an alcoholic, and I was just talking to somebody, we were talking about enabling people. And I said, you know, there would be days where the best. best thing you could do for me to help me through just that moment would be to hand me a drink. Yeah. But that would be the worst thing for me because it's a destroyer for people like me. Right. So I came to Christ on my high school campus.

So what happened, I'm walking across my high school campus. I'm empty. I'm disillusioned. I'm searching. And I came across a group of these Christians. We called them Jesus freaks. And we thought they're nuts. I want nothing to do with these people.

carry Bibles to school. They talk about God. They're all crazy. But I sat down one day out of curiosity because I thought, why would anyone believe this? And I was very cynical at 17 because of all that I've been exposed to. And I was looking at them. And the problem was I knew a couple of them, personally, and I used to party with them. And I knew they weren't crazy. So I had to rethink it. And as I watched them singing songs about God, I thought, you know, they look pretty happy. And then I just tried this thought on first eyes. What if they're right and it's all true? That's ridiculous. That's no way. That thought came back to me. What if it's true? It can't be true. I thought. There's nothing like this that could be true. You can't have this relationship with God.

Then a guy stands up and speaks. Now, he's called, his name is Lonnie Frisbee in real life. He's played by Jonathan Rumi. Who plays Jesus in the chosen. Yeah. And he, the guy exudes Jesus. He does. Yeah. So well. And now this is a whole other character. but he does so well in this character as well. And he speaks, the real lot he speaks. And I don't remember most of what he said, but one statement that resonated with me was Jesus said, you're for me or against me.

I looked around at the Christians. I thought, okay, they're definitely for him. I'm not one of them. Does that mean I'm against God? And I thought, I've always believed God was there. I always believe Jesus was out there somewhere. I'd seen all of his movies, right? That was the extent of my feeling.

biological training. I'd never been to church ever. I went a couple times with my grandparents as a very small boy. So I'm like, this is all new to me. And then he said, if you want to accept Jesus Christ into your life right now, walk forward. I'm thinking, it's a high school campus at lunchtime. I can't do this. And a couple of kids walked forward and I just hung my head and I thought there's no way I could ever do that. And Glenn, next thing I knew was up there praying this prayer. And as soon as I was I was at a Billy Graham revival when I was 15 did the same thing. Wow, that's great. I got to know Billy Graham quite well.

Me too. He's sort of like my role model for evangelism. He is my role model in just about everything. Yeah, I was saying to someone the other day who said they admired Billy, I said, I can tell you privately, he was more impressive than he was publicly. Yes. You know, he was humble. He was very down to earth.

And when you would sit at a table with Billy, the first thing he would say is, tell me about yourself. Yeah. And he'd mean it and he'd listen because he really liked, he loved people. He loved the Lord. And he was the most humble man I've ever met and the most godly man I've ever met. And a very famous man. Yeah.

But it did not go to his head. No. He's remarkable. Anyway, go ahead. Well, I pray this prayer and I ask Christ to come into my life. And so a couple days passed and some guy comes to me and says, you need to come to church with me. And I said, oh, I don't really know that I want to go to church. No, you need to come.

I'm going to take you to this church called Cal. I said, no, that's okay. And this guy was persistent. He goes, you're coming. Where do you live? And he was persistent in the best way. His name was Mark. So he picks me up at my house.

And I go to this church called Calvary Chapel and I walk right into the middle of a spiritual awakening. And I didn't know it. A lot of times we don't know what something is until some time passes. And now we look back in retrospect and we say that was a revival. So it was Time magazine that dubbed it the Jesus Revolution. And I think that was very insightful of them because we didn't think of it as a revolution, but in many ways it was. Because, you know, we're talking about sexual revolution back in those days, political revolution, overthrow the government. And we had a revolution.

But a lot of people don't even know about it. What year was this? It would be approximately 1969 to around 1972 or so. So what's interesting is the Jesus Revolution comes at the end. of this movement for a revolution, you know? Why do you think that is? What happened? What made that go from drug, sex, and rock and roll to connecting to Jesus?

I think it was almost like a whole generation was experiencing what I was experiencing personally. They saw the emptiness of it. You know, our leaders were cut down before our eyes. Earlier in the 60s, President Kennedy, of course, But then later, you know, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and then the Watergate scandal, of course, you know, happening. And then all of our rock icons dying in short order, ironically, all at the age of 27, Jim Morrison, lead singer of the doors, Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. So all these people are dying.

And we're seeing how empty it is. it's like we went to psychedelic, psychedelic day glow colors to black and white. And it was, and it was, you know, really a drug, here's another way to look at it. From Woodstock to a concert called Altamont, that was, you know,

the security was done by Hell's Angels, and the stones are playing there. So it was like, everyone was seeing the hippie dream was dead. Because the hippie dream was not a dream. It was an illusion. It was never real. But it was pointing to something that was real.

There was some good things. Love, brotherhood, acceptance, but it was not realized. But in faith in Christ, it can be realized. Right. And so you go to church, and the way it's depicted Kelsey Grammer is the pastor, he does a great job. He does. And it's a lot like I remember going to church with my grandparents. Oh, nice. Before it gets good with the people who are just dodgy.

and I remember those days as a kid because I'm younger, a bit younger than you. And I remember those days and my grandmother and grandfather looking at hippies because they associated them not with Jesus, but with the drug sex and rock and roll. And so that acceptance was hard for you, I would imagine. Yeah. Right. Well, for me, I was like for the. 100%. And I think to Chuck's credit is he left his comfort zone and was willing to open the doors to something that no one knew anything about. We were experiencing this in real time. Today you go to a church, you see a worship band doing rock and roll. Big deal. It's everywhere. Back in those days, there were no electric guitars. There were no drum kits. It wasn't lighting in churches. It was... If you were lucky, you had a Hammond B3. Yeah, and there might be that, that's right, which is still a great instrument.

And the occasional acoustic guitar might show up for a little folk version of something, right? Remember the singing nun? Yeah. But that's probably too old of a reference. No, I remember. I also remember the flying nun. But anyway, go ahead. Sally Fields, yes.

But so this was a revolution. A music, a music form was developed. It originally was called Jesus music. Now it's an industry called contemporary Christian music. Then it was an expression of faith. that was happening. And so he was willing to open the doors and let it happen. Chuck was like a really practical kind of a guy. He was not what we would call a hipster. He wasn't trying to be cool, but he was like a father figure that was welcoming. And you know what we needed? We needed a stable

father figure, not some adult trying to, you know, relate to the kids. We were looking for authenticity and he was that. And then Lonnie was, Lonnie and Chuck were sort of like, Mitro meeting glycerin, peanut butter meeting jelly, Lenin meeting McCartney, you know, just sort of the power of the right two people coming together. And Chuck restrained Lonnie in the best way from his impulses to go too far. But Lonnie had that electricity that helped to bring kids in. So it was like we came for Lonnie and we stayed for Chuck.

And so that was a spiritual awakening. And it wasn't until later that I realized. So John Irwin, the director of the Jesus Revolution film, came to me with a copy of that Time magazine with that psychedelic image of Jesus on the cover. And he said, someone told me you were around at this time made me feel very old. Yes, I remember that, the Old West.

So he throws in front of me and says, tell me about it. So as we began to talk, John has been wanting to make this film forever. He sort of built it around the storyline of my life. me as a young boy with my mother searching. Then Chuck Smith is a pastor who, you know, his church is doing that well and he wants to reach younger people to Lonnie Frisbee, this hippie evangelist. There's other storylines woven in as well.

And I think it connects to a lot of people on a bunch of different levels because I have a different people who say, oh, I love the story of you and your mother. I connected to that. Someone else will say, well, I love the story of Kathy. That's my wife and her father and how he felt about all of this. and someone else will connect to a different part of it. But it's a human story, and it shows us all as having flaws. You know, we're all flawed people who met God, and he changed our lives.

And that's what the movie is about. And I believe, Glenn, we might be poised to see another spiritual awakening because I do think there's real parallels between the late 60s, early 70s, and the moment we're in American history. So I just, I wrote, as you're telling the story, I just wrote down a couple of things. drugs, dead end, people are dying. That's happening like crazy right now. People are committing suicide because there's nothing out there.

You said we were looking for a father figure. We didn't want somebody who was trying to be cool and relate to us. We looked for authenticity. These are the same things that are going on right now. She knows. How? Did you blam? No.

The devil wears prodig too. He's the movie event 20 years in the making. Honestly, can't with the secrets anymore, so I think we just, we should tell her. Will you two please spit it out already? This Friday, be the first to experience it only in theaters. In light of the recent scandal, I'm here to restore your credibility. Oh, because we're a team now.

That's a nice story. The Devil Wears Prada 2 in Theaters Friday. Back with more in just a second. First, let me tell you about relief factor. if you are living in pain, I am not a believer in pain. You know, I was in the hospital a few years ago. And I was in pain and the doctor said, well, we could get you something for that. And I said, you think, Doc?

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go on to order more. So give it a try. Three weeks. Take it as directed. Relieffactor.com. Relieffactor.com or call 800, the number four, relief. It's interesting to me because it,

it, the answer then was not found in the church. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I feel like the answer is not going to be found again in the church. Whenever we have these awakenings,

The church is usually, I mean, besides the government, the last to get it. You know what I mean? It always comes from the outside. And at least it seems that way. I would say of all the awakenings we've had in America and historically, that's pretty much true. Right. I mean, there's still pastors and things like that. But they're not the popular ones.

They're usually on the outside fringes. And they're the ones that don't have a lot to lose. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's good insight. So, you know, there was this prayer meeting that went on forever up in Asbury, you know, that we've talked a lot about. And then it spread.

And you wonder, is this the beginning of something new? Because even in this movie, Glenn, I've heard crazy stories, crazy in the best way. People coming to faith watching this movie. I heard one story of in the middle of the movie, just a story. my character is about to get baptized in the movie. The projector, whatever, it broke, the film stopped. And some young lady caught up and said in the theater full of people, does anybody need prayer for anything? And someone says, yes, I can use prayer for this. I can use prayer for that. Then she says, is everybody here know Jesus? And she starts to share her faith. And some people

prayed and accepted Christ in a movie theater. I thought, wait, this doesn't happen in movie theaters. I heard another story of people that were so excited after they. saw the film that they wanted to be baptized, and they baptized him in the fountain in front of the theater. And then Jack Graham, who's a pastor here in town, a good friend of mine, told me that some folks from his church were at a theater here in Texas. And after the movie was over,

they saw some young men, like, visibly moved with tears in their eyes. So these Christians approached them and said, are you guys okay? And they said, we just want to know how we can have what's in this movie. And so they prayed with them. So I see this as these are really promising signs to me of something maybe coming. My family and I went to see it. Yeah.

And after it was over, these two teenage girls stand up. We just want to pray with anybody who wants to pray. Really? We'll be right outside. Wow. And so we walked out. They were ahead of us. We walked out.

And then I said to my wife, hang on for a second. And I wanted to watch what happened. And people were sheepishly kind of, we walked over to them, these two teenage girls. Wow. And we all just hugged each other and just prayed. We stood there for maybe 10 minutes. And my wife said as we were walking out, no movie I've been to results in that. That's right.

So that says to me, it's not about a movie now. No, it's about, is God at work again? Yes. And I love hearing young people. This is exciting because the Jesus movement. was a movement of young people. And the Bible says, Simon Peter said on the day of Pentecost,

in the last days, I'll pour my spirit out on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. So when I first heard that first, I was the young man seeing visions. Now I guess I'm the old man dreaming dreams.

But my dream is, I want to see this again in my lifetime. And so it's sort of like, when I go out walking with my wife, My wife has really thick, beautiful hair. And I'll say, it's raining. She'll say, it's not raining. She would know it's raining for maybe an hour.

I said, it's raining. She says, it is. And I said, Kathy Baldwin always know when it's raining first. Right. Because that's, right. So I see a drop of rain. Oh, look at this thing that happened in Asbury that went up for weeks of young people praying. Oh, look at these people coming to faith in movie theaters.

And look at this other thing that's happening over here. So this to me. We need a spiritual awakening in America so badly. Things are so dark right now. And it is a spiritual battle that we're engaged in. And the most powerful weapon we have in our arsenal as Christians is the proclamation of the gospel and prayer. And so there is a place, obviously, for registering, voting, making our voice heard, doing everything we can in that arena. But having said that, the things that really are powerful,

but we often leave unused are, let's pray about this. Like, you're asking for people to pray tomorrow. That's a great thing. And there's power in prayer. And Acts chapter 12, Simon Peter was in prison. And they had already killed James. And there's a great little verse that says, constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

So that, and the end of that story is Peter was sprung from prison and everything changed through prayer. But I love it. Constant prayer was offered to God by the church. church. There's power when we pray together. And then secondly, to just tell people how they can come to Jesus. Like when I was 17, I was a completely liberal person. I would parrot all of the popular statements of kids that day. I was against everything. And I didn't even know why, but I just was because that's what I did. And when I came to Christ, everything changed. My worldview changed.

The way I think changed. Everything changes. So I think the best thing I can do, is reach out and say there's a God in heaven who loves you and has a plan for your life and you can be forgiven of your sin and you don't have to use drugs and you don't have to think your life doesn't matter and even contemplate taking your life. God has a purpose and plan for you and I want to tell you how to come into this relationship with the Lord. So let me let me take you let me take you back to Lonnie. Yeah. Because in the movie, I mean again, he's playing played by the guy who plays Jesus. And so you have this expectation because he's amazing.

And you have this expectation, how things are going to end well. And in the movie, it doesn't end great for him. But in real life, it was really tragic what happened to him. Will you tell us about the real Lonnie? Yes. Yeah, so Lonnie had a very, troubled childhood.

His mother divorced and his stepfather was very harsh with him. He was molested as a young boy. And by his own admission, before he became a Christian, he was in San Francisco, experimenting sexually in every way as well as with drugs. And he came to faith and he married a woman named Connie. And so this is around the time that he came to Calvary Chapel and he met Chuck. So during this time that the movie covers, which is about a two-year period, Lonnie was walking with the Lord. He is being used by God powerfully, but him and Chuck had disagreements into the direction that Lonnie wanted to go.

Chuck didn't throw Lonnie out. Lonnie left of his own volition to go to Florida. And so now fast forward a number of years, Lonnie, by his own admission, and wrote about it in his autobiography, he fell away from the Lord. He went back into drugs. They went back into sexual promiscuity, and he got the AIDS virus. And actually, I went and saw him when he was in hospice care. What year was this? This would have been early 90s, like 91 or 2, because I remember we were just starting our crusades and stadiums,

and he was aware of that. And I told him, you know, you played a role. You led me to Christ. And so now, you know, what I'm doing is connected to what you did. And so Lonnie said, you know, wrote in his book, I've never, identified as a gay man. I believe homosexuality is a sin, as a matter of fact. But he fell and he was sorry.

And he knew he paid pretty much the ultimate price for that, getting AIDS, but was sorry for what he had done. He was repentant. And I remember we're sitting in a room that he was in. It was all the lights were out. There was a big fire in the fireplace and lighting his face up. It was like a scene from a film. And this emaciated Lonnie Fris

be this tragic figure says God's going to use me to preach to thousands of people in the future. And my friend and I who are sitting there about thinking, that's not going to happen. And he died shortly after that. But then someone brought to my attention the other day. Did you ever stop and consider the fact that in this movie he's preaching to thousands of people? You think God gave him a glimpse into his future? I said, who knows? So here's his story.

He was a flawed man who was used by God. We could have made the movie without him. We didn't have to put him in the movie. No, I think he's important. Yeah, but the reality is he was a part of this spark between him and Chuck. So we're not trying to hide anything. We're saying, and this time there was none of that going on later. Yeah, it's a tragic end.

But hey, man, read the Bible. God's servants mess up. I mean, Abraham lied and David committed adultery and then tried to cover it up, ultimately committing murder. And Noah got drunk after the ark landed safely on the land. and Paul held the coats while people stoned Stephen to death. That's one of the most shocking. Paul was not a good, but that standing there,

here I'll hold your coat. Go ahead and stone him. That's a bad guy. He's a bad guy. Bad guy. But, you know, God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick. And if you look at the Bible, it seems like God goes out of his way to choose ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

that's the story of this. Stop there. Why? Is it, you know, I'm sure you know this, Martin Luther King. Yeah. Was chosen by men. Yeah. I can tell you, I would bet my life many were chosen by God who failed to stand.

Yeah. He was just the, I think he was the eighth choice. He just finally stood up and said, yeah, okay, I'll do it. So, why does he use flawed people? Is it because all of the really good people have too much to lose? What do you summarize that is? I think you actually touched on it earlier. You were saying that when somebody doesn't have anything to lose,

maybe they're more willing to take a risk. But actually, the Bible addresses this topic. And it says, God chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. So I think when you have a person who's obviously very talented, very educated, very, and God can use those people, and he does. But sometimes the Lord will pick that unexpected person to do an unexpected work. So when it's all said and done, we'll look and say, I don't think that person could have ever done that.

That must have been God. So I think it gives hope for all of us because I'm about as ordinary as they come. I can tell you that. You just made me think of something. You remember the movie Willy Wonk in the chocolate factory? Yes. So, you know. Which version?

The real one. Yeah, with Gene Wilder. Jesus tells us, come to me as a child. Willie Wonka is sitting in the Wonka Vader or whatever it's called. And they're flying through the sky. And he looks at Charlie and he says, I knew if I picked an adult, they would want to do it their way. Only a child would do it my way.

Wow. And I've never pieced those two together. That's a great illustration. That's probably. I might use that in the sermon someday. But it's true. And only the broken, again, alcoholic, my mom committed suicide when I was young.

She was addicted to drugs. And once you're absolutely broken, then you'll do it his way. because you're like, I don't want to do it my way anymore. My way doesn't work. You know, God can take the mess of our life and turn it into a message. The Bible says he can bring beauty out of ashes. It's quite amazing when it happens to you. Yeah, and it doesn't always happen because you can also become a bitter, angry person.

No, yeah, but I mean, if you accept the atonement, all of a sudden, you're seeing all the things that you were afraid would destroy you. All the things you did wrong, all the things that you hid, all of a sudden, they're being used in ways that you could not have imagined. That's right. Yeah. Like Joseph said, his brothers, he was sold by his brothers into slavery. And then he ascended to become the most powerful man in all of Egypt next only to the Pharaoh. He could have had his brothers all executed.

He said, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good to save many people alive. So I think, you know, as you look back in your life, Glenn, and I look back on mine, you know, God has used these things like 14 years ago. Our oldest son Christopher died in an automobile accident. And it was, you know, I looked at all of the pain of my childhood. It was nothing compared to this. And it's not something I would wish on anyone. It's a horrible tragedy. It will always be a tragedy.

However, I can see that good has come despite this tragedy. I don't feel like I need to say, oh, this happened, so that will happen. I'll just say this happened. It was a horrible event. I wish it never happened. But it changed me. And I believe the events of life can make us better or better. Yep.

So we choose. Yeah. You know, and so I've chosen, you know, it broke me. And, you know, and I feel like a part of me is in heaven right now. So it gives me a different view of things. It gives you sometimes a greater compassion for a person because you think, I used to be that person. So you're not so, you know, above them all.

And, you know, oh, you know, what's wrong with you? You go, no, I understand these struggles that people face enough care about them and and try to reach out to them and just have a heart for people because people are hurting. They're searching. They're lonely. And I think we need to just tell them that there's hope in this crazy world we're living in. And so God uses these events in our life. been in it's clear because God's made you the man you are and to do what you uniquely do

that's different than anybody else out there and you have a you know certain way about what you do that really connects to people I think you put a lot of heart in what you do as well as bringing great information and so God's in control of these things it's something else here now something new from exclusively on paramount plus it's the series Stephen King calls scary as hell. Everything here is impossible, but it's also real. Sci-fi vision comes up the best show streaming right now. We're running out of time and we still don't know the rules.

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Better Spectacles.com slash Beck. So I want to talk to you a little bit about the, meaning of of life because there's not a lot of meaning in the world right now. No. We have rejected, we've put so many idols in front of us that we're worshipping, you know, our handheld devices or whatever it is. We spend so much time gazing onto those things that we are becoming. Yeah.

And it's leading to suicide. And I want you just to talk about that for a second on, I think there's people that either completely lose hope because nothing they seem has meaning, just like you didn't believe in anybody over 30. or they are trapped in this world of, no, you don't know what I did. Yeah. And they just think they can never be used. They can never be forgiven.

Well, it's such a unique time in human history. I mean, I said there's parallels between early 70s, late 60s, and today. But then there's unique features of the time we're living in. I mean, and social media has just created, it's almost this crazy Pandora's box. It can be used for such good and such evil. Like you said earlier, the best of times,

the worst of times. It's like so good and so bad simultaneously, depending on what you make it, but all of us would probably admit to, you know, spending too much time looking at our phones. I'll sometimes just scroll through the Instagram feed, these little videos.

And it's like, it's almost like a drug or something. Oh, yeah, I know. Because I'll go, wait, an hour just passed. I know. And so I think that with all of this technology and now with the explosion of artificial intelligence, you know, and then all that's going on in the world, it reminds me so much of when I was a young man with the bomb drills. It's like we see a bolder, more powerful China, you know, that's been emerging for a long time.

But now, militarily, economically. and, you know, and all the other things happening in the world today, it's very frightening time. And drugs today like fentanyl with, I think, 300 fentanyl deaths a day and suicide up. There was a report that was just done recently by the CDC talking about how young girls are so sad and lonely. And I just read an article today about young boys taking their lives at an unprecedented rate. And, you know, we've done all of this, all these soul. social experiments, changing everything, and we're sowing the wind and now we're reaping the whirlwind. And so the solution is, it's very simple in a way.

And it's really something we have to do individually. You have to go to God. It's a relationship with God. This is where everything starts. Wall Street Journal had an article recently about how a patriotism is down, a church attendance is down. Love of money is up. Or the people think that that is a, what was it, a virtue or a pillar of to be an American? Yeah.

Money. Yeah. When? Yeah. So all these things I think are interconnected. And I think, I don't know, it was 1962 or three when it was illegal to read scripture or pray the Lord's Prayer out loud. And then you fast forward to a 66 Time magazine cover. black with reversed out red letters, is God dead?

And in 1972 or so, the psychedelic image of Jesus, Jesus Revolution. Is there cause and effect to these things? And I believe there is. So I believe that it's a relationship with God. You know, cultural Christianity is dead, and I'm not sorry about that. And there was a cultural Christianity that did have some positive virtues when I was a child. Even the shows we would watch on TV, Father knows best, Leave it to Beaver, you know, the Donna Reed show.

In my day, the little house on the prairie. Yeah, yeah. So those are good. The Cosby show in the 90th before he went back. He was bad at the time, but before the show, before we knew it. Well, his character, but it was a positive role model of a father. Instead of making the father the buffoon and the brunt of jokes, father did have wisdom.

And it was father and mother were together. family matter, but there was a sort of a cultural Christianity earlier in America in the 50s and the early 60s. And I don't think we need cultural Christianity. This is about a relationship with God. We need to turn to God individually. And I believe I see young people changing. You just told a story of a young person in a theater. See, God can change the course of that single young person. And they're really searching. This is what this is all about. Even the general. identity issues. They're not comfortable in their own body.

They think it's something else. The something else is a someone else. What they're really looking for, and they just don't know it yet, is they're looking for God. God-shaped whole. It is. And the Bible says,

he has placed eternity in our hearts. This is unique of people. God has made us in our image, and there's something in us that's looking for this through our life. I was as a young man. People are still looking for him today. And the answer has not changed.

And God says, I'm here. I'm ready to forgive you of your sin. I'm ready to cleanse you and change you and give you a fresh start in life. And now that's kind of what I talk about, not kind of. That is what I talk about. That's what I'll be talking about this Easter. That's what I talk about pretty much every Sunday. And even the people individually, I talk to them about their need for a relationship with the Lord.

Through Christ. Why? you can probably tell by looking at me, I avoid exercise like the plague. The Lord and I are, I just have to understand, why is it everything I like is bad for me? And everything that is good for me,

I really don't like. I mean, getting me to do, you know, service every time I'm driving, you know, to do something, I'm like,

oh, Jesus, oh my. And then afterwards, you're like, I should be doing this all the time. that's right why is it that that god-shaped whole yeah is the last thing yeah that people will try you know what i mean why why is that do you suppose that's a really good question i'm not sure if i know the answer to it it's it's kind of like there it is right in front of you but you feel like you want to try everything else and sometimes for some people it has to be like a process

of elimination. Is it because it's you think it's too hard? Maybe you think it's too easy. Maybe you think it can't be that. It couldn't be that. And I think that that is maybe because you don't understand that you could say, oh, that religion, Jesus thing, that's what my parents or my grandparents did.

Well, maybe they did or maybe they didn't. I don't know what their relationship with God was, but Jesus says, come on to me. All of you who are laboring and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And so what I often say is, look, I'm sorry that there's hypocrites in the church, but Jesus didn't say follow my people. He said, follow me. So this is it. You need to come to God and say, I don't understand you. I don't know that much about you, but if you're real, make yourself real to me. Yes. And God will hear and respond to a prayer like that. And I think it really comes down to that encounter with God. And

We've seen a lot of bad examples and we've seen some good examples. But ultimately it's about you and God. And one day we're all going to stand before God. And it's going to be, the question is not going to be, did you live a good life? Because some people think, a lot of people think, if I live a good life, God will let me into heaven. There's no basis for that anywhere. You know, we wouldn't even use the word heaven if we had not read it in the Bible. So how can we take something that's clearly from the Bible and then redefine other things

that the Bible clearly says about how we get to this place that it told us about in the first place. It tells us there's a heaven. It tells us there's a God. It tells us there's a devil. It tells us we have a choice. It tells us how to come to him. It tells us what God did to make that possible through Jesus dying on the cross. That's what we'll celebrate on Good Friday.

And rising again from the dead, that's what we'll celebrate on Sunday. It's all there. And there's gates that you must pass. He had to pass. through them. Yeah. Yeah. He was in the Garden of Gassimony, sweating blood, basically. And as he contemplated the horrors of what was ahead, bearing the sins of the world, you know, Jesus was God, which means he knew everything. And it was bad enough to know that his beard would be ripped from his face and a crown of thorns would be pressed on his head, and they'd strike him with their fists

and pound spikes through his hands and his feet. But the thing that Jesus recoiled from, even more than that, was the horror of taking the sin of the world upon himself. And that is why he said, Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass for me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. The cup was that, because Jesus, you know, he never even had a thought out of alignment with his father. He never committed a single sin and now to take on all of your sin and my sin and all of our sin upon himself, that's a that's a Pete Werson death.

But he did it and that's what Calvary is all about. That's what the cross is all about is Christ was absorbing the judgment of God that should have come upon me upon himself. And he was dying, as you said, atoning for our sin. You think that happened at Gassimini, not on the cross? What's that atonement? Yeah, his taking on that that's when he was sweating blood because it was like you said

it had to be it had to make the crucifix look almost like a picnic and he knew what that was I think it probably happened on the cross when he cried out there are seven statements Christ gave from the cross the first was

Father forgive them for they know not what they do imagine that and then he ultimately said my God my God why have you forsaken me Eli Lama Sabakhtony it is believed by many scholars. That's the moment when the sin of the world

was placed upon Christ, because after that, he says one word, Teletalisti. It is completed, it is done, it is finished, and then he says, in the ear, hands, Father, I commit my spirit. So he had done it. This is what he came to do.

And then, of course, he rose again. 60% of Amazon, proven to venders independent, like sack magic. Hello, here Camille of Sack Magic. Our compresses chode-fraud are fabriced here even,

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But it's shocking to me how many people don't believe in evil. When, you know, it's hard to understand the period in the 1930s and 40s in Germany. Without an understanding of evil that just seem to, I don't know, in history. inhabit the people. And you look at our society where we have gone from safe, legal, and rare to shout your abortion. You should be proud of that. To let's do these medical experiments on children. And it's in our culture, Sweden, Finland, England, they're all turning away saying,

no, no, no, no, France. it's us when you're seeing the rise of all in the name of compassion, euthanasia of kids who are depressed in Canada. Wow. Can you talk a little bit about evil as a force and the difference between fighting flesh and bone and principalities? Yeah. Well, as surely as there is a God in heaven who loves us,

there's a devil headed to hell who hates us. And he's a fallen angel known as Lucifer. Now we call him Satan. The Bible calls him the prince of the power of the air. And so that speaks of a realm of demonic powers that are under him, which are fallen angels that do his bidding. There's one devil. He's not the equal of God.

God is all knowing, Satan is limited knowledge. God is all powerful. Satan is limited. power. God is omnipresent, present everywhere. Satan can only be in one place at one time. But he has these demon forces. And what's his agenda? Jesus summed it up very clearly. He says, a thief, speaking of Satan, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But then he contrasted himself with that and said, but I have come, Jesus speaking, to give you life and that more abundantly. So here's our choice, life or death. God says in scripture, I set before you

death and life, blessings and curses, choose life that you may live. It's almost like a teacher in a classroom and they're giving the final exam and they're saying you have to get this question right to pass the exam. By the way, here's the answer to the question. And God's saying

here's life. It's before you. Life, death, you choose. By the way, I love how he puts in, choose life. Like, I'm telling you, do this. But it is our choice. And so every day we have a choice to to even as a Christian, to yield to Satan and his temptations and his enticements and our selfishness and our pride and all the things that we do or to yield to God and as a Christian to open his word, to pray, to be humble before him. You know, the funny thing you're talking about serving,

the last thing you want to do is serve someone else, but the reality is the Bible teaches if you lose your life, you find your life. That's what Jesus said. when you help others, they actually have a term for it. It's called the Helpers High. It's a medical term that they use to describe the release of endorphins when you help somebody or do something for someone besides yourself. So we think it's all about me. Get everything I can and I'll be happy. Bible teaches the opposite. It's actually about others, giving out, but ultimately starting with receiving from God. So there is a devil. He's active. And I believe it's Satan literally whispering in years of these young people today take your life nobody cares about you you don't matter i think it is

the influence of satan as well that is the moving force behind so many things that are being said in in public in in compassion you know i you know the war and we don't know anything about the war in heaven and the, you know, the fall of Satan. But we do know God chose the plan of salvation with Jesus. And not Satan's plan. And Satan's plan was, I'll make all the decisions. I'll make all the decisions. I'll bring them all back. Yeah. Give me the glory. That's right. And I never understood how a third of the angels could be lost. You're standing there. You're looking at him. You're looking at God. Yeah. You know. Yeah. The same arguments that we're having over and over again. Look, he wants you to be hurt.

He wants you to suffer. I'll make sure no one suffers. Yes. And we are, everything starts to be cloaked in compassion. Yes. And before you know it, you realize I'm in a cage. Yeah. Well, he's an angel of light.

If the devil were to appear, he wouldn't have red skin, horns, pointed ears in the pitch for it. He'd be an angel of light. He would be very impressive. And, you know, sin makes you stupid. That's the bottom line. And so why did the angels fall? Explain that. Sin makes you stupid.

Well, when you come into the power of sin, you don't think rationally. And maybe it's the pleasure. Even the Bible says there's pleasures and sin for a season, but afterwards comes death. So the idea is there's a certain euphoria and excitement when you break the rules and cast off the restraints and run off and do what you want to do, but then you face the repercussions of those bad decisions. And so it's very appealing and enticing on the front and go back to the Garden of Eden. You know, Satan offers to Eve the forbidden fruit. We always see an apple.

The Bible never says an apple. I wouldn't have been tempted by an apple. Apples are okay. A nectaring, maybe. I think it probably was a piece of fruit like we've never seen. It probably pulsated with light, had its own theme song. Who knows? But whatever it was, it was like,

wow and what was the appeal go ahead and eat and in the day you eat thereof you will be as a god knowing good and evil eve you'll be a goddess go for it and so that's still the the enticement today that comes to us you know you can be in control you can have everything and it's empty promises and they ate of the forbidden fruit and sin and or see human race but so we have to come to our senses there's a story that jesus told and i love this story because jesus shows you us what God is like. We wonder, what is God like? Okay, here's what God is like, according to Jesus. God is like a father who loves us. And he tells the story of a father with two sons. One of the sons goes astray, takes his portion of the inheritance, consorts with hookers,

drinking, ruins his life, finally comes to his senses and says, I will return home to my father and say, I don't even deserve to be a son, just make me, you know, hired hand. But while, and this is Jesus speaking. While he was a great way off, the father saw him and ran to his son and threw his arms around him and kissed him and said, rejoice with me, this my son who is dead is alive again and he was lost, is found.

So what does God like? God is like a father who misses his son, who misses his daughter, who longs for our return. He allows us to make our own choices as the prodigal did. But when we come to our senses and come back to him, he's not going to beat us,

He's going to forgive us of all of our sin and welcome us. But then he changed the son. So because sometimes people will say, well, God loves me just the way that I am. Yes, but he doesn't want to leave you that way. So when you really come into a relationship with Jesus Christ, you need to, as the Bible says, repent of your sin. You say, I'm not going to do that anymore. The father said, put clean clothes on him and put a ring in his finger.

It's like, okay, son, you stink. You've been hanging out with pigs. Let's clean you up. So you don't have to clean your life up and come to Christ. But when you come to Christ, he'll clean your life up. So you come with your addictions. You come with your problems. You come with your guilt.

You say, I'm sorry to God. And he can take everything and change it for you. I've seen it happen in so many lives. It is remarkable. But I think people are convinced that that can't happen for them. You know, I said, went through a tough period here recently with my kids, and I had a couple of them were suicidal. And another one had just gone off the beaten path.

And I was just struggling one day, just trying to hold everything together. And I'm sitting at dinner with my family. I said, you know what the problem is about for parents, being a parent? My kids went, no. And I said, you never stop loving your children. Yeah. And I think that's how God feels. I just want my child to be happy.

I just want my child to be whole. I just, I want them to know I love them and it doesn't have to be this way. But in the end, it's their choice. And I will be there. and I'm going to counsel them, but I'm going to let them make their own choice, and I have to stand there and just go, I'm anxious to see how that works out for you.

And hopefully you'll come back, but it's always, if I, if I wouldn't have a strong relationship with my kids, they would be afraid that I would judge them or I would look at them differently. Yeah. And that's what, that God's the perfect parent. Yes.

My oldest son Christopher, who I mentioned earlier, who died in an automobile accident 14 years ago. He went through a little, what I would call a prodigal phase. And I always kept contact open with him. And I would always reach out to him. And he said to a friend of ours later,

I found this out later. He said, I always knew where I sort of stood with God by my relationship with my father when I wasn't right with my, with God, things were tense with my dad. But he said, the thing that brought me back and Christopher returned to the Lord,

he says, was I knew my father loved me unconditionally. And I thought, okay, that's the greatest compliment that could be paid, that he knew I loved him unconditionally. And then he returned to the Lord and then he was called unexpectedly home to heaven. I have another son named Jonathan. and he was struggling with drugs, Glenn.

And so, and I wasn't even aware of his struggle at this time. And he said to his older brother Christopher, who had made this recommitment to Christ, I'm struggling with it. You've got to help me. And Christopher turned to Jonathan and said, Jonathan, what's it going to take for you to get right with God? And Jonathan determined the next day he wanted to talk to his brother more.

And that next day, July 24th is when Christopher went to be with the Lord. this so hit Jonathan that he threw all of his drugs out, made a commitment to follow Jesus. And now today is an associate pastor at our church. And so not only is he walking with the Lord, but he's actually teaching the Word of God and preaching the gospel. And so I say, you know, never give up on your kids.

Keep loving your kids. We don't need to preach to them. We need to be the sermon. You don't want to give them the message, but then you live it. and they see that and they know that. And I think they need to always know that they can come home and we're there to love them.

And that's how God is toward us. I think what you said is exactly right. Let me ask you as a parent. I see parents of families who they are exceptional families. I mean, exceptional. Yes. You know, praying all the time just so sweet and so kind. And sometimes their family,

is perfect. Yeah. Other times, their family is a mess. I've seen people whose family, whose family is amazing, and the parents are a mess. Yeah.

I know as a parent, when something happens, your kids go awry, it's just diabolical. You think about, I should have done more of this, I should have done this. speak to parents that are struggling,

because I don't even know what to do as a parent now. It's so foreign to me and my childhood. I don't even know. Speak to parents who have really done their best, may not have done everything right, but really did their best. Yeah. Well, I think that if you've made mistakes as a parent,

It's okay to apologize to a child. I think we feel, well, I can't do that because that would somehow undermine my authority in their life. Oh, they already know you screwed up. Why don't you just admit it? And they'll probably respect you more for it. So you know what?

I haven't been the father I should have been. And I want to apologize. Or the mother I should have been. And I'm sorry for that. And I want you to forgive me. And I want to start over again and do the best that I can do. They'd probably go a lot further than you think it would go. But you need to show them.

You know, you can't take someone any further than you yourself have gone. And I think the idea is you do need to model it for them. I have a friend Franklin Graham. I know you know Franklin. I mean, he was raised in the home of Billy and Ruth Graham for Pete's sake. And I, you know, I mentioned I got to know Billy and Ruth. I spent time in their home. They were the most wonderful couple.

They were down to earth. They were fun. They were godly. They were what you would want to Christian. couple to be and yet Franklin would crawl out on the roof in the middle of the night and so you know he had this time of rebellion so you can be look if if if a kid messing up meant that you'd failed as a parent then god is a bad parent right because how many of us mess up and we have a perfect heavenly father and god is not a bad parent the point is we have a free will we have to sometimes learn things the hard way unfortunately

but as a parent you want to model it for your kids, you want to teach it to them. And I've always found the best way to teach my children and now my grandchildren is I just weave it into everyday life. You know, Moses said, teach these things to your children. When you get up in the morning, when you walk in the way, when you go to sleep at night.

So it's just like instead of saying, now I'm going to preach a sermon to you, or we're going to have a two-hour devotional time before you leave the house. You know, just weave it into life. There's nothing wrong with setting time apart. In fact, that's a good thing. to open the Bible and pray with your children.

But look for those teaching moments with them and enter their lives and take an interest in what they're doing. Listen to them. You know, let them talk to you. Ask them questions. And I think it's hard when you get older because you feel like you want to always be the one with the answers. But you can learn a lot from younger people.

And because I like to find out what they're dealing with and thinking about so I can appropriately bring truth to them. but not beat them over the head with it, but try to explain sometimes using my life as an illustration and mistakes I've made and things I've learned. It's a hard job. It's like Mark Twain said, loose paraphrase, you've probably heard this.

It's when your child reaches the age of like I think 14, he says put them in a barrel and put the lid down on tight and feed them through the open hole. And then when they hit 16, plug up the hole, right? Something to that effect. And so juvenile delinquency and teenage rebellion is not unique to our time. And I think we just do the best we can do. Pray for God's wisdom and his strength and his help and just keep loving our kids.

And they see that and they know that. And I think it will resonate and prayerfully and hopefully they'll come back. Let me ask you one more question. Yes. Easter weekend. Yes. I go back and forth on Judas In the time

They were expecting a warrior Yeah Jesus was not the warrior That they were expecting Yes And it's kind of like Adam and Eve Eve I

I mean I could make a case that Eve was like We have to We have to do this this. You know what I mean? And Judas, he had to betray Christ. What do you think if he hadn't hung himself? Yeah. And he had a chance to talk to Christ. What do you think Christ would have said to him?

Well, I know what Christ said to him right before he hung himself. When Jesus, he saw Judas in the Garden of Gassimony, and Judas is not going to identify Jesus for the authorities. He says, it's the one. one that I will kiss and Jesus sees him and says, friend, what do you seek? Jesus called him a friend. I mean, a friend, don't forget when Jesus washed the disciples' feet in the upper room, that included Judas, and he knew he was washing the feet of the one who would shortly betray him.

I would have broken his feet, not wash them. Friend, why have you come? He asks. So that was the last gesture of Christ toward Judas. Like, I know what you're up to. I've already called you out. on it. I know what's happening right now, but I'm saying, why have you come? In other words, one last chance to repent. Judas could have done it. So, you know, you can contrast Simon,

Peter, and Judas. Both of them messed up. Judas betrayed Christ. Peter denied Christ. And they both went and did their deed. But Judas never repented of his, but Peter went out. The Bible says, and wept bitterly and he was forgiven by God. So, you know, Judas, he came off as a super virtuous guy. You know, it was Judas who said when a woman was pouring the expense of perfume on Christ, hey, this could have been sold in the money given to the poor. And everyone's going, yeah, that's right, Judas. But then John says, yeah, he said this because he was stealing money from the bag. He was like the treasure. So he came up like a guy who was virtuous, but in reality, he was evil. Because it's interesting, there's a certain point where the Bible says, Satan entered Judas's

heart. So it went beyond just a man, you know, making bad decisions. The devil entered his heart. And now he was doing the work of Satan. Now, it was God's plan for Christ to be crucified. It was God's plan for Jesus to bear the sins of the world. And that's why it's so ridiculous for people to say, well, the Jewish people are responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. I'm responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. My sins put him on the cross. And the Bible even says it please the father to bruise him. So God orchestrated it. So it was a weird moment in history

where the devil and the father were working toward the same goal, but with a different objective. Jesus was going to die. It is God making unbelievable lemonade out of lemons every time. I mean, and I think

Satan thinks he's going to win. It's like right now. I think he's like, oh man, this is my moment. This time I win. He has, Gosh, just must shake his head. Like we shake our head. Our children are going, you just don't get it with him. After all these years, you still don't get it.

Yeah. Well, I read the last page of the Bible. We went on the end, Glenn. So we have to remember that. There are setbacks. But ultimately, the Word of God is going to prevail. And so we're going to just press on each and every day, put one foot in front of the other and do the best we can do.

But pray for all. our families, pray for our nation, give the good news of Jesus Christ out to people, and let's see what God will do. I think how you opened is just perfect. It's the best of times and the worst of times. Let's pray that we have a spiritual awakening, and it changes the course of our country right now. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to a friend so it can be discovered by other people.