← The Tim & April Show
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You're listening to a new evangelicals production.
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New Year, New Me. Cute, but how about New Year, New money? With Experian, you can actually take control of your finances. Check your FICO score, find ways to save and get matched with credit card offers giving you time to power through those New Year's goals. You know you're going to crush. Start the year off right. Download the Experian App based on FICO Score 8 model offers an approval not guaranteed. Eligibility requirements and terms apply subject to credit check which may impact your credit score scores. Offers not available in all states. See experian.com for details.
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Experian. The Tim and April show, where we unravel faith, politics and culture.
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Hello.
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D
Hello, friends. Welcome in to the Tim and April Show. I am Tim Whitaker.
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A
And I'm April Ajoy.
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D
Friends, let me first kick us off right to our substack audience. I am so sorry that last week we missed you. For some reason, our technology did not sync up with Lincoln Square Media and we just could not go live. So we will try and make it up to you on this show. It's good to be with you all. I can see you in the chat, so thank you. Good to see you. Yeah, we have a pretty. A pretty full show today. A lot has been happening. Going to get into the State of the Union address, if we can even call it that. We'll get into what was missing from that and a couple other things that just kind of started breaking before we went live. I do want to ask you, April, because people have been asking me, how are you feeling? Are you all healed up? Have you taken some of that holy water that those people sell and gotten healed?
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A
You know, I would definitely take some holy water if I, if I thought that would help. You know, I'm doing better, but still not 100.
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D
So why don't you tell everyone what you texted me last night?
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A
Oh, so I don't know what happened yesterday. I was in some kind of weird, like migraine nausea. I just felt like I had to sleep. Like I could not function as a. It was weird. I don't. I don't know what it was. It was very odd. I think I just relapsed a bit from. I. I have the flu. So anyway, so I texted Tim last night. It's like I. If I feel like this tomorrow, there's no way I'm going to be able to do the show.
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D
I was ready to go, but it was okay.
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A
I slept. Like, I went to bed so early and slept and I, I'm Feeling much better, so. But still not. I, I. The flu just sucks, man.
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D
It's horrible.
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A
Ah, it's been kicking my butt. And I even got shot, which is extra annoying.
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D
Sounds like someone has not been praying enough lately. Has. Does not have that hedge of protection built around them. And it sounds like the devil is doing something over there. So I, I'm living under a blizzard that we survived this past week. We got. We got about, about 13 inches of snow. And, you know, I'm 37, April, and I go to the gym a couple days a week. Like, I'm in. I'm in. I would say I'm in, like, decent shape. I'm not going to run a marathon anytime soon, but, you know, I could do 30 minutes on the stair stepper. Not a problem for me. And so I get my snow shovel out and I shovel out my driveway, our walkways. I'm feeling good, and then I sit down and I'm like, my back starts hurting. And then the next day, I couldn't get out of bed because I threw my back out shoveling snow.
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A
Wow, look at us. We're quite the duo right now.
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D
Falling apart. I was on the couch last night, and I moved the wrong way. I'm like, ah, Ah. Sarah's like, what's wrong? I'm like, my back, my back. And I'm like, sarah, this is a glimpse. This is a glimpse of our future together as we grow old.
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A
Is no joke. Like, the few times I've had really bad back pain, it's like, man, it's tough getting old. Like, what is this?
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D
I don't know. My 40s are coming up, which is so bizarre. Yeah, I know, I know.
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A
And the worst of this whole flu situation, other than not feeling great, is that my birthday was on Saturday, and I spent my birthday in bed. And I felt so bad. I haven't even opened my birthday presents yet because I just. I didn't want to ruin it. So I still have unopened birthday presents. And we still didn't make, like, the brownies that we were going to make because I'm like, no, I want to feel good for my birthday. I don't want to waste it because two years ago, I think it was two or three years ago, I had the stomach bug on my birthday. And so I spent my entire birthday just throwing up water because I wasn't eating anything. And I'm like, ah. I don't. Anyway, not to. Not to be complex. There are so many bigger problems in the world than me having the flu on My birthday, but just something I was personally salty about.
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D
This is your little online platform to voice your frustrations. Okay? People don't like it, they can just tune out.
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A
I know.
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D
Friends, if you're watching live on YouTube, please make sure to smash that like button. It takes no effort whatsoever. You just hit like and you're done. It helps get this video out to more people in the YouTube algorithm. If you're watching on substack, please smash that heart button. Makes us feel a lot better about ourselves and that we're not wasting your life away by yapping on the Internet. And the Tim and April show is produced by the New Evangelicals. It's a nonprofit that I started, now run by the wonderful Melinda Hale, and it produces this show. If you're looking for a better path forward in your faith, I recommend checking them out at the New Evangelicals on Instagram or check out their community Tne Connect. It's a free resource. Tons of free classes and community spaces. It's a great place, so make sure you check it out. Okay, where do you want to start? I mean.
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A
Well, I think before we get in, we're going to do some state of the union fact check, but right before we went live, we saw this news out of Kansas that we just want to make y' all aware about, because I think obviously there's a lot of terrible things happening and a lot of marginalized groups are being impacted very negatively by this administration.
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D
Hell on earth.
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Including trans people. Still, Kansas just announced this new law that goes in effect today that basically, if you are a trans person in Kansas and your driver's license was updated to reflect your gender, but it doesn't match what's on your birth certificate, it is no longer valid as of today. The letter that went out was. Was marked February 23rd, but I know some people didn't get it until last night. If some people still have not received this letter, and basically there's no grace period. It's just no longer valid as of today here. If you are a trans person in Kansas, your driver's license is no longer valid if it reflects your current. Your gender.
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D
Why? What is. What is the concern? What is the safety concern? Why does it matter to these people? Why is MAGA so obsessed with people's genitals and sexual identity? And, like, why they are obsessed with this stuff to the point where they are passing laws in states stripping our trans neighbors, like driver's licenses?
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A
Because it's cruel at this point. Like, there's nothing a trans person driving is doing to affect your life in any way.
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D
00 let them live. Especially because we have all this data that shows that gender affirming care saves lives. It saves the lives of our trans neighbors. There is absolutely no reason besides cruelty for this kind of legislation. And frankly, I will say that while certain Democratic lawmakers do speak up in favor of trans rights, I don't see enough of them speaking up. And I hope that there is real outrage over this, especially in the Kansas legislature from Democrats who do whatever they can to fight this because there's just no reason for it. Like there's the justification is this. We, our Bible and how we interpret it says that how you live is inherently sinful. And because we're a Christian nation, we're gonna make your life a living hell. That's the through line here. That's the through line.
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A
Well, and there's also a bathroom component to this new bill law that there I guess is in effect today that if you're caught going to the bathroom that that does not match the gender, the sex on your birth certificate. That I think the first instance is a warning. But then you can get fined $1,000. And if someone feels like someone can report you, if they see you in the bathroom and they think you're trans and shouldn't be in that bathroom, they could report you for like a thousand dollars in damages. It's really ridiculous because they only think about trans women in, in this whole. Yeah, like world. They completely ignore the fact that trans men exist. Like there are trans men who are fully presenting male, have full beards and based on this law, they're required to go to the women's bathroom. That is way more uncomfortable than just letting them go to the bathroom where they're like. That matches their gender.
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D
Yeah. It says here in the article that we pulled up that the legislation was VetoeD by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, earlier this month, but that was then overwritten by Republican super majority in the state legislature. This is why midterms matter. This is why voting matters. This is exactly why this stuff matters. And I think when people and I used to say this, no shade if you said this before, but, but when you say things like politics doesn't affect me. It's. It's just a privilege. It's a privilege that you're, you're not worrying about lawmakers writing bills that strip your ability to move through America as a normal American citizen that is given the same access to privileges and rights that your neighbor is given. And this is why it, it matters so much. To vote in the midterms this year. It just matters, man.
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A
So we just wanted to highlight that. And I also want to say it's February 26, which means it is still Black History Month. And it's a great time to watch 13th on Netflix or to educate yourself, especially as white people who may not know a lot of actual black history, because we are raised in America that intentionally tries to ignore a lot of true history that happened that doesn't make our country look good.
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D
So, yep, 13th is great. The book the Color of Compromise by Jamar Tisby is a great read. The New Jim Crow is a great read. Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram Kendi is a great read. There's great stuff out, so many that will. If you haven't read or done some of the work on just our history books like that, documentaries like that will just change how you understand the world around us. I think one thing I should mention here while we're on that topic. The Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away this month. And, you know, I wrote a subsec article that when he passed away, it hit me that the only version of Jesse Jackson I was introduced to was that he was a bad guy. Because Rush Limbaugh told me that. I didn't know anything about him. I just knew he was on the wrong side. He was a complainer, he was a whiner. You know, racism that doesn't exist anymore, especially systemic racism. Then I look him up as I'm writing the subsect piece, all of his accomplishments. I had no clue that he. That he was close with MLK, that he carried on MLK's legacy. I didn't know that he was one of the first, I think the first black presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket in the 80s. He ran for president, then he paved the way for President Obama. I had no clue. And so I think that that was even a wake up call for me, you know, now doing this work full time, that I still have so many blind spots and that my own tradition has erased civil rights icons. And unfortunately for us, Doug Wilson, who disciples Pete Hegseth, did a piece where he. And I'm just gonna quote what he said. Doug Wilson is a Christian nationalist pastor. You can look up data on him. But he did a piece on Jesse Jackson's passing this month. And he said, and I'm quoting here, he said, the best thing that we could do for, quote, the blacks is to repeal the Civil Rights Act. This is the people who are discipling the folks who are running our government. So it's important.
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So stupid. Also, TNA on TNE Connect, the app has a black liberation resource that you can tap into.
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D
In fact, I'll be moderating. Not moderating. I'll be hosting a class this Wednesday night on TN Connect with the amazing Dr. Angela Parker, who's a fantastic theologian and. And just scholar, talking about that exact thing, so. And on the new Evangelicals podcast, we are going through a series on black liberation pastors in the church. So all that to say there's tons of free resources that the organization has for you to consume, so make sure you check it out.
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A
All right. Do we want to read a few super chats?
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I love how you are the super chat czar. Makes me so happy.
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E
Okay.
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I just don't want to miss it. We missed one one time and I couldn't sleep that night.
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It's true, friends, that. That's not an exaggeration. Go ahead, you can read this one.
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Okay.
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From Tandyman. Happy birthday, April. Thank you.
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D
Let's see a couple more here.
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Stevie Clown. Getting old isn't for the timid stretch before you work. Amen, Stevie Clown. Again, being gender fluid myself, I found loving community and LGBTQ/ atheist people who are more Christlike is fruits of the spirit than any organized church. I mean, that's fair.
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D
Yeah, 100%. All right. Do we. April and I went live on Tuesday night to live stream and suffer with you all to watch Trump's State of the Union address.
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A
I think that suffering and hearing that man yap is what caused me to relapse on my flu. So I blame Donald Trump.
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D
I don't blame you. I mean, it was painful. I told myself, if hell exists, this is it. You're just stuck in this scenario where you're hearing this man yap about everything in the worst way possible. So the first thing we wanted to do is, look, we're not going to fact check the entire speech, okay? We would be here, and I mean this literally all day. But I do just want. I do want to highlight. And look, we all know that, that Trump is not telling the truth when he speaks almost at all. But I do want to highlight just a few key fact checking points that I want to equip you, the audience with. So when you hear people say this stuff, you have actual data, and this comes from pbs and there are a lot of claims. One of the big ones was inflation, right? Trump claimed that inflation was just exploding through, through Biden and he said that, quote, inflation is plummeting. The reality is that it's not really. I mean, it's not falling much more than what it was when Biden was in office. It dropped from a peak during COVID but it plummeted under former President Joe Biden. By Biden's last month in office, year over year, inflation was about 2.9% and now it's about 2.4%. So really, again, nothing to write home about. He talked about about gas being, quote, now below $232.30 a gallon in most states and in some places A$99 statewide. Trump is wrong when it comes to averages. Not one state has an average below $2.30 per gallon. There are one or two gas stations in Mississippi, Arkansas and Kansas that might have $1.99 gas, but that is not common at all.
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Well, and depending on your, like, there are certain aspects of society that inflation has actually increased. Like electricity prices, for example.
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Exactly.
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In 2025, they grew 2.5 times faster than the annual inflation rate. And it was the largest increase since 2014. And, and because of tariffs, the average cost of building a new home has gone up by $17,500.
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D
Oh, where'd you get that from? That's so specific.
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That is from Yale research.
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D
Okay. Wow. Look at you fact checking the fact check.
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I've got a whole fact check on the State of the Union. Like the dude just lies.
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D
He talked about about these Trump accounts where the government will deposit $1,000 into accounts for babies born between January 1st of 2025 and December 31st of 2028. And he made a comment, and I'm going to read the quote here. With modest additional contributions, these young people's accounts could grow to over $100,000 or more by the time they turn 18. PBS says that this growth is not guaranteed over decades, and it would almost certainly not happen in 18 years. So again, that's just a huge exaggeration period. And I think the other thing that's really worth highlighting here, of course, is crime. He talked about how. What's the quote? In one year, we have. No, that's the wrong quote. Last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history. This is the biggest decline, think of it, in recorded history. The lowest number in over 125 years. It is a large decline, but it's not the lowest in 125 years. And if you look, crime has been dropping even during Biden's presidency and during Obama's presidency, it was, it was also very low. So again, the issue is this, right? Here's how it works. Trump will cite something, blame the problem on Joe Biden, say, and then explain how he solved it. That framework is inherently not accurate. No, it's not accurate. It's just, it's not true. And this is what he does.
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Not to mention they keep touting the stock market, which we talked about this on Tuesday. But your average American, like middle class us, we are not impacted by the stock market. That is affecting the ultra wealthy that they're all a part of.
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D
Right.
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You know, and his one big beautiful bill hat gave like $1 trillion in tax cuts to the top 1%.
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Yes.
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That same bill also cut funding from SNAP and Medicaid and other health programs, including, and we talked about the ACA tax credits that were going to expire. Because of that, health care premiums are going to rise a projected average of
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D
about 26% on average, according to this is themotly fool.com, it's a research think tank. It says while more than half of US adults own stock, most don't own much. The wealthiest 1% hold 50% of stocks. 50%. Okay. So the stock market is not built for the middle class. Most of us do not have much if any in stocks, period. And the top 1% hold half of all stocks in the stock market. So yeah, for his ultra rich friends, for his billionaire friends who, who are in his cabinet, it's great news. For the average American, it's absolute trash. And one more observation I want to make about his speech and then we'll, we'll get to a few clips. I thought it was really interesting that Trump cited various examples of, of crime, you know, some, some really terrible examples. Right. Of people who lost their lives, all very bad things. But he cited stories that were, that happened under his administration, like they happened in his administration with a Republican super majority in the government. And he still blamed the Democrats for these problems. It's like, dude, if it was the opposite, if Joe Biden did that, it'd be all over right wing media and rightfully so. It's kind of silly to talk about crimes that happen under your administration. Oh, gosh.
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A
Yeah, it's very odd. And it was really odd too. And maybe you want to go into that now, but I thought it was weird in the moment on just. And he did this last year too, in his speech. The absolute brutal detail, brutal, graphic detail that he goes into describing these really violent acts is really weird, especially for a president.
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D
It's just so bizarre. So here's a little montage from Rolling Stone of just some of the things that he said last night or on Tuesday, which. April, I agree with you. I was thinking, even in the moment, this is super graphic. Not family friendly at all, not presidential at all. Here's the clip.
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A
Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday. It was long. It was filled with lies and mischaracterizations, but more than anything, it was gruesome.
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C
Lying dead in a bathtub, bleeding profusely, violently and viciously slashed, a knife through her neck and body. Killed and maimed. They shot him and hung him both shot violently in the head, laying helplessly in bed, blood all over, shredding his leg into numerous pieces, gushing blood which was flowing back down the aisle.
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D
That is crazy.
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And he's saying he's telling these stories and the family members are there in the audience.
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Right.
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And like, re. Traumatizing them.
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D
So what was, you know, April, you and I picked up on this. And what was interesting was that his biographer said this. So this is Seth Abramson. He is a Trump biographer. And here's what he says. I'm going to read it word for word, quote. I'm gonna tell you something as a Trump biographer, I mean it seriously. You need to understand that Trump gets something close to sexual excitement from describing acts of violence. If you wonder why his State of the Union address speeches always include graphic violence, that's why it's for him. I absolutely believe that. Given who Trump is, given his friend group, given his history of abuse and
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A
assault, given what's in the Epstein files.
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D
Exactly, April. I absolutely believe this. Why else would you go into such graphic description during a national address to the American people?
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A
Yeah, it's.
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D
It's lunacy. And the fact that white conservative, a lot of them Christian politicians in that room applauded this man after every sentence. I just think speaks volumes about the state of American Christianity right now. Right?
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A
Yeah.
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D
I think it is wild that we have a man who was best friends with the most prolific pedophile of our lifetime, maybe even in modern history, who had blackmail on the billionaire class because they were all a bunch of perverts and evil people. Trump was best friends with that man. Trump gave him a birthday card that was sexually suggestive. Trump is in pictures with him. Trump is in the files that our government has collected about him with some serious. With some serious allegations. That man gets applauded by Mike Johnson, the Christian nationalist who thinks that he's the next Moses called by God, man. Wow. Wow. I can't let it go. We can't normalize that, you know, no. And these graphic descriptions of violence. What this is so. It's just gross. It's gross. It's gross. I did want to do this, too. I pulled this clip because, April, I think that you and I. Well, I'm not sure about you, but I did not vote for Obama. I'm not sure about how you were talking about.
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A
I did not. I wish I could have. I wish I could have enjoyed Obama's presidency instead. I hated him the whole time because
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D
I was told to exactly same. I was taught he was the Antichrist. I was taught he's a Marxist. There's this great montage that kind of compares how President Obama did his State of the Union in 2015 versus Trump. And I just think the contrast is so startling. I'm angry that my tradition told me this guy was the bad guy. Listen to this montage.
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F
And I commit to every Republican here tonight that I will not only seek out your ideas, I will seek to work with you to make this country stronger.
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C
I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do.
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F
If you share the broad vision I outlined tonight, I ask you to join me in the work at hand. If you disagree with parts of it, I hope you'll at least work with me.
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C
Where you do agree, these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won't do it, no matter what. It's very sad, and it just shouldn't be this way.
- [25:41]
F
Understand, a better politics isn't one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine. A better politics is one where we appeal to each other's basic decency instead of our basest fears. A better politics is one where we debate without demonizing each other.
- [25:55]
C
We take out the criminals, killers, traffickers and child predators who are allowed to enter our country under the open border policy of these people, the Democrats, the Biden administration, the open border insane policies that you've allowed to destroy our country.
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F
For all our blind spots and shortcomings, we are a people with the strength and generosity of spirit to bridge divides, to unite in common effort. We are still more than a collection of red states and blue states, and we are the United States of America.
- [26:29]
C
In recent years, our justice system has been turned upside down by radical left lunatics.
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A
Wow, that makes me really miss Obama.
- [26:43]
D
I wish I understood what I know now. Back then, because I listened to talk radio, I Grew up on it. You know how I mean, dude, Ali Stuckey and right wing media pundits today say that that man, President Obama, was, quote, the most divisive president in history. That man.
- [27:04]
A
Wow.
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D
They say that often.
- [27:07]
A
Yeah, they do. I recall I said it also.
- [27:12]
D
Yeah. Wow. We've come so far. Holy moly.
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A
Trump is just. I, I can't stand that man. Like, someone in the chat said this. I don't know where it went, but he was like, there's nothing I could do that would make these people stand and cheer. And he could resign, and I think we would all stand and cheer.
- [27:40]
D
Yeah. It's like the frog in boiling water metaphor, right? That the water just gets turned up over and over, degree by degree. And when you see that kind of contrast, you realize how far we've come in a decade.
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A
Yeah.
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D
I mean, it was a decade ago that, you know, a little bit over that. That Obama was president. And here we are. Right. Like, we've come so far to the point where we have a president who's describing graphic acts of violence and being applauded for it. Being told that he's saving America. Wow. Makes me mourn it, man.
- [28:21]
A
Yeah, I know. I just, it's. Sometimes I, you know, we're used to where we are now, so I, you know, it's hard not to get jaded to the way that things are, but I, I really miss just that, like, basic human decency that used to somewhat exist and granted, like, no, no present was ever perfect. And we've. America's always been imperialistic and not great.
- [28:47]
D
Right.
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A
But there was at least this basic respect for each other, even if it was pretend for the most part. And Trump comes in and just completely throws all of that away is so dehumanizing of anybody who's not maga. And Christians and white evangelicals cheer him on. Like, I. At the end of the day, I will never understand how Access Hollywood tape wasn't the end for him, how him mocking a disabled reporter wasn't the end for him. There's just this. This. I don't. I will just. I'll never not be so disappointed in the people who raised me and taught me to love thy neighbor and to love thy enemies and to basically, you know, just try to be a good human and to see the best in people who then turned around and told me that I was disobeying the voice of God and the will of God because I wouldn't vote and support Donald Trump.
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D
Yep.
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A
The guy from the Apprentice who was best known for Being a playboy, right? Like what?
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D
All these years later, it still bewilders me. And they're the ones who are gaslighting the rest of America that somehow Trump is doing the job that he's definitely not doing. The tariffs were a total bust. Like, that's the thing. Because, you know, it's like a merry go round of deflection. If you talk about Trump and his. In his immorality or his sexual abuse, then you're told, well, he's. He's actually great on the economy. And then when you go to the economy and prove that he's actually not great on the economy, then it goes to cultural issues like abortion. Then when you show the data that abortions actually rose under Trump after Roe v. Wade was overturned, right? Then it goes back to, you know, draining the swamp, and then it goes back to the economy. Like, you're on this merry go round of deflection. No matter what you say to the MAGA base, it doesn't matter what you say. And I think the proof of that is not only what we saw at the State of the Union address, but the recent polling from Pew that shows that white evangelicals in particular are like leagues beyond the general American populace in terms of support for Trump as a president, in terms of support for almost or all of his policies he's currently enacting, and even in terms of them thinking that he's acting ethically in office, although that number's in the minority of 40% of white evangelicals think that. So, you know, it's just like, there's nothing, guys. I think that sometimes I think to myself, maybe we can get through to them. You know, I think for your moderates, maybe you can. I think that there are people who are really turned off by Trump. I think that we can grab those people. But your die hard died in the wool MAGA people. It's been a decade of this, guys. He's in the Epstein files. He has accusations that we're gonna get into in a minute that were hidden by his own DOJ around potentially, you know, assault with assaulting a minor. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to these folks at all.
- [32:03]
A
Yeah, make it make sense.
- [32:09]
G
Hey, everyone, Melinda Hale here, executive director of the New Evangelicals. Thanks for listening to our podcast. I just wanted to take a minute to personally invite you to be a part of our community at tme. We're creating space for people of faith who care about justice, compassion, and living out the teachings of Jesus in real Tangible ways. As a nonprofit organization, not only do we offer thought provoking podcasts, but on our new app and online platform, TNE Connect, we offer free educational resources, additional content, and a space to connect with like minded people for meaningful conversations and encouragement. So if what we're doing has been helpful to you, if you've learned something, felt, seen, or been challenged to grow, head over to the newevangelicals.com to join TNE Connect or make a donation. Your support means the world to us. Thanks for being a part of the movement.
- [33:00]
D
I want to play one more clip a little bit. It's part of this again. I just want to show you all the difference. I think it's worth playing this clip. It's like two and a half minutes. This is in 2013, of Obama responding to a heckler who's talking about insisting that we stop deportations. I think that this is really worth listening to briefly to just again hear the difference in posture and how far we've come. Let's watch this clip. This is 2013. Here we go.
- [33:30]
F
Most importantly, we will live up to our character as a nation. That's exactly what we're talking about here.
- [33:43]
D
Stop deportation from all.
- [33:45]
F
Actually, I don't. And that's why we're here.
- [33:47]
D
I need your help.
- [33:48]
F
Okay. Thank you. All right. What I'd like to do. No, no, don't worry about it, guys. Okay, let me finish. Let me. Let me. How about we. These guys don't need to go. Let me finish. No, no, no. He can stay there. Hold on a second.
- [34:13]
E
So,
- [34:15]
F
you know, I respect the passion of these young people because they feel deeply about the concerns for their families. Now, what you need to know when I'm speaking as President of the United States and I come to this community is that if, in fact, I could solve all these problems without passing laws in Congress, then I would do so. But we're also a nation of laws. That's part of our tradition. And so the easy way out is to try to yell and pretend like I can do something by violating our laws. And what I'm proposing is the harder path, which is to use our democratic processes to achieve the same goal that you want to achieve. But it won't be as easy as just shouting. It requires us lobbying and getting it done. So for those of you who are committed to getting this done, I am going to march with you and fight with you every step of the way to make sure that we are welcoming every striving, hard working immigrant who sees America the same way we do as a country where no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from, you can make it if you try. And if you're serious about making that happen, then I'm ready to work with you. But it is going to require work. It is not simply a matter of us just saying we're going to violate the law. That's not our tradition. But the great thing about this country is we have this wonderful process of democracy. And sometimes it is messy and sometimes it is hard, but ultimately justice and truth win out. That's always been the case in this country. That's going to continue to be the case today. Thank you very much, everybody.
- [35:59]
D
Wow, there he is, the Antichrist, the global Marxist destroying America. Glenn Beck literally cried on the air, on radio when Obama got elected. I'll never forget. I heard it live. He was tearing up, saying, I'm really afraid that in four years we're not going to have an America to live in anymore under this man. He's such a radical.
- [36:24]
A
The fear they had instilled in us because I can't even laugh at him because I also cried. I cried both times because I thought my future and the job that I didn't even have yet because I was in grad school was just gone. I didn't have me. A white girl in America no longer had a future because Obama became president. Like, man, they really had us on. Yeah, we were like smoking that fear joint and just eating it up like crazy.
- [36:57]
D
I think people who didn't grow up in that world don't understand the level of indoctrination you go through when you grow up in it. I mean, you hear it from the pulpit in subtle ways. You hear it in youth group. It's reinforced through your media consumption. It's reinforced in the books that you read. Like, it is very hard to break out of. But looking on the outside now in, wow, wild that that man is the most divisive president in history, according to right wing media pundits. Like, mind blowing.
- [37:24]
A
Like, just the more I learn about, like actual leftism, the more I realize we don't have a true left in America. And like, Obama wasn't a leftist. No, by, by any definition of left
- [37:40]
D
of center, maybe, I mean affordable health care or universal health care is even supported by the Conservative Party, like in the uk. You.
- [37:47]
A
Oh my gosh. Oh, man.
- [37:51]
D
Okay, you want to move on to our next story that we want to cover today?
- [37:55]
A
Yeah. So this is actually really big news. So. Yeah, in the speech, Trump, state of the Union. There was one topic that everybody has been talking about that Trump did not mention, and that was the Epstein files.
- [38:13]
D
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I can't believe it. Can't believe it.
- [38:17]
A
You know, so, but the day. So earlier that same day, so Tuesday, NPR did their own investigation that has since been confirmed by the New York Times and several other media outlets. Like, this is actually breaking into mainstream news now. It discovered that the Justice Department withheld and removed. It was a few dozen Epstein files that mentioned Trump, including from a witness who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was 13 in the 80s, was just not mentioned. And this, and there's no, there's nothing in the article or in the, in the files that, that say that this, this survivor is not. What's the word? Reliable. Like, they don't say anything about her witness testimony, but she was interviewed four different times by the FBI. They included one of the interview notes, but the other three were just missing. And the way that they basically, NPR reviewed multiple sets of unique serial numbers that appeared before and after the pages in question that were stamped onto documents in the Epstein file database, FBI case records, emails and discovery, and basically compared those to what was actually released. And that was how they had discovered that these files were missing.
- [39:52]
D
Yeah. Wow. Looks like it's about, it's about 50 pages, according to NPR's reporting here, as. Yeah. Notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of SA decades ago when she was a minor. Just gone. Gone.
- [40:04]
E
Poof.
- [40:05]
D
Doesn't exist.
- [40:06]
A
And so it seems like she was a pretty credible witness in the fact that she was interviewed four times by the FBI. And yeah, I mean, just not just completely removed from the files that were released. Now, doj, in a statement to the Times on Monday, said that the only materials that have been withheld were either privileged or duplicates. And then they released a new statement on Tuesday. So it's from the DOJ after this NPR investigation was released, where they said that documents could have been withheld because of a, quote, ongoing federal investigation. And the officials did not directly address why the memos related to the woman's claim were not released. So there's a lot of questions around why the do. I mean, we know why.
- [40:57]
D
Yes.
- [40:57]
A
But there, there people want to know why. Why did you, you know, withhold those specifically when it named Trump? And, you know, we've heard Pam Bondi, we've heard Donald Trump, Trump several times has said he's been totally exonerated, that there's nothing in the files that accuses him. And in some of the files that they released, there were definitely accusations against Trump in those files that they claimed were salacious and basically unfounded, that. That there was no proof to any of those claims. But this one, interviewed by the FBI four times, there's nothing in the files that say this person is not credible. I don't know. I just. I just feel like if you are the party that is constantly talking about demonizing trans people in the name of, quote, unquote, protecting children, then I feel like you would want to go after or at least investigate claims that your president is a pedophile.
- [41:58]
D
You would think, well, you know, I think that this is just more evidence that it's not about these. It's not about abuse in and of itself. It's about who is being accused of it and how can we use it to our benefit. I mean, you know, during Trump's speech, he denigrated Somali immigrants for apps. I mean, he just repeated Nick Shirley's baseless garbage talking points. He didn't mention that the person who was the ringleader of the major fraud campaign during COVID was a white woman. Right. The people he brought to the speech or to his speech that he highlighted were used for political gain as proof that the illegals are the problem, that trans people are the problem. Right. This is classic scapegoating. And it turns out that when. When we have credible accusations of serious sexual abuse, of pedophilia, and it's aimed at them, suddenly these things don't matter. Suddenly it's a witch hunt. Suddenly Pam Bondi can just become a complete lunatic in front of Congress, and we just have to accept it as fact. The DOJ should be called the dop, Department of Propaganda. That's what they're doing here. There is no truth coming from this administration. It's been a nosedive descent into the deepest parts of hell in every way since Trump took power. The first administration in 2016. They are. There is no bottom in sight. And, you know, hey, don't look at this. Look at the trans people who are driving in Kansas. In Kansas. They're the problems. They're the problem with America. You know, it is a shiny. Look at the shiny thing over here while the billionaire class robs you blind. That's what it is.
- [43:42]
E
Right.
- [43:42]
D
And also assaults children. I should mention that as well.
- [43:45]
A
Also happening right now, which is something we'll keep an eye out, is Hillary Clinton is testifying currently behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee on her knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein. I believe Bill Clinton is supposed to Testify tomorrow. I just saw this article that in her opening statement, she basically says she has no new information to give to the Republicans and is chastising them because they knew that. Because she says, quote, I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island home or offices. And she said, you have compelled me to testify fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation in order to distract attention from President Trump's actions and cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers. And then she says, if this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein's trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement. It would ask him directly under oath, about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files.
- [44:51]
D
Yep. Yep. And by the way, just for this is me speaking personally. I don't like the Clintons, okay? So if there's, if there's stuff in the files about them, bring it to light like I have. I am not here to be partisan by any stretch of the imagination. Yeah, I don't trust the Clintons at all.
- [45:09]
A
He should go to jail. I mean, I don't think Hillary was. Honestly, it's weird that they're calling on Hillary because I don't, I don't think she had any involvement.
- [45:20]
D
No, no, they really do hate Hillary. I mean, they legitimately hate this.
- [45:24]
A
I hated Hillary because I believed all the same stuff, too. So.
- [45:28]
D
Yeah. Yeah. Also, Bill Gates has apparently apologized for being close to Jeffrey Epstein and has admitted to two affairs in the candid town hall. So those emails about, about Gates getting a potential STI and passing it along to his, his then wife looks to be verifiably a very likely scenario of what actually happened. So, again, like, I just don't care. I don't care. I don't care who is in those files, who's being accused of, of assaulting children. I do not care. I don't care. They need to be investigated. I don't care who it is. Bring it to light. Drain the swamp. Let's drain the swamp.
- [46:13]
A
And there are people in these files that, from my understanding, have not even been accused of as terrible of things as Donald Trump have that are actually facing consequences. Like Larry Summers. He's being forced to resign from Harvard over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew was arrested with taught for ties to Jeffrey Epstein. There are a few other CEOs that have had to resign or take. Like there are people actually being held accountable and, and are not mentioned as much as Trump is in these files. And it's just wild to me that MAGA can, can look at this and say, yeah, everybody else that's in here is definitely guilty, except for the one man who's in it, who's mentioned more than anybody else.
- [46:57]
D
Well, and don't forget we have, we have this joker too, which they put on camera. Howard Lutnick, right?
- [47:03]
C
Who.
- [47:03]
D
This is the guy who went viral because first he said, this is Epstein's neighbor. He said, I went to Epstein's house one time, he had a massage table out. My wife and I thought he was gross. We never went back, never talked to him again. That was his first testimony. Then the files come out. Turns out not only has that man visited Epstein's island, he took his entire family, including the kids, to Epstein's Island. And today this man has had no, nothing happen to him. He's still the United States Secretary of Commerce. But April, what are we to expect when we live in a country that can have a president incite an insurrection, where an angry mob storms the Capitol building during the certification of our election? Right. They bring a noose to hang the Vice President with. We have ample evidence that Trump knew what he was doing, that there was a conspiracy ahead of time to push this false narrative. When that man not only faces no consequences, but gets re elected to the Oval Office. What can we expect? What can we expect?
- [48:12]
A
I don't know.
- [48:13]
E
I don't.
- [48:14]
A
I thought after the insurrection for sure that would be it. Like we all watch that with our own eyes. And the way that they, that they have rewritten history, they as in maga, to make it seem like it was just a peaceful walk through the Capitol. Like we didn't all witness windows being broken, police being beaten while they're waving blue Lives Matter flag in the background.
- [48:40]
D
Yeah, we are. We are. You know, one of the talking points I hear from like the more right wing Christian side of this, I'm not going to name any names because I've been told that there could be a super chat at the end of that. But there are people like that person who will say things like, look, the Bible says so show no partiality, you know, in our justice system. Guys, newsflash, our system absolutely shows partiality. If you are rich, if you are powerful, if you have money, you can literally get away with sexually assaulting children. But if you are poor and get sucked into the minor offense crime system with bonds and bail and all that stuff, you are stuck in an endless loop of paying fees and it's, it's just crazy. It's not a partial, it's not an impartial system. And you know, this is what we, we reap what we reap what we sow, period.
- [49:35]
A
And a few Democrat lawmakers brought Epstein's survivors to the State of the Union address. And I don't recall Trump ever acknowledging them.
- [49:46]
D
Yeah, no, well, he didn't. I mean he didn't because he's a cruel man who would rather give graphic descriptions of people dying to in front of the families who lost those loved ones. He would rather do that than acknowledge the women who have been person assaulted by one of his BFFs.
- [50:04]
A
Yeah. Okay, well we will keep an eye out on all the updates in regards to Epstein. I will say if there is some good news in this, the State of the Union was packed full of die hard MAGA people, right? That they're going to cheer on everything that Trump says. But he is actually losing quite a few like support among his own base over the handling of Epstein and over the economy because he can only say that everyone's doing great and we've never lived better so many times. And people know can look at their own bank accounts and say actually no, that that's not my reality. And so a lot of he, he is causing a lot of distance between people who voted for him. I've seen several, you know, Trump vote regret online and I don't think the State of the Union it might have kept a few of his base in, but his little speech really isn't going to do much for the, he's actually facing a really big problem right now and I do think Trump's very vulnerable
- [51:14]
E
currently
- [51:17]
A
and the midterms are coming. Midterms are going to be very important. And if, if a lot of these one off elections are any indicator, we have seen time and time again where a Democrat has completely flipped a county that overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024. And that's happened several times this year. So it's, there's hope. There's hope amongst the, just the terribleness that is happening.
- [51:45]
D
And speaking of hope, major props to the Democratic response which was done by Virginia Governor Abigail Spamberger. I watched the whole thing, it's on this channel. You can go back towards the end of our last stream and watch the whole thing with me because April had to sign off and she did great. She started off for me a little, a little timid but as she got rolled I was like, heck yes, heck Yes. I mean, she really called it out. So I really hope that the Democrats are going to either grow a spine or there will be a movement to oust these establishment types who will sit in front of these kinds of State of the Union addresses and just, you know, sit there timid and we get some real change going on. Also, shout out. Before I forget, we were going to mention this earlier. Shout out to where is it? Here.
- [52:31]
A
Al Green.
- [52:32]
D
Al Green, who brought this sign to the State of the Union, got kicked out and was like, I don't care. I don't care. The sign he's holding up says black people aren't apes. Props to Al Green. This is, in my opinion, Al Green. There are a few, but Al Green is one of the people who, like, has stood up to Trump every single time he does a State of the Union address numerous times. So major props. Major props.
- [53:03]
E
Hi, my name is Courtney. I live in London, United Kingdom, and I am a TNE monthly donor. I'm a domestic abuse survivor and was raised with John MacArthur and purity culture rhetoric. I left my abuser in September 2020, moving from LA to southern Utah. I had been a Cali girl my whole life, so seeing the Christian nationalism and patriarchy present in Utah gave me quite a shock. During that time, I began deconstructing and making sense of my abuse and how my church upbringing and political affiliations contributed to it. It's a painful discovery that I'm still coming to terms with. I've never been a big believer in tithing, but you guys gave me a mission I can get behind. I hate that term now, but I don't know of any other more fitting. The US is on a trajectory mirroring that of 1930s Germany. And if something isn't done soon to circumvent that, I worry what the repercussions would be not just for the US but for the whole world.
- [54:04]
D
Okay, before we get to this video, thank you so much for being here. Friends, if you're watching this live, please make sure to like this video on YouTube and subscribe to our channel. We're only a few away from hitting 13,000 subs. That really helps us out. If you're watching on Substack, thank you so much again, so sorry we couldn't go live last week on Substack. But we're here now. That's all that matters. And the Tim and April show is produced by the New Evangelicals. It's a nonprofit organization that I started in 2020 now led by the wonderful Melinda Hale. And it is Designed to help people not only expose Christian nationalism, but it also is designed to help people find a better path forward in faith. We're going through a black liberation series in our community group called TNE Connect. You can sign up for free. The New Evangelicals podcast also is going through a similar series. There are tons of free resources and community groups that we have available to you, so keep that in mind. Thenewevangelicals.com okay, do you want to just give the non evangelical audience a brief summary of who this dude is?
- [55:10]
A
This is Todd White, right?
- [55:11]
D
Yes.
- [55:12]
A
He's like a charismatic preacher, I believe.
- [55:15]
D
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He operates in, like, that more charismatic world. Gifts of the spirit, healing. He's also been under fire recently for being fraudulent, for writing himself essentially blank checks, et cetera. So. But he's also been known to say some things, and maybe I should say, if you have little ones in the car, maybe just skip this segment until then. Only because it's. Well, you'll understand why in a second. But here's the clip. No context. Good luck.
- [55:44]
H
I'm like, you think that, like. Well, Lord, to be transparent. I got news for you. Nothing's hidden. He sits in the theater room of your soul and sees everything that goes across your screen. Guys, your whole pornography thing, you think, like, no one knows it. God's watching it with you. He waits till you reach climax. God, if he only knew me.
- [56:09]
D
If he only knew me.
- [56:11]
H
If he only desire to know me, I would be his climax.
- [56:19]
D
So bad. Why?
- [56:24]
A
Why?
- [56:24]
D
It's not done. It gets worse. He just sees it.
- [56:29]
H
He sees it in the frenzy and in the heat of a husband that is cheating on his wife. He sees it. He's right there in bed with you. He's right there in bed with you.
- [56:40]
D
And he's seeing it all.
- [56:41]
H
He's watching it. He is watching you look into the woman that you're not in covenant with. He is watching through your eyes, through your frenzy, through your passion, through you thinking that that's your life. And he is all the while in your heart saying, this is not who
- [57:00]
D
I created you to be. Oh.
- [57:07]
A
Oh, my gosh. That's like, almost as bad as Josh Butler's.
- [57:12]
D
Oh, my.
- [57:12]
A
Christ penetrates his church.
- [57:15]
D
The Holy Spirit spills out like a seed on his bride.
- [57:21]
A
Why does God wait till you climax? He's like, God wait for you to climax. Why?
- [57:26]
D
I mean, this God sounds a.
- [57:28]
A
What does he do at the end?
- [57:29]
D
A little voyeuristic, just kind of. He's looking through your eyes into to Watch the woman that you're not in covenant with. Like, guys. It sounds a little gross. I mean, it sounds a little, little pervy. Not gonna lie.
- [57:41]
A
Yeah. Oh, God. It reminds me of those, like, I don't know if you remember, like super evangelical weddings that would have like prayer in front of the congregation where they would welcome God into their bed.
- [57:57]
D
Yes.
- [57:58]
A
And be with them.
- [57:59]
D
Yes.
- [57:59]
A
For like their first time. And I, I can't.
- [58:05]
D
I was told that I was taught that God goes wherever I go, even into my, my, my marriage bed.
- [58:11]
A
Here's my thing. If God was in the bed, I feel like I would have had an orgasm before my 30s. Just say, like, I just, I feel like the all powerful God would, would be doing a little bit more for the women.
- [58:26]
D
These. I'm in covenant. Right. Like, come on, help me out here. That's a great point, April. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's. That's part of the culture we grew up in. Friends, if, if you didn't know that kind of stuff. I mean, Todd puts in a pretty graphic way, but that, that idea that God is watching everything you do. He's with you when you're sinning, when you're lusting. It's a pretty common narratives.
- [58:54]
E
No.
- [58:54]
A
Did you ever. Okay, this is a sidebar, but go ahead. Were you ever taught that when you died and went to heaven that you would have to rewatch your entire life on a screen in front of God, Jesus, the angels and all your loved ones?
- [59:10]
D
Yes, I was taught that. Yeah. Like a projector from my body beams out into this huge screen.
- [59:18]
A
It's like you rewatch every moment.
- [59:21]
D
You know what I used to think about, I would think I thought about. When I was taught that, the first thing I thought was, how long is it going to take to watch everyone's life story? I'm going to be there forever. I'm going to be there forever. A couple presumably billion people all going one by one in front of God and Jesus and everyone else to project their life story.
- [59:43]
A
You know what's wild is obviously that's not biblical. There's nothing in the Bible that says you're going to watch a life movie. But there was a chick tract that I think is where this idea started. I don't know if you remember chick tracts that they would hand out. There were like little comic books that people would just pass out to try to convert people. Yeah. But there was one that basically is this whole story where you get to heaven, you rewatch your whole life. But it's so funny. I believe that because it was taught in Sunday school at kids church and all these things. And I remember like sometimes I would think about it while I was in the shower. Yes, this was your life. That's the one. So it's like this is your life and then it starts playing your movie. And this guy went to church, but he wasn't saved, so he still goes to hell at the end. But I remember I would be in the shower and I would sometimes like, remember, like, oh, I'm gonna rewatch this. And then I would like, I didn't know if heaven would have sensor bars. And I'm thinking of like my grandparents watching me naked. And like, so I'm trying to shower modestly. Like I don't know where heaven's camera is. You know, it's just like the things you think about.
- [60:53]
D
It is. No, it is. You do think about weird things like that. You absolutely do. I mean, I really thought that I was convinced that God was going to come back before I had sex. And I would pray, can you just delay God just one time?
- [61:06]
A
Oh, I prayed that.
- [61:07]
D
Can you just wait just one time past my wedding night?
- [61:11]
A
I used to pray that same and. But then I would feel guilty for praying that. And then I would ask God to forgive me for daring to ask God to withhold something for something so selfish.
- [61:22]
D
Yeah. How dare you. How dare you. Oh, anyway, all right, well, friends, listen, thanks so much for being here. It really means the world. We go live every Thursday at 12:00 clock Eastern right here on YouTube and on substack with our good friends Lincoln Square Media. So make sure to follow all of those channels. You can also catch our podcast, which drops on Tuesdays and Fridays, where we cover all kinds of stuff a little more in depth regarding Christian nationalism, pop culture, things like that. And you can also follow us at the Tim and April show on Instagram because we do share clips from there as well. That's all I got. You good?
- [61:55]
A
Great.
- [61:56]
D
As good as you can be.
- [61:58]
A
Yes.
- [61:59]
D
I'm Tim Whitaker.
- [62:01]
A
And I'm April A joy.
- [62:02]
D
See ya.
- [62:03]
G
Bye.
- [62:06]
D
Sa.