The Hope Hotline - Freedom In Christ

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

The Hope Hotline | S04-E37 | 06-26-2026

and welcome to the Hope Hotline. This is our last and final podcast. As sad as it is. Vanessa's crying. She's shedding a tear. Talia is in the room. You just can't see her. But this is our last podcast for the summer until back to school, August.

Back to school. Wow. I know. I mean, everybody will be getting ready. I know. Just like it's almost Christmas time. You just posted. It is.

I did. As soon as I saw it. I was like, oh, I should tell Hope. I'm like, no, she's going to see it. Then I saw it in your stories. I saw it on somebody else who posted it. Of course. So funny.

But it does. It's going to fly. The summer will fly. And then it'll be fall and then it'll be Christmas. Six months from yesterday. The halfway mark. And that means that I'm only like, I don't know, four and a half months away from decorating. Crazy.

Right around the corner. Yeah, blank. It is. It is. It's crazy. No, I know. June is already gone. Summer.

Literally. 26. We have a few more days. And then it's almost somebody's birthday. 250 years. Oh. Oh, I was talking about, I thought you're talking about Tao. Tell your first.

You forget about Tal. I know Talia's birthday. How old are you going to be Tal? 20. Teens are. She's not a teenager anymore. I know. I was thinking about that.

I know. I do know it's Tell you's birthday because there's a present that has been sitting in my stairs in everybody's way. And Tudy's like, who's birthday present is that? I got your present yesterday. You're going to love it. I'll tell you later. I do not have anything for you.

Well, this is from Kylie. And Kylie, I know, she's so excited to give it to you. She's just like Vanessa. You might squeal when you open up my present. Oh, that's cute. Our little gift givers. I got to designate Tudy or Kylie to do that for me too. make her buy all my presents for me.

My favorite thing is like knowing someone so well and then getting a gift that you know that they're going to love. See, I love people so well, but I can't pull that information. Like Kylie does it too. And I'm like, how that's such a good idea. And my brother, DJ, excellent gift giver. I'm like, where does that come from? Kayla, like excellent gift givers.

Yeah, I don't care. It's not that I don't care. It's just like why not give money? See, I do care. And it just doesn't, it's not in there. Like when somebody else does it, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's such a good idea. It is a good idea. I mean, you know, a lot of times, I'll be honest with you, sometimes it's cheaper to buy the gift than to give money.

Right. Right. Most of the time. Because I'm like, man, if I had a creative outlet like that, I'd be saving some cash. That's true. Instead I'm spending it. And I'd be the thought that counts, right? Well, cash is the thought that counts.

Lots of people love it. No, 100% Instead of buying useless crapola somebody doesn't really want and hopes that they'll think it's the thought that counts. If you're giving it to me,

I can promise you that ain't going to be crossed in my mind. It ain't the thought that counts. Yep, she won't be happy at all. Not for me. Just don't give me anything. Just like, give me a hug. I'd rather have that.

Because then you give her a present that her husband hates and then he tells everybody from stage. It's poo-po-po-po-po-oo-oo-ri. Yes. That was the funniest thing ever. Oh, my gosh. So be careful what you give her.

Yeah. Especially since I tried it twice. Yeah. And both times got caught. Oh my gosh. Wait, the most recent? All the recent time. I got caught.

Like two days later after I texted you. Like two days later after I texted you. But you changed the sense. I did. And the location. And the location. I even had the location hid. He found it.

I got hope. one of those like aeroa what is that aroma 360s oh my gosh it's the best and it just sprays a little sprits of beautiful smell and it just smells so good and oh my gosh it's like it smells like poop poopery like what you spray over poop and then she tried to hide it again and i was so proud of myself what was so funny is he was like giving it to me like irritated like giving it to me like he can give it to me but he even his i was laughing at him in his face because i was i was crying So him giving it to me really doesn't mean a lot. Because I'm sure somebody might be like, and I'm laughing.

I was laughing so hard. And he's like, like, I can't believe you tried. Like I told you I don't like that. I'm like, it's a different sense. It's a different sense. And he's like, so what? I'm like, no, it's a different smell. And I like, like, you don't know.

I've been, I've had that thing running for like five days. You didn't know about it. And then you can smell that. He's buddy, and he's like, I did know about it. I just didn't say anything. And I knew it was hidden. And I'm like, well, I just told Tracy and Vanessa how proud I was because you didn't know about it.

I'm crying, laughing the whole entire time. He's like, why would you do that? You know I don't like it. It stinks really bad. And I'm like, you didn't know. What? You didn't know. So like, I don't understand the problem here.

That is funny. And you wouldn't have known if you hadn't walked around the house. So why don't you just stay put. You would hate coming to my house. Yeah, especially now. You would, it's in every vent. it's coming out of the beds that's the bend

he's like can you just stick to our smell that's what he said I'm like apple cinnamon that's okay so I was going to say they have Sprit they have them yes they have apple cinnamon and a Christmas tree one

oh no he won't do Christmas tree that's okay but they have those apple cinnamon he will do yes if it's apple cinnamon I'm golden if it's anything like coconut he's there if it's anything like I love them. I'm like, it's Musk.

And he's like, it stinks. But I was crying. I like literally bent over, doubled up, like laughing so hard. And then later on, he was like, he lived like two days later. See, he's sensitive. I'm not sensitive. So like, maybe not even two days later. The next day he's like, I want to tell you, I'm sorry.

And I'm like, sorry about what? And he's like, came on a little strong about the smell thing. And I'm like, really? And he's like, yeah, I was a little. too aggressive about that. I'm like, I was laughing. I know. And he's like, yeah, but that was too much. Like, you do so much around here. Like, and I'm like, oh my gosh. I'm like, dude, it's a self-aware man. We do. We do. We do. I need to apologize. I was a little aggressive. I was a little too much. And I'm like, I was laughing. Like, what are you talking about? The Holy Spirit probably

woke him up that night. Literally. I know. And I was like, apologize to your wife. It probably I didn't even need the whole experience. He's very like... Oh, cute. I don't know. He's a lot. Don't get me wrong. But I just don't take him.

I don't take him too seriously. I don't have time for it. He said to me last night, he was talking to me last night about, like, just, like, I don't know. He's just so funny. And it's like about him and, like, I don't know. Like, I don't even remember exact words, but he's like, you do a lot. Like, you take a... you put up with a lot or something like that.

And I'm like, I don't really care. I told them, I'm like, dude, I don't care. Like if people are happy and they want to conversate, great. But if they're not happy and they don't want to conversate, I don't care. Like, they'll come back around. I don't care. Like, what's that going to have? How's that going to affect me?

I know. Hope you're so special. Yeah. Shut up. I need more people like you. We do. We do. Well, I will tell you.

Like, literally. And I just said this to, like, Tom got on me because I think he, like, I think it was on church after church on Sunday. I was telling, talking to Heather about something. And he did not like, even though me and Heather are so like alike that, but he didn't like how I said something to her. So he's like, I didn't like that. Like, don't talk like that to her or whatever. And I'm like, I don't even know what you're talking about. But I still didn't know.

But I did tell her. But I did tell her. I was like, apparently I talked to you a certain way, and he doesn't like that. So I'm going to be fixing that. But I don't know what I'm supposed to be. I don't know. I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. But I'm going to figure it out.

I'm going to fix you. She looked at me like, I don't even know what you're talking. That's what I figured. She's as bad as me. I know. I know. But the thing is is what's great about him is, It does make you self-aware.

It does teach you to like, but he's not mean. Like even when he's like, he's like telling me he didn't like how I said it. He was never mean about how he said. He's like, you just like, you think you've gotten to a place, but you're not there yet. That's what he said. But you're not there yet. Oh my gosh. Because I didn't like that.

And I'm like, I don't even know what you're saying. I don't even know what you're talking about. And he's like, he just moved on past it. And he's like, we just like, we just got to get better. on some stuff and I'm like, all right. Like I told you, everybody get their reviews for working here and I got the worst one.

It was so funny. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Fire me. Yeah, he might. He has threatened it. Oh my gosh. Can you imagine?

I'm going to charge you. I'm okay. If he fired me In some ways, let's face it. It's like Andrew Womack. If you fire me, you might be doing me a favor. That would be wild. That might make the news.

That would. That would be pretty funny. That might make the news. You know what? The thing is, is like if he fired me, I might have to sit there and go, I might have deserved it. Who knows? Probably. Probably.

If I get fired by Tom Lifeley, I guarantee you, I deserve it. There's probably a reason. Right. Oh, it's, it's definite. Maybe you can give you a couple strikes first. Oh, I've gotten fired and rehired pretty quick. Me too. Yeah.

That's happened. That happens around here. That's stinking funny. That is funny. Oh, my gosh. I have makeup running on my face. But life is good. Life is good.

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Yep. And I always know I'm not getting lied to. It's crazy. But I'm there, like, my cars are older cars. So we're there. not all the time, but like Tom's window on his back passenger side, it collapsed. All of a sudden it's down. No.

So there we go. I'm there. Like I had to get a whole new, like, the thing is, is like my car should have had a whole new set of spark plugs. Like, I don't know. Right. 200,000 miles. Not 200,000. What is it?

20,000 miles. It's a, I don't know. I'm at 171 on my car. Yeah. And he's like, you should have gotten. him a while ago he's like but they were fine right so i'm not replacing something that's fine and i'm like god bless you for that exactly oh my gosh so i had to just get a new set of which is normal service my car has been a gem it has not been one problem and he's the one that told me what kind of car to get

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Very considerate of your time as well. and we'll let you know what's going on with all the crazy stuff that can come with vehicles. So make sure you're doing that. But if you're here watching on Facebook, you can say hello. We are on Hope Hotline and Foundation Church. So wherever you are, say hello in the chat. If you want to join us over at Rumble, you can. We got Sharon joining us today.

So we're glad that you're here. And we've got a few more that haven't said hello yet. So feel free to say hi in the chat. And then also YouTube. If you're at YouTube and you want to say hi, Alice, We see you down there. We're excited to see you on. Thanks for joining us. And I think that is it for over there. So if you have, you like listen to audio podcasts, you can always find us at all the places. We are everywhere that you possibly can be on the audio podcast. If you subscribe to any of our channels on whether it's Spotify or Apple or anything like that, you'll even get like a notification once it's uploaded, which is usually right away right after we're done the podcast. A reminder that we're, We will not be here for the summer. So we will be all over the place.

We got Fire Week. I'll be in Massachusetts and my family. So we will return August 7th. And then we've got our ladies conference right after that, August 20th and 21st. So please, please, please put that on your schedule. We would love for you to join us. We have so much fun things coming out. So many fun announcements coming out about that.

So can't wait to share all those details. You guys know that we're on TikTok. We've got all of our different. accounts. We've got our Instagram, the Hope hotline. We've got our TikTok, the Hope hotline, and then Hope has one. I have a TikTok. Vanessa has a TikTok. Talia is a TikTok. Foundation Church is a TikTok. Foundation Worship has a TikTok. We're everywhere. You will not miss us. And so make sure you're paying attention to all these things. If you're on all these channels, we'd love for you to join us. Pastor Tom has his preaching clips. And then he has his just random stuff, random questions

that are asked. And then obviously his TLP stuff as well. He is still doing his podcast, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And then tonight at 8 p.m., he has his Bible study. So you definitely want to join. It is live. And so there's no replay. You've got to join live and hang out with him. You can ask questions.

You can be involved in the conversation, invite a friend over, whatever you want to do. But that is tonight at 8 p.m. So just be prepared to join a little Bible study tonight. And I think that's all I got for this. Hot now. Yes. I am. Marca.

Marca. I am representing what we're going to talk about today, which I told the girls, I want to talk about freedom today. And a lot of times, I mean, we're like about to celebrate the country's 250th year. And it is crazy. And there's freedom, spiritual freedom. And then we that live in America have an added bonus of actually living a free lifestyle. And our lifestyle is far superior than any other country. And I know people will say that's very, that's a privileged statement or it's very, what is it called when you think you're better, kind of cocky or arrogant, I would say.

that people would think. But, I mean, we're going to show you later on in the podcast where it's not just my opinion. It's other people that have been lied to about this country and are finding out the truth about it. And there's a reason why everybody wants to come here. There's a reason for that. And it's because America is – I was thinking about this yesterday. I was thinking, what if I had been born somewhere else? Right.

I have that thought often. Yeah. I'm like, man, what if? I know. Life could be very different. Right. Which would be very sad. But it's wild.

It's like some people live and some people are born into wealth, right? And they sit there and go, man, I'm so blessed that I was born where I'd never have to worry about whatever, food or clothing or whatever. But to have the added bonus of wealth and living in America, they probably feel like they struck her rich. And I would say to them, if you don't have God, then I am way more wealthier than you, and I am way better off than you. And a lot of people don't have God.

So I just sit there, I go, okay, because I do have, I mean, I am blessed. I mean, I have money. So, and I wasn't born. Like when I was, when I was born, we weren't, we didn't have a lot of money. I would have never, I didn't know it. I never knew it. We lacked nothing. But, I mean, we didn't have everything, but I didn't know that I didn't have a lot of money.

Right. And I know you grew up in like a single family home in Brooklyn, right? Yeah. Multi-generational home. Had cousins, uncles, grandma. You didn't know? I didn't know. No, you didn't know that you had money, though.

Didn't you do know that you like? No, I knew I was poor. Oh, you did? Because did you not have food? Okay, I'll take that back. But I like, I knew that there were more fortunate people. Well, yeah, we all know that to a certain extent. But we're all like still pretty happy.

A roof over my head. Always had food. Always had a place to live. Like my mom worked really, really hard to care for us and make sure that we had everything that we needed for sure. Yeah. And like there was probably a lot of laughter in the house. hopefully in my house there was we were like there was four kids and two parents but yeah we laughed a lot

we had a good time and we well a lot of discipline but there was a lot of joy so I didn't know lots of friends and good church and I don't know like and you grew up in mass right where it's flipping freezing but I mean did you know any different did we Were your parents wealthy? Because I know that they ended up owning a business, or they had a business, but they were probably working really hard to get that thing up and going. So it was actually worth something. Yeah. When you start a business, it's like the first five to ten years are like tremendously difficult.

Yeah. My dad was a carpenter and then did everything he could to, he knew there was more to it. And my grandfather was a carpenter. So there's not a lot of money in that. Obviously, he was in the union. And yeah. So my mom wanted to take care of us. And so it was one income and there wasn't a lot of money.

And then we did own a business. But even then, like, everything gets reinvested back into the company. Yep. And so, yeah, they really, until I was probably a junior in high school, I really didn't have a ton of money. Yeah, but did you, like, would you have even known the difference? Were you guys, you grew up in a Christian home. So, like, there were so many other, I don't know, when you have God, it's like way different. And I never felt like we lived in lack.

Like, I never felt like we didn't. Like, there was enough food, like, never. And I know we didn't have a ton of money, but, yeah, I never felt poor. Yeah, I didn't, I knew we didn't have a lot because, like, but back in my day, like, people didn't go to McDonald's all the time. Right. You didn't go and get a slurpy all the time. No, never. You didn't get, like, every daily, like, privilege that people have today.

Yeah. We didn't do that. Like, it wasn't the norm. You ate dinner at home all the time. Oh, yeah. Always. So, and those things, but if I went to the store, I didn't get everything I wanted. That's healthy.

That's actually a healthy way to live, not just, I don't know. So for me, I just sit there and go, man, I am so blessed to live in America. And then I was, pull up that picture. I was telling, I was talking to my mom, but I was telling the girls, I'm like, it's wild that I have been blessed to be here. for two huge celebrations of this country, which was the 1976. That's me on though, is, do I'm, am I looking at like they are? Yes. Yeah.

When I say I'm on the right, I didn't transition. So that would be my brother. I'm actually on the right. But if he's on your, if he's on your right, that means I'm on the left. It should be the same. Because I'm not the boy. But my mom, like, like we didn't have a lot of money. My mom made all of those dresses.

She made my brother's outfit. I don't even know. I was telling them, I'm not sure. I think she made my dad's pants. I'm pretty sure she made my dad's pants. I don't know about the jacket, but probably the jacket too, if I were to guess. So all of that was made.

But there was a huge celebration in 1976 of the country being 200 years old. It was like as big a deal. And that's in Polk County. I was telling them that was at my elementary school. And my dad was the person that put on this whole entire event. And he had a lot of people who helped him, but he was like the PTA president. And it was a huge thing in our community, a huge celebration, a big day of like pie eating contest and like it was a whole thing.

And to me, I'm like, there's something sweet and special about celebrating this country. We celebrate it every year, but these are monumental. Yeah, it is. And so, I mean, I'm not planning on doing anything huge for Fourth of July, But it is something that I treasure and I know. Like I may go and watch the fireworks that night, but I don't have any grandiose plans. I'll just lounge that day. But I know, like, that day will be hugely important to me. Like, people who take it for granted, shame on you.

Yeah. Because it's our 250th year. And most countries don't stay based on the foundation. of what the country was built on, you can turn it back to us. But usually a country is not, whatever it was founded on, it does not stay the same. And it usually is like every 200 years, that foundation cracks. And then things change. But our constitution, it's amazing, our constitution has stayed. But that's because it's based on biblical principle. And biblical, I mean, people are astounded that that thing is still relative for today.

If you base anything off of the Bible, the Bible is still relevant for today. It still stands. So if you base your founding rules or regulations or our constitution on something like that, it's going to stand the test of time. It won't fall apart. And what better to base everything on but the Bible. So it just speaks volumes. But I mean, I'm so proud.

Like, I'm so proud to be an American. I'm so blessed to be one. And I am very grateful. Very grateful. But I'm also very grateful because it's like we have political freedoms. We have spiritual freedoms. And both of them are very important. One changes your life and the other one changes how you live.

Like one is where you live. The other one changes how you live, right? And like for me, like being, living in America, it protects me, right? It gives me rights as a woman, especially when you look at Middle Eastern cultures right now, women have no rights. I just saw a woman who didn't wear a hijib, her jat, whatever it is, jab or hijib. It's a hijib. Hajib, I think it's a hijib. That she was beaten, pulled out.

of her house, pulled out by her hair, and men beat her. And then women had to come and grab her. That just, yeah. And it's gone viral. And the girl was, I think, in her 20s. She was not dressed inappropriately. She was actually dressed in all of the garb except for that. And they pulled her out.

And I just think, if I didn't live in America and I didn't have a constitution, that protects me. Right. What would my life look like? Right. and then you have the Bible, your spiritual guide, and that transforms you as a person. So, like, if you are a Christian, like, you got the two best,

you live in America and you're a Christian, you got the two best things going for you. Like, you can't beat it. I don't know. One's eternal and one is, even though you're on this earth, one is momentary, and both of them are pretty dang great,

if you ask me. But what do you guys want to say? say really quick before we move into like going into everything. I do have that thought a lot. And I think because I have the opportunity to see where other people are living with Instagram and TikTok, like I just saw this little boy. And he was trying, he found a tire on the side of the road and he was trying to sell it. And so an American or I don't know which what he was, but he was walking around to him and he's like, oh, what are you trying to sell it for? He's like, oh, I just want some food. And he was a young boy. He's probably like, I don't know, 10 or 11. And. And, and, he was a young boy. He's probably like, I don't know,

10 or 11. And so he's like, I'll buy it from you. So he bought it from him. He's South Africa and bought it from him. And then he's like, can I go back and meet your mom? And the little boy walked them back and gave the mom money and all kinds of like resources and stuff like that. But they were living. There was no roof at the dirt floor. And this is like this cute little blonde boy from South Africa. And it's like, and he was out. Then the next day he went out and did the same thing again because he wanted to make sure that they would have enough food for the rest of the month. And so then they went back, followed met the mom. And then they went back, followed, met the mom again and gave them, like, really set them up for, like, with resources and stuff.

So, like, yeah, you think, like, man, like, it's so easy to take advantage of what we have here. But, like, it's so good every once in a while to, like, remember, like, you could have been born anywhere, you know, and, like, God knew. And we were born here for such a time as this. And so it's important not to take advantage or, like, or not even appreciate, especially this weekend's coming up. Oh, I know. You know, or the next weekend coming up.

Yeah, I know what you meant. I think that's the beauty of going on, like, mission strips. where you like go somewhere else. Yeah. And experience what really see. Like what other people experience because we live in such a bubble here. Yes. Exactly.

And you're not exposed to what most of the world is exposed to. Oh yeah. Right. And so like going to Africa or Mexico and building houses and just being within the community and seeing how people can give you a different perspective and make you even more grateful for where you live. Oh, I agree. It's crazy. I mean, if you think about it, if you live in the freest country, there is. And yet you're still in bondage because you're spiritually bound. I know. You're not saved. Or you are saved, which is this is worse. You are

saved and then you're still spiritually bound. I know. I know. That one's tough. Yeah. To watch, to see to know, yeah. Like, oh my gosh. That's rough. Like that's, hold on one second. Is she good? Did you tell her, yeah?

No. She may ask you, yes? Yes. I guess my daughter doesn't remember that I have a podcast right now. Oh my gosh. She's in our world. I know.

Oh, she thought it was last week. Okay, so, you know, I was thinking, I mean, I sit there and I go, freedom of speech. So you have the right in this country to say anything you want. But should you? Right. Two different questions.

As a believer. Yeah. Like, as a believer, no, you shouldn't. You have, like, it's like if you're spiritually bound. So, so, like, I'm trying to think of how to explain this. Because I think there are so many rights that we have, like, because the founding fathers, they gave us the right to worship. But do we worship?

And do we worship the right way? And do we do what, do we go to the lengths that to what's been given to us so that we take it all in? It's like, okay, so people will say you have freedom of speech. But if you tell somebody to tame their tongue or to control their tongue, then they feel as though that their speech is the right to have their rights of speech and been taken away. But the Lord said, told us to tame our tongue, that the tongue is deadly. It has life and death in it. So, like, even though you have freedoms, God has expectations.

And you can be bound when you don't. You can be spiritually bound when you don't adhere to the guidelines. I don't know how to explain that very well. But even though it feels like your freedom is being taken away, because although you can say anything, should you say anything. Or do anything because you can do it. America, you do whatever you want. Right.

But should you? Not all things are beneficial. Yes. Right. So you're bound if you do those things. Right. Even though you feel like you're free. It's like the economy of it.

Do you know what I'm saying? It's interesting. It's very interesting. It is. Right. Because there is freedom to pretty much do whatever you want, but freedom doesn't always bring peace. Right. It comes at a cost. It does. Or does it bring, or and it doesn't bring freedom. When you do those things, you're actually not free. You're bound. And you're a slave to something. It's like I was saying to Tracy, like right now, right now, right now for us, our church is like a two, two and a half hour right in between two, two and a half hours on a Sunday morning. That's not all the other. things that we have going on. And this is where freedom comes in. Like the founding fathers, like they wanted the right to worship. One of the big things of coming to this country was not being forced to worship the way

they were being told they had to worship. And so what they wanted is they wanted that freedom to worship however they wanted to. And they did it like back in the day when you went to church, it was an all-day affair. Now, if you go more than 50 minutes, well, that's not. unacceptable. I got stuff to do. You know? And so I told Tracy it's like we at this church are fighting against or any church that has a service where it's not a and I don't mean it's like a service station like people want to go in. I told her I said to me and I said this to a couple of other people that I've been brainstorming some stuff with but I feel like we're fighting the service

station mentality. You have the Chick-fil-A that will still give you a decent meal and fill you up versus a five-course meal that is going to be more nourishing and actually do more for your physical body and nutritionally. But it's going to require a little bit more of your time. Instead, you'll go to the Chick-fil-A because it fills you up and it tasted good, even though it's not the same nourishment. But it's cheaper and it's faster. and it fills you up.

And really, that's how people treat their Christian walks. That's how they treat their church time. I'd rather take the Chick-fil-A because I can get in and get out and have the rest of my day. Well, where is God in all of that? I honestly want to say, you can't give God two and a half hours of your time. Shame on you. Shame on you. So if you can't give God two and a half hours of your time on Sunday morning,

How much are you actually giving him the rest of the six days a week? Because if two and I spend that much time in the word in prayer on a daily, I spend a lot of time. A lot of time in prayer. And you people go, well, that's because you work for the church. I ain't doing it on work hours. A lot of stuff is not during my work day. And I have worked and still done a lot of that in my work day. So no, that's unacceptable.

But I question when people can't give God more than 50 minutes, and that is from the beginning of a service to the time you're walking out. That's how long most church services take today. 50 minutes. And they have it for a growth track, and they've purposed so they can get as many people in and out as I possibly can. What are you actually, nutritionally, spiritually speaking? What nutritionally are you giving somebody in that amount of time, spiritually speaking? because what how much time are you giving them of the word and how much time of

intimate worship are you giving them? Yeah. None much. Right. But it makes people check the box and say, I've come to church and it makes a church grow. But are you, what are you growing? Mm-hmm. What kind of growth is there?

That's bondage. Yeah. Yeah. And it makes people feel like, oh, I'm saved and I'm good. Are you? Mm-hmm. Are you? I really question all of it.

There's no intimacy with God. Are you really saved? If you can't, like, your Sunday is indicative. If your mindset for Sunday service is indicative to, I only want to give 50 minutes of my time, what's your real world? What is your real world six days a week lifestyle with God? True.

Yeah, good question. I don't see it. I don't see it. And that would make me say, you're spiritually bound as well. Two cents girls, because I know both of you come from churches that were just like that. Yeah. I have experience in both.

Like my church that I attended growing up, like it was an all-day affair. Like we went in the morning. We had Sunday school. Yep. And then we had like a little small break where we would have lunch. And then we were back for the service. Yeah. Same here.

We were back. And there was no. Kitch Church. What was that? I sat in the pew. Same here. With my tambourine. Oh, Red Seeds. My gosh. I am embarrassed to say I had a tambourine too. No. Are you serious? Yes, I did, but I don't know if I used it, but yes. I didn't bring it all the time, but she actually used her. My dad had a tambourine. Wow. Of course he did. And so that was my like background. That was what like, form. me and I'm so glad although it was laced with a lot of legalism and blah blah blah but it really

Pentecostal holiness is really your foundation. I mean even though it wasn't called that right it's basically what it was it taught me the fear of God it taught me how to like set that time aside to be intimate with the Lord so I really am so thankful for that for that and then just when I met Jeff and you know just working for the church different campuses. Yeah, we kind of just, we,

we transitioned to more like the art style churches, which is very much, and we didn't last very long in those churches. We really didn't. Because we got to a point where we're like, what are we doing?

Like, what are we doing here? And so, yeah, being a part of both, like you understand, like, one is very shallow. And you could only go so far. You could only grow so much. Did you,

Did you think that, did you think when you were going there? Could you see where it was a slippery slope that you were taking steps backwards and you walk with God? Yeah. Interesting. One hot. Yeah. Absolutely. Is there any way to say that that's not possible for people?

I mean, I'm sure there are the ones that it doesn't happen. But on the whole, do you think it does happen? I say for Jeff and I, we really didn't take a ton of step backs because Sunday until this day, to this very day, Sunday for us is always the cherry on top. It's not our main course. It's not our bread and butter. Gotcha. We live a lifestyle of intimacy with the Lord. And so even though we were, you know, connected to, you know, more shallow-based churches in the past, we made sure that throughout the week we were feeding ourselves.

Yeah, which is a rare thing. Yeah. Do you think that that's rare in most of those churches since you attended them? Oh, yeah. I would say so. Yeah. it's because it's not encouraged it's not something that I taught I was taught there it was because of my background okay now that makes sense in the Pentecostal church

it taught me how to live a lifestyle of you know being set apart um and so that's not what I learned at yeah a day to day to day walk is what you learned to have yeah not a once a week an infusion yeah it is a big different it is really different when somebody teaches you to when you are taught that like it is something that daily has to be invested in. It's not like one day a week, which I don't think is taught in a lot of churches. Most of the churches I ever attended though, but you're talking about Gen X old style until I moved down here and it was a little bit different even at the churches I attended on here. But back in the day, it was like long days at church. You went there, started at Sunday school. You went to Sunday school. Then you went to church.

Then you went home. You took a nap and your butt was back there by six o'clock. And then you had a midweek service. You had a youth service. I lived. Yeah. I lived at the church. Oh, yeah. Literally. And then if you had a Christmas production, then all of that was on top of it. Right. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like I literally told. my youth pastor one time, I think I'm going to pitch a tent here because I live here more than I do at my house. I know. Yeah, totally. That's how I grew up. And I loved every minute of it. It was very special. What about you, Trace? Same. I did. Yeah, we went to church. Same thing, Sunday school. And then I went to church afterwards. I was somebody of God. And so then we go home, eat, and then go right back.

And then you went out to eat afterwards with your friends. Always at friendlies. Always. We were friendly too. Oh my gosh. Ours was friendly. Ours was friendlies too. Yeah.

And then, yeah, then youth on Wednesday or some kind of mid-service, like, depending on how old I was. But yeah, and we did VBS every single year. And there's Christmas stuff. And yeah. So, and then growing up, it's almost like that type of church, like almost was really hard to find. You know, like I was, I was looking. Like, I can't tell you how many churches. I went to with the girls.

Like we would just go to church after church after church trying to find something. And eventually I kind of got sick of looking. And so I just kind of settled. And, but I always was filling myself with like evangelists and pastors online and just trying to grow my walk with God in areas that I felt like I was not excellent in, whether it was like evangelism. Like, I'm not excellent at speaking to people randomly. So like, how can I be better at that?

And so I'd watch people that are excellent at that. And so I just try to always grow in some way, shape, or form. However, I did notice my family was pulling back from their walk with God when we were going to churches. That's interesting. 100%. And then I started coming here, and it was drastic difference. Like, Kylie was posting about, like, abortions and all this kind of stuff. And I'm like, where is this coming from?

Like, all this, like, hate for, you know, hurting the unborn. And so, and she would post about it on our socials, and she never did that when we went to other churches. Like, Pastor Tom put something in our heart that she was like, yeah, this is wrong. Right. Yeah. And so because, you know, they do like these, I was, she was like 15. So I'd say like that age group, they're passionate about something. Oh, yeah, they are. It's either being rebellious or finding a way to like hone in that rebellion, which is to make a stand, you know. So she had like an outlet to do that because it was spoken every Sunday. Basically, you know what I mean? Like he spoke against that for a while because of COVID. Yeah. So anyways, yeah. So I kind of experienced the same thing as Vanessa did. And although I didn't like, I didn't really see a lot. of like miracles and signs and wonders so I think it was kind of boring to me christian was boring to me for a while growing up um I knew there was more you know yeah see and uh we didn't see a lot of that the churches that I attended either but I did grow up in a home where it was it was faith-based whereas like if you got hurt you were prayed over we didn't go running to the doctor like it was

God will take care of it. God will heal. And like my parents didn't have health insurance because they were like, we don't need health insurance. God's our insurance. And so like it was way different. So I didn't attend necessarily churches that were like that, but it was taught in the house. Yeah. Like we stand. But it's crazy though.

Let's get back to us. We're going to go to what America is. America is free because of the Declaration of Independence. which a lot of people don't know this. A lot of people don't know history. It's true. Shame on you. It's true.

You should know what the Declaration of Independence is. If you don't, I mean, this is your history. This is what your country is made of. It's the meat of everything. America's free because of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. My goodness. People, like, need to know this stuff.

The sacrifices of what you, soldiers have done in order for you to be free. Some of them gave it all, which is their life. And then some gave their time and then limbs for crying out loud. People are walking around or not walking at all because of the price they paid for our freedom. Some of them, like, there are people who, like, mentally are ill now because of the things that they experienced. Did they have to be? No, because God can take care of them.

all of that, but they live with mental illness because of the things they experienced as a soldier. And we as Americans need to be grateful and have gratitude for the Declaration of Independence. If you don't know what that is, then you're not grateful. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, big time, the sacrifice that men and women have made in order for you to be free. It's ridiculous. And there's a lot of people who take these freedoms for granted. And there are millions of of people around the world that do not enjoy the freedoms that we do because people weren't willing to pay the price that people have made for us on a daily. Exactly. So I want to do is we pulled some videos of people from other countries who like have visited America for the first time because of the World Cup.

And what they've been astounded at And it's pretty crazy Because we, I was shocked because I mean We take it for granted. Yeah, we do. And these people don't get it at all. I mean, from simple free refills on soda to... And chips in salsa at the Mexican restaurant,

the Japanese could, they were like, we didn't earn these. Because their culture is all about, like, if you do something for them, like, now they all use something. They're like to go back to the clean the dishes. Uh-huh. To just, just what each state offers as far as scenery goes. Yeah. They're astounded at what they are able to, just from going from one state to the next.

Yeah. What that state you can experience in. Interesting. We hear all of these, like, good stories from a. America. And like we didn't know we were hosting all these countries, but we showed up. You know, like we're, we're the hostess with the mostest right now. We are. And we don't even know it. There are no stories coming out of Canada. And they're teams in Canada. And they're like, yeah, they're like, Canada's not. Because there are, everyone says Canada's like friendly and

blah, blah, blah. Oh yeah. It's the, they're experiencing the complete opposite in Canada. Interesting. Really? Well, they're a little testing now. They've been through, uh, with Justin Trudeau. He put them in a really bad place. We're having the best time here in America. Let me tell you. Yeah, we are. And people love the southern states. Oh, they do.

They're loving their ranch. And the ranch. CSA is having a really hard problem with people trying to bring ranch back home. Oh, my. They're like, gosh. Are you kidding me? You can't pack this in your carry on. You can't get ranch in another country.

Apparently not, not this ranch. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it's a real big problem right now. Okay, well, let's look at it because we got a few of them for you guys. There is so, these are so much fun to watch. I know. I lost them. They were in my algorithm.

Yeah. And then they got, they were gone. I didn't see any of these ever. My algorithm never touched the world. All of these. It's all, I enjoyed watching them for the first time. I know. Okay, we'll do yours.

One thing that absolutely took us back when we were in the U.S. is how amazing Americans' manners are, okay? We got called MAM and Sir, so many times. and it literally took us back because I was like wow it made me feel so special and like I can't explain the feeling it made me feel so good inside because I've never been called ma'am before have you been called shana was frothing at the bit what I've been called sir before but not all the time I love the fact that in the US you guys do that so ma'am it's really polite and it also makes you feel I don't know more like comfortable it makes you feel great and we just don't really cool

that doesn't really it doesn't happen at all it doesn't so you're right are you doing mate Yeah, you're good, yeah. You're right, man. Whereas, hello, sir, hello, ma'am. Sounds real. You would think that we would be more posh over here in the UK and we would do it, but it's the other way around. You guys in America are doing the sir and man thing.

We found it was more from people with southern accents. People from the south. In California, they didn't do it so much. In the south, when we met people from Texas and somewhere else, they were really like, sir, sorry mammy, sorry, mammy. You know what we mean. It's so polite, and we love it so much, and we can't wait to visit the South to experience the hospitality that you guys are

because I can imagine it's so amazing. And Shana can't wait for biscuits and gravy. Mmm. One thing that I have found out why America is so great. And it is one thing and one thing only. Lirk in this evening. It is the greatest thing. I can turn it up on this.

I have ever experienced. It is hotter than Satan's butt hack out here. But what makes it better ball is the... is the air conditioning. I believe you need to add a verse to your national anthem that talks about air conditioning. Americans are only scared of one thing, and that is being hot. But I love it. I love it. Is it something you have against being hot?

Because the air conditioning, the ice in everything... Hello? Something that I figured out while being here is that ice makes everything better. Better. I am convinced Americans put ice in every drink the other day. I was out for breakfast. And I was at a cafe. I look over and a man had ice in his milk.

In his milk. So gross. Ice. Americans love ice so much. You do. The Titanic, no, the Titanic, whatever you say. The Titanic? I believe the Titanic was out to get more ice.

Here in Texas, I see these signs that say that some people want ice. I don't understand that and then people tell me that ice will take me away. What is this? There's a pub in the supermarket. He is blown away that Harris Teeter has a pub. It's absolutely not real. I just want to experience what it's going to feel like to actually walk into the stadium. It's like stepping into a fridge.

This place is absolutely insane. Bucky. There's like... Bucky, fos. It's like Disney. This is my new favourite shop ever. He's fucking... Unbelievable. That could be the best one of the best burgers I've ever had.

Have the craziest things going on. I'm in an American school bus right now and it looks like Saman movie. What? Check out all that meat. Again, a super American to have it all out like this. Bacis has slushes, coffee, sandwiches, bikinis. Everything you want. Everything you want. Free plastic bags is crazy. We haven't had that in Australia for like 10 years. For the last hour, well, I'm in here.

Waffle House. It's so good. It's so good. When you find out that America has free refills. Something I love about America is the patriotism. Look at this place. Look at it. Before coming here, I thought patriotism was something that you only see in the movies.

And then I came here and you see the flag everywhere. On people's house, neighborhoods, on businesses. on businesses, sometimes you drive your car on the highway and you see a huge flag. And like there is something so cool about people feeling genuinely proud of their country. Now they wait. An la... And now I'm excited to see how it's gonna look like for 4th of July. Because if I see American flags everywhere right now, I don't even know how it's gonna look like for 4th of July.

I think it's going to be the craziest experience I'll ever have in my life. So Americans keep being proud of your country. Don't listen to what people say on social media and stuff like that. And keep this patriotism because it makes the country even more beautiful. We are all currently witnessing the world healing right now. And here's why. Since the World Cup has started, we have seen so many people from across the globe come to America and absolutely love it.

They are understanding that America is one of the greatest countries on the planet. There is so much to do and that the people are just wonderful. And the best thing about that is it's all the simple things, whether it's Waffle House, whether it's 7-Eleven, whether it's just big trucks. Everybody is loving America. Now there's also a flip side to this that not a lot of people are talking about, but we've seen it all over social media,

how America is taking witness to all the other people from across the globe coming here and showing off their culture. Whether it's the Scottish in Boston who are tearing it up and making themselves loud and proud or it's the Japanese clearing up stadiums after games. The world is coming together and it is such a beautiful thing to see. So hey, if you're out there and you see someone from a foreign country or if you're someone who's foreign and you see an American, integrate, be welcoming, enjoy it. And to all the Americans who just aren't big fans of soccer or doubt its capabilities,

shows you the absolute love and the unity that it brings to everybody across the globe. And as always, if you want to see my adventures in America, drop. Oh my gosh, I love that. I actually had that thought. I'm like, why does somebody like, Why does somebody like each other? I'm like, wait, is this ruining something for somebody? Yeah. It was so funny. But yeah, no, it is.

Somebody was talking about this being like the best sleepover ever. The best is like when all your cousins come to sleep over. I know. And it's crazy. It's crazy. It's what happened when you try to like do all this propaganda and then they actually come and experience it. Which is what's been going on.

All these countries have bad mouthed America. Yeah. And all these people have bought into it. And that's one of the things that everybody's saying. and like we were told that it was one way and it's actually another way. Oh my gosh. And I've been lied to. Live here that talk badly.

And they're like, oh, okay, must be terrible there. And I wish I would have saved the video, but there was somebody talking about who's here visiting from another country, visiting for the World Cup. And he was like, when they announced America being the host of the World Cup, they were actually like dreading it. They were like, ah, we don't want to go there. Because, I mean, they talk badly about it. Well, they also make it sound like. It's very dangerous. So they were, I mean, leading up to the World Cup, people were just like, it's going to be the worst World Cup of like that it has ever happened.

And they were just talking so much trash about America. And then they come over here and we're like the best. Oh, yeah. And what's so funny is because I've seen a few of those that are like that. And they're like, we're more safe here than we are in our own country. Like we can't walk at nighttime in our country. Right. We're walking outside at night in the United States. Oh, that's how you are.

We never thought we would be able to do that. Right. When Deward came from South Africa, he was like, you just leave your power washer outside when you leave for the day? And I'm like, yeah. It's like, somebody would steal that in two seconds. And I'm like, oh, it's like, this is Deep Creek. Yeah. This is Pontagora. We're not in the projects here.

Right. But, yeah, apparently it didn't matter. Like, I don't know. It is really crazy. It's wild. It is what we have here is really wonderful. We're very blessed. I mean, oh my gosh.

It's so special. And if you didn't know it, now it's like being proven over and over again. But spiritually speaking, which is if you're a believer, that is beyond special. Like, again, you put the two and two together. Right. Being a believer and getting to live in America. Like, my gosh. We are like beyond.

Yeah. It's like talking about the kingdom of God. Yeah. And it's like you try to tell everyone. Just do it. Do it or like do it. God's right here. Do it this way.

Right. It's so much better. It's so much easier. It's like so life giving. Just do it. And they're like what? And they're watching CNN. It's telling them the other alternative.

They believe a lie. They absolutely and they, it's their truth. And they believe. leave a lie until they taste and see that the Lord is good. And then it's like, what was I thinking? America ain't so bad. I should have done this a long time ago. Oh, I know.

That's so true. It is so true. Second Corinthians 317 says, now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And thank you, Lord, for that. And when you have that, then you don't have bondage anymore. and you are free. You're free from fear, shame, bitterness, offense, comparison, people pleasing, unforgiveness, anger, anxiety, past mistakes, addictions, and wrong thinking.

And a lot of Christians walk around in that, but are they free? No, they're not free. They're in complete bondage. What are you going to say? Yep, no. Yeah, it's, if you think about it, America's freedom, an order for America to be free, it cost them or it cost us people's lives. It costs family members, losing a family member. There are sacrifices made. Family members not being around family, like dads not being able to help raise their children

because they were in another country fighting or protecting. and then a mom is having to raise, she's sacrificing because she doesn't have her husband, so she sacrifices being a single parent. Well, if you think about it, spiritual freedom is the same exact thing. It costs something. And what it did, it cost Jesus everything. And that means that just like the sacrifice for family members, for us to have our freedom, it costs those family members.

And some of us have experienced it because we have family who served. But then you think about it on the spiritual level, that cross was not cheap and cost God, his son and Jesus's life. And understand the price that was paid, you are so rich and so blessed because of it. And then you add in being an American on top of that. and then you understand the price that was paid and how rich and blessed you are because of it, don't ever take either of these things for granted. Because you didn't have to be born here and Jesus didn't have to die for you.

So understand you are the richest and the most wealthiest person, whether it is, maybe it's not in finances or you don't see it in your finances, but you don't need to. You need to understand the gifts that have been. given to you and you could be living in a whole different place without the greatest gift that was ever given, which was Jesus himself. And he did it. That's the crazy thing. He was the one that willingly gave up his life. So 1st Peter 1, 18 through 19 says you are not, you are not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ. And that is powerful. So make sure

you celebrate on 4th of July, the 250 years of liberty that you have, be thankful for the country you live in and honor the ones that gave their lives for it, along with making sure that you're grateful on that same day for the price that Jesus paid for you to have that same freedom. because spiritual freedom is way more valuable than, you know, living in the United States. But when you put the two and two together, like we've been saying, man, you got the cherry on top. Like I literally, you pinch yourself and you sit there and go, I am so blessed. True. So that's all I got to say.

America. Marica. We will say, do you guys want to add anything? No. We're going to miss you. I know. We will. I know.

But we'll be back in the first week of August. Better than ever. Better than ever. Well rested and ready to go. Yes. And it's going to be hotter than you know where. Yes, it is. But crack of Satan, as that man said.

But not in this room. Not in here. It's always cool. It's always cool in here. Love you guys. See you in August. Have a great summer. Bye.

Bye.