Pastor Josh Howerton

The entire increase in abortions after the overturning Roe happened before Trump took office under Biden. Literally all of them.

Carlos Arazo

Media outlets are actually calling it the most openly religious World cup in recent history. Some people are even calling it the World cup of Faith.

Pastor Josh Howerton

The world is constantly telling your kids stories, but watch. Whoever tells the best stories wins.

Carlos Arazo

Well, hey, lit free nation. Before we jump into the episode, this podcast is recorded right here at Lake Point Church in Dallas, Texas. Texas. But the live free nation is spread all over the country and all around the world. So if you've been watching and thinking, man, I wish I could be part of something like this. We want to invite you to take a simple next step, and that is join us for church Online. Every weekend we stream our services live on YouTube, Facebook and our church online platform. And it's more than just watching a service. There are live hosts in the chat, prayer teams ready to stand with you, and people all around the world worshiping together in real time. And so whether you're exploring the faith, coming back to church, or just looking for a place to start, church Online is a great way to jump in and experience what God is doing here at Lake Point. We would love to see you in the chat this weekend and now enjoy the podcast. Hey, welcome back to another episode of the live free podcast. My name is Carlos Arazo, and today I am here with the one and only Pastor Josh Howerton.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Hey.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And

Carlos Arazo

our friend Paul, Paul Cunningham, who is here wearing this shirt that says, someday I will go to Israel.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Oh, my gosh. I can't believe y' all did that.

Carlos Arazo

Oh, man, that's. That's the team right here. That was. That was definitely the team.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Shout out, Paul.

Carlos Arazo

Amen.

Pastor Josh Howerton

You're here in, in spirit, my friend.

Carlos Arazo

Paul, love that you're here. Thank you for joining us today, bro.

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's hysterical right there. Hey, so here's what we're going to do in the next few minutes. By the way, I'm just going to give you a heads up. We're going to. We're. We're gonna speedrun this thing. We're gonna try to speed run this thing because we have. I'm pretty geeked out about it. We have, like one of my favorite authors, period, coming in, Raymond Ibrahim, to do a. I think it'll probably end up being a bonus episode, if I had to guess. Very likely talking about some Islam stuff. Dude, do you know who this guy is?

Carlos Arazo

I've seen it, but I've just heard you talk about his books.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, so, like, how, dude, so little backstory. I sleep terrible. I wake up from like, usually 2 to 4am like, so what I do is I read myself back to sleep. I read military history. So a few years ago, dude, I pick up this book, Sword and Scimitar. And it's Raymond Ibrahim, he's an Egyptian Coptic Christian who. I don't want to. I don't want to spoil anything. That he did Arabic studies at Georgetown during 9 11. He's in the back stacks of. He gets a job at the Library of Congress. He's in the back stacks. I remember when this happened. Like, I remember him first being the news. He's in the back stacks of the Library of Congress where he's got access to stuff nobody else got access to. So then bin Laden back in the day, do you know who that is?

Carlos Arazo

I do.

Pastor Josh Howerton

You're like 19 years old.

Carlos Arazo

No, I was there.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, good. All right.

Carlos Arazo

Like alive. I mean.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Oh, good. How old were you in 2001?

Carlos Arazo

I'm pretty sure I was in fourth grade. Yeah, you.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I was like 37. Okay, okay. So bin Laden. Okay, we gotta get past this. But I do wanna set this up. Cause I'm pretty geeked out about it. Bin Lad Biden was sending communication to some pretty progressive media outlets throughout the world. BBC, American news outlets about, hey, these attacks are because of American colonialism and your racist genocide. And dude, honestly, a bunch of media outlets just ran with it. So this dude, Raymond Ibrahim, Arabic studies, Egyptian, Coptic Christian, he stumbles across in the back stacks of Library of Congress the actual Arabic communication that Bin Laden was sending to other Muslim groups. And it's the exact opposite of what he's sending to all these media outlets. It's essentially like, hey, we're doing this because we're supposed to kill the infidels. And so then he comes on the scene. Ibrahim did, because he wrote a book called the Al Qaeda Reader, where he was like, hey, guys, here's what they're actually doing. And he. Because he read everybody, he translated all of it. So then he blows up on the scene. So then he. So he's in America. So for podcast listeners, I promise we're going to get to the podcast here in a second. I'm just geeking out that we get to have him on the pod. He's in America and he starts noticing that all these. He would never say this, but like, all these dumb Americans, they're teaching all their kids that the Crusades were just evil, racist, genocidal Christians that just attacked a bunch of Muslims for no reason. Because they're evil, racist, genocidal colonizers. And because his whole thing is. I think he did his senior dissertation on the Battle of Yarmulk or something like that. That was the first Muslim conquest. So anyway, his whole thing is knowing the first five centuries. He's like, he notices what America is telling all their kids and he writes this book going, hey, everybody, everything you're being taught about the Crusades is a lie. Here's what actually happened. So I read this guy. It's about the first five centuries of Muslim conquest leading up to the Crusades. And then Defenders of the West. And this is a hardcore book.

Carlos Arazo

That's crazy.

Pastor Josh Howerton

This is just. It's 10 little vignettes of these guys that were essentially the Christian men that defended the Christian west against Muslim.

Carlos Arazo

So anyway, that's amazing.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

I'm.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I'm pretty geek. We got to speed around this.

Carlos Arazo

That's right. That's right, man. We're going to have a great episode today. We're going to go Hebrews, chapter 12, because we're coming off of week one of the Movies. We're going to be asking, hey, Pastor Josh, how do you run the Christian race Faithfully? What are some. Watch out. Pitfalls and temptations. You have a lot of wisdom here to share. In just a second. I'm. I want to ask you as well, well, why do some Christian leaders make it and then others fail very publicly? And then at some point also, I think you will be exposing some mega church pastors today in this episode, and you're going to be sharing some things that most people don't know there are that need exposing. That's right. We also have an Air War segment where we're going to be reacting to a video where we have Vice President J.T. van sit down with Ross. Dut.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

We.

Pastor Josh Howerton

We debated on how to pronounce this. I've been watching and reading Ross for a long time.

Carlos Arazo

I've read his. I've actually read his book, like a long time ago.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Doubtless.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah. Something about religion being in Heretics. Yeah. I appreciate.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Catholic guy, works for the New York Times.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So the reason I want to talk about this is he, honestly, he makes some good points and he saw I'm going to pull our punch. He did this interview with J.D. vance. It was like, super interesting where he went, hey, man, I know that you guys are, like, saying that you're legislating, like, some Christian things. Thank you. Because Ross is a Catholic Christian. But he went, there's three ways I'm just gonna tell you where he's going because it's actually really interesting. Cause when he said it, I watched it. I was like, I wonder what's true and what's not about that. Cause he said three things. He said, there are three things you're doing that are explicit, not Christian. And he said, you just gutted usaid, so foreign aid, welfare, and humanitarian aid. He said, you're distancing yourself in some ways from the abortion thing. Pro life cost. And then he said, your tone, he's like. And I will show it to you in a second.

Carlos Arazo

It's gonna be interesting.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah. And I like, dude, I. We did some pretty. I did some pretty deep dive research on this thing, so it's kind of interesting.

Carlos Arazo

That's right. It's gonna be great, man. We just came from week one of at the Movies, bro. This is. If you're new here, this is a very unique sermon series we do once a year where we.

Paul Cunningham

Whoa,

Pastor Josh Howerton

that's hilarious, bro.

Carlos Arazo

You know what? You hit it so hard that it, like shook the whole room.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I know.

Paul Cunningham

It's.

Carlos Arazo

That's. That's anointing. I'm glad it were you.

Pastor Josh Howerton

It's the. It's the recent arm workout.

Carlos Arazo

Oh, there you go. Okay. We going to add the movies. We had the movie F1 with Brad Pitt.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah.

Carlos Arazo

And it was great, man. It was a good movie.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I will just say if you're. If you're in Live Free Nation, you've never made it to Lake Point. These are not online. It's in person only. That's right. And if you're ever going to come hang, this is. This is when you want to come hang.

Carlos Arazo

That's right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Make it to a campus.

Carlos Arazo

You want to come and come early because we have literally like thousands and thousands of people coming in here.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Dude, this week. I haven't gotten the numbers yet. Well over 30,000 people in person. It was stupid.

Carlos Arazo

Great first week. I also want to ask you, though, because this is a little bit of a different sermon series, Pastor Josh and I. I got some questions for you if you're okay. Okay. Well, here's my first one.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Pastor Josh, what are these questions?

Carlos Arazo

Are you like, these are objections, slash, coming from a place of skepticism, Perhaps out in the Internet, when people are hearing about this sermon series and they're like, man, I'm curious, but. But at the same time, I'm not sure about some things.

Pastor Josh Howerton

People don't do that on the Internet, Carlos.

Carlos Arazo

That's right. That was back there.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Formally encouraging and approving, especially an ex.

Carlos Arazo

That never happens. And so here's the first one. Pastor Josh, churches shouldn't be preaching worldly movies. Why are you doing this?

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, so first of all, let me take away the worldly. You read those questions like I told you to. That's what you said.

Carlos Arazo

Wait, you know what? You're absolutely right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So let me just point this out.

Carlos Arazo

What people say is churches shouldn't be preaching movies. Special jobs.

Pastor Josh Howerton

There you go, there you go. Here's my point. Is what? First of all, that's not what this is. So what I wanna make is for people who have never done this, this is not preaching movies. It's using movies to illustrate biblical truths. And here's what I would say is literally here's all this is what Jesus did in. We call them parables. Like all it is a parable is two Greek words mashed up into one. Para, which means alongside, ballet means to throw. So literally Jesus, the vast majority, teaches Jesus teaching ministry. All he's doing is he's taking stories, seeing some of which, by the way, dude, this is really interesting. We should actually have ChatGPT tell us which ones. Some of Jesus parables were modern day stories that were already popular in culture. Sort of like fables things, you know, that kind of thing. And then Jesus would take them and either twist them or change the ending to intentionally illustrate a biblical truth. That's literally all we're doing. We're taking popular stories in our culture and then throwing them alongside of a spiritual truth and then using to illustrate those things. So what I'm. I just want to say this. It drives me nuts when people like. You're preaching movies. No, dude, we preach a Bible.

Carlos Arazo

That's right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

We use little clips from the movies for these four weeks to illustrate the biblical truth. And you may think it's dumb and we. I don't care.

Carlos Arazo

Okay, so a lot of people quote, obviously one of the things. Yeah, yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Don't try to be holier than Jesus. There's Christians, there's a lot of Christians, like they're constantly trying to be holier than Jesus. You know, if. Don't try to be holier in Jesus. If Jesus is really good, making like a whole sermon, a story. Don't try to be holier than Jesus.

Carlos Arazo

That's a good word. Yeah, but sure, okay, movies, fine. But Pastor Josh, what you win them with is what you win them to.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah, I've heard that said before by all my reformed brothers on X. Yeah,

Carlos Arazo

all the people are going to come for the movies and then you Know, like now you've got to use movies like literally every single weekend for the rest of the year.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And so, so this is, you know that little phrase which you went with, you went into. That's the, that I will say it drives me just a little bit crazy because here's what I would just say. Just because a phrase rhymes doesn't mean it's true. So like, I will say, you all notice that I looked this up last year. It's something called the Eaton Rosen effect. And it's basically this little psychological effect that people have where when something rhymes or is like really catchy, there's something.

Carlos Arazo

It must be true.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Oh, and so like, here's what I would say. Roses are red, violets are blue. If you make something rhyme, people think it's true.

Carlos Arazo

Okay, wow.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And I would just say, like, that must be true. It's not true. Like the whole thing of what you win them with, you win them too. I would just say, well, great, man, if you're going to say that, I look forward to your church taking away all of its AC units and microphones and screens. Because, brother, what you win them with, you win them too. And I will just point out, dude, like the Bible, like explicitly tells the New Testament, huge crowds start following Jesus because he's healing people and feeding people. It's like, hey, man, that's not how. He didn't just win them to healings and meals. That's why they initially came and then they met Jesus and they were converted. Jesus, that's right.

Carlos Arazo

He met them where they're at. Okay, this is probably more from a Catholic or Catholic friends kind of asking this question, man. There's a. Why does it have to be such a lack of reverence for holy things in church?

Pastor Josh Howerton

It's too entertainment.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah, it's too much entertainment. Come on, man, it's church.

Pastor Josh Howerton

What I would just say, so here's the biggest thing I would say is here's what's really holy to God. People getting saved. That's what's really. You want to know what's holy? God, People getting saved. So that's the whole thing of there's more rejoicing in heaven when one person repents than when 99 people stay really righteous.

Carlos Arazo

That's right, man.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And dude, whenever I feel like we'll probably see in the next few weeks, I mean, no joke, thousands of people in some way indicate a first time decision, follow Christ. Now we got to disciple them, we got to help them evaluate those things. But that's, that's Very holy.

Carlos Arazo

That's right. On that note, we just finished week one. We got three more weeks left.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Boom.

Carlos Arazo

We'll see you here. Hey. Every single week we do a giveaway. So if you're on YouTube or Spotify, which, by the way, our platforms are growing every single week quite a bit. Comment hat. And we love to pick some of you for a giveaway. Also, if you want some of this merch as well, this shirt from Paul that says, someday I will go to Israel. We might. This might be a merch. And if. And Paul Cunningham can actually sign it for you as well.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Hey, we're going to send one to Nick Fuenis. There you go.

Carlos Arazo

And some other people online as well. Yeah, there you go. So also, subscribe, Follow us like all the things if you are here. Also, I want to invite you to download the Lake Point app if you want to find the show notes for this, the daily Bible reading. Plan an early release of this episode as well. Text the word app to 20411 or go to Apple or Google Store. Hey, Pastor Josh, have you been watching the World cup, dude?

Pastor Josh Howerton

So I.

Carlos Arazo

Hey, are you a fan of soccer?

Pastor Josh Howerton

Not at all.

Carlos Arazo

Okay.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I figured it's like, just not my thing.

Carlos Arazo

Okay. So no games, dude.

Pastor Josh Howerton

It's like so watching. Watching soccer. So I'm going to. I'm going to build up to this real quick. Watching soccer, most of the time, it's like how many people are on it on the field at the time? Is it 11 per team?

Carlos Arazo

I think so.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Honestly, it's like watching 22, like, NBA flop artists at the exact same time. I can't do it, dude. I can't do it.

Carlos Arazo

I think we got a little softer and softer over the years.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah. And then it's hard to watch like 90 minutes of stuff and they score like twice. That's right.

Carlos Arazo

If at all.

Pastor Josh Howerton

All right, but. So that. That said, but for every four years when the World cup comes around, all of a sudden I'm like, I'm the biggest soccer fan. It's just like my inner patriotism comes out.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And I'm like, I'm all in. So, yes, I have been.

Carlos Arazo

Did you watch the last USA game?

Pastor Josh Howerton

I did.

Carlos Arazo

Okay. Okay, Me too.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Crushed my soul.

Carlos Arazo

Me too. It was a little painful, bro. But I would say this. Something is happening in this World cup that a lot of people are asking, man. There's something very different and unique about this World cup. And media outlets are actually calling it the most openly religious World cup in recent history. Some people are even calling it the World cup of faith. And the reason is because you see this all the time. More than any other World cup, you see all these players and coaches and people publicly proclaiming their faith in Jesus. Or whenever they're asked, they're like glorifying God. They're praying together, literally. I want to show you some examples. So this right here is a photo of the USA team prayer huddle in the middle of the field. And literally this became like a tradition before and after the game. Whether they lost or whether they won, they're like, hey, we're going to give God glory. That's super public. Here's another example. This is right here is two teams. It's Germany and Curacao. After Germany beat Curacao, they came together and they started praying together. And people were asking them, hey, why are you like, why are you guys praying together? You're supposed to be on the opposite sides of each other. And what Felix Mecha, one of the German players said, he said, man, in the game we are opponents, but after the game we're all Christian brothers and sisters. And Jesus is glorified when we do this. And then another video right here. This is Felix Mecha, he's doing, before we play it, he does a gesture where he literally like falls on his knees. He takes his crown symbolically and he puts it in front of Jesus. This is the video.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I want to see it.

Paul Cunningham

Who is this,

Pastor Josh Howerton

bro?

Carlos Arazo

Insect it into my veins. Germany. Felix Mecha. And so here's what's interesting. This right here, what you're seeing is so unique in history, like the speed and the scale at which the name of Jesus is being proclaimed. We've never seen this before. And what people don't know this actually, the Bible actually prophesies this literally like 2000 years ago. If you think about this right now, we don't think about this often, but the World cup is actually the most watched sporting event like on the planet. Every single game literally there has like 175 million people watching. Last World cup in 2022. We've had over like 5 billion people tune in. People are expecting already for this World cup to break more records and maybe 5 or 6 billion people listening and tuning in to what's going on. And it's interesting, somebody could be asking, how is it possible that 2000 years ago Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, he said in this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. Acts, chapter one, verse eight and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses. Where? To the ends of the earth. Revelation, chapter seven. John sees his vision and he says, after this I looked and behold a great multitude from every nation, from all tribes, all peoples and languages, standing before the throne, crying, salvation belongs to our God. And so if somebody's asking, how is it possible that 2000 years ago we get to. We heard about this? Here's how it's possible. The Bible is true. Jesus is who he said he is. And there is not a single country, a single culture, a single territory, a single group of people that Jesus doesn't look at and he doesn't say mine. That's right. And one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is king of kings and Lord of lords, not just of your heart, but of every single nation. Boom.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Come on, man.

Carlos Arazo

That's what we see, man.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Dude, you know what? So this is one thing. It's like sometimes you're so familiar with something that's right that, like, the. The magnificence of it is lost on you. So, like, when Christians see people, they read about, like, every tribe tongue nation, you know, among all nations. I will say, dude, Christians, a lot of times, we're so used to seeing stuff like that. Dude, when those prophecies were made, you're talking about, like, there was a hundred and some of these prophets, there was 120 Christians.

Carlos Arazo

Yep.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Like, in the whole world, disciples were following Jesus. And the entire area in which all of the, you know, basically the entire Bible takes place is in an area the size of New Jersey. So it's like, dude, when you start seeing, like, literally every tribe tongue nation doing that, and then you remember those prophecies took place. They took place.

Carlos Arazo

That's right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

When there was, like, fewer people than some of our life groups at Lake Point. And now that's happening. Why? The Bible's true. The Bible's true.

Carlos Arazo

Jesus is who he said he is. Hey, I want to ask you a question.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I will allow it.

Carlos Arazo

What did it make to the sermon?

Pastor Josh Howerton

A lot. Okay. A whole lot. Because on these. On these at the movies weeks, it's like, so here's what we did. One of the passages that we really hit. I'm just going to read it because one of my favorite passages in the Bible, this is Hebrews chapter 12. Now remember, Hebrews chapter 12 comes after Hebrews chapter 11. You're really welcome for this.

Carlos Arazo

This is such a great podcast.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Incredible exegetical insights.

Carlos Arazo

But this man, we don't need Paul anymore. We got you.

Pastor Josh Howerton

We got this. That's it. He's on vacation. He's on vacation.

Carlos Arazo

He is, yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Here's what it says. Therefore, since we are surrounded.

Carlos Arazo

Not in Israel.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Sorry.

Carlos Arazo

Not in Israel. I'm so sorry. Go ahead.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith here for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, a lot of, like, we're talking, obviously, F1 is kind of like using F1 to illustrate kind of race dynamics. So let me just say a few things. First of all, what I love about this passage, when it says, so again, here's why I pointed out Hebrews 11 for Hebrews 12. Hebrews 11, obviously, is. Is that chapter a lot of Bible scholars will call the hall of Faith or the hall of Fame of Faith. And it's just riffs through, you know, 20 or so of the great people of the faith throughout the ages. Here's what I love when you get to Hebrews chapter 12, and it says, we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, obviously, the image that is kind of, you know, that it's given us is like, all these guys that I just wrote about in Hebrews 11. They're in the stands watching you, cheering you on. I will say, dude, Bible scholars have pointed out this passage is one of a few that make it at least seem like your dead relatives that were in Christ or the dead saints that before us, that in some way they might actually be able to see us. And, dude, I'll be honest, that, like, deposits a weight inside of me where it's like, hey, man, like Moses and Noah and Abraham. Like, man, these guys are watching Carlos Arazo, and they may be watching Josh Howard, him and watching, going, hey, keep going. Like, it's. Every sacrifice is worth it, you know, Give it everything you got, you know, to the very end. So, one, it's a. It's a comforting and encouraging thought to me. There's at least a hint and a possibility here that all your dead loved ones who knew Jesus, they're watching and they're cheering you on in your holiness. Okay, Number two, there's a couple things that are super interesting here. It says, lay aside every weight. Now, this is kind of a Little. We'll probably have to actually censor this when we do the pod. So what a lot of people don't know is, in the Greco Roman Empire, when they did their races, obviously athletics were a big deal. This Olympics originated in this culture. Go ahead and toss that up, Trinity. This is like an actual. It's a Roman pottery deal that was very well preserved of the. You know, of the races and athletics and you guys. Kind of awkward, but they're naked. Yeah, it's like. And that's legit how they did all their athletics. So what he's doing here is that was their mentality. Like, literally the phrase that they would use is, hey, man, before you run a race, you got to lay aside every weight. And what they're doing is they're trying to strip away anything that's not going to make them run faster. Okay. So what I will say, this is a little side note is it says, not just lay aside the sin that clings so closely. It says, lay aside every weight. There are some things in our lives as disciples where it's like, hey, man, that's not sin. It's just stupid. And, man, if I'm trying to fix my eyes on Jesus and run a really good race, man, it's not sin, but it is stupid. And there's some things that are not sinful that you still need to discard.

Carlos Arazo

There you go.

Pastor Josh Howerton

You know, man, it's just little stuff, like, I've noticed in my life. Here's. Here's. I don't. I don't want to deep dive on this specific thing we can maybe talk about later. How to run a good race. Like, I've noticed in my life that the more time I spend in front of a screen, the less time my soul spends meditating on the things of God.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Hey, man, is it a sin? No. Is it stupid? Yeah. Like, there have been seasons in my life where I've never been drunk in my whole life, you know, but I will. You know, this is a whole. You guys already cover this on podcast, like, every now and then, man. You know, I've, again, never been drunk in my whole life. I like a bourbon. I like a bourbon. Never been drunk in my whole life. There are some little seasons where it's like, I've been, you know, under more pressure or whatever, and Jan will be like, hey, man, instead of just having one this week, you had three. And it's like, on three different nights, and we're talking about one drive. Again, never been drunk in my life. There's Some little seasons. Is that a sin? No. Might it be stupid? Yeah.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So I will just say, I wish I'd had time to talk about that. Like examine the areas of your life and go, man, I'm not just asking, is this a sin? I'm asking, does this help me run my race? Well, and if it's not, let me get rid of it. Now, one other thing I want to point out here. So when it says in Hebrews 12, it says, you know, to run the race. So this is really just. I want to riff on this for a second because there's something here. So this is a super dominant analogy in the New Testament. In fact, right after at the movies, we're going into Fight. The Good Fight series where it's preaching verse by verse through second Timothy is gonna be awesome. One of the analogies he uses is race running. You get the same thing in First Corinthians, it's over and over. In the Scriptures, it's run a race, run a race, run a race. Okay, what's really interesting, especially in Hebrews, the word that gets translated, race, is the Greek word agon or agon. That literally is the root word from which we get our word agony. Okay, so here's what it's doing. What is really clear in the text is it's not talking about like, dude, it's like, you know, if Hudson's like, dad, let me race you down the driveway. It's like, it's like literally a 10 second race. There's no agony. This is talking about a sustained long term struggle type of race. It's like Eugene Peterson, dude, it wrote the message.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

By the way, I also had a, like discipled Bono. There's a little thing there. We should tell that story someday. He wrote this book, I love the title. He just called the Christian life a long obedience in the same direction. Okay. So what it's saying is now here's. Let me go layer deeper on this. So it's making really clear in a text, it's going, hey, man, the Christian life, it's not a sprint. But what some Christians do is they go, hey, man, it's like I was told this, hey, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. Marathon sprint. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. I honestly think if you zoom out and look at the entire scriptures, it's really. It's not a sprint. It's actually not also a marathon. The advance of the Gospel throughout the ages, it's not a sprint. It's Not a marathon. It's a relay race. Okay, here's why I say this. Judges two, ten. So, bro, this. This is the kind of thing like it keep you up at night. So you get the whole book of Joshua. You got all the miracles God does. You know, he's marching around walls seven times, they're falling down, and you know every battle that God gives them and you know all the things they spend. This is the generation that sees all of the miracles of God for the conquest of Canaan, literally in the first part of the book of Judges comes right after Joshua. Here, I'm going to read you this verse that'll keep you up at night. It says in all that generation that saw all that stuff, all that generation also were gathered to their fathers, and they do. This is the verse to keep you up. And then there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work he had done for Israel. So, bro, what happened is that generation, they did fine.

Carlos Arazo

Wow.

Pastor Josh Howerton

They ran their quote, unquote race, they ran their marathon, but they do this. This really. It really bugs me as a dad. But they didn't. They thought. They only thought of their Christian life as a marathon, and they did not think of it as a relay race. And they dropped the baton of faith. They did not pass it to their children. And so this, the kids of the same people who, who they. Their dads walked seven times around a wall and blew trumpets and the thing fell down and God gave them everything. That generation's kids didn't know the Lord and they didn't know any of the stories of what he'd done. Now, how's that happen? All right, let me, Let me. I want to connect some dots. People usually don't connect. Okay, there's this verse in second Timothy three. And hey, man, we don't know the dates or times when Christ can return. We're going to know the times and the seasons. So it tells us something about that. And it says in the last days, it says there will be terrible times. And what it says is, so there's going to be a great falling away. There's going to be an apostasy. People who used to say they were on Team Jesus, now they're not on Team Jesus anymore. That's an apostasy. It says in that time, people will watch this. They will have a form of godliness, but denying its power. So, dude, here's what I've seen. And this is for, like, all the moms and dads. And actually, if we want to talk about this, I'd like to talk about it for just a quick second. But for all the moms and dads and all the grandparents and all, and the people who are going to have kids someday, here's the thing. What I've seen is, okay, I said former godliness, but denying his power. That's why they fell away. Here's the three generation slide from a generation of people who are like all out walking with Jesus to their grandkids don't know the Lord or the things he'd done. The first generation, they know God and they see his power. The second generation, you know, anytime there's like the power of God, move of the Spirit, all that stuff, there's some weird stuff. That's how it always works. Any move of the spirit, this is a little takeaway. In any revival or move of the Spirit, it's going to be 80% God, 10% man and 10% Satan. They're going to try to get up in there and do some weird stuff and make people. So the second generation, they'll see some weird things done in the name of the power of God, in the name of the Holy Spirit and so they'll know God, but then they'll reject the power. They're like, I want God, but don't do the weird stuff happens when you do the power. I don't want the power. Okay. But then the third generation, they reject God because they saw no power. Three generation slide. Okay? That is why. And I got a whole little thing on this, in my opinion, charismatic Christians like people who, you know, high belief in the power of the Spirit, relationship with the Holy Spirit. In my opinion, bro, just watching over the years, charismatic Christians don't deconstruct their faith as much, in my opinion. The reason I say that to you is my little thing is if an argument got you into the faith. Yeah. Then a better argument can get you out. Yeah. But nobody can argue you out of an encounter with a living God.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah, I see that. I mean, I came from obviously charismatic Pentecostal background, but I've seen some things and experienced some things that I like at some point. Like, I will never forget this. And I have zero explanation. Unless the Lord is real, I'm not going anywhere.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Same dude. Same dude. Exact same thing.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So I just like when this passage is talking about a race. Like as a dad, when I open my Bible and I read those verses, I gotta have a bigger vision than just my race. My job is to make sure that the next generation, to the best of my ability, is running their race.

Carlos Arazo

That's good. It's funny. This morning, so I'm reading the Bible in order, and so literally, I'm just in the Old Testament right now, and I finished reading.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Are you doing chronological order, or are you just reading, like, oh, just my Bible, like, literally just, like, straight through Genesis.

Carlos Arazo

I started, like, I go slowly. So I started, like, two years ago in the New Testament, and literally just, like, read it in order, and I'm in, like, the prophets right now in the Old Testament. I just finished reading Jonah, and we all. We all know Jonah's story. He goes to Nineveh, preaches the gospel, and. And basically everybody repents. It's like a whole revival in a very, quote, wicked city. Yeah. Then I'm. Now, I just started today the Book of naam, which, you know, nobody. That's. It doesn't get a lot of. It's not a very popular book.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Not a lot of people woke up this morning. You know, I'm hoping they talk about Nahum today on the podcast.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah, yeah, There you go. So I just started the Book of Nahum, and the first, like, the title is like, a condemnation over the people of Nineveh. And I'm like, wait, Jonah already preached repentance, and it was revival happening all over.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Bingo.

Carlos Arazo

And then I'm like. And then I'm researching a little bit, and it's like, oh, that was a different generation. So revival happened, and then over time, what you see what you said happened, happened. The baton was not passed. And then here comes Nahum, and he's preaching basically, hey, God will judge you for your behavior because you fell away from basically your parents.

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's right.

Carlos Arazo

And so, anyways, I want to ask you.

Pastor Josh Howerton

This generation arose that knew not the Lord nor his mighty acts. That's what happened.

Carlos Arazo

Chaos happened. And then Pastor Josh, this is not a parenting podcast, but I do want to ask you, man, you. I feel like you. You know a lot about this. How do you pass the baton to your kids? Like, give me. Give me something practical for people to know, man. As a parent, this is what I need to keep in mind, and this is what I need to do for my kids.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah. Well, let me just say I feel like. Honestly, dude, I feel like we need to talk about this more on the pod.

Carlos Arazo

We probably should.

Pastor Josh Howerton

The reason I say that is, you know, by the way, I'm just gonna shout out, shout out live Free nation. These guys, all these. These kids, like Carl, Carlos, and everybody over here, we did the. We. So we did a little swot. Analysis pod this week and these guys, these guys are giving me data. I didn't know this stuff, dude.

Carlos Arazo

I just kind of walk in and

Pastor Josh Howerton

do my thing in here. I think there were a couple, last couple months it's been like almost 6 million downloads of this, this dumb little podcast, so. And what our data shows is a whole bunch of like younger guys and dads. So honestly, heads up, we probably need to hit this more often.

Carlos Arazo

We might.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So let me say a few things here because right now there's like nothing more important in my life. First of all, let me tell you a mentality shift that I've had when I was a younger pastor. And maybe there's nothing wrong with this dude. I would travel over land and sea if there was a pastor whose church was blowing up and he was faithfully preaching the gospel and seen a move of God. Like, dude, I would, for real. I've slept in parking lots, I've driven 16 hours in a day for a 30 minute meeting. You know all the things, if God's doing that, I'll be honest, dude, at this point in my life, I don't care if your church is 50,000 people. Honestly, I don't care if there's a pastor who, his kids are grown and they love him and they love the Lord and they love each other. I'll be honest, I'll plan entire vacations to spend time with that guy. In fact, just shout out. Jan and I twice have taken vacation and some, by the way, if you're listening, please understand, like, this is not bragging. I'm trying to put things in perspective. You know, it's like Lake Point. We'll have, I don't know, I bet when the numbers come in, we'll have almost 35,000 people here.

Paul Cunningham

This last week,

Pastor Josh Howerton

twice Jan and I have flown to this remote corner that's nearly impossible to get to of Wenatchee, Washington. Shout out, yeah, the People's Republic of Washington. To spend time vacationing in the home of a guy named Josh McPherson, whose church is, I don't know, I don't know, 2,000 guys, which is, by the way, that's an amazing church. Let me just say that. Washington, yeah, in Washington, man. But I think a lot of people would go, like, well, why would you, where your church is that size, go over there? Well, you know why, man? Because, dude, honestly, great. Cool, man. Your church, 50,000 people. That's so cool. When I'm an old man drooling on myself in a rocking chair and holding my wife's Hand on the back porch. Do you know what? I'm not going to care about a whole lot if my church made it to 50,000. You know, I am going to care a lot about are my three kids. Do they love Jesus and do they love me? And so now, dude, I'll travel over land and sea. So I'm right now, I'll just, you know, shoot you real straight. It's a weird. Honestly, dude, we didn't plan to maybe talk about this part. It's a weird part of my life where, like, all these opportunities are opening to me that honestly, when I was a little kid and God called me to ministry, it's like all this stuff that I was like, man, someday what if Lord do it in my generation, you know?

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And honestly, dude, I'm saying no to, like, seriously, I'm not joking.

Carlos Arazo

Like, I see it. Yes.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And. And you know why? It's because I got three kids who are 15, 11 and seven. And what God has given me a responsibility for those three kids that is different than the responsibility I have for anybody else. And so, like, right now, the thing that I'm focused on is running this race, the relay race. Not just my part of the race, the relay race, the race that has

Carlos Arazo

been set before you, not that race or some other race out there.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Bingo. So, like, let me just.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

All right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

For the dads, I'm just gonna, like, first of all, I'm in it with you. I'm failing forward with you. All the things I need, all the grace you have. And I always want to give a quick caveat that there are. I do not think, I do not see in the Bible a promise that is a math formula. If you do this, God promises this will happen for your kids. There's a whole little thing that I could do. I'm not gonna deep dive it, but if you go back to the Garden of Eden, you have a perfect father. Like God's literally the father. You have a perfect environment, Eden. There's not even any sin in Eden. You have perfect children with no innate sin nature. And yet, perfect father, perfect environment, perfect children still equaled rebellion.

Carlos Arazo

Oh, wow.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So I just want to point out, if there's a parent that, like, maybe, or grandparent and maybe your age starts with a 5, 6, 7, and your kid, it's not like you wish it was. I just want to lift a little. Shame on you that, hey, man, kids got their own. They make their own decisions. That said, that's good. That said, our job is to do everything. We got to Transfer the things. So I'm going to give you three little hacks right now, Lord willing, oh, Lord, make this be true for the next. Till I'm dead. Till all my kids are dead. Right now, all three of my kids, that Hudson just gave his life to Christ. I announced that on the podcast.

Carlos Arazo

That's amazing. That was celebrated.

Pastor Josh Howerton

He went to the new Christian classes last week. It's been so awesome. Dude, bro, can I tell you a story?

Carlos Arazo

Please?

Pastor Josh Howerton

All right, I know this is getting belaboring this thing.

Carlos Arazo

We want to know.

Pastor Josh Howerton

It was the best dude. So Hudson, this was the best dude. Hudson 7 praise on the back porch with Jada to trust Christ. All right, so he tells you all about. He's all excited. So the next week we fly over to high school camp and we take Hudson and just to let all the Christian families in on how it works. Hudson, he doesn't have the natural disposition to just like church. He's a seven year old boy that wants to run around and pee in the yard and throw sticks at things. So like, it's like, you know, so far we're doing the thing that you gotta do as a parent where it's like, well, we don't care if you like it or not. We're a Christian family. And so. Yeah. And so we just are constantly like, oh, buddy, we get to go to church. So we're doing that anyway. All right, so all this. So we go to high school camp and we're getting ready to bring him to worship. This is one week after he became a Christian.

Carlos Arazo

Yes.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And he says, at high school camp, do I have to go to worship? Dad, do I have to go to worship? And I do the thing I've always been doing. Oh, buddy, we get to go to worship. It's gonna be so fun. You know, that kind of stuff. So we get there in the middle of the deal, actually. Chad G. Paul C. Is sitting next to Hudson at high school camp and he texts me this picture. This has never happened before. I wish I'd have had it. Dadgummit. He texts me, this picture of Hudson is in the front row of the balcony, hands in the air, singing.

Carlos Arazo

I saw that.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I posted on IG Story. So he's singing. So then we get done and I ask Hudson the same question I've asked him every day for seven years. Buddy, how was worship? And usually he's like, I was ready to go home. Are we gonna play Mario Kart? Dad, you know, whatever.

Paul Cunningham

Yeah, yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So this time, for the first time ever, Hudson goes, it was so fun. Okay, so here's what I did. I stopped and I'm like, hey, buddy, can I explain something to you? So Hudson, here's what happened. Do you know why worship was never fun for you? And then this week it was fun for you for the first time. You see where I'm going. Well, here's why, buddy. Because you just became a Christian and when you gave your life to Jesus, God filled you with his spirit and the Holy Spirit inside of you, buddy. He likes to worship Jesus and now he lives in you. And that's why you like to worship Jesus for the first time in your life. And he's like, you're right, dad. You're a seven year old. You're right, dad. And dude, he said this, this is the best chatgpt. We didn't plan to talk about any of this, but I'm just telling about this. So if you're a dad or a parent, hopefully what you're doing is you're like, let's hear the story. This is what it looks like to do this stuff with your kids. So chat G Balsi's up there. And it's the night Clayton King gives the invitation. And 170 students give the life of Christ at the same all the students from Wangmak and Hudson. After the service, Paul asked him, what did you think of all the students, their lives to Christ? And Hudson tells Paul, man, I got a whole bunch of new brothers in Christ. But then he said this, but my favorite one's my dad. He actually said that. He actually said that. And I was like, you know, I'm like, you know, I'm not a big emotional guy. My eyes are sweating. I'm like, this is the greatest thing ever. Wow.

Carlos Arazo

So anyway, and that speaks to you, living out your faith at home. And he gets to see that firsthand.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So let me give. On that note, let me give three little parenting hacks. Okay? So I'm a third generation pastor's kid. I grew up, you know, 80s baby, 90s made me when I was in high school, it was like, it was like sort of the edgy, cool thing for pastors kids to rebel. That was like, that's cool, man. I'm going to bronze my hair and go emo and rebel against. You know, that was kind of like the vibe when I was in high school. I'll be honest, I never understood that. Like, it made no sense to me because I stinking loved being Pastor Rick's son.

Carlos Arazo

Wow.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I. It was like the greatest thing ever. I love being a Pastor's kid. I love being Pastor Rick Howard and son. So, dude, here's what I'm gonna give you.

Carlos Arazo

I'm not surprised, by the way.

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's it. You know my dad. I know you had breakfast with my dad right before this. You go, wow. So there are three things that when I look back, I'm like, my dad did those three things, and that hooked me, and I didn't even know it hooked me when it happened. Okay, so I'm going to rapid fire these. Number one. And I'm doing these with my kids. Number one, your faith doesn't got to. Let me start. Number one, your faith doesn'T got to be perfect. It does got to be real. All right, so. So here's what I mean by this, dude. My dad's a pastor growing up, so I'm watching him growing up. He's in the front row of every service all the time. And we, you know, we're forced to sit the front row as a result. So, like, dude, this is. This was a normal occurrence for me as a kid. You know, I look over and my dad's getting ready to do something in the service. It's in the middle of worship, and I look over, and my dad, who's also not a naturally super emotional guy, there's just little tears coming while he's singing the hymn or whatever the thing is. Okay, okay, well, here's the deal. I'm watching him, and what I'm seeing is he's not leading a service. He's worshiping a savior. And as a little kid, what I'm thinking is, man, I really want to know who he knows. So here's the thing. Did my dad seem perfect?

Paul Cunningham

Nope.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And I guarantee my kids are looking at me as dad perfect. Nope. Capital N with a nope. Your faith doesn't gotta be perfect. It does gotta be real. Okay, number two. And dude, this is super counterintuitive. All right? So, you know, you're a young dad, so internalize these, Carlos. Sure.

Carlos Arazo

Amen. I'm receiving it.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So this is. Okay, so here's the other one. All right, so what everybody tells you when you're a younger dad and the grandparents, you need to think about this, too, is, hey, man, here's the secret. You gotta get down into your kids worlds.

Carlos Arazo

Yes.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Carlos, Are they into cocomelon? You need to get into cocomelon.

Carlos Arazo

We're not. But yeah, yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Carlos, are they into, you know, Mario? Whatever. Okay, now let me just say there may be some truth to that, maybe a good strategy until they're like six, seven, somewhere around there. But what I say is, hey, listen, there comes a point where you don't need to get down into their world. Here's what you need to do. You need to pull them up into your world. Here's why I say this. Dude, this is. We got Bible verses for this, kids. Listen, if your kids. You're listening to this, I love you, but you are a fool now. And that's not even mean. That's literally a Bible verse. Like, literally the book of Proverbs says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.

Carlos Arazo

And if you disagree or you get offended, it proves the point. It proves the point.

Pastor Josh Howerton

All right, so here's the deal, man. All right? Dude, this is like total parenting hack. Okay? So kids, worlds are foolish, are full of rebellion and foolishness. So you don't want to get down into their world. You need to pull them up into your world. So in fact, Carlos, this is. And Miles is over there, all the dads, everybody's over here, okay? This is like whenever you see one of your kids that they start getting a little wobble in the wheel, okay? This is so important, dude. This is really, really important. Little parenting axiom. If you want to change the outputs, you got to change the inputs. If you want to change the outcomes, you got to change the inputs. So anytime you see one of your kids, it's like, bro, they got a little wobble on a wheel. Okay, here's what's going on. If you want to change their outcomes, look at their inputs. What kind of music are they listening to? What kind of TV shows are they watching? Here's a big one. Who are their friends? Honestly, that's like literally the biggest one. You determine your kids friends, okay? Ah, but they're kids and they have their own. No, no, you're the parent, you're the authority, okay? So it's like. So now let's apply this to this concept. If you want to run the race, well, you want to run the relay race, well, pass the baton. Well, what you want to do as they get older is you don't get down into their world. You pull them up in your world. Here's what my dad did when I turned like 13 and I started being a little interested in ministry. Like, dad would have church staff lunches and he would like sometimes like, literally pull me out of other stuff and be like, hey, Josh, do you want to come? The whole church staff is going out to lunch. You want to come with us? So here's what I'M doing. I'm growing up. Watch. Who am I surrounded by? Not evil, foolish idiots. Yeah, he's pulling me up into a world of wisdom and righteousness. So now I'm looking at wise, righteous people. And what that does when you're 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 is you're going, what? I'm like, looking up to these people. What type of life do I need to live to fit? This is how a 13 year old thinks to fit in with the people that I respect the most. And it's not foolish, rebellious idiots. It's wise, righteous, godly people. Listen, bro, that right there changes everything.

Carlos Arazo

Amazing.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So I'll just. Let me just say one last thing on this and I'll do the third one. Hillary Clinton wrote that book years ago about parenting. It takes a village. Okay, that's totally wrong. It's totally. And here's why I say this, man. People. It takes a village. I just need to get them around. People. Okay, well, here's the deal, Carlos. We didn't plan to talk about this.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

We're talking about.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, here's the deal, Carlos. If the village is full of pagans, then pagan villages result in pagan children. So check this out. It doesn't take a village. Do you know what it takes? It takes a redeemed village.

Carlos Arazo

Okay?

Pastor Josh Howerton

The Bible calls that a church.

Carlos Arazo

Okay?

Pastor Josh Howerton

So what you need is, hey, man, as your kids get older, you're not getting down in their world. You're pulling them up into your world of righteousness and wisdom. You want your kids, when they're around their peers, you're a leader. Your friends are righteous adults. You want to try to construct that world. Okay, last one, last one. Who? I got this from Josh McPherson. These little things, good little highlights. Whoever tells the best stories wins. So, bro, this is super interesting. You go back to Joshua, it's like, man, I wonder how in the world did a generation arise who didn't know the Lord or the mighty works thereof? Well, a generation failed to tell the stories. If you go, dude, this is interesting. If you go read, go read. This is actually very interesting. What I'll do a lot of times when I read the Bible every year is I'll almost walk into it with a lens that I'm reading through. So, like, there was one year where I was like, I'm reading the whole thing through the lens of being a dad. There was one year where I was like, you know what? I just want to. I'm gonna read kind of the whole thing and think about how does this apply to Governance and civilizations. And that's kinda there.

Carlos Arazo

Okay, what's the lens right now in this season?

Pastor Josh Howerton

The second one Right now? I'm. Right now I just. I'm halfway through Exodus, and I'm watching how God in his wisdom, constructs a nation.

Carlos Arazo

Wow.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So it's actually very. It may turn into a sermon series someday, but we'll get there. So. But here's what's interesting, Carla. Okay. The year, it was, like, three years ago, where I read the whole thing through the lens, like the dad lens, bro. If you go read the Old Testament constantly, God will do something awesome. And do you remember, okay, you know that hymn, Come Thou Fount?

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And one of the lyrics is Here I Raise my. Anybody remember Ebenezer? Ebenezer. Okay, so that word, Ebenezer, it's an English transliteration of a. I think it's a Hebrew word. Ebenezer. It means stone of help. So every time you see in the Old Testament, God will do something awesome. He'll be like, hey, guys, before you go anywhere, will you please pile up a bunch of rocks right here? And then the Hebrew that it says is, these rocks, they're gonna be your Ebenezer. Your Ebenezer, your stone of hell. And this is literally what it says. I love talking about it. This is literally what it says. It says, hey, I want you to do this so that every single time you and your kids pass by this spot, you remember what God did here. And what it's doing is, it's acknowledging. Forgetfulness is the greatest enemy of faith. Because when we forget what God did, we stop believing what he'll do. Okay, so let's check this out.

Carlos Arazo

Say that one more time.

Pastor Josh Howerton

This is really important, dude. Okay? Forgetfulness is the greatest enemy of faith. Because when we forget what God did, we stop believing what we'll do. So God literally constructs in the family systems of the nation that he establishes all of these little piles of rocks all over the country. So that every time you, as a dad, Carlos, walk past that little spot, you tell your son this baby, this is where Joshua walked around the wall seven times and they blew the trumpets and the Lord fought for us, and we didn't have to do anything. Hey, buddy, did you know that when you're in trouble, the Lord will fight for you, too? You see what he's doing? So when you read Deuteronomy, Exodus, you know, numbers, all these things, it's literally telling them over and over and over. Tell all the stories to your kids.

Carlos Arazo

Wow.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Tell all this now. Here's the big idea. The world is constantly telling your kids stories, but watch. Whoever tells the best stories wins. When I was growing up, dude, and I didn't realize it was making this an effect on me when I was growing up. Again, here's what we're doing. We're just talking. How do you apply Hebrews 12. That's all we're doing right now. I didn't realize this was making an effect on me. When I was a kid, my whole childhood was sitting around the dinner table and, you know, just to brag on my mom and dad and them sitting down and them going, hey, guys, there's this widow in our church that is in need, and she just lost her job. And we're not going to tell her that it was from us, but what would you guys think if we secretly gave her $1,000? And I'll just be honest. In the family I grew up in, $1,000 was a big dad gum deal. A lot big deal. What would it be like if. Would you guys, what if we gave her $1,000? And hey, just heads up, guys, if we do that, there might be a couple things we can't buy this month. But do you know what a blessing it'd be to be able to drop this check off and she'll never know it was us? Wow. Or like, hearing the stories of, like, my mom and dad that happened growing up for you? Oh, dude. Constantly stuff like that happened. My mom and dad, stuff like this. My mom and dad, they got married in college. My dad, like, pretty brand new Christian, got pretty radically saved out of, you know, some alcohol stuff and all this stuff. And. And so neither, you know, they don't got any money. They qualify. This is the holy. They qualified for government assistance. This is the type of guy my dad was. But my dad was like, I'm not taking it because I, you know, I need it. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. I'm talking. I'm dignifying my dad. I'm not downgrading you if you are, if you do receive something like that. My dad was like, no, man, I'm going to be responsible for my own family. So that's just the financial situation. But my dad decided, like, hey, we're a Christian family. We're going to tithe. And so even though they couldn't afford it, they're like giving their first tenth to the Lord. And growing up, dude, around the dinner, we're constantly hearing stories like, and then, hey, Josh. Hey, Lee. Do you know what happened. Somebody slid a check into our mailbox with exactly what we needed for rent. Somebody dropped off groceries at the exact time. Dude, I've heard those stories a hundred times, dude. Or we would hear stories about dad was a pastor, that addict got freed, marriage got healed and that kind of thing. And watch this man. Whoever told the best stories won. And the word stories they were telling were better to me than the world stories I was hearing. So now listen, here's what I'm saying, okay? Your faith doesn't gotta be perfect. It does gotta be real. Don't get down in your kids worlds. Pull them up into your world. Whoever tells the best stories wins. Okay? But listen, listen parents, the most significant thing you do with your life, it may not be something you accomplish. It may be some one you race run your relay race. Well pass Avaton.

Carlos Arazo

That's really good. That's amazing. That's extremely.

Pastor Josh Howerton

We need to talk about stuff like that for we probably need to do

Carlos Arazo

more deep dives on parenting. That's extremely helpful speaking on running that race faithfully. Let's do this before we jump into the J.T. vance video. Well, hey, before we get back to the episode, I want to tell you about something coming up at latest point that we're really excited about. This summer we're hosting at the Movies a four week sermon series where we'll use movie clips and stories to illustrate powerful biblical truths. It's one of the most fun and creative experiences we do all year here at Lake Point and it's designed for the entire family. And so every weekend at our physical locations will feature unique movie themed experiences, fun characters in the lobby for both kids and adults, incredible worship and practical teaching from the word of God and of course popcorn and drinks for everyone. So whether you are here and maybe you're a longtime churchgoer, someone who's been away from church for a while, or maybe you're looking for an easy way to invite a friend, neighbor or coworker to church. This right here is the perfect series for you. At the Movies is an in person only event and begins July 11th and 12th and continues through August 1st and 2. And so if you're in the Dallas area, we'd love for you to join us at one of our campuses. You can find service times, locations and more information by texting the word atm to 20411. Now let's get back to the conversation. Let's do. Let's share one thing just to hey this if you're let's talk to the younger folks Joining right now. And then to the older folks, here's one thing to keep in mind. This is how you go at a distance, especially today, because, you know, when it comes to running a race, it seems like we see and we don't. We might not have time to deep dive this, but basically, like, there's a lot of people that we've seen run the race, and then at some point, they don't make it it or they fail.

Paul Cunningham

It's fact.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And so the number of people that finish well is small.

Carlos Arazo

It's not about starting the race. It's about finishing the race. Right. And so let's help people finish the race well, or at least be set up so that they can go for long, long obedience in the same direction. Young people, old people. I got a thing for young people. But I'm gonna let you start with

Pastor Josh Howerton

maybe with where we want you started.

Carlos Arazo

Okay.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay. You do younger, and then actually, wait, let me do. Yeah, yeah. All right. You do younger, I'll do older.

Carlos Arazo

So first of all, I'm 34, and.

Pastor Josh Howerton

34. Adorable.

Carlos Arazo

34 is not old. But I will say this, Josh. When you're 34 and you hang out with somebody that's like, 21, then you don't feel young. It's like, you know, you're not. You're young, but then you're like, okay, I feel very old.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Bro, can I say something funny?

Paul Cunningham

Yes.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I've noticed. So when I first started preaching, a lot of times, I'd be like, hey, man, you know, if you're older. And then I would be like, if your age starts with a three or a. You know, it's like every year when I do that at a sermon, hey, man, raise your hand if you're. Whatever it is. Every year, it creeps up. So like, now I'm like, hey, man, raise your hand if. If you're under 35.

Carlos Arazo

Bro, I've heard somebody said that 30s is the freshman year of adulthood. So I. So here's what I would say. Here's what I want to share. I honestly just want to share for people that are listening because they're kind of in their 30s and even younger. This is probably the most impactful thing in my life that I think I've experienced recently. And I. I just want to share it. So here's Would be my advice. We live especially in. In the culture that we live in today with, like, bro, we have so many more opportunities than I think any other generation to build stuff, to create something worthy, to have influence, to. To do Something that's like worth doing with digital, all the things AI, I'm sure there's going to be more. Honestly, a lot of people. This is probably how to take a lot of people complain about, like with AI, this, yes, there's going to be some changes, but this means there's going to be even more opportunities than ever.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I'm positive on it. Net positive on it.

Carlos Arazo

There you go. So that would be for especially the younger generation now that are kind of leaving college and opportunities are like 10x tripled. Anyways, here's what I would say. If you are a younger Christian or in your 30s or below, probably the biggest advice that I would give you is find someone or a few group of people that are older, wiser and more godly than you and submit to their authority. So this is probably not what people were expecting to hear, but this could be, again, a mentor or a group of people or your small group, whatever, that they're older and younger and ahead of you and literally have a mindset of, I will be open to submit to your authority. And here's what this does not mean. This does not mean that you're now shy. This does not mean that you have to ask permission for literally everything you do. It means that in one, it literally means, go, build whatever you need to build, run your race, go dream big, do whatever God has called you to do. And in one way or another, still be under the authority of somebody else. And here's why. Somebody might hear that and said and say that sounds inhibiting. It's actually empowering and it protects you. Because submission, if you think about that word, submission, it's submission. It just literally means being under the mission of somebody else. And the reason why this matters is. The reason why this matters is because I never noticed that submission under the mission of somebody else. The reason why this matters is because if you're younger, you are probably very gifted, you probably have a lot of drive, but you don't have a lot of wisdom. And you need to be around people that love you enough that at some point, if they see you going in a specific direction, they can call you out and they can be like, bro, that is not it. You need to stop, you need to change, you need to take that thing down. And the problem with people that are like, well, I don't want anybody telling me what to do. I don't want anybody stopping me. I don't want to be asking for anybody is that if you think you know better at some point, if you keep going, you're not only going to hurt yourself, you're also a very dangerous person to other people. And by the way, the idea of submission is not just a Christian husband and wife thing. It is, by the way, it's a Christian thing.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

That's right.

Carlos Arazo

If you look at the Bible, you literally see every single person that God uses mightily, they are under the authority of somebody else. Moses was under the authority of Jethro. Joshua under the authority of Moses. Samuel was under the authority of Eli. Ruth under Naomi. David under Saul. Timothy was under Paul. Jesus. The Bible literally says that at some point in his life, he was submissive to his parents. And then all throughout his ministry, you see him being submissive to the will of the Father. Not my will, but your will be done. And so again, when you see all these people in scripture, what you find that they have in common is that the more humble and submissive they were to the authority of somebody else, the more blessing they found and the more God elevated them in influence. And so again, it protects you, it empowers you. Run your race, build your thing, do what God has called you to do. Dream big. Do not limit what God wants to do in your life and still be under the authority of somebody else, bro.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And I'm going to brag on you and you're going to hate it. Of maybe every 34 year old I've ever met, Carlos Arazo is running the best race. Like, you are a good man, you're a good disciple, you're a good friend. That's been really fun. You're a good friend. And man, it's like, Carlos Arazo loves Jesus. He's a man of integrity, he's a great husband, father, all the things. So I'm going to say something Carlos is not going to like me to say, but this is an example what he's saying. When I met Carlos, he if you don't know anything about Carlos, you're like, oh, Carlos, you know people. If anybody knows who Carlos is, it's because he hosts Live Free. Okay? Now, Carlos, my little joke that Carlos hates is he's like the Hispanic Logan Paul, except he's, you know, a Christian pastor.

Carlos Arazo

Shout out to Logan Paul, by the way.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Shout out Logan Paul, we'd love to have you on Live Free.

Carlos Arazo

We'd love to hang out.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Carlos, you know, when I met you, I think you had like 800,000 YouTube subscribers and I think somewhere around 6 or 7 billion Instagram followers. And dude, I literally, when I got to Lake Point, somebody told me, like, dude, there's this guy, he's like a part time Lake Point in Espanol youth guy over at our Mesquite campus. Got like 14 kids. And honestly, dude, I was like, there ain't no way. And I looked at, I was like, this guy's like actually a big deal. And then you were just like humbly, faithfully, behind the scenes submitting to the leadership of other people, serving where no one could see you pastoring your little heart out for 15, 20 kids. It's like, why? Because you did.

Carlos Arazo

To this day, I love those kids.

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's right.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Why? Because you did what you just said. That's it. And those who humble himself, the Lord will lift up. And that's what happened.

Carlos Arazo

Appreciate it.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah, man, well done.

Carlos Arazo

Well, it is a joy to be here. And that's God's grace.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Am I designated to talk to the older people? And then we'll talk about Jay Vance.

Carlos Arazo

Because you have a lot more wisdom.

Pastor Josh Howerton

We'll speed run this thing. Yeah, we'll call some balls and strikes on Trump administration. This would be fun. Yeah. If somebody's like, here's what I've seen. First of all, I am not equipped to speak from experience to quote, unquote old people. You know, I'm 43, just turned 43. Here's what I will say. That is an undefeated principle. You do not rise to the level of your aspirations. You fall to the level of your habits that nobody beats that there's a reason that the Bible calls your relationship with Jesus a quote unquote walk. Well, what is a walk? It's just putting one foot in front of the other, in front of the other. So here's what I would say. And it's like, this ain't. It's not sexy, it's not glamorous. It's reality. And reality is undefeated. I think what I would say, the longer somebody walks, the Lord. It's going to sound a little weird when I start. Just stick with me. Understand this. There is nothing special about reading your Bible. There is nothing powerful about praying. There is nothing super special about worshiping. There is nothing incredible about discipleship. Doing discipleship, meeting with some guys. There's nothing amazing about fasting. You know what's amazing? You know what's powerful? You know what's special? Doing them every day. Doing it every. Every single day. So do like the guy who wakes up and he reads his Bible one time every three weeks. Or he's like, man, every now and then he's traveling and he's like, you Know what? I'm alone. I thought about God today. I'm a thank the Lord for this meal real quick. And he prays like once every three weeks. I'm just going to shoot you straight, man. That guy is not going to have a long obedience in the same direction. You know who will? The guy that wakes up every day, reads a chapter of the Bible every day, prays every day, and then he acts like it. That guy's going to go, that's going to go real good. So you do not rise to the level of your aspirations. You fall to the level of your goals. And obviously, I'll just throw this in. Obviously there is something powerful about reading your Bible and praying. The point I'm trying to make is you do not rise to the level of your aspirations throughout the decades. You will fall to the level of your habits. There it is.

Carlos Arazo

That's great, man. Okay, on that note, let's talk about JD events.

Pastor Josh Howerton

All right, let's do this. Here's why I want to do this, man. This. This is actually. So here's my quick caveat. Let me set up while I'm doing this. We say same. This is. Let me just disciple us when we're talking about politics and culture. So here's the thing. You've got to decide. Every Christian has to decide. Are you a conservative Christian or Christian conservative? Those are really your two choices? It is simple. Listen, man, I'm just straight and some people hate it. I get in trouble with this right now. There is simply no other way. Given the publicly stated policy proposals of the two parties, neither of them are perfect. But when you translate a Christian theory of governance and morality into policy, it's simply. If you just. Let's just be honest, man. It is simply true that that is going to look and code conservative in our culture more than it's going to code liberal progressive. It just is. I'll talk about that here in a second. People hate that. I get crushed all the time. It's just reality. It's just straight. But. But then you got to decide, hey, man, am I, does my Christian come first or does my conservative come first? Is if your conservatives here and your Christians here, then when whatever seems conservative contradicts what's Christian, the conservative will win and it'll trump the Christian. Okay, bad. Nope, we're out on that. What we want to be is Christian conservative. That's how it kind of maps. So, man, my Christian is over the conservative thing. So anytime the two are in disagreement, I'm Christian first, conservative second. So that's how that works.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

That's how far.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So what happens is then Christian's like, okay, well, dude, you know, maybe this is a politician that I voted for, I supported. And they're doing. And you'll hear stuff like this, that, oh, my gosh, how could any Christian support that, that sort of thing? And what you're getting ready to hear, the reason I want to do this is this is these are very frequent, very common sort of things that get lobbed at Christians that are conservative, especially right now. And what you're seeing here, Ross Douthit, I've been reading him for years again, New York Times, Catholic, Christian, kind of generally conservative, sort of like center right, I might say, is how you might say it. What he did that was interesting in this interview with Vance is he said, hey, man, there's three things that. So you're saying you're trying to govern in an explicit Christian way. There's three things that, hey, you're not. And some of this stuff is a. I'm gonna just tell you right now, some of the things he acknowledges, as I'll point out, are true. Some of them are not and are extremely deceptive things that get thrown at you. So we're gonna call some balls and strikes now by you, by, by listener request. We're gonna play the whole clip because people are saying, play the whole dang clip and then respond to it. So we know what you're talking about.

Paul Cunningham

About.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

So here's what we're going to do.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Trinity. We're going to play most of the clip all the way through, so people know what I'm getting ready to respond to. Then we're going to go back, and then I'm going to have you pause a few. Does it make sense? All right, so this is Ross out interviewing J.D. vance right after the release of his book Communion. This about his Catholic faith and all that stuff. Here we go.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

We could have a longer argument about the economics, but I just want to. Let's, let's stipulate that the Trump administration has in some ways a kind of vision of rebuilding the working class that's connected to Christianity.

Paul Cunningham

Was that hard to say? Wrong.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

For the sake of argument, you have not given us three hours to have this discussion. We're stipulating it. It also seems to me like the administration has distanced itself in different ways from some other sort of obvious expressions of Christian influence on politics, some of them more sort of liberal coded, some of them more conservative coded.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Look, what do you mean?

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Like the administration has been More hostile than any prior Republican administration, to say nothing of Democrats in the last 20 years to the way we do humanitarian aid.

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's number one.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

It has kept religious conservatives, pro life organizations, especially, at arm's length in a way that has led to a lot of criticism. And then, you know, let's be honest. The tone of the administration mean tweets is not consistently a Christian tone. There is a tone of aggressive uncharity to people who aren't on board with the administration's policies. So I would describe those as three areas where the administration has felt functionally post Christian to me. And I'm curious what you bookmark that.

Pastor Josh Howerton

All right, now pause. Okay, so we did it. We're gonna try this. Tell us in the comments if you like me playing the whole clip through and then going back and responding, or if you like me to respond as it comes. And then we'll use that as a feature for.

Carlos Arazo

I have a theory of who likes what. I feel like people that are on YouTube and are watching it, like the pause, pause, pause, pause and comment. Comment. People that are listening only they prefer to listen to the whole thing. I could be wrong, but I think that's my theory.

Pastor Josh Howerton

All right, well, comment. Yeah, yeah. And then we'll figure out. All right, so now, Trinity, go back to the beginning. And then. So. So I'm gonna just pause throughout the thing, and then we're gonna do the thing, and you tell us in the comments. Play it through or do the pause thing. Yeah.

Carlos Arazo

And if you're listening on up, you can jump to the comments, because you're not even in the comments.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah, jump to the comments. Tell us on YouTube. All right, so here we go. All right, do it, Trinity.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

We could have a longer argument about the economics.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Sure.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

But I just want to.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Feels redundant.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Let's. Let's stipulate. Feels redundant that the Trump administration has in some way a kind of vision of rebuilding the working class that's connected to Christianity.

Paul Cunningham

Was that hard to say?

Pastor Josh Howerton

Ross, I'm stipulating for the sake of

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

argument that you have not given us three hours to have this discussion. We're stipulating it. It also seems to me like the administration has distanced itself in different ways from some other sort of obvious expressions of Christian influence.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Notice the word obvious on politics.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Obvious expressions, some of them more sort of liberal coded, some of them more conservative coded, are quite as obvious as Ross thinks. At least the administration has been more hostile than any prior Republican administration, to say nothing of Democrats in the last 20 years. To the Way we do humanitarian aid.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Pause. Okay, so he says it's obvious. So here's what he's referring to. In 2025, obviously, Elon Musk and Doge took a, famously took a chainsaw to what is referred to as usaid. So by the way, let me just begin with a public misperception. According to. We did some deep dive research on this. On this stuff is really helpful public perception. People were assuming that somewhere around 24 to 26% of the United States budget was going to things like humanitarian aid and they just chopped all this. In reality, it's one point. It's been 1.2%. Okay, if I'm understanding this correctly, 1.2%. Now USAID, bro, this, let me just say this is going to blow some of your minds. Carlos knows a little bit of where I'm going and it affects some of the region that you come from.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay. So this is really. This will also care about and you care about this. Honestly, when I started to understand how this worked, bro, it honestly was a little enraging. Okay, so what it's talking about is the thing called usaid. Usaid, that was foreign aid, purportedly. This is how it was packaged as. This is like mercy and humanitarian aid to other nations. Now let me begin right here with a little axiom because sometimes this is like a difference between conservatives and progressives is progressives will judge policies by their intentions and conservatives will tend to judge policies by their outcomes. That's actually really important. We should not judge policies by their intentions. Well, we were trying to help the poor.

Carlos Arazo

Interesting.

Pastor Josh Howerton

You don't judge. Well if you were trying to help the poor or that was your heart, but you actually just created more poverty, that's actually not good. It doesn't matter what your intention was. So we don't judge policies by intentions, we judge them by outcomes. Okay, I'll just cut to the chase. The actual outcome of a significant part of USAID was just a taxpayer funded way to export radical progressive ideology and left wing politics to the nations. Okay. Now, bro, dude, this is, this was like a scales fall off your eye. It was a little radicalizing to start realizing what was actually happening here. And I'm gonna give you like actual data. This is not conspiracy stuff. This is like I'm gonna read you actual government documents, actual data.

Carlos Arazo

Okay.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, so here's how it started. It started with the story. I won't say, you know the guy's name. I'm not gonna say his name. Was it Peru?

Carlos Arazo

Peru. Okay. That's Right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So we had a. A well known pastor from Peru who came and preached at Lake Point Espanol.

Carlos Arazo

I'm sure he listens, by the way. So.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Shout out, shout out. Dude, we love you. Come again, come again. Who came? And dude, we're sitting, bro, this blew my mind. We're sitting around dinner and I start asking him about how they're thinking about the election down there. Dude, he starts telling me that, man, honestly, it's like, man, honestly, we're really passionate about the election in America going a certain way, and I won't make this feel awkward for him, so I won't even say which way. You can probably figure it out. And he said, dude, here's why. And he starts explaining that in the public schools in Peru in the last few years, they had started teaching in the public schools, like lgbtq, Queer theory and doing all the things and guidance counselors and all the classes and bro, and then he starts going, hey, man, and here's the deal. Families in Peru, very traditional. Like, nobody's into that stuff down there. And then he asked me, he's like, he honestly, it was very like, I love my country a lot. This was like, hard to swallow. He goes, do you know why? I'm like, what are you talking about, why? And this is before any of this USAID stuff happened. He said, well, here's why. It's first time I ever heard about usaid. He goes, well, here's why. Because your government gives our nation a significant amount of USAID that we, quote, unquote, need, or some people feel like we need. And he said, and the United States government has made our reception of USAID money contingent upon us aligning with some of the policy proposals of the previous administrative Biden administration. And part of that was to advance LGBTQ representation and ideology. So, bro, literally, down in Peru, they're forcing this stuff into government schools. And this story he's telling me, because they're like, well, we're going to stop getting the money unless we teach this stuff, even though none of the families want it. And, dude, I'll be honest, I'm sitting there at dinner at standard service, like one of my favorite spots. I'm sitting there at dinner at standard service. And you know that little meme, there's a little meme that's like, are we the baddies? It's like, honestly, dude, it was one of the first times in my life I was like, wait a, are we the bad guys now? Okay, now let me go a layer deeper. Okay, so I'm Going to read something to you. Let me find this real quick. Yeah, okay, so here's an example. So millions of dollars, I'm literally reading this. This is read verbatim from our government's own award record that they put on verbatim them. Millions of dollars, for instance, were given to Guatemala via USAID to grant. How do I say that? Say that for me.

Carlos Arazo

Association Lambda.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Marvelous.

Carlos Arazo

I gave the American accent too. Association Lambda.

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's how I was gonna say.

Carlos Arazo

There you go.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Association Lambda. Okay, so millions of dollars, USAID money given to Guatemala. See, I'm going to read what our government said about this. To, quote, strengthen trans led organizations to deliver gender affirming health care and provide economic empowerment opportunities from those people. For those people. So, bro, what was literally happening is that they were incentivizing nations to teach overtly wicked and evil things. And the little carrot was, you're going to get our USAID Mike. So, Carla, you tell me, is that humanitarian aid?

Carlos Arazo

Nope, nope, nope.

Pastor Josh Howerton

But you can take something evil and call it humanitarian aid, and then anybody that opposes it, they look like the baddie. That's the play that was going to run. Now, bro, this is so again, we're doing deep dive research on this stuff. This is going to stink and blow your mind. And then I'm going to go to the next thing. So what people have figured out in the last like six months is before USAID money got pulled back in general, left wing politicians, progressive politicians who aligned with all this, these stuff I just read had been winning the elections in South America, Latin America. Okay, here's what people are noticing is that once USAID money got pulled, now for the first time in ages, conservative candidates have won elections in the following countries in Latin America. Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica for the first time now. Okay, so, dude. And it's new. This is new. Okay, so we looked all this up before the podcast. Is it Chile or Chile?

Carlos Arazo

Both. Chile if you're here and Chile if you're Latin America.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Well, in Kentucky we just said Chile.

Carlos Arazo

There you go.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay. All right, you're good, you're good, you're good. All right, all right. So for the last five elections in Chile. Chile.

Carlos Arazo

Okay,

Pastor Josh Howerton

the political alignment of the person that won left, center left, Socialist Party of Chile and a socialist. So there's one of them that won twice. That's the last five USAID money removed all of a sudden. For the first time, conservative candidate wins in bolivia. The previous 20 years, a candidate had won under a socialist, an overtly socialist movement USAID money pulled in 2025. For the first time in 25, in 20 years, a conservative. Paz. Paz, I don't know how to pronounce. Wins. Okay, Peru, the Free Peru party, that is an overtly Marxist socialist party, had won three out of the last five elections. USAID money pulled. All of a sudden, conservative candidate wins. Now Carlos, let me ask you this question. This will blow your mind. Now remember, what Douthit is saying is hey man, a Christian would really want this humanitarian aid to go out. And it's actually non Christian for you to oppose this humanitarian. What I'm showing you is that according to the data, vast swathes of this money was not humanitarian aid at all. At all. It was gasoline funding overtly wicked ideologies among the nations to export them. Okay, so here's a question, Carlos, you may be going. Wait a second, dude. What does USAID money have anything to do with elections? Okay, well, do you? Check this out. I'm reading this straight from the USAID's own fact sheet. So this is not. This isn't like Breitbart. This is like the USAID's the government's own fact sheet. Okay, listen. In 2023, USAID funded and trained. Bro, watch this. 6,200 journalists in Latin America bankrolled 707 media outlets in Latin America and backed 279 media NGOs across 30 countries. So not just in Latin America, to the tune of Carlos Arazo, $270 million per year. Okay, now check this out, dude. So think about this. Okay, let's go back to the first story. What the school started figuring out is, huh. We're probably not going to keep getting the money if we don't teach stuff that aligns with the ideologies that they're wanting to advance. Well, hey bro, what do you think the journalists were probably thinking? That, my friend, is how this money, according to this research was getting used to. It was actually radically influencing elections to swing them progressive in Latin American countries, which as you know, Latin American countries are not by default mode, very progressive.

Carlos Arazo

Nope. And we don't want it.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Not so much, my friend. In fact, bro, this will blow your mind from this facts like I was sitting in my office like dying. From 2020 to 2024, USAID money was 75% of all donor funding to the Latin American media. Wow, I'm going to say that one more time. From 2020 to 2024, US idea money. 75% of all donor funding to the Latin American media. And then you wonder Huh. I wonder why a region that's not very progressive was constantly skewing progressive. Okay, now let me just do one last thing that's theological for Christians on this, because this trips people up. And then I want to do the other two much quicker than this. But this is really important, okay? If you're a Christian, you're going to get thrown at this, at you, a lot. And douthit does it here. But what people do is they go, hey, man, Jesus fed the poor and cared for the hurting and, you know, helped the, you know, the homeless or whatever it is. And so you not voting for the government to do those things, you know, maybe like socialist light or, you know, wealth redistributive policies, that kind of thing, thing, high welfare concepts. If you're not voting for that, you don't care for the poor. And so, man, actually that's unchristian. That's kind of what Douth is doing here. Okay, Dude, Christians have to get. You got to really internalize this in the Bible. I'm going to do my little riff that I do it all the time because I need Christians to understand this. In the Bible, God created three institutions that when working in the right way, result in human flourishing. The family, the church, and the state. All three of the institutions, they have different roles. The family has a role. The church has a role. The state has a role. Okay? Poverty, care, welfare, caring for the poor. In the Bible, that's primarily the job of Christians and churches. It is not primarily the job of the government. So when people are like Jesus said, to feed the poor, my response is, is Jesus did not command governments to do that. Don't throw that at me. So when widows needed feeding in Act 6, Paul appoints deacons. He doesn't send an activist to Rome. Okay? So in the Bible, this is really important in the Bible, the commands to. And by the way, Christians must not. You're not allowed to let your heart harden towards the poor and stop caring about those things. Just because we have the sphere sovereignty thing, you're not allowed to just go, ah, I'm hardened toward the. No, that's our job as Christians, families and churches, okay? We're all in on that. Okay? But, but here, here's what you're going to get. Romans 13, role of the state. The primary role of the state is to, quote, bear the sword, incentivize doing good, penalize doing evil. That's the government's job. Otherwise, other than that, just kind of stay out of our way. That's kind of the Job. That's kind of the job of the government. So the reason for that is with governments, you tend to get more of what you incentivize and less of what you penalize. That's really important. With governments, you tend to get more of what you incentivize and less of what you penalize. That is why, Carlos, this. You'll notice this. Just watch, you're going to see all over the place. That's why cities and states that tend to throw the most money at homelessness, they do not end up solving homelessness. Do you know what they do? They create more homelessness. Why? Because with governments, you tend to get more of what you incentivize and less of what you penalize. Which is why God designed individual Christians, families, and churches to be the ones who are like, dude, we're the ones who step into the gap and we care for the poor, we do charity, that kind of thing. So I go back to this all the time. Data shows this literally came out, like two weeks ago. There's an organization called Giving Pulse. Conservative Christians. So what people throw at you, like, kind of this. Doubtless not doing this, but it's a vibe you'll get if you're a Christian. This is a little more conservative theologically. Culturally. What people throw at you is like, oh, man, you're not generous to the poor because you vote this certain way, bro. The data literally, this is Giving Pulse just came out. The data literally shows conservative Christians give 75% more. Some studies show up to three times more than progressives to the poor. They actually just give their money away to charity. 75% to three times more. Okay, so you just gotta get this in your head. When conservatives use the word generosity, they mean generosity with their own money. When progressives use the word generosity, they mean vote for somebody to take somebody else's money away from them and give it away. So they mean generosity with somebody else's money. So, anyway, I just want to boil all this down. The bottom line. When douth is like, hey, man, you're opposing usaid, you're opposing humanitarian aid, that kind of thing, okay, Opposing usaid, Large swaths of it, that's not opposing mercy and humanitarian aid. It's refusing to call a progressive political slush fund humanitarian aid, and it's refusing to let Caesar eat the role of the church, does that make sense?

Carlos Arazo

That makes sense. And honestly, by the way, by the grace of God, we are a church that we partner with, literally churches all over the world, including Latin America, and we want to empower the local church to be the people that help, literally, and bless the city. And so even with the Venezuela thing happening recently, like, again, man, we give to our church because our church is giving continually and we have the right partners and the right people on the ground. And so it's, it's a.

Paul Cunningham

How.

Carlos Arazo

What can I give?

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's right.

Carlos Arazo

How can I be generous?

Paul Cunningham

That's right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah, dude. Yeah, it's. I mean, our missions budget is over $8 million a year. I drove to the church yesterday. There's a. The food pantry line. That's right. Is. Is literally wrapped around the pier. Because everyone in this area knows if our family's struggling, the people of Lake Point will help us.

Carlos Arazo

We want to be a blessing to the city and to other people.

Pastor Josh Howerton

As far as a church. All right, let me do the other two much quicker because these do get thrown. Do the next one.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

It has kept religious conservatives, pro life organizations, especially at arm's length in a way that has led to a lot of criticism.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, so that's the second accusation is, hey, man, Trump administration kept religious organizations and pro life organizations at bay. I even, like, I heard this, a well meaning but misinformed pastor on podcast this week. You know, Trump is actually pro choice and you know, he's approving the abortion pill to get mailed all over the place. And abortions have gone up since Dobbs. Okay. This. This kind of thing, people throw out you. So let me just. If you're a Christian, let me help you understand what's going on. First of all, let me concede some things that are true that I wish were different. This is where my Christian is over my quote, unquote conservative. Okay, Number one, honestly, dude, I was disappointed. Like, during the, during the campaign, the Trump administration, they declined to endorse the possibility of a national ban on abortion. Like, to me, murder. Actually, not to me, to God, murder is murder. It's like, yeah, like, we should be able to 10 toes down. Doesn't matter if anybody freaks out. Yes, we want a national ban on killing people. Yeah, we do. Okay, that disappointed me. Number two, they dropped in 2024, they dropped the national ban plank from the publicly stated policy proposals. So until 2024, it'd be like, yep, we're trying to push for a national ban. This is a little weedsy. When they overturned Dobbs, kind of the Supreme Court, they overturned Roe v. Wade. The mentality was, hey, we're pushing the decisions back to the states. I will say, if you want a history, nerd out the federalist system. This is my little inner history, nerd. The federalist system was originally designed for states to really almost function like many nations with significantly more autonomy. So, you know, whatever. But 2024, they did drop the national band plank from the proposals. I don't like it. I was disappointed. Number three, they did the thing of wanting to support IVF funding and we don't have time to talk about this. Not all. There are ways to. From what I understand, there are ways to do IVF that honestly, I will say are rare and can be carefully done that will avoid the destruction of fertilized embryos that, you know, life begins at conception. All the scriptures. So I didn't like that. So I'm just conceding some things. Don't like it. I don't like it at all. Okay. But it is insane for people to characterize the Trump administration as, quote, unquote, pro choice, man. They actually haven't done anything. You know, actually, there's really no difference between the, you know, the Democratic Party and the cons, you know? Yeah, it's insane. Let me just rattle some things off, please. So one thing that you'll hear again, well meaning but misinformed or naive people. Oh, Trump approved the. The abortion pill. No, that's not true. Trump and the f. The Trump FDA and RFK ordered a safety review of, if I'm pronouncing this correctly, mifepristone. It's an abortion pill. They ordered a safety review, which they were legally required to do. So they just. All that is, there's a legal requirement, I read up on this this week, for the FDA to order a safety review if a generic drug that is the same thing or almost the same thing as a drug that's already been made, they have to order a safety. It's legally required. So that's what mifepristone was. It's a generic.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Just.

Pastor Josh Howerton

They had to do it. Number two, the FDA has not restricted the pill. Okay, that's it. Now, dude, here's the thing that people don't understand this going on. Wait, I said that wrong? Yeah, yeah. Actually, no, I said it right. Here's the other thing. People don't know that's happening. That's going to lead me to the next thing. What a lot of people are unaware it's happening is progressive states, blue states, they're enacting what are called shield laws. This is New York and California. States like this, they pass laws, bro. This is insane. Promising doctors doing abortions. Hey, if you guys remember the claim Is man, under Trump administration, they're, they're, they're just approving, mailing abortion pills all over the place. And that's why abortions are, are actually up since stops. Okay, no, no, here's what's actually happening. Blue states like New York and California are passing shield laws promising doctors in their states. If you mail abortion pills to states that have banned them, we in our state will refuse to extradite, you will refuse to honor their subpoenas, and we will protect your license. So actually what's happening is Democratic leaders are enacting these laws. These, it's, the progressive states are the ones that are, that are max boosting and doing the mail in thing. Now the other thing people say is abortions. They're like, oh, nothing he's done matters. Abortions actually went up after the overturning Roe because of Dobbs. Okay, well that's extremely misleading. Toss that graph up there real quick, Trinity. The entire increase in abortions after the overturning Roe happened before Trump took office under Biden. It's like literally all of them. Look at, do you see? You can see Dobbs OOVERTURN Right there. June 2022. So literally. So it's one of those things where it's like, hey, technically what you're saying is true. All of it happened under Biden, guys. And then, so then you go, well then how is it happening? You're like, how's it happening? Go to the next graph. Well, here's how it's happening. What's happening is all the blue states, they're doing things like the shield laws and max boosting abortion in response to these things. So what's happening is abortions have fallen, sometimes very precipitously in states that have enacted more restrictive laws appropriately. And then the other states, the, the blue states are max boosting it. So let me just finish this real quick. If you're going, hey, dude, Trump's actually functionally pro choice. This is not actually doing anything. Here's some data. Number one, obviously he appointed three Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe. That's a big deal. Since then, 41 states have enacted abortion limits. They were not able to do it before then. Thirteen of those 41 states protect life from conception. That's amazing. Appointed 234 judges just in his first term, bro. That's a stinking big deal. That starts working its way through the entire. That's a big deal. They overturned something called the Mexico City policy, where essentially foreign organizations that take US Health money, they can't perform or promote abortions overseas. Wow, that's a big deal. So kind of the same thing as us, do you think? The one big beautiful bill I think is, it was called defunded Planned Parenthood, which barred Medicaid dollars to abortion providers. They sued and then they lost. So that stayed in place. And then there was a whole executive order that reinforced something called the. The Hyde Amendment that was about limiting or restricting government funded abortions. Okay, so, dude, that stuff, that's a stinking big deal. And then the last thing I'll say is what, what you. You'll hear some more progressive Christians do. It's like, hey, man, you know, now that, you know, they removed the ban thing from the policy proposals, it's really just both parties are the same on this issue now. Honestly, dude, you gotta actually lie to yourself to believe that. So the bill that the Democratic Party said they were gonna pass is called the Women's Health Protection Act. More extreme than Roe v. Ever was. In plain English. It would have done three things. One, bro, this is, think about this. Forbid any state, any state from restricting abortion before viability. So you wouldn't. No state would legally have been about to do that. So no. Harbee bill every 15 week law, every waiting period, all gone. Number two, after viability. So third trimester, it would have allowed abortion whenever a single provider makes a, quote, good faith medical judgment that the pregnancy risks, the mother's quote, unquote, health, a term courts have read to include. This is important. So all of us are like, hey man, we don't have time to go into this. Sometimes people will call miscarriages abortions in order to weaponize it against conservatives sometimes. But what they did is they were writing into this bill, good faith medical judgment, the pregnancy risk, the mother's quote, unquote, health. But then they were getting courts to read emotional health. So anybody could walk in and be like, I'm depressed because of this, so can I kill my kid? Yes. You see what I'm saying? The answer would have been yes. So would have done that. And then number three, here's a biggie. Their bill would have overridden every single state pro life law in the country in one vote. So, man, can we please stop pretend like, dude, we're either lying to other people intentionally or we're lying to ourselves to make it sound like, like, these are moral equivalents. Okay, now let's do the last one. We're shut this thing down so we can talk to Raymond. All right, here we go.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

And then, you know, let's be honest, the tone of the administration.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Will you pause real quick? Here's what's a little interesting is I get this sometimes about are you going to preaching? So let's do this real quick. Keep going.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Is not consistently a Christian tone. There is a tone of aggressive uncharity to people who, who aren't on board with the administration's policies. So I would describe those as three areas where the administration has felt functionally post Christian to me. And I'm curious what you think.

Paul Cunningham

Well, so on the first point. Well, sorry, the third point, I want to address this.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

You can work backward.

Paul Cunningham

So on the tone thing, this is, it's very hard to rebut this because it's like fundamentally unfalsifiable. Because for every clip that you could show me of me or the president or some cabinet secretary saying something that in your view is unchristian, I could show you another few clips of us doing something or saying something that is like very Christian. The nature of political communication in the era of mass media is that sometimes

Pastor Josh Howerton

people are going to say jokes that

Paul Cunningham

are taken out of context.

Carlos Arazo

Pause. You know anything about that? Any jokes out of context?

Pastor Josh Howerton

I got a few right now. But I will say this is actually a really good point. Like your normal person doesn't understand this one thing. I will just say very briefly, there are dynamics to mass scale communication that no one is ever going to understand unless you've had to do it.

Paul Cunningham

Sure.

Pastor Josh Howerton

When you're communicating to, you know, it's like if, you know, I think what do we. If 6 million people downloaded the podcast last month or more, or when you're communicating to tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, here's what you're gonna learn really fast. I've learned this lo these many years is it doesn't matter what you say, there is going to be 5% of people because of their background, their emotional sensibilities, experiences that they've had, they're going to take something that you said, it's going to strike them in the wrong way and it's going to anger them and maybe hurt their feelings. And listen, it is impossible for that not to happen. So like, the analogy I'll use sometimes is, by the way, I'm not saying everything I've ever said is perfect. That's not what I'm saying. But the analogy I'll use sometimes is, man, if I were to walk up to somebody and tap a normal person on the shoulder, you would just turn your head. If I walk up to you, Carlos, and You have a gaping flesh wound on your shoulder. And I tap you on the shoulder, you're going to freak out and you're going to get angry and you may lash back.

Carlos Arazo

Yeah, it'll hurt.

Pastor Josh Howerton

When you're doing mass communication, like no matter what you say, if I'm preaching a sermon on marriage and I just read a Bible verse about wives submitting to your husbands. Okay, let's say 100,000 people listen to the sermon, there's going to be 5% of them who are in fringe cases or exception scenarios. They've experienced something very painful. We're just reading a Bible verse, it's tapping a gaping wound and they're like, ah. Why did you say that? That hurt me. Okay, okay. So this is a principle of mass communication. And bro, I'll just be honest. It's literally impossible. You can't do it. There's other.

Carlos Arazo

That's right.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So this is a good point, but keep going. He says something important here.

Paul Cunningham

Sometimes people are going to make mistakes. I'm not saying I make mistakes. I talk about this in the book. A little in my book Communion available, where books are sold. I talk about the own mistakes that I've made as a Christian.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

No, there it is. There is an apology. There is an apology to childless cat ladies. That's hilarious. And we don't need to get sidetracked by that. Go on.

Pastor Josh Howerton

But you know, my point is like,

Paul Cunningham

I'm not saying we're perfect because we're not. My point is that the tone argument is actually pause.

Pastor Josh Howerton

So I want to say something. He acknowledges he said we're not perfect. I want to say he's right. Let me just concede something. There are things that sometimes the President will say that I'm like a Christian man should never say that.

Carlos Arazo

Sure.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Like many times there have been moments where I'm like, that was a sin.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Yeah.

Carlos Arazo

Even on social media. I will say I've seen some things. Some the way.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I'm going to read you one.

Carlos Arazo

Okay, go ahead.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I'm a read you one. Like, Rob Reiner died, you know, his son purportedly stabs him to death. You know, and I'm just going to read it. You know, President tweets reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome. I do, I'm sorry. Like, dude, you know that's a serious sin. As a sin. So as Christians, we don't defend things you shouldn't Defend. That doesn't mean that you can't support. Whenever you're voting for somebody, you're voting for which set of policies will best slow societal decay. So this doesn't mean, like, oh, man, they did something wrong. I can't support them. No, you can. But you also need to maintain your integrity and character and go, hey, man, am I generally supportive and really thankful for a whole lot of things? Yes. That's wrong. And I don't have to defend that.

Carlos Arazo

There you go.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I like that he acknowledged that. Let's keep going. He says something really interesting and we'll shut this down.

Paul Cunningham

Some ways I think people see what they want to see. And I also think that tonal arguments are ways of frankly policing working class ways of communication.

Pastor Josh Howerton

This is a fact.

Paul Cunningham

And covering them in elite preferences.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay, done. Now, did you hear what he said? He said policing the tone sometimes is a way of essentially policing or opposing working class forms of communication. So, Ross Douth, it's New York Times intelligentsia. He's around Ivy Leaguers all the time. There's a certain way those kind of people talk. And I'll be honest, I'm a rural Kentucky kid who comes from like, a formerly truck driving Ozark family.

Carlos Arazo

You say things like, let's kick this pig.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I say, that's like, yeah. I don't say say, let's go, children. I say, let's kick this pig.

Carlos Arazo

Let us initiate the podcast today.

Pastor Josh Howerton

It's not my vibe. Okay, so now what the Alpha said there, he's dead on. He's dead on. And what I'll point out is.

Carlos Arazo

You mean jd.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Jd, Sorry, what did JD Say there? What I'll point out is give me someone who speaks in a rough way but advances net good things over somebody who speaks, speaks in a dignified way and advances evil.

Carlos Arazo

There you go.

Pastor Josh Howerton

And dude, I will say to Christians can be very naive on this, especially parents, man. Like with our kids. What we don't want to do is evaluate everything through the lens of two categories. Nice people and mean people. That's where people get caught up. They're like, ah. He says stuff like that about Rob Reiner. He's mean. And we're supposed to be for nice people. No, no. There's not two categories of people according to the Bible. There's four categories of people according to the Bible. The Bible. There's nice people who do good things. There's nice people who do evil things. The Bible literally says that. False teachers that will send you to hell. They will flatter you with smooth Talk and flattery. It says there are nice people who appear very nice who do very evil things. Then there are rough people who do good things, and there are rough people who do evil things in general. If you zoom out, I'm not saying everything's perfect, but man, when I look at like, what, what they're advancing in general, I'm like, man, a lot of times that administration, it's like a rough, It's a rough, kind of rough guy advancing net good things. And again, give me a rough guy that does net good over a nice man who does net evil while being really dignified.

Carlos Arazo

That's right.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Yeah.

Carlos Arazo

I would say there's two things that matters. If you're a Christian, even practically speaking, people wonder about, does it tone matter? Can you say something to me like, kind of like a jerk? But it's true. Two things that matters. One, tone matters. Ephesians 4:15, speak truth in love. Colossians 4:6. Let your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt. Tone matters. And that is true. And at the same time, do you know what matters to truth Matters?

Pastor Josh Howerton

That's right.

Carlos Arazo

Tone matters. Truth matters. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, Preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort Titus 1. Paul tells Titus to rebuke false teachers sharply and with all authority. Tone matters. Truth matters. We want both.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yes. By the way, Jesus used some pretty rough, rough dang language. That's right, rough language. So let me close with every now and then, you know. You know, I kind of, what I, what I kind of try to do when I'm preaching is I kind of, kind of try to talk like just a normal guy. That's the kind of guy I grew up with. Kind of my family I came from, you know, normal little gritty little blue collar kind of thing without sinning. I will say there was another pastor that is a hero of mine that was constantly accused of, you know, bad humor and vulgar language. It was Charles Spurgeon. This is a fun little homework assignment.

Carlos Arazo

It's not who I thought you were going to say, but go ahead.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Charles Spurgeon. Who'd you think, Martin Luther, maybe Charles Spurgeon. So it's a fun little homework assignment. If you go Google, like Charles Spurgeon vulgar language there is like, he was getting newspaper articles written about him constantly about this.

Carlos Arazo

You know, he was heavily criticized by

Pastor Josh Howerton

the media, heavily criticized heavily for his language and his humor. Now, dude, I don't, I'm not a, I'm not a profanity guy. That's, I'm not talking about Telling dirty. That's not what I'm talking about. But it's like, you know, just, I don't know, just sort of normal gritty

Carlos Arazo

language and by the way, vulgar. Back in the day, that word just means like, of the people, like normal people. It doesn't necessarily mean that it was perverted. Necessarily.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Okay. Yeah, it's good to know.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

There you go.

Pastor Josh Howerton

I'm gonna read you two Charles Spurgeon quotes that make make him one of my favorite preachers. Okay, the first one is Charles Spurgeon on effeminate pastors. Okay. This is Charles Spurgeon. There are silly young ladies who are in raptures with a dear young man whose main thought is his precious person. These, it is to be hoped, are becoming fewer every day. But as for sensible men, and especially the sturdy workmen of our great cities, they utterly abhor foppery in a ministry. I don't know what that means. I got a feeling it might mean something. I don't, but that's what he said.

Carlos Arazo

Interesting.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Wherever you see affectation, you find at once a barrier between that man and the common sense multitude. Basically what he's saying is, is hey man, preach like normal blue collar dudes are going to understand. That's really what he's saying. Few ears are as delighted. Few ears are delighted with the voices of peacocks. It is a pity that we cannot persuade all ministers to be men, for it is hard to see how otherwise they will be truly men of God. It is equally to be deplored that we cannot induce preachers to speak and gesticulate. There's a word for you like other sensible persons, for it is impossible that they should grasp the masses until they do. All foreign matters of attitude, tone or dress are barricades between us and the people. We must talk like men if we would win men. Charles Persian number one. Now here's the second one in response to some of the newspaper articles. And this is to J.D. vance's point of like man, sometimes sort of intelligentsia, well, you know, stop being rough and abrasive and you know, sort of thing. Be dignified while you advance evil things and we'll like you more. That kind of can be the goodbye. So Charles Spurgeon is getting lit up for his sort of blue collar gritty language by newspapers. This is how he responds. I am perhaps vulgar, but it is not intentional, save that I must and I will make the people listen. Now I'm gonna keep the quote. He's gone. I feel this in my bones, like when I read This I was like that. He's putting words to exactly how it feels. Appreciate, preacher. My firm conviction is that we have had quite enough polite preachers and many require a change. God has owned me among the most degraded and offcasts. Let others serve their class. These are mine, and to them I must keep. I love it.

Carlos Arazo

He had a specific race set before him.

Pastor Josh Howerton

He had it and he ran his race, my friend, and he had to write it. So let me put a bow on it like this. This what douthit does is he's like your tone and you know, you chopping. You know, usaid, these are post Christian things. Dude. I just want to keep, in a blunt, straightforward way, reminding us. Okay, you're saying that's post Christian. Let me tell you. Here's what's post Christian. A political movement that redefines marriage, erases gender, mutilates children, passes laws that take children from Christian families who will not affirm their child's quote unquote gender cheer and max boost mass infant slaughter, open borders, jail, abortion, protesters praying outside of clinics, sprint towards Islamic socialism and then use the government school system to indoctrinate everybody's kids into believing those things. My friends, that's post Christian. Straightforward way. There you go.

Carlos Arazo

Thank you. Pastor Josh, would you pray for.

Pastor Josh Howerton

Yeah, sure. Lord, thank you. Thank you for a chance to open up the Word and look at both the Word and the world. And Father, would you make us men and women with clear vision to see the world through the lens of the Word God, would you make us good Christian men and women? Would you make us good familymen, churchmen, statesmen? And will we do that as we bend our knee to Jesus Christ? Father, thank you for the great harvest of salvation that we got to see at Lake Point this week. And Lord, I pray that in the next three weeks you would do exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine. And I pray that you do it in some of the lives of the people who are listening right now to God be the glory in Jesus name. Amen.

Trinity (Podcast Producer/Host)

Amen.

Carlos Arazo

Live free, brother.