Russell Brand's Journey to Christ

Summary

Podcast Summary: Russell Brand's Journey to Christ

Introduction

In the August 6, 2025 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk engages in a profound and candid conversation with renowned comedian and activist Russell Brand. This episode delves deep into Brand's transformative journey from a tumultuous, self-centered lifestyle to embracing Christianity. Through an honest exploration of personal struggles, cultural critiques, and spiritual awakening, Brand shares insights that resonate with individuals seeking clarity amidst modern chaos.

Russell Brand's Background

Russell Brand enters the conversation as a "new believer" and "new Christian," marking a significant shift from his previously anti-establishment persona. Charlie Kirk sets the stage by highlighting Brand's evolution, stating, "You probably know him from a lot of different stuff," (00:33) underscoring the contrast between Brand's past and present selves.

Catalysts for Change: Personal Crises

Brand candidly discusses the pivotal moments that led to his spiritual transformation. He reflects on his earlier life characterized by "self-worshiping yourself, aspects of yourself, self-aggrandizement" (04:20) and acknowledges how cultural influences perpetuated a state of "self-centered bewilderment." Personal crises, including the birth of his son and false allegations of sexual misconduct, served as catalysts for introspection and change. "Through false allegations of sexual misconduct, which gave me great pause for reflection on the way that I'd lived for a lot of time and the impact of that lifestyle," (05:41) Brand explains, highlighting the profound impact of these events on his spiritual journey.

Encounter with Scripture and Realization

A significant turning point for Brand was his engagement with Christian scripture. He delves into his study of the Book of Acts and Romans, emphasizing the tangible reality of Christ. "I thought ... it was my personal hedonism and my sense of myself as self-actualizing through excess. That's a story the culture likes to tell itself," (06:06) he muses. Brand describes a "visceral wave of the reality and truth of the historical Christ," differentiating this experience from abstract or mythic interpretations of faith. This realization brought him "out of the humdrum, it brings me out of the sensual, and it puts me in the supernatural" (07:00), signifying a profound shift in his worldview.

Reflections on Culture and Religion

Brand provides a critical analysis of contemporary culture and its impact on individual spirituality. He contrasts Christianity with other religions like Buddhism, Sufism, and Hinduism, noting that while these faiths contain "many, many truths," they often fall short of providing the structure and supernatural connection he found in Christianity. "I carried two Bibles which I recognize is quite cumbersome. But I've not been Christian very long, so what do you expect?" (03:58) he remarks, underscoring his commitment to his newfound faith despite challenges.

Brand critiques the culture's emphasis on self-fulfillment and materialism, arguing that it leads to "ignorance, bewildered, and delirious" states of being. "They want us all like hopeless blobs and parasites hooked up onto their system of ignorance," (16:17) he asserts, highlighting his belief that modern society undermines true freedom and virtue.

Challenges Post-Conversion

Transitioning to Christianity has not been without its challenges for Brand. He speaks openly about facing governmental opposition and personal scrutiny, especially in the UK. "They are going after Russell because he was so effective and vocal during COVID," (20:18) he explains, tying his activism against lockdowns and vaccination mandates to the backlash he now faces.

Despite these obstacles, Brand emphasizes his unwavering commitment to his faith. He acknowledges past missteps and the ongoing struggle to align his actions with his Christian beliefs. "I have pretty serious challenges to surmount in the UK when it comes to my personal beliefs," (17:46) he admits, illustrating the tension between his public persona and personal convictions.

Commitment to Evangelism and Ministry

Brand expresses a strong desire to participate in Christian ministry, albeit with humility. "I do want to participate in his ministry and mission," (17:35) he states, yet he remains cautious about self-appointment, ensuring that his actions align with what he perceives as God's calling. His evangelistic efforts are fueled by a sense of duty to spread the message of Christ amidst cultural decay.

He underscores the importance of community and support from fellow Christians to maintain his spiritual footing. "I have to stay very close to Christ Jesus. And to do that, I need Christians everywhere around me," (35:02) Brand emphasizes, highlighting the communal aspect of his faith journey.

Insights on Freedom, Virtue, and Religion

A central theme in the conversation is the interplay between freedom and virtue. Both Kirk and Brand advocate that true freedom cannot exist without a foundation of virtue, grounded in Christian values. Kirk aptly summarizes this by stating, "Freedom cannot exist without virtue. And so freedom will come after," (26:34) aligning with Brand's belief that modern pursuits of self-fulfillment are illusory and ultimately confining.

Brand delves into theological concepts, referencing Romans 12:2 to illustrate the transformation of the mind away from worldly conformity. "Do not conform to the ways of this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind," (27:06) he recites, reinforcing the necessity of spiritual renewal for genuine freedom.

Conclusion

Russell Brand's journey to Christianity, as discussed on The Charlie Kirk Show, offers a compelling narrative of personal transformation, cultural critique, and spiritual awakening. Through his honest reflections and theological insights, Brand underscores the profound impact of faith on individual freedom and virtue. The conversation serves as a testament to the enduring struggle between modern cultural values and timeless spiritual truths, providing listeners with a nuanced perspective on the quest for genuine liberation through Christianity.

Notable Quotes

• Russell Brand on Self-Worship and Culture:
  "Self-worshiping yourself, aspects of yourself, self-aggrandizement, pursuit of personal glory, you're very easily contained by the culture in a sense." (04:20)

• Brand on the Reality of Christ:
  "I thought, oh yeah, it was my personal hedonism and my sense of myself as self-actualizing through excess. That's a story the culture likes to tell itself... I thought, oh my God, it actually happened. It actually happened." (07:00)

• Critique of Modern Culture:
  "They want us all like hopeless blobs and parasites hooked up onto their system of ignorance." (16:17)

• On Facing Challenges Post-Conversion:
  "They are going after Russell because he was so effective and vocal during COVID... your lawfare started simultaneously with all that." (20:18)

• Commitment to Evangelism:
  "There is perfect freedom. There is no freedom out there... I have to stay very close to Christ Jesus. And to do that, I need Christians everywhere around me." (35:02)

• On Freedom and Virtue:
  "Freedom cannot exist without virtue. And so freedom will come after." (26:34)

This episode offers a deep dive into how personal struggles and cultural influences can propel an individual towards profound spiritual change, emphasizing the importance of community and steadfast faith in navigating modern challenges.

Transcript

[Charlie Kirk]

Hey, everybody. Charlie Kirk here, live from the Bitcoin.com studio. My conversation with Russell Brand. It's fun, it's lively, and it's insulting to me, but I don't take it personally. It's a lot of fun. While I lozenge with Russell Brand. You don't know what I'm talking about. You got to listen to this. Russell Brand and I share lozenges next to the campfire as you reflect on the deeper things. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com subscribe to our podcast. I think you're going to love this conversation with a new believer, new Christian Brand. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

[Russell Brand]

I want you to know we are.

[Charlie Kirk]

Lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

[Russell Brand]

I want to thank Charlie.

[Charlie Kirk]

He's an incredible guy.

[Russell Brand]

His spirit, his love of this country.

[Charlie Kirk]

He's done an amazing job building one.

[Russell Brand]

Of the most powerful youth organizations ever.

[Charlie Kirk]

Created, Turning Point usa. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives. And we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country. That's why we are here. Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of the Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble gold [e-mail] that is noblegoldinvestments.com. it's where I buy all of my gold. Go to noblegoldinvestments.com okay, everyone, let's get right to it. Joining us is a new friend and honestly, a great person and amazing Christian. A new Christian. You probably know him from a lot of different stuff. Give it up for Russell Brand, everybody.

[Russell Brand]

Thank you. Hello.

[Charlie Kirk]

Russell. Great to see you.

[Russell Brand]

Oh, I'm so grateful to be here.

[Charlie Kirk]

Before we start, I'm not Gary, the guy you've been avoiding me.

[Russell Brand]

All right, wait, this is important. It's the Guantanamo gator. Charlie. I want to follow up on some of the Guantanamo gators questions. Why do we have. No, keep talking. This is good. And why don't you debate. He's perfectly reasonable. Debate him. Now, why do you keep. Because that's quite good. Do you see he. Now, Charlie, now can I talk to you about some of your booking ideas? And I will say, no one told me about the Guantanamo Gaeta. I was not warned. And you know, sometimes you see those videos of Floridians getting them into a trash can. With wheels. I should like to see that take place with that gentleman.

[Charlie Kirk]

He was so. He honestly like he's just so reasonable. He should have kept the conversation going. Russell, great to see you. Thanks for being here.

[Russell Brand]

It's so lovely to see you.

[Charlie Kirk]

So I have so much to talk about here. Are you carrying around a Bible?

[Russell Brand]

That's my Bible in one year for my daily readings. And I thought it was very apposite that today we've transitioned out of Acts and into Romans 1. Because on our previous conversation, which was in Milwaukee at the rnc, you said to me that Romans is the Christian constitution. This is from my friend J. John. I like it. It's old and New Testament. It's very easy to carry around and read. These are just some of my notes in preparation for the interview. Note one, Ensure Guantanamo Gaeta present in front row. This will distract Charlie. Now there's just like lots of actually notes about Rome itself and Caravaggio and stuff like that. So yeah, I carry two Bibles which I recognize is quite cumbersome. But I've not been Christian very long, so what do you expect?

[Charlie Kirk]

So Russell, you have a phenomenal story and thank you for taking time to travel to this conference. It's terrific.

[Russell Brand]

Thanks for paying me to come.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, no, absolutely. Thank you for gladly accepting. So you were in public eye. You still are in a non Christian lifestyle, is that fair to say?

[Russell Brand]

Almost anti Christian in some ways.

[Charlie Kirk]

Walk us through the journey as you're comfortable sharing from that lifestyle to now giving your life to Jesus Christ.

[Russell Brand]

Well, you know, in a sense we have no choice but to worship something. And my devoutness and devotion was effortlessly directed by the culture and by my conditions. I mean familial and psychological as well as social towards worship and reverence of the individual, which I see as being the nexus of false idolatry really. As long as you're trapped in self worshiping yourself, aspects of yourself, self aggrandizement, pursuit of personal glory, you're very easily contained by the culture in a sense. I've started to recognize that the culture wants us in a state of self centered bewilderment. When you're in that state, you're very easy to manage and manipulate. I really thought I was autonomous and had a great deal of personal authority. In fact, I would have believed in the kind of rags to riches idea that I bought. Come from a pretty modest background and through success and endeavor and hard work, and through personal excellence, nobility and charm, moxie, call it what you will, I fought against the odds to Become a Hollywood star and marry the Katy Perry and be on red carpets all over the place. For a brief while, I lived with the Guantanamo gator. It was a complicated era. That's how I would have characterized it.

[Charlie Kirk]

Charlie, I missed that one.

[Russell Brand]

Yeah. And I kept it quiet. I was embarrassed. I would have characterized it as a sort of a story of personal success. And I didn't. This is how I came to realize this. I was looking at the work of Yuval Noah Harari, the writer of Sapiens, which I found perfectly enjoyable till it became clear to me it was an atheistic trope that was geared towards directing people towards surrender and subjugation, towards AI False idols.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's what it was.

[Russell Brand]

It was, wasn't it? And I thought, oh, the reason this guy is such a popular and accredited intellectual is because his message and agenda fits very neatly into the agenda of powerful elites who determine which cultural artifacts get celebrated and popularized. I didn't realize that at first. And then I thought, I wonder if you were that. I wonder if there was something about your success, Russell, that was telling the culture a story they wanted to hear. And I thought about it for a while because it is, after all, my favorite subject. Me. And while I was thinking about that, I thought, oh yeah, it was my personal hedonism and my sense of myself as self actualizing through excess. That's a story the culture likes to tell itself. So really you were just the useful sort of vessel or an. Or expression of a particular set of cultural ideas. I came to Christ the way that some people do who don't have the benefit of Christianity in early life, although it happened obviously at the perfect time, through a variety of collapses in my private and public life. Sort of a personal difficulty with the birth of my son, who's sort of beautiful and incredible and doing very. Doing. Doing very well, but certainly was a crisis in our family for a minute. And through false allegations of sexual misconduct, which gave me great pause for reflection on the way that I'd lived for a lot of time and the impact of that lifestyle. And I suppose in the midst of all that confusion, the clarity of Christ came in a way that's sort of still difficult to describe. But most recently I felt Charlie, when reading. I was looking at Acts and it talked about the meeting of Paul and Peter. So I went and check it in Galatians, the same encounter. And I thought in that encounter between Paul and Peter, you've got someone who knew Christ while alive and met the resurrected Christ as well as Paul, who has this profound Incredible vision re encounter with him. And I thought, and I had that kind of visceral wave of the reality and truth of the historical Christ, not just the mythic Christ that we need to use as a sort of an inner constellation for personal guidance. But, oh my God, it actually happened. It actually happened. And when I feel that, it brings me out of the humdrum, it brings me out of the sensual, and it puts me in the supernatural, where I believe we must, to some degree, live in the world.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yes. And so I'm sure you tried Buddhism or you did you experiment with Eastern stuff? What made Christianity different?

[Russell Brand]

The reason I was repulsed by Christianity initially was because I felt like this is the religion of like, you know, like any ordinary American or my grandmother or my wife is accessible to everyone. I must have something a little more esoteric, a little rarer, a little more.

[Charlie Kirk]

Hard, a little more gnostic.

[Russell Brand]

A little more gnostic and a little less conformist. I felt that, you know, Christianity and maybe institute. There's an argument that could be had about whether institutional Christian Christianity is used as a kind of panacea to prevent people being the radical revolutionaries that I believe our Lord would have us be. And, and, and I, I, when I like with things like Buddhism and Sufism, not that I'm claiming to have had a deep understanding of these faiths, just an autodidactic perusal of the books of Sufism and Hinduism and Buddhism and philosophy, although there were many, many truths that were discovered in them, texts at the center of those truths, Charlie, there I was, still trapped in self. When I surrendered, kind of voluntarily, yet exhausted, to the man Christ, the flesh Christ, I realized, ah, I wanted to be Jesus. I wanted to be the center, the Son of God, the apex. Yeah, I can't do miracles. I'm not willing to be crucified now. Since surrendering to him, accepting him, bowing at the foot of his cross on my knees, shoulder, shoulder with any one of you that accepts Jesus alongside me, I feel relieved, I feel unburdened, I feel empowered. And I realize that the person that I used to be was not an error or a mistake, but part of the unfolding way, as the early Christians called it. And I find it interesting that a lot of these ideas that I investigated, dear Charlie, like Taoism, say, have embedded in them, even semantically, notions that can be discovered in Christianity. And when his Holiness the Dalai Lama gave his recent 90th birthday speech, as I sort of read at least that, you know, he posted on social media, I read through that, Charlie, and I noted that most of his significant points about Buddhism I could, even with just a year in scripture match with something from the gospel. Every aspect was like, this is all in Christ. This is all available to us in Jesus. There is no need for anything other than Jesus Christ. There is no need for anything but Jesus.

[Charlie Kirk]

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[Russell Brand]

Well, I'm fascinated by them, Charlie.

[Charlie Kirk]

I'm fascinated staring at you. Want one?

[Russell Brand]

It's not like I want one. I just want to know the story. Story of them.

[Charlie Kirk]

I lose my voice at these events because I speak 14 hours a day.

[Russell Brand]

So you fight it off with lozenges?

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, no. The lozenges lubricate the throat to prevent you. Yeah.

[Russell Brand]

Find out about it.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's very Maha. For the record, I like it.

[Russell Brand]

I have to have a hundred, a thousand.

[Charlie Kirk]

Lemon eucalyptus.

[Russell Brand]

That's good stuff, man. I'm addicted. I'm gonna grind it up and inject it in my arm. Don't do drugs, kids.

[Charlie Kirk]

We're told all religions are the same.

[Russell Brand]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

You really like or not?

[Russell Brand]

Good. It's actually amazing. It's delicious.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's tasty, right, Charlie?

[Russell Brand]

No wonder you can speak for 14 hours. No wonder you can get Gavin Gruesome Newsome to admit that there are different genders. You're powered by lozenges.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's right. He's the only one ever to mention the lozenges. No one else has ever met. I Would expect. Expect nothing less.

[Russell Brand]

So not all religions are the same. That's. But I thought. What do you.

[Charlie Kirk]

What you say we're told all religions are the same. What is the differentiator that you want the rest of the world to know about Jesus Christ? About self. You mentioned. I mean for example, Buddhism. Come if I'm wrong, Russell is a very self centric religion.

[Russell Brand]

Yeah, it is. I mean, this is. Sorry. You know, sometimes when you're a professional comedian you realize that you do things that are funny, that you where you're not trying to be funny. This is one of them. I'm not even actually trying to be funny. For me it seems normal that you would take the lozenge in and out like a cigarette. Well, Charlie, your father and I, we used to lozenge together at Harvard. George Bush and I were in the Skull and Bones Club. We was lozenged together at Bohemian Grove then. Who's that under the privet? It's Alex Jones. After my molecrobes. Was Jones after my molachrobes? Was he? No. I mean yeah, like Buddhism is self. Buddhism is self centered, if you like the. I reckon the reason the thing that I resisted about Jesus was the very thing that I needed to yield and surrender to. I didn't like I was messianically infatuated with myself as the kind of center of the world. And the culture also gives you that offering. It's appealing that your personal identity can be the altar of false idolatry. I. E. Your sexuality, your race or your gender. All of those things are in. Are glorious creations of our Lord. But when you make them the focus of your spiritual attention, of your devotion, they can't hold it. I look at the instructions in scripture now not just as edicts to be obeyed, but simply as suggestions that if you follow them, you will have a better time. If you turn sex into a type of God you're going to, you're in for a rough ride. If you turn your personal identity into a kind of God, you're living in an illusion. Die on the cross with him. The conversation I refer to between Paul and Peter, as rendered in Galatians, leads to Paul saying, I lived by a certain law and I lived by a certain law. The idea of self, the idea that do as well. Indeed, one of the edicts of Satanism as espoused by Aleister Crowley is Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. What you want to do is God. That your own desires are God, that. That by truncating Curtailing and succeasing of your desires, you're somehow being not true to your that you should be who you are. Now. Consumerism and commerce benefit if people want to fulfill their desires all the time. Every single purchase is undergirded either by necessitation or desire. But what I have been shown by our Lord is that the perennial ideas of Aldous Huxley, that all religions are the same, or the Cambellion ideas of the heroes with a thousand masks, or Jung's ideas about archetypes are not untrue. There are truths presenting themselves again and again through culture. But there is, I believe, for some of us, maybe not for everyone who would. How am I, after like 14 months of Christianity, to tell everyone that they have to do immediately what I couldn't do 15 months ago? But it seems to me that the way of the Cross, the way of the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit, is a way of bypassing and navigating your way through the terrible trenches of bewilderment strewn by a culture that wants you ignorant, bewildered and delirious. You need only glance at the Parisian Olympics to be aware that what they want to do is surpass and supplant the values of Christ with the values of a culture that want you sick, ill and weak. There is an attack on all categories that empower people, whether that's the category of woman or the category of man. These are empowering and holy roles that we might play. I note since living in Florida, that there's an attack on excellence, on expertise, on competence and capability. They don't want men and women that are awakened and armed and capable of taking care of themselves. They want us all like hopeless blobs and parasites hooked up onto their system of ignorance that tells you there is no God and then tells you that it is the very God that it denies the existence of omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, wanting complete control through surveillance and data capture and observation, and ultimately wants you to submit to its false idols. Its false idols. Mmm. Lozenge. Imagine that was all a campaign. Oh, yeah, yeah. Imagine that whole thing, Charlie, was just an elaborate advertisement for this brand of lozenge. You know how like Tucker does those zifs.

[Charlie Kirk]

So the zins or whatever, now he's.

[Russell Brand]

Got his own one now it's called Alp.

[Charlie Kirk]

So, Russell, all kidding aside, when are you going to start a church? Are you going to start. Are you going to try to start a ministry? I mean, the UK could, could use, firstly, a revival.

[Russell Brand]

I'm really trying to surrender to whatever he wants. You know, I've always been. I've been talking my whole life. So, like, it would be immodest, false modesty for me to say, oh, really, Charlie? You know, I'm aware I hear myself talking, but. But when I'm not sucking on a sweet, sweet lozenge of the Lord, like. But I do want to participate in his ministry and mission. But because I have a tendency to appoint myself and anoint myself in certain roles, I want to be sure that it's the path he would have me walk. And I have pretty serious challenges to surmount in the UK when it comes to my personal beliefs.

[Charlie Kirk]

The entire government is going after Russell. I hope you guys know that. And exhausting. Yes, but. So Russell, how has that played into your walk with Jesus? Is it fair to say? And I'll just. I mean, I don't mean to be offensive or provocative, but that you were like, brought to Christ because things started to go rather negative. Like you, like, things started to fall apart and you realized that you had to surrender in front of the cross.

[Russell Brand]

Yeah, that's a. Sort of a pretty simple way of putting it, Charlie.

[Charlie Kirk]

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[Russell Brand]

I was. It was so. No, it was a little later, but I knew that. It's been revealed that I was under observation from groups like Logically, AI and CRSP who are sort of online organizations that often work with either government agencies or government carve outs. You're aware of things like the Atlantic Group and various organizations that were funded by USAID or other CIA carve out organizations. What it seems to have taken place is I provided a lot of raw material by living like an imbecile for a long, long while in a way that is not in at all in accordance with the way that I've lived as a married man for the last eight years. Nine years, ten years. God, that's not going to look good for my wife. Hold on, let me do some quick maths. Carried the ones. When was that baby? I'll know out of wedlock. Sorry Lord, eight years, but with a night with my daughter will be nine at her next birthday. I've. While I was single and young, I lived very promiscuously. Promiscuously. And when you live like that, I can see that it causes harm. To be selfish in your sexual conduct is essentially exploitative. But there's in my view, a world of difference between that and forcing people to do things against their will. That is a very, very clear and atrocious crime. What I believe happened is that due to the popularity of much of the broadcasting that was taking place at that part time, which happened sort of really organically and almost Charlie Kirk, as a quirk of the technological advancements of that time, like you could exist outside of centralized media. And just as I was doing on YouTube, quickly garner a following of millions. We were talking every day about Pfizer's lack of clinical trials, Moderna's relationship with the government, the inability to prove the efficacy of those medicines, the likelihood that the COVID vaccine, excuse me, COVID virus, originated in a laboratory. This peculiar funding relationships with some between DARPA and Covid, Anthony Fauci's deception, his peculiar visits with the CIA, his relationships with Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, all sorts of stuff that was available. And Charlie would have been reporting on the same stuff. And certainly Joe Rogan was. I was talking about those kind of things using a variety of articles from people like Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger. Bringing together sort of narratives. But I think hopefully we were able to speak about it in a manner that was sort of funny. For example, one of the moderna booster shots was only ever tested on eight mouses. And I would say you can't give a whole population a booster on the basis of something that's only been given to eight mouses. And all the while I'm aware that people are going, but the plural for mouse, mouse is mice. And little tricks like that help information to land with.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's the most important part of the statement.

[Russell Brand]

Absolutely vital. Focus on the pluralization of the word.

[Charlie Kirk]

Good grammar, mass death, you know, without.

[Russell Brand]

Grammar, there's no point in being vaccinated. There's no point in surviving. Also, I hope that was observing the. The unspoken narrative of COVID is this. Check it out. Life is so sacred and each of us so precious, the most vulnerable. No matter who you are or where you're from, life is a sacred gift from God. Therefore, if there's a virus that's a threat to anybody, we must all be locked in our homes, we must all wear masks, we must all obey these edicts, and if necessary, you must take these vaccines. And if you don't, you are lacking in compassion, you don't care about others. The entire premise is erroneous because where else do we see our culture behaving as if life is sacred? As if we must sacrifice ourselves for one another? Indeed. Don't they mock those very values? Don't they mock our Savior? Don't they mock our church? Don't they laugh at the idea that there's something more valuable than the fulfillment of self and the adornment of self? Anyway, so during COVID I talked about it a lot, but I was pretty loquacious and pretty non stop about it. The videos were doing well, I was enjoying it. And I'm a kind of a naturally anti establishment person, I suppose. I didn't take the vaccine because I don't like being told what to do. I didn't take it because they were telling me, in fact, if they wanted me to take that vaccine, all they would have had to have done is leave a couple of syringes in my bedroom and tell me under no circumstances do not touch that. No matter what. Doesn't matter who coughs or however quietly in whichever grocery store, don't take those. Oh, you've already taken them. Sir, I have taken 20 or 30 vaccines. I don't like being told what to do. In this way I'm a closer to the native mentality of the people of your nation than my own. Because over in the UK people are. Seem to have happily tumbled into obedient in the uk unbelievable obedience. I saw some of your appearances there on GB News and your debates there and I thought you conducted yourself marvelously as always. But I am like you, concerned about what's happening in the United Kingdom. And however you want to carve that up from the left or from, from the right, from a materialist, rationalistic, atheistic or Christian perspective is a country that is in very real danger of falling.

[Charlie Kirk]

It is. And so Russell, you brought something and I want to isolate it. You said you don't like being told what to do. That makes it even more incredible that you submitted to Jesus Christ and submitted to Scripture. Yeah, because that's a surface contradiction. So yes, walk us through that.

[Russell Brand]

Well, I think that might have been one of the initial obstacles because there's this sort of in pantheonism and paganism, there's this aggrandizement or acceptance and celebration of what you might call the humors or the inner deities. Your warlike aspect, your. The Aphrodite aspect, your sensuality. All of these things can be revered. And I didn't want to submit to Christ. I didn't want to surrender to Christ. And if I'm entirely honest, Charlie, there are some days still where I don't want to bow down in total submission and surrender and recognize that my self will is my biggest.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's exactly right.

[Russell Brand]

The flesh, the world and the. And the mentality. I'm continually caught in a loop of fallibility around these things. But I can't believe that it's all in Scripture, it's all in the Word. But it was like the scripture coming to life somehow. Like I felt like it is finished, it is done. His words on the cross. I felt the compassion that is available through the love of his mother, through his forgiveness of us, through his acceptance of us, that the submission. I do believe that submission to a higher good. I believe now humility before honor, before the idea of surrender and still the idea of surrendering or accepting any human authority as supreme, I find it kind of repulsive. And I believe that there are significant institutional, if not constitutional changes coming to your country. Because I believe that there is a, an appetite for more freedom. Yes, that is growing.

[Charlie Kirk]

Freedom cannot exist without virtue. And so freedom will come after. And it's happening right now. People go to church and give their life to God. You cannot have a free society if you do not have a society that values God. It's impossible. That's why continental Europe is so unfree. It's secular, it's interesting. And so you pinpoint something. First of all, there's a great verse that I think you'll love. Romans 12:2, which is, do not conform to the ways of this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Fact check me if I got it right. Romans 12:13.

[Russell Brand]

Fact checking.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, I'm just the believer's constitution.

[Russell Brand]

I consider you a kind of living Bible.

[Charlie Kirk]

I'm not quite a living Bible, but I do take that seriously. So Romans 12:2. It's one of my favorite verses because you talked about your mindset. So that's Romans right there, I think. Yes. Yep. 12:2.

[Russell Brand]

All right, so this is a new international version, probably, Charlie. So the. Any distinctions are likely because of the translation.

[Charlie Kirk]

I won't. I won't nitpick that, but what do you go with? Esv. Yeah, that's our new King James, one of the two.

[Russell Brand]

I like ESV as well. All right, so. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living, holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. It's beautiful. I like that it starts off Charlie as well. Yeah, Praise the Lord. I like that it starts off with give your body like. That's one of the things that hit me early on through St. Paul, I think, in Corinthians, and it was somewhat by the brilliant rendering of the British pastor that I first heard use these words in a sermon, even though they're words we're all familiar with. That's what frequently misused, of course. Sarcastically, even ironically. Do you not know that your body is a temple? Do you not know it has that prefix? Do you not know that your body is a temple? I like the gentleness of. You wouldn't be doing this if you knew that your body was a temple. I lived like someone who didn't know that their body was a temple. A dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, a place for the Lord to inhabit. We no longer have tabernacle that has to be carried, that could go off at any time and kill everyone. We are a living tabernacle. We are the sight of his holiness and His Grace.

[Charlie Kirk]

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[Russell Brand]

Want to put this before you, because I'm thinking of saying it when I talk in front of the audience later, which I'm a bit nervous about, Charlie. I'm a bit nervous about talking in front of a big audience. Okay. I did get nervous. See this thing? When I went to Rome the other day, I was in one of these churches, you know, like, if you ever go to Rome, you've got to go. It's amazing. I don't mean it's incredible roam in Florida. Because there is one. Is there? Or Georgia. I don't mean that one.

[Charlie Kirk]

I mean there is a Rome. Georgia.

[Russell Brand]

Yeah, I mean. I mean the one with Italians in it. There's probably some in Georgia as well. But, like, anyway, I mean, full of them, brimming over everywhere you look. One of these churches has got three Caravaggios in. In it of St. Matthew. One Caravaggio is one of my favorite sort of late Renaissance artists, is a lot of darkness in the way he paints and shafts of light. They say that Francis Coppola used his image system heavily for the Godfather movies. Anyway, there's this one image painting. Beautiful, unbelievably beautiful painting of St Matthew being appointed and anointed, like, chosen, like, I suppose in the show Chosen. When our Lord goes, follow me. I know that if he goes, oh, he's not from Essex, but, you know, like.

[Charlie Kirk]

And Matthew was a tax collector, I believe.

[Russell Brand]

So they say. And in this picture, he's depicted as being sat around with a bunch of other taxpayers and ne' er do wells. And at the end of the table, rather like this one that you and I are at, Charlie, surrounded by them, look like they're playing games of chance. I believe it's St. Matthew at the end, although it's one of those paintings where there's some discussion over which one is Matthew. The one I think is Matthew when the paint is called the anointing of Matthew or the appointing of Matthew, I can't remember which. Probably appointing, I suppose, like one of the geezers is sat at the end like that. And I think that's the one. That's Matthew, that one. What, who's getting appointed. And you will understand his reluctance to be appointed in this holy mission when you see that the next of the. They're not a triptych, but they are free paintings hung together is Matthew with Gabriel writing his Testament and Gospel. And then the final image is Matthew being flayed, which means skinned alive for his faith and for his Christianity. I thought if we believed as he believed, how could it be that you could have an institution like the Vatican and not have a revolution? If. If we believed as he believed, how could you have us going to church every Sunday, praying, teaching our kids, reading the Word, and not have the revolution or at least the way made straight for the return of our Savior? If we believed only as. As Paul believed, as Peter believed, as Barnabas believed, as Mary believed, as Stephen believed. This is the church that excites and interests me. And I know it comes at a high cost. And I know what our Lord said to. Is it Anas? When Paul's on his way to Damascus, Paul's coming. I've chosen him. He's going to suffer greatly for my name. So go over there and sort his head out. He's gone blind. He's had a little bit of a shock on the way here. Paraphrasing. But what I feel is that it was. A threshold was passed, Charlie, that I was still withheld in the new age. And I still bear the scars of the new age.

[Charlie Kirk]

I was going to ask you about that, but I wanted to be polite.

[Russell Brand]

She's Durga. Durga is a great goddess in India. You know, this is a tattoo I've had for some years now, of course, prior to coming.

[Charlie Kirk]

I mean. Why did you decide to get a tattoo of her?

[Russell Brand]

Because Durga is a. She's female goddess energy. And I have a wife and I have two daughters. And I was commemorating and celebrating the power of my wife Laura and of my daughters Mabel and Peggy. Durga, in one of her aspects, rides a tiger. And I like the idea of my daughters and my wife being powerful, strong women who know how to marshal the energy that God gave them. And of course, there is no God by him. And I surrender and bow down to Christ Jesus and I disavow all false idols. But the false idols that concern me most are not those that emerge out of Hinduism or even Islam, although I'm sure you'll hear rhetoric here to the contrary. No, it is the false idols that emerge from our creat. Our culture. The ones that. The graven images that we stare at day after day, hour after hour. The endless, endless effluvia and limitless flow of filth and pornography that denigrates and lowers us all. It's the false idols within our culture that I fear most. But you know, Peter took the Jews and Paul took the Gentiles. We're all going to get called to different missions. And I don't claim to know very much. I. I think about myself all the time and I don't understand myself yet. So how would I know anything about anyone or anything else? But what I would say is it's the false idols in the culture that I fear most that want us deadened and distracted.

[Charlie Kirk]

Child, I totally agree. Look, modernity has made us materially wealthier but spiritually poor. And that is modernity. And we are seeing a reckoning of that. While people want to return to a tradition. We only have a couple. We only have a couple minutes. I got to get you on stage, but really. Yes. This is just the warm up act.

[Russell Brand]

Oh, man, I'm feeling nervous.

[Charlie Kirk]

How many have a lozenge?

[Russell Brand]

Thousand.

[Charlie Kirk]

It'll. It'll calm you down.

[Russell Brand]

Give me that. From my pocket. Yes, I know that's there.

[Charlie Kirk]

7,000 people for you. Oh, Charlie Russell. Your show is called Stay Free.

[Russell Brand]

Yes, on Rumble.

[Charlie Kirk]

Are you. Do you believe you are freer and more joyful since giving your life to Jesus?

[Russell Brand]

Oh, man, there's no question. Even with the really difficult things that happened, like being told that our baby might be born dead, being offered late term abortion, him being born and requiring a surgery. 12 when he was 12 weeks old, turning into the glorious little boy that he is now. The reputational attacks, the exhaustion, the confronting with the things that I have done wrong in my life, I am. I've never been so free. In obedience and surrender to him. There is perfect freedom. There is no freedom out there. There's no freedom in Hedonism, in epicureanism, in the constant devouring of concupience and endless pleasures. There's no freedom there. It's an illusion, but it's a powerful illusion. I'm not suggesting I couldn't fall for it again a thousand times. I have to stay very close to Christ Jesus. And to do that, I need Christians everywhere around me. And perhaps that's what fuels my evangelism.

[Charlie Kirk]

And so, yeah, Russell, what has worked for you? Every believer is different. Is it Christian music? Is it reading the Bible? Is it going to church? What keeps you close to Jesus? Because you're right, you're constantly attacked, by the way, Satan, I believe, has singled you out for quite a while. And you better believe the enemy's not happy that now you're proclaiming Jesus in front of millions of people. And you know, we as believers believe Satan is real. Satan is active.

[Russell Brand]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Satan attacks. Satan targets. Satan is literally. In Hebrew, Satan means the prosecutor, the deceiver. So all of what you are going through in the United Kingdom is a satanic attack to try to say, oh, Russell, remember that thing that happened 10 years ago? Try to have you feel guilty and ashamed. Remember, Satan, throughout the scriptures would constantly, always whisper, whether it be in the garden or elsewhere, about, oh, you need to be held back by one what you once did. But Christ sets you free. And so knowing that, what keeps you spiritually active and alive.

[Russell Brand]

You know, of course I am cowed by what I've done, but I'm attacked for things that I have not done. I recognized that my objectification and exploitation was wrong. And I accept the forgiveness of my Lord, and I pray for the forgiveness of people that have been negatively impacted by my selfish conduct, by my greedy duck, by my low conduct. I was told this by this brilliant Vietnam vet in your great nation. Everything's a burning bush. Everything's a. But he said it like this. Everything's a burning bush is how he said it. That's how he said it. I was like, may I ask what you mean, sir? And he said that Moses could have encountered Yahweh at any time. It could have happened at any time. Take off your shoes, for you are on sacred ground that all things are incandescent with the Lord, yet not immolated. All of us burn with the holy light of the Holy Father. All of us feel the living presence of the Holy Spirit, and all of us benefit from the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. And we may know eternal life in him. We access him here in this moment. Let this moment be a burning bush to all of us. Let us comfort one another. Let us love one another. Let us serve one another as he has served us. Amen.

[Charlie Kirk]

So beautiful. Thanks, Russell. I'll say in closing, you have millions of people praying for you.

[Russell Brand]

Thanks.

[Charlie Kirk]

The Christian journey is not necessarily easy, but you can rest that Jesus is with you throughout every step of it. And you'll say this, your whole thing is freedom. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Thank you. We'll leave you with that teaching. How great is Russell Brand, everybody? Give it up for Russell. Thanks so much for listening everybody. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless.

[Russell Brand]

For more on many of these stories and news you can Trust, go to charliekirk.com.