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Live Free with Josh Howerton
Megachurch Pastor Reacts to Billie Eilish & Jelly Roll's Grammy Speeches | Live Free with Josh Howerton
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If you want to live an alternative lifestyle in 2026, here's what you gotta do. Read your Bible, go to church, love one woman your whole life if you're a man, and one man your whole life if you're a woman, have kids and enjoy them or do crazy rebellious things like stand on a stage at the Grammys and yell I love you, Lord. Why? Because in our culture, obedience is the only rebellion left. Okay, welcome to the most interesting react episode that we've tried so far. Real quick, we're gonna be reacting to this is what they did not train me for in seminary. We're gonna be reacting to Billie Eilish and Jelly Rolls Grammy Awards acceptance speeches. Now really quick for our for Live Free Nation, these react episodes, these are my little bonus spare time hobby. And so this is a bit of a test drive. If these are helpful to you. If you could head over to YouTube and give it a, give it a comment or whatever like, or whatever you want to do, that helps me know that these are worth the time and it helps me know that it is helpful to you. So we'll keep test driving these as long as it seems like it's working. Let me know what you think. Now, that said, let's react to Billie Eilish and Jelly Roll at the Grammys. Now, really quick, let me set this up. Here's why I'm doing this. Because if you're a Christian, you need to learn how to use the Bible in a couple different ways. And most people are only good at one of them. First of all, the book of James says that the primary way that we want to use the Bible is it says we use it as a mirror. If you can see on YouTube that we look up into the word, the Bible says the perfect law, the law of liberty. And then the Bible shows us, man, where we fall short and where we need the power of the Holy Spirit through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to change us. So we use the Bible as a mirror. A lot of Christians get good at that, but they don't get good at the second way that Christians have to learn to use the Bible. And this is why a lot of discipleship. Listen real close. I'm going to get to this here in a second. Especially of your children, especially of your children. Ends up not taking root. We don't just use the Bible as a mirror. We also need to like hold it up like a pair of glasses and use it as a lens through which we understand and interpret the world in front of us. So what I'm doing right here. This may feel weird to you, like, why is a pastor doing this? What I'm doing is I'm trying to help you help people hold the Bible up in front of your eyes as a lens through which you can understand and evaluate the world that's in front of you. Which includes things like Billie Eilish and Jelly Roll giving Grammy acceptance speeches. Now I'm going to give away where I'm going to end on this little segment. What you're about to see is a contrast in quote, unquote, courage. On the one hand you're going to see performative, fake courage. And then on the other hand you're going to see like actual, risky, actual courage. Okay, so what you're getting ready to see here, Billie Eilish won song of the Year. And then you're going to see her acceptance speech here. And then Jelly Roll, he won best Contemporary country album. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let's see, we got here number one, Billie Eilish. No one is illegal on stolen land. Sabrina Carpenter, Classy eyed. Applause, applause, applause. Oh, lots of applause. Oh yeah, yeah. Nobody's illegal on stolen land. Okay, now let me just pause real quick because this actually is really important for you to understand. First of all, the claim that nobody is illegal on stolen land is historically inaccurate. So this is just the little, you know, history nerd in me. First of all, it's inaccurate that the United States is quote unquote, stolen land. The United States was not stolen. It was three other things. It was purchased, it was settled and it was conquered. Purchased. Settled. Conquered, not stolen. The other thing you need to understand, and by the way, here in a second, there's actually a spiritual dynamic. You're seeing a competing worldview here, but I'll get to that in a second. The other thing that you need to understand this is like logically and historically at odds is, hey, newsflash, literally all land in the world is conquered land. All of it. So the Normans conquered Britain, the Mongols conquered Asia, the Bantu expansion displaced the African people in the U.S. i just want you to stop and think about this. Like this is the type of phrase that like your, your Juco college professor will throw at you and then you don't know what to say. So here's, I'm trying to help you here. Even in the United States, you go back to the Native American tribes, the Sioux tribe displaced and conquered. The Cayenne tribe, the Comanches conquered, conquered the southern plains, the Aztecs. Oh, by the Way built an entire empire in South America on conquest of other tribes and human sacrifice. So here's where this gets really interesting. So what's happening, this obviously is tied to the current immigration debate that's raging in the United States. So just stop and think. And you're about to see how logically, honestly, kind of hilarious this thing is. Because what the objection is, is, hey, all the people that are coming across the southern border primarily for Mexico, like, man, how in the world could you call them, you know, illegal? Because this is stolen land. That's kind of the vibe. Well, here. Here's the thing. Newsflash, Billy. The Spanish crossed the Atlantic Ocean and conquered the Aztecs. So all of current Mexico, by her standards, is also stolen land. So it's like all the people that you're saying, hey, man, you know, how could they be illegal? This is stolen land. Newsflash. By your standards, they are on stolen land. So the question you gotta ask is, is every Mexican person illegitimate because their country was stolen, too? So that's one. Now, two. Let me go a layer deeper because people do not understand. This is a play that's getting run on you over and over. And we're not doing a good job of like, hey, the opponent's offense keeps running the same running play up the middle, over the left tackle and getting six yards. And we're never adjusting where our linebacker is. So let me help you adjust the linebacker real quick. What you're seeing right here, this is an example of. Listen. Of selective outrage for the advance of a cause. I'm gonna say it one more time so that you understand. It's selective outrage for the advance of a cause. And here's how the play works is we're gonna ignore all of these other examples of the thing that I'm talking about, but we're going to focus on the one example that weaponizes that narrative against the people that I need it weaponized against for the advance of a cause that I'm trying to advance. So, like, here's what I mean. I'm going to give the. It's a little incendiary, but just kind of go with me. I'll give you. See, this especially in how conversations with progressive, secular progressives in the United States go on slavery. So, for instance, like, I'll just be honest if you didn't know this. I have two. I have three. Three. I have three adopted kids. Two of them are African American. So it's really interesting. Me and Jana had a conversation with our kids a few years ago where they were learning about slavery in school and we do a classical Christian education. But we were still asking them and we were like, hey, I just got curious. Who do you guys? I asked them, who do you think invented slavery? And immediately, without even thinking, they said, oh, white people. Now think about this. That's the vibe that you definitely get if you're in the United States. Now here's what's really interesting. Every nation on Earth for the entire history of planet Earth has practiced slavery. But people, especially secular progressive people, they only notice or care when it's white Christians that are portrayed as having done it. Have you ever noticed that? Like, there's a. I'm going to get to this here in a second. There's a reason for this. And I'll just say this. This is like the thing that you're like, not supposed to say. So every nation on Earth has practiced slavery, but they only notice or care when it was white because of the secular redefinition of justice has to do with intersectionality and Christians, because there's a spiritual thing to it. They only notice or care when it was white Christians who were doing. The other thing that I just want to point out on the slavery thing is, man, it was predominantly white Christians that ended slavery for the first time. Nobody ever talks about that. So what you have is again, every nation practiced it, but they only notice or care when it was Christians that did it. Why is that? That's really interesting bookmark that. The same thing applies to quote unquote, conquered land. Every nation on Earth both did it and is conquered land. But very interestingly, ask yourself this question. Why is it that people only notice or care when it was supposedly kind of framed as white Christians that did it? Well, there's a few reasons for this. Number one, what secular progressivism does is it's based on a framework of justice called intersectionality. It's kind of hard to explain. Intersectionality is this vibe that, that there's like a pyramid of a pyramid of oppression and that the people at the top of the pyramid are the people who ostensibly have experienced no oppression. So it's like white male Christians that are heterosexual and able bodied, they're like Darth Vader because they're at the very top. They've quote, unquote experienced no oppression. And then it's like in intersectionality you get like a point for everything that you're not from the top. So if you're a non white, you get a point. If you're disabled, you get a point. If you're Gay, you get a point. And the more points you have, then the more valuable you are to society and actually kind of the really the more of an accurate understanding of the world your claim to have. So part of it is intersectionality is based on a whole redefinition of justice that seeks to sort of dethrone the people at the top. But if. Let's go a layer deeper and ask about the spiritual thing. Why is it that it's really only matters when it's Christians who did it? All right now, now think about this. What's happening here with selective outrage for the events of a cause, the play that gets run is they try to reframe the past in order to control the future. This is really important for you to understand. Secular progressive people, they try to reframe the past in order to control the future. So you'll see this in things like, for instance, the 1619 Project. If you're aware of this, the 1619 Project was an educational sort of project that sought to try to redefine when the United States began and then sort of reframe the entire history of the United States through the lens of the transatlantic slave trade that began in 1619. And so it was like, hey, we need to reframe the entire history of our nation around race and racism. Reframe the past to control the future. The other examples of this, have you ever noticed this? Why is it. Let me ask you this question. Why is it that in school systems higher ed and lower edge that are controlled by secular progressivism, that they're constantly accentuating moments in history where Christians were ostensibly the bad guys and then they hide, omit, or downplay any time when secular people or atheists did considerably worse things. So, for instance, you'll hear. And by the way, I'm going to get back to Billy here in a second, but just give me a second. For instance, you hear all the time about the Crusades. By the way, the Crusades were predominantly defensive wars that were fought after centuries of Islamic conquests by Christian societies simply trying to preserve their families from jihad. So that's number one. Or you'll hear things about the Spanish Inquisition. Like, you hear this constantly. The Spanish Inquisition, it's like the peak evil, the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition in history or colonization. Now, what's really interesting is the Spanish Inquisition is like, you know, people talk about like this peak evil moment in history, which it was very evil, but there were really only between 3,000 and 11,000 people killed over the course of more than an entire century. In the Spanish Inquisition. And when people talk about quote, unquote, colonization, a lot of times what you have is Christian missionaries coming to societies where warring, like vicious tribes were committing mass genocide against each other and sacrificing thousands of infants to pagan gods, like cutting their hearts out while they're alive. But then they'll reframe that moment as missionaries coming and sort of taming the savagery as this evil colonization. Well, why is this happening? They need to reframe the past in order to control the future. In other words, if we want to make sure that Christians and Christian morality don't control the future, we need to reframe Christians as the bad guys in the past. So that's why you constantly hear about things like the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition where maybe three to five thousand people were killed. But. But you don't hear as much about times throughout history when secular dictators killed way more people. For instance, Stalin killed 20 million people. Mao Zedong killed 40 million people. Pol Pot killed 1.7 million people. Kill Kim Il Sung in North Korea, 2 million people killed. Vladimir Lenin, 7 million people. Ho Chi Minh, between 1 and 3 million people killed. So you don't hear about. What you hear about is something where like 10,000 people were killed in the Spanish Inquisition. Again, reframe the past to control the future. That's what's going on now. Last thing, I'm just going to point out what's hilarious about Billie Eilish saying nobody is illegal on stolen land. All these people that are applauding, they are on, by their definition, stolen land. So, like just yesterday, the Tongva tribe, this is hysterical. Reached out and publicly said this is their statement because Billie Eilish lives on a $14 million, by the way, gated mansion in LA. So borders for borders, strong borders, and border walls for me, but not for thee. That's what Billy's doing. She lives on, by her definition, stolen land. So the Tongva tribe made a public statement just yesterday that said, as the first people of the Greater La Bas, we do understand that her home is situated in our ancestral land. Eilish has not contacted our tribe directly regarding her property. That's absolutely hysterical. Okay, let's keep going. And yeah, it's just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now. And I just. I feel really hopeful in this room. And I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting and. Okay, so she's. We need to keep fighting and protesting. Let me just say this. That's Fine, but protesting is not what's happening. It's not the only thing that's happening. So I will just say this. Protesting is fine, but heads up on, on a couple things. People like Eilish, like Billie Eilish, you saw this all over the Grammys. They'll stand on a stage, on national television and get really rich and famous and applauded by everybody by calling the leaders of our nation fascist dictators. So let me just point out a couple things if just again, let's all. We're not supposed to feel our way through things. We're supposed to think our way through things. Heads up. If you can stand on national television and get really rich and famous and receive standing ovations for opposing the leader of a nation, heads up. You do not live in a fascist dictatorship, my friend. That doesn't happen in a fascist dictatorship. Now here's the other thing is, man, as Christians that, hey, man, we're all in. We like the Constitution. I believe in the right to protest. I do not believe in the right to obstruct and assault law enforcement. Those are different things. So you have the right. I can do this on both sides. You have the right to protest the outcome of an election. You, you do not have the right to break into the Capitol building and riot to try to keep an election from being certified. Now listen, some people on my side, quote, unquote, don't like when I say that. I said it in 2021. I'll say it again. I stand by that in the same way. You have the right to peacefully protest. If you don't believe that immigration laws are being enforced like you would like in America. You have the right to peacefully protest. You do not have the right to form signal chats covertly with thousands of people in Minneapolis and covertly conspire to obstruct and assault law enforcement officers. Those are different things. Now let's keep going. And last thing she says can be bleeped out. Our voices really do matter and the people matter. And I say, sorry, okay, now she said, fuck ice. I have it bleeped out, obviously. And then everyone cheers. Now just notice the applause. So she says, f ice. Now, I just want to point this out. She's using like a very aggressive language and everybody's applauding right here. If you haven't noticed this, here's how it works in our society. And once I say this, you're going to see it everywhere. If you, in our culture right now, if you disagree with a secular progressive narrative or talking point, no matter how peacefully you say it, you're the one that's going to be called hateful and violent. Like, I've. I've had, you know, death threats on me. I got a bulletproof vest in the back of our speaker's room at the church. We had somebody arrested on our property. We've had people drop things in our mailbox. If you listen to my preaching, you know, I think it's, you know, fairly reasonable. So how it works in our culture is if you disagree with a secular progressive narrative, no matter how peacefully you say it, you're the one that's going to be called hateful and violent. But if you're voicing a progressive narrative, then no matter how violent, crude, or lawless you are while you do it, you are going to be cheered as empathetic and loving and caring. Now, there's actually a spiritual reason for this, and I'm going to give you another example of this. So on this same day at the Grammys, Don Lemon got a standing ovation at the pre Grammy gala. If you're paying attention, Don Lemon was part of this little BLM mob that stormed into the middle of a church service in Minneapolis in the FBI affidavit that came out afterwards, like, it was nasty. So not only did they storm in and disrupt the middle of a group of people on the Lord's day just trying to worship Jesus. One woman's arm was broken. They were screaming in the faces of children. These quote unquote protesters. They are recorded as telling children in the church who were crying, screaming in their faces that their parents were going to go to hell. One kid walked out and told his dad that he was afraid he was going to die. Don Lemon, like, actually videotaped a traumatized child, child weeping, walking out of the church. And you can see it on video. He says, man, it's uncomfortable, but that's what protest is about. So, like, super disruptive, violent, angry. But Don Lemon gets a standing ovation as being the very empathetic, peaceful, loving one. Now, why is this? Well, I'm going to read this from Romans chapter one. What you need to understand is you live in a nation that is actively under the, what theologians call the passive wrath of God. Right now, if you go read Romans 1, Romans 1 functions as a checklist of what happens in a human society when God, quote, gives them over to their sins. And it lists all these things. Now I'm going to read some things. It's like the least PC thing in the whole New Testament but when I read this, as I read it, you're going to be going like, oh, oh, that's like 21st century America. Here's what it says. Romans 1. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchange natural relations, natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. So what it's saying is when a society gets to like, the very end of its degradation, you have a metastasization of lesbianism. That's what that's saying in Romans 1:26. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. This is saying, like, when things get real bad, what you start having is pride parades, redefinition of marriage, I demand that you affirm my identity, that kind of thing. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. So we're not just. What it's saying here is it's not just that we are judged for our sins. What the Bible's saying is that actually our sins are a judgment themselves. That God has designed the world where sin is its own punishment. And you see this with deviant and perverse sexual behavior, that it leads to all sorts of chaos and pain and medical issues, all the things. Now let's keep going. Verse 28. Furthermore, this is all going to explain why Billie Eilish receives a standing ovation when she says F ice F law enforcement. Furthermore, as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled. Now listen real close. Filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity. There, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. Did you see that? Malice. Deceit and malice. They say things like deceit. They say things like, all land is stolen land. So all of you Christians, you're the evil ones. Malice fi. So you're seeing it right here they are gossips, slanderers, God haters, Insolent, arrogant and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil. Listen real close. They disobey their parents. So one of the marks of a nation under the judgment of God is people begin rebelling against God, ordained sources of authority. They have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. For although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things. Listen. So why did she receive a standing ovation? Why are their Entire months devoted to celebrating June, celebrating and applauding, having parades for wickedness, perversion and sexual degradation. Well, here's why. They not only do these things, they give approval to those who practice them. Nations under the judgment of God, begin giving standing ovations to people who defy law, order and God, ordained sources of authority. So I'll just have you notice this in the Bible. So she's saying F ice. F ISO ice is obviously. And by the way, as I say over and over again, this is not a blanket approval of every action of every Ice age in America. That's not what I'm saying. But it is the state. Romans 13 says, bears the sword and is supposed to be a terror to those who do wrong, who break the law. When sin in the Bible is called lawlessness sometimes. And the book of first Thessalonians says that the Antichrist is, quote, the man of lawlessness. So here's the deal. When you see people who are against just law enforcers and they cheer and protect law breakers, you know what spirit you're dealing with. So that's what you've got there. Now let's do a quick contrast. This is gonna be a little quicker. So that's what I would call performative courage. Now, on the other hand, we have an exact opposite example. A few minutes, I believe later, Jelly Roll rolls up and he gives an acceptance speech. That is a little different. Now check this out real quick.
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I know they're going to try to kick me off here, so just let me try to get this out first.
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Okay? Really quick. I want you to. I know I'm interrupting you a lot. I want you to see this on YouTube in particular, look, look at the tattoo he has on his cheek. A lot of people don't know this. He's actually making a very theological statement when he chose to get that tattoo of a cross on his cheek right next to a couple teardrops. Now if you, if you didn't know this in like prison culture. So Jelly Roll went to prison for aggravated robbery and drug dealing when he was 16 years old. Spent, spent some time in correctional facility in prison culture. What a lot of times they'll do is they'll put like somebody who's committed murder. They'll get a teardrop on their cheek for every person that they murdered. Now what's really interesting is what he's done is where somebody typically does that, he got a cross tattooed right there. Now, dude, this is actually like legit awesome. And he's making a theological statement that's really cool. So there's like, a lot of people have the theological debate around the question who killed Jesus. And some people will be like, well, the Roman government killed Jesus. Some people are like, no, no, it was the Jews that killed Jesus. Some people like, no, no, it was Judas. Judas was the one that's responsible for killing Jesus. And then other people are like, no, no, no, it was Pilate. Pilate was the one who killed Jesus. When Jelly Roll bent his knee to the lordship of Jesus and he decided to get that cross tattooed in the place where murderers typically get a tattoo to represent they killed somebody, what he's saying is, he's saying, I killed Jesus. Isaiah 53. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our sins. And the chastisement that brought us peace fell upon him. So before Jelly Roll says a daggone word, I'm not a huge tattoo guy. I'm probably never going to get one. But he's making a statement with that little thing. He's going, I'm the one that murdered Jesus. And he's right. I love it so much. I'm already in. All right, let's keep going.
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First of all, Jesus, I hear you, and I'm listening, Lord. I am listening, Lord.
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Let's go, bud.
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Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you. I'd ended up dead or in jail. I'd have killed myself if it wasn't for you and Jesus. I thank you for that.
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I just. I do just want to say this. When a man is filled with the spirit of God and they bend their knee to the Son of God, they begin to love Jesus. That man will always begin to love his wife. Well, there's a reason for that. In the Bible, the church is called the quote, unquote, the bride of Christ. And Jesus Christ loved his wife so well that he was willing to die for. So what you got right here? I love it. So we need a lot more of this. You got a Christian man standing on stage honoring and loving his wife. Good job, bud.
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I thank you for my label. Broken Boat Country Radio, baby. What's up, dog? Fall Republic. John Manili. We did it, baby. There was a time in my life, y'.
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All. Now, listen, this is legit right here. Let's go.
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That I was. I was broken. That's why I wrote this album. I didn't think I had a chance, y'.
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All.
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There was days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size and a 6 by 8 foot cell. And I believe that those two things could change my life.
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I believe my man is preaching. Preaching. Now, let me just. I'm gonna say a couple things. Number one, let me just get this out. There's a whole bunch of people that owe Brandon Lake an apology, for real. I just want to say this because. Dagum, Brandon Lake. Shout out. Brandon Lake, Live free Nation. He's a friend of ours. Brandon Lake got crucified a few months ago for comments he made about writing Christian music to reach quote, unquote, bubba. And he got crucified over and over again for appearing with Jelly Roll. And you know what Brandon Lake was doing? He was being like Jesus Christ, who earned the nickname in the New Testament, Jesus Christ, friend of sinners. So, well, three cheers for Brandon Lake. That's. That's one reason that dude is standing up there, having bent his knee to the lordship of Jesus, and he's given public witness to millions and millions of people. Now, number two, I want to point this out, man, because there's like, you're seeing an actual theological thing happen here. Jelly Roll could have talked about anything. But what he chose to do was stand up and hold a Bible, a little pocket New Testament Bible. When my dad got saved out of alcoholism, when my dad was in college, my dad had a little pocket New Testament, just like that. And he would go. That's the first thing my dad did. He would go to the old bars where he used to go and drink, and he would sit there with a glass of water and a pocket New Testament, a little green one like they used to have. And he would just walk around and witness to people. Now, Jelly Roll right here could have talked about anything. What he wanted to talk about was Jesus, okay? There's a reason for this. The sign of being filled with the spirit of God is that a lot of people miss this. The sign of being filled with the spirit of God. A lot of people think, like charismatics in particular, like, oh, the sign of being filled with the spirit is speaking in tongues. No, it isn't. Acts 1:8. Jesus said, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my. It does not say, you will be my tongue speakers. That's a whole different thing, but a whole different conversation. He says, you will be my witnesses. So here's the deal. I really don't care a whole lot about your prayer language if you haven't got any power for witness. What he's doing here is he's giving witness. That's what Christians do. Now, let me just. This is a masterclass right here because a lot of Christians, they're scared of evangelism. And this is so great, dude, because they're like, man, if I share Christ with somebody, they're gonna ask me a question that I don't know the answer to. But here's the deal, man. You are not called to be a lawyer that makes an airtight case and answers every question somebody asks you. What you're called to do is to be a witness. A lawyer gives an airtight case. A witness just tells their side of the story. That's all Jelly Roll's doing here. So I just want to, like, listen, man. What he's doing right here should be a challenge to every Christian man and woman everywhere. No secret agent Christians. No secret agent Jesus said, if you deny me before men, I also will deny you before my Father in heaven. So let me just say this. What some of us need to do is we need to be inspired by the courage of this guy. And it's time for you, as a man or a woman of God. I'll just say it, like, to come out of the closet at your workplace as I'm the Jesus guy or I'm the Jesus girl. So if the world has the courage to come out of the closet for wickedness and perversion, Christians need to have the courage to come out of the closet for Team Jesus. That's what he does right here. So this is great. Pre preach jelly. Here we go.
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Music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life. And I want to tell y' all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus. And anybody can have a relationship with him.
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Come on, buddy. All right, let me say a few things. Some people. Because sometimes people will take that little statement he just made, Jesus is not owned by a political party, and they'll take it out of context, and they'll toss that back at me, because sometimes I'll make political applications about the moral asymmetry of the current proposed policies of the parties. So let me just say what he just said is true. So. So let's not knock this. Jesus is not owned by a political party. And I actually want to use this to give a quick warning to Christians. Here's what you need to watch out for on this. There's a difference between conservative Christians and Christian conservatives. This is really important to understand which. So here's the question. Which one of those descriptors comes first and modifies the other one in your life? You need to ask yourself that question. Some people are conservative Christians. They're actually more conservative politically conservative than they are Christian. And whenever Christianity contradicts their conservatism, they jettison their Christianity and they side with political conservatism. How about no? In the end of things, what we are is we are on one team. We're on Team Jesus. So ultimately, what I'm trying to do is I'm not trying to pull you left and I'm not trying to pull you right. I'm trying to pull you up into the kingdom of God so that the Holy Spirit can come down on your life. So some people do that. They're conservative Christians. They're more conservative than they are Christian, and that ain't us. But other people, what they are is they're Christian conservatives. They just naturally understand that as the proposed policies of the parties outlay right now, that Christianity translated into sort of public policy in our current paradigm, it more aligns with modern conservatism than modern progressivism by a long shot. And these people are Christian conservatives. And so the Christian comes first and the conservative comes second. So wherever the conservative ism contradicts the Christian, they go, nope, I'm on Team Jesus. I'm not on that. So that's good. So true. Jesus is not owned by a political party. But we do need to be honest. There is a moral asymmetry between the publicly stated proposed policies of the two parties. Okay, so, yep, true. Here we go. Let's keep going. Hang on. I want you to hear this. I love how he's. How he did this. Listen.
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And anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you, Lord.
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I love you, Lord. That's all he said. Let me finish. I want to make an observation about this. So this is amazing. I want to give a quick caution. And this is not raining on anybody's parade or, you know, anything like that. You should be cautious about loading too much hope and sort of anointing into celebrity conversion. So first Timothy 5, 22. It gives a command to Christians. Not a suggestion, gives a command. It says, do not be hasty with the laying on of hands. What that means is that when you see, and I'm going to apply this in particular to gifted or high profile people, a lot of times people see a celebrity conversion like this. And what laying on of hands means is a way that the church will anoint somebody and recognize them as a leader on Team Jesus. When it says, don't be hasty with that, it's saying what we ought to do is not like, really quick, do that for somebody. You're our leader now. You're our spokesperson. Hey, man, no, no. What we need to do is wait, watch, reflect anybody's life on anybody's life. The Bible says you will know them by their fruit over time. So there is a temptation that some Christians have to anoint somebody with a large platform as a leader and heads up. Like, I think the Kanye west example is like, should give us a caution here. Honestly, right now, like, what's going on with Nicki Minaj? Which I, for the life of me, I can't figure out. But what we need to do is instead of rushing to that, we should be wise and prudent and go, man, I am all for this. I'm cheering them on. I'm celebrating everything. But I'm also going to be cautious and not load too much hope into it. The reason for this, there's a theological reason for that caution. When Jesus, if you remember, tells the parable of the four soils, the reason for it is you don't know what type of soil that person is yet. So what they might be like Kanye West. It says that sometimes the word falls on rocky soil and because the soil was shallow, the seed quote springs up quickly. But then when trouble or persecution comes on account of the word, they quickly fall away. That we don't know the type of soil somebody is until we watch them for a long time. So you should be cautious about this. And that's. That's fine. Cheered on, but has exercise wise caution. Now, here's what I love about him. Just finishing, actually, I just want to finish here on the applause. Let's go, Reba. Reba. There it is. He just, I love you, Lord. Okay, what I love about this is I love you, Lord, is just like the deepest cry of a Christian man's heart. Romans 8 says this. It says, for you have not been given a spirit of fear to fall back again into slavery, but you have received a spirit of sonship by which we cry, abba, Father. And what you'll notice is it almost feels like it's not childish, but it is childlike. Is that when somebody is saved and filled with the spirit of God, that something just bubbles up inside of them and they're like a little kid that's just like, I love you, dad. And it just comes out of him and what gives me a lot of hope about the genuineness of his conversion and what his future is going to look like as a Christian man is it just so effortlessly bubbled up out of him, I love you, lord. That's Romans 8 on the Grammy stage. Now, let me just finish with this, and I just want to contrast Billie Eilish with Jelly Roll, okay? What you're seeing right now is, in our culture, is that rebellion has flipped in our culture. So, like, what I mean is, when I was growing up in the late 1900s, when we rode dinosaurs to school and all the things, when I was growing up and going to high school in the 90s, an altern quote, unquote alternative lifestyle, it was somebody that, like, honestly looked a lot like Billie Eilish. It was like the whole goth thing and, you know, the dress thing, and lots of sex and anger at the system and f. Law enforcement and perpetual outrage and alcohol and drugs and. Man, if you really want to live an alternative lifestyle, you're a dude that dates a dude or you're a girl that cheers on girls dating other girls. And that was an alternative lifestyle. Well, guys, news flash. Everybody's doing that now. So, like, honestly, I'll just give you a challenge. If you want to live an alternative lifestyle in 2026, here's what you got to do to live a rebellious alternative lifestyle in 2026. Read your Bible. Go to church. Love one woman your whole life if you're a man, and one man your whole life if you're a woman, have kids and enjoy them, or do crazy, rebellious things like stand on a stage at the Grammys and yell, I love you, Lord. Why? Because in our culture, obedience is the only rebellion left. Let's go, Rebels. Team Jesus, Sam.