Transcript of Pastor RESPONDS to Talarico and the “Identity Theft” of Jesus | Live Free with Josh Howerton

What's happening is false teachers, they're moving out of pulpits and into politics, honestly, because a great number of pastors have an internal commitment to quote unquote stay out of politics. So it's almost like Team Satan figured out, well, if we move the false teachers from the pulpits to politics, the pastors won't oppose them. We're going to break that rule right here.

Well, hey, Live Free Nation, before we jump into the episode, this podcast is recorded right here at Lake Point Church in Dallas, 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 Pointe. We would love to see you in the chat this weekend, and now enjoy the podcast.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to a bonus episode of Live Free. Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm very cheerful because I'm heading out for vacation with my kids as soon as I'm done recording this. Hey, just a quick bonus episode. With what is becoming, it's almost like Batman and Joker. This is the nemesis apparently. We're going to do a little James Talarico thing. This may be the last one. This is going to be really fun and very interesting because there is a play that's getting run on Christians that I'd say 90% of people are falling for and you have no idea the play's getting run on you. So this is going to be really fun. Hey, these bonus episodes are, they are, I'll shoot you straight, they are a lot of extra work. So as always, if this is helpful to you and you you would like to signal to us, hey, this is helpful, please keep doing them. You can like, comment, or share, especially on YouTube. We actually do review all the comments and likes and shares and stuff. And so that will help us know that it was helpful and it will incentivize us because we will feel like the juice is worth the squeeze.

Okay. Now, without further ado, let's do our 4th episode on James Tallarico. Okay. Now, uh, really quick, um, let me go ahead and, uh, and just jump right in. Um, right now, what's really interesting is, uh, I'm really that a lot of political leaders, we've gotten messages from people behind the scenes and public shares and that kind of thing. We're starting to realize that political leaders, journalists at some, honestly, some pretty high levels, they're watching our stuff, especially on James Talarico, because, and as you're going to see in a second, what this guy's doing is he's not primarily deceiving people from a political lane. He's a politician that's primarily deceiving people from a theological lane. And so what I'm noticing is a lot of politicians and political commentators commentators, they don't know how to handle sort of the theological lane. And so, man, it's actually encouraging people are watching our stuff to help understand what's going on. So here's what I'll say. I have never done this before in the history of Live Free, but in light of how close we're getting to midterms and because of that reality, I honestly, if I'm going to ask you to help share and help get word out to spread this, because bro, This play that he runs in this interview he did with Jimmy Kimmel right here, it's already got 13 million views in a pretty short amount of time.

And I'll shoot you straight, if you're just a normal Christian, new to your Bible, you'll hear what he says right here and bro, you're going to take the bait. So help us get word out. That'd be awesome. Here's also why this is really important. I'm going to go and show this. Yeah, right there. This right here. So as of most recent data that I'm aware of right now, Polymarket is showing that James Talarico is trending at a just above 50% chance to win in Texas. And what's happening right now, that's why this is important. What's happening right now is false teachers. I'm going to show you this in this clip, that this is not me being hyperbolic. It's not me overstating the case that what's happening is false teachers. In some ways they're moving out of pulpits and into politics. And I don't mean to sound like a jerk, honestly, because a great number of pastors have an internal commitment to stay out of politics. So it's almost like Team Satan figured out, well, if we move the false teachers from the pulpits to politics, the pastors won't oppose them. We're going to break that rule right here.

So now what I'm getting ready to show you is about a 2-minute clip, James Talarico on Jimmy Kimmel, again, 13 million views. Let me just set something up and then dive right in because I'll shoot you straight. I do get this a lot. And we have thousands of pastors, we're realizing, that listen to these things. And pastors get this tossed at them in their churches. Here's what people say when I do this. They say, and when they say this thing, it honestly incites almost like a subtle rage in me because they'll be like, hey man, pastors should stay out of politics. You're getting political. And I just want to keep saying the same thing. No, the church isn't getting more political. Politics are getting more theological and spiritual. As you're going to see in this clip, when politicians move past things like teaching math, building roads, and issuing driver's licenses and building permits, and into things like redefining marriage, erasing gender, max boosting infant murder, and then cheering it as reproductive rights, and then using the government school system to indoctrinate everybody's kids into believing those things. Hey, y'all, church didn't move. Politicians did. So listen, I would have to disobey Jesus in order to not oppose the things this dude is saying, because we are commanded to, contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.

We are going to apply the entire word of God to the issues in the entire world, We are going to do that unapologetically. So I'll just keep saying the same thing. When you say, hey man, just stay out of politics, stay quiet. You're getting political. Don't mess with this stuff. My response is no, no, I will not stand passively by while evil advances and watch the societal inheritance that I'm going to hand my children, grandchildren, and future church in America get much, much worse. And then 60 years from now, I'm going to have great-grandkids that look back and go, man, why didn't Papa try to do anything? I'm not going to do that. In fact, what I'd say is part of how we got where we are right now is because some pastors decided to quote, I'm not going to get political. So instead, what we're going to do is 1 Corinthians 16:13. We're going to be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let all we do be done in love. Took a generation of Christian statesmen to found this nation, and it will take a generation of Christian statesmen to preserve it and to save it.

So that being said, here we go. All right, let's go. James Talarico, Jimmy Kimmel, you're about to see the play that is getting run on you and it's probably working. So without further ado, here we go.

I've been following you for a long time. I've been watching your videos. I think what you're doing is great.

I really do.

And you've hit on something that I think is very— it resonated with me because You hit on something. It used to be on all of the bumper stickers. It would be, what would Jesus do? And you know, I think Jesus has been co-opted by this MAGA enterprise in this way that is— it makes no sense when you really think about it. Would Jesus be throwing people into vans and separating them from their children? Would Jesus be taking kids off food stamps? These are not— this is not the Jesus that I learned about growing up. Okay.

Now, Let's start right here because dude, this is where they start to reel you in. Okay? First of all, he says that Jesus has been co-opted by the MAGA empire. And I want to say 2 things that may seem like I'm saying 2 different things, but there's a balance here. One, acknowledging the simple and very straightforward reality. And this kind of thing, when a pastor says it, I'm going to warn you if you're a pastor, there's some things when you say them, people cheer like you're a hero. There's some things when you say them, people pound you like a nail. This is the second one. Just acknowledging the simple and straightforward reality that one of the political parties in our country, one of their publicly stated policy proposals has a moral asymmetry to the other party's publicly stated policy proposals. Saying that and then responding to that reality in a straightforward way is not quote unquote co-opting Jesus. It's just not. It's just acknowledging a moral asymmetry between the publicly stated proposed policies of the parties. I say this all the time. If you struggle with what I'm about to say, honestly, all you got to do is just go to the RNC's website and look at their publicly stated policy proposals, and then go to the DNC's website and go to their publicly stated policy proposals, And I think last time I checked on one of their websites, you'll see 6 things, a minimum of 6 things that are national sins that one party is trying to legislate in our nation.

And very frankly, on the other party's website, even though their policy proposals might not be perfect, there are zero. So acknowledging that simple reality is not co-opting Jesus for the MAGA empire. It's just not. Okay. Now, on the other hand, I do just need to say this in a straightforward way. When you take Christian theology and Christian ethics and a Christian understanding of a biblical system of governance, it is simply going to quote unquote code conservative in 2026 America. It's going to code that way. But here's your watch out. Every Christian everywhere has to make sure you are a disciple of Jesus first and a quote unquote conservative second. So you got to make a choice. Am I a Christian conservative or am I a conservative Christian? Does the Christian stand in authority over the conservative and critique that? Or are you a person who actually starts switching allegiances and the conservative thing is in authority over the Jesus thing and you're a conservative first and a Christian second? Wrong. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Jesus first and everything second. Let God be true and every man a liar. Okay? Now let me just also say this.

So the second thing he said, man, is would Jesus be throwing kids in vans, food stamps. This is not the Jesus I learned growing up. Now, let me foreshadow. Listen, bro, this is a bomb. When you see what I'm going to say later in the episode, you'll never be able to unsee it and you're going to see it everywhere. So let me set up what I'm gonna explain later. So he goes, man, this is not the Jesus I learned about growing up.

Okay.

Let me point something out to you. He's talking about the enforcement of laws. Okay. So throwing kids in vans and da, da, da, da, da, and immigrant immigration stuff. Okay. He's talking about the enforcement of laws. Did Jesus command the government to take kids off food stamps? Okay. Now, if you boil a lot of this down, what they're essentially saying is Jesus would never do anything that would make someone sad. And Jesus would never enforce laws if it made somebody sad. And Jesus would obviously be for socialistic forced redistribution of wealth policies. Okay. I just want to point this out. Jesus commanded the death penalty. Jesus inspired the entire Bible. The Bible says that Jesus is quote unquote, The Word become flesh. So Jesus commanded the death penalty. Jesus inspired the 1 Thessalonians verse, if a man will not work, he shall not eat. And Jesus is the one who instituted the government to bear the sword, Romans 13. So we need a bigger vision of Jesus than cherry-picking things that have red letters on them. Okay? Now watch what he does next. And this is where you're going to see, this is the play that gets run on you.

Okay? Check this out.

And you bring it right back to the Bible, to the real teachings of Jesus, and it is, it is very authentic. I mean, you can feel it, that you know what you're talking about, that you believe what you're talking about. And I think that is so very powerful, and, uh, and good for you for doing that.

Listen to the applause. Listen, okay, now listen, this is so interesting. He's— watch, this is the play that's getting run on you. I'm gonna explain it later. So Jimmy Kimmel looks at a politician who claims to be a Christian, a guy that's taking his Bible, opening it, reading Bible verses, and then saying, on the basis of these Bible verses, I'm advancing these policies. Jimmy Kimmel looks at that guy and says, good for you for doing it. And his progressive, primarily progressive audience erupts in applause. Now, that's very interesting. Because I've been reliably informed for the last 3 years that Christians trying to enact policies based on the Bible was evil Christian nationalism. I thought it was wrong to force your biblical beliefs on other people, and that it's definitely wrong, actually it's impossible, but it's definitely wrong, I've been reliably told for 3 years, to legislate morality. But now all of a sudden that's met with erupt applause. There's a play getting run on you that you don't realize is getting run on you. And we're going to come back to that in 2 minutes, but you have to see it. And once you see it, you will see it everywhere.

Okay, now let's keep going, man.

I think it was Reverend Raphael Warnock, who said that Jesus Christ is the most famous victim of identity theft, that the kind of religion—

Now, I just want to point this out. First of all, we need to have the ability to evaluate right and wrong and not only see wrong. First of all, wait, listen, watch what he says.

That says—

I'll do it. He said Raphael Warnock, who, by the way, that's another— that's not a great source. Wolves travel in packs. He says, Jesus is the greatest victim of identity theft. Can I just say something? He's right. And Christians need to be very careful from this. I'm going to read you a Bible verse people don't think about very often, but think about that phrase. Jesus is the greatest identity of identity theft or victim of identity theft. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 says this, for if someone comes and proclaims, listen, another Jesus, So it's warning, hey, watch out guys, because all throughout Christian history, people are going to come along and they'll say they're teaching Jesus. They're going to use the same word, but they're going to use a different dictionary. They're going to say they're teaching Jesus, but they're going to fill sort of this vessel of the word of Jesus with a different definition, a different identity, a different character, a different set of doctrines inside of that vessel. And they're gonna trick you and get you to drink from the cup of, quote, another Jesus, Paul says, from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel, you're gonna hear that in just a second, from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Now, that's true, but watch this. What some people will say about progressives is they'll say that with progressives, every accusation is a confession. In other words, what they can sometimes do is just walk around and accuse everyone else of doing exactly what they're doing. And very frankly, that's what James Talarico does. Okay? They're accusing you of doing what they're doing, which is kind of confusing. And then they're hoping you won't notice. Now listen, watch what he does next. Okay? Now I'm going to reverse a little bit so you can see here his whole sentence.

You can treat people however you want. The kind of religion that says you can treat people however you want as long as you have a personal relationship with Jesus is an abomination. It is a cancer on the body of Christ.

True.

Now let me just pause and say true, because if you don't understand, C.S. Lewis very wisely said this. If you read the Chronicles of Narnia, he says it in the 7th book, I believe, The Last Battle. Lewis said, by mixing a little, By mixing a little truth with it, they had made the lie far stronger. By mixing a little truth with it, they had made the lie far stronger. That's what Talarico is a master at. Okay? So game respects game, credit where it's due. Now, so he says the kind of a religion that says you can treat people however you want and it doesn't matter is an abomination. It's a cancer in the body of Christ. First of all, every Christian everywhere needs to say, True. James chapter 2, terrifying verse. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? In other words, there's a way for someone to have a type of faith that they think is a saving faith, and it's not. It's a counterfeit faith that will actually lead you to hell. Very dangerous. Here's what he says.

James 2:15, suppose a brother sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of— now listen real close. It says, if one of you— now I'm going to seed something we're going to come back to later in the episode. It doesn't say if a government. It says, if one of you says to them, go in peace, keep warm and well-fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. So I will issue a warning, and especially if you're a person who maybe has just very gently let your conservative overtake the lordship of your Christianity in your life, okay? Let me just give you a warning from the book of James. If you say that you love God and hate people, You don't love God because people are made in the image of God. And so anyone that loves God will love the people made in his image. That's true. So heads up, I just like want to teach James 2 in one sentence. If the type of quote unquote faith you have doesn't result in good for your neighbor, that faith will not be any good for you on the day of judgment.

So if you say you love God and don't love people made in his image, you got a fake faith. Okay, now back to what I originally said. True. But here's why this becomes very deceptive in this interview with Kimmel. Okay, check this out. By mixing a little truth with it, he had made the lie far stronger. So here's what's going on. I like to bass fish. So like, watch here, you're going to see it in this next little segment. Okay. When you're bass fishing, what you do is you take a little lure or a little bait. You know, uh, you know, a little, uh, looks like a, a little dead minnow, whatever it is, just looks real juicy. And you put a little hook in it and you try to dangle it right in front of, you know, Billy Bass's big old mouth. And he looks at it and it looks really, really nice. He gets these big old bass eyes. He looks at it, he's like, man, that looks so good. And he's just mesmerized. Oh, it just looks so good. It looks so good. I should definitely accept that. And then as soon as he clamps down on that thing that looks really good and like he should accept it, there's this sharp hook hidden underneath and it's like, boom, gotcha.

So if I can get you to accept the thing that looks real juicy and good, just kind of makes you get all glassy-eyed, then boom, set the hook, gotcha. That's what Talarico is, a master. Bro, this guy's a master at this. Okay? He's a master at get— like he'll use these Bible verses and every Christian sort of transfixed, little Jedi Knight thing going on. And it looks really good. And any good mature Christian is like, yeah, man, I want to love my neighbor. Of course, Matt, of course. Sounds really nice. If you accept it without discernment, boom, sharp hook underneath. He's got you. All right, now check this out. So there was the bait. Here comes the hook. Watch this.

Scripture tells us that you can't love God and hate other people. You can't love God and abuse the immigrant. You can't love God and oppress the poor. You can't love God and bully the outcast.

Okay. Yes. Okay. All that is like, yes, yes. But watch, watch. Yes, but that's not what we're doing. Watch. Enforcing immigration laws is not abusing the immigrant. Opposing socialism at the state level is not oppressing the poor. Opposing transgenderism and the legislation of queer theory is not bullying the outcasts. So what this guy does, he's a master at it, he's a master deceiver, is he'll take phrases that you agree with and he'll fill those phrases with meanings you don't agree with. And because you only see the phrase on the outside without discernment, you end up taking the whole thing in. So here's the example. I'm going to show you this. He's doing selective editing. So if he's— if you're on YouTube, watch what I'm doing with my hands. He's got the evil thing he wants you to accept over here. And with his selective editing, he's going, look over here, look over here, look over here. So you won't notice this. Okay? So watch, I can do my own, you can't love God and list too, but he's doing the look over here, look over here, look over here. So you won't see what he's got in his hand over here.

So here's my, you can't love God and list that I don't think James would like very much. You can't love God and advocate for max-boosting infant murder. You can't love God and redefine marriage that God designed. You can't love God and queer God's identity by saying God is non-binary. You can't love God and legislate national sin against God's commands. You can't love God and tell people he made white that they must, quote unquote, repent of their whiteness. You can't love God and call teaching his word to children, quote, deeply immoral. You can't love God and tell people things that, if believed, will send them to an eternity apart from God in hell. Those are all things that he does, but he holds them over here and goes, look over here, look over here, look over here, so you won't notice what he's got in his other hand. Okay, so check this out, dude. You got to get this. What progressive— what progressive Christians do is they'll hollow out your religion and wear it like a skin suit. Okay? So they'll ignore all the commands in the Bible they don't like. They'll find just a few Bible verses they can twist into sounding like they support political progressivism.

And then it's like they cover themselves up with those twisted verses so you won't see what they're doing underneath, which is what you're about to see next.

We spend so much time looking for God out there that we miss God in the person sitting right next to us. in that neighbor who bears the divine image. I was brought up to believe that in the face of a neighbor, we glimpse the face of God.

That's true.

Matthew 25 tells us Christians exactly how we're gonna be judged and how we're gonna be saved.

Now notice, I'm gonna go ahead and give this to you. It shows us exactly how we are gonna be judged. It's not about how human governments are going to be judged. It's about how individuals will be judged when they stand before Jesus Christ. We're coming back to that.

By feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger.

Whoopsie daisy. Okay. Yes, that is how we will be judged. It is not talking about God's design for the role of human governments. Okay? Now, again, there's a concept that we go back to, consent and live free. If you're a Christian, listen, you've got to get really good at not just looking into your Bible like a mirror so you can see your sin, where you've strayed from the Lord and repent and come back to Jesus. The Bible's not just a mirror. We also have to get great at using the Bible as a lens through which we view the rest of the world. This results in a need for something called discernment. You got to get really good at this. There's a biblical concept that is constantly swirling underneath conversations that Christians don't understand. So this is a concept we go back to a lot on Live Free. I'm going to show you how it works and apply it in a different way real quick. So it's called Kuyperian sphere sovereignty. It's by an Abraham— by a guy named Abraham Kuyper. He's kind of put the best words to it. And what he pointed out is in the Bible, God established 3 institutions that when working properly in obedience to God's commands in the lanes that God has assigned to them, when they work together and properly, it results in human flourishing and the good of people in society.

societies and families. Those 3 institutions are the family, the church, and the state. So now let's take it a layer deeper. What you're going to notice is that the Bible distinguishes very clearly— I'm going to show you this— between the role of the individual and the role of the state. Now, if you're like, whoa, wait a second, Josh, what are you talking about? Okay, so for instance, Jesus forbids individuals to live by the sword in Matthew 26. But he commands governments to, quote, bear the sword in Romans 13. Interesting. The Bible commands individuals and disciples to, quote, love the sojourner all throughout the Bible, but that same God blessed a government building a wall to protect its borders from an invasion of sojourners in the book of Nehemiah. The same Bible commands individuals to feed the poor with no caveats, With no caveat. Let me just say this. Christians are commanded to be people who everywhere we go, we see the last, the lost, the least, and the lonely, and we generously and sacrificially pour ourselves out to bless them. The Bible commands individuals and disciples and churches to feed the poor. And that same Bible commands a church government in 1 Thessalonians saying, if a man will not work, he shall not eat.

Now, how in the world can all those things be true without any contradiction? Well, here's how, because the Bible distinguishes between the role of the individual and the role of the state. Now, let me take this back to Talarico. What progressive Christians do, again, they're going to hollow out your religion and wear it like a skin suit. What they do is they want the government to do the role of the individual. So charity, compassion, empathy, they want the government to do the role of the individual, and they want nobody to do the role of the government. Enforce justice, biblically defined. It's really important to biblically define justice, equal weights and measures, to be a terror to the wrongdoer. That's the role of the government in Romans 13. So what progressive Christians do is they want the government to do the role of the individual, and they want nobody to do the role of the government, which leads me to the grand finale. So at the beginning of this episode, I told you there's a play. The bro is getting run on you. day and night, and you don't know the plays getting run on you.

And if you don't realize it, you're going to be the football defense where the opposing offense keeps running their fullback over the exact same linebacker over and over and over, or the same O-lineman over and over and over, and they keep getting 7 yards on the play. Well, hey bro, if you keep seeing that happen, reposition your linebacker. You need to understand the play that's getting run on you so you can have the biblical discernment to go, oh, Whoop. That's how I combat that lie. What you're about to see is master deception. Watch this. This is amazing.

I often wonder, what would Jesus do if he visited the US Senate? I think he would tell the senators on the floor—

Listen, dude, I'm almost in awe. The deception right here is brilliant. Brilliant. Listen close. What if Jesus came to the United States Senate? What would he do? What would he do? Watch.

Depart from me, for I was hungry and you cut my food assistance. I was sick and you kicked me off Medicaid. I was a stranger and you deported me and my family. And then I think he would flip over those fancy desks on the floor of the U.S. Senate and demand that we take care of all of our neighbors, especially the least of these.

Thunderous applause. Thunderous applause. Now listen, what's going on? Now here we go. Now wait just a second. Hold on there, Skippy, because you're— dude, this is masterful.

Okay.

This guy's whole campaign for over 2 years. I think we were the first podcast to pick up on this guy when he did the Rogan interview. This guy's whole campaign for 2 to 3 years has been opposing evil Christian nationalism. So for 3 years, this guy's been looking at Bible-believing evangelical Christians and politicians going, hey man, you can't legislate morality. You can't force your beliefs on other people who don't share them. That's evil Christian nationalism. Bro, this is— okay, here's what's the play that's getting run on you. Okay? When the Bible is used to advance a quote unquote conservative cause, It's evil Christian nationalism, blah, blah, blah, blah. But as you just saw, when the Bible is used to advance a quote unquote progressive cause, thunderous applause. Aw shucks. This is Talarik. Aw shucks. It's just me being Christlike. I'm just, I'm just speaking truth to power. I'm flipping tables like Jesus. Why do y'all gotta be so mean? Okay. That guy's whole campaign is this. Christian nationalism for me, but not for thee. Okay. Now what that guy's doing, here's what you're seeing. Exactly what he accused other people of doing at the very beginning of this episode, the identity theft of Jesus Christ.

This dude is doing exactly what he accused everybody else of doing at the beginning. Every accusation is a confession. Okay. So check this out. What he does is he selectively edits Jesus until Jesus becomes a mascot for his cause. So here's my point. He's going, what would Jesus do if he came into the Senate? When Jesus saw this, here's what he would do. When Jesus sees this, here's what he'd do. When Jesus would do, uh, would encounter this, here's definitely what he would do. Now listen, I can do a when Jesus list too. But I have a feeling James will not like my when Jesus list. Okay. So when Jesus defined marriage, he defined it as only between a man and a woman. When Jesus talked about gender, he rooted it in biology saying, quote, he made them male and female. When Jesus talked about harming children, like in the act of abortion, he said it would be better for you to have a millstone tied around your neck and be cast into the ocean. What about that time Jesus encouraged his followers to buy weapons for self-defense? Here's your homework. Go look at Luke 22:36.

Jesus' family strictly obeyed the government's border migration and census laws in Luke 1 and 2 under Caesar Augustus. When Jesus talked about salvation, he said belief in him was the only way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. He did not say, I am a way, a truth, and a life, and some people come to the Father and also through me. He didn't say all religions are equally valid paths to God like Talarico does. When Jesus healed the sick, Like he did this little thing when he said, when Jesus healed the sick, he didn't need a deductible. Well, hey guys, little newsflash, there were no insurance companies in AD 30, and Jesus was using miraculous power. He was not paying doctors. It's like when somebody says, when Jesus healed the sick, he wouldn't need a deductible. That would be like an anti-vaxxer saying Jesus wasn't vaccinated. Well, yeah, man, there were no vaccinations. When Jesus fed the hungry, I'll just point this out, he fed the hungry. He did not vote for the government to forcibly take other people's stuff at gunpoint and redistribute it against their will.

Listen, I could go on and on and on. Here's the big idea. Jesus Christ is the Lord of the universe. He is not a mascot for your cause. And I'll just finish with this. If Christians do not do our responsibility as salt, the salt of the earth, salt and light, of the earth. What you're going to see is you're going to end up with a biblically defined heretic and demonic false teacher leading your state. And that is going to affect the societal inheritance that you hand your children, grandchildren, and the future church in America. So let me just finish saying this. And I just want to help— I want to help instruct Christians on how do we apply what we know in the public square. There are 9.5 million, with an M, Christians in Texas that are projected to vote— to forget to vote to forget to vote. So 9.5 million Christians in Texas are projected to forget to vote in the midterms. That election is projected to be decided by 300,000 or less votes. Let me say that one more time, just to let the shock value land on you. 9.5 million Christians just in the state of Texas, by my little Grok back of the napkin math, are projected to forget to vote in the midterms.

And that election is projected to be decided by 300,000 or less votes. So we're not going to just talk about it, we're going to be about it.

Okay.

I am encouraging you, and this works in all 50 states, to text the word vote to the number 20411. We, at our own expense, we built a website. We're keeping none of the data on this, but what you're going to do is you're going to get 2 things. Number one, If you text that number, you are only going to get 2 texts from us ever. We're not going to spam you and light you up. You're going to get a reminder for when the deadline to register to vote in the county in which you live is. So you're going to get that text reminder. Number 2, you're going to get a reminder to vote in the midterms when midterm voting starts wherever you are. And then number 2, you're going to get a link to a website. I'm going to show a little screenshot of it right here. You're going to get a link to a website that we built That is designed— all you got to do is you go there and it's literally just one thing. You just put in your address. We keep none of the data and it works in all 50 states, all counties in all 50 states.

And that website will tell you where you can vote in the midterms. It will tell you what you need to bring in your state to be able to vote. And again, it works in all 50 states. So let's have a little fun with this, Live Free Nation. We'll see if we can flip an election. It's going to be fun. So that being said, go Team Jesus, go! I've had a blast. I'm going on vacation. Y'all have a great time. Well, hey, thanks so much for listening. Lake Pointe Church is a movement for all people to know Christ, live free, and change the world for God's glory. If you're already a member of a local church, we want you giving there. But if you'd like to make a donation to help this message go further, faster, it genuinely helps us boost getting out to more people. If you'd like To make a donation, you can text the word give to the number 20411 and then just choose Church Online from that dropdown menu. To find out more about Lake Pointe, you can visit lakepointe.church.