Experts Were Wrong, Culture Is Collapsing, & People Are Suffering

Summary

Podcast Summary: Wretched Radio with Todd Friel

Episode: Experts Were Wrong, Culture Is Collapsing, & People Are Suffering
Date: April 9, 2026
Host: Todd Friel
Produced by: Fortis Institute

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Overview

This episode of Wretched Radio, hosted by Todd Friel and joined by Jimmy Hicks, focuses on the consequences of misguided “expert” predictions, the decline of Western culture, and the suffering that results from unbiblical worldviews. Through news stories, commentary, and the regular humorous banter, Friel explores how bad policies, shifting cultural norms, and the abandonment of biblical principles are impacting families, communities, and individuals.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Dangers of False Predictions and Worldviews

Segment: Paul Ehrlich and The Population Bomb

• Todd discusses the legacy of Paul Ehrlich, an influential “doomsayer” who predicted global catastrophe due to overpopulation and climate change.

• Ehrlich’s forecasts (e.g., widespread famine, extinction of marine life, disappearance of England and Florida) were widely believed but never materialized.

• Friel highlights the real damage: these predictions discouraged people from having children, leading to generational regret and demographic issues in Western societies.

  “Bad policies have bad impact. Bad worldviews have bad results. When people forward these horrible ideas without any real genuine science to support them, it hurts people.” — Todd Friel [09:48]

• Stories of individuals regretting life choices due to Ehrlich’s claims are shared, underscoring how fear-driven ideologies can reshape lives.

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2. Declining Morality and Lawlessness

Segment: Disturbing Crime Reminiscent of Judges

• Friel links a news story—where a Florida teen murdered a sex offender and dismembered the body—to the moral decline described in the biblical Book of Judges.

• He warns that as society loses moral restraint, greater atrocities become possible.

  "That is what happens when every man is a judge. They do what is right in their own eyes without some sort of internal restraint system in America." — Todd Friel [11:24]

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3. Cultural and Policy Shifts in Minneapolis

Segment: Bathhouses & Public Health

• The Minneapolis City Council considers repealing a ban on bathhouses, originally enacted in 1988 to combat the spread of AIDS.

• Friel critiques the rationale for the change, noting the focus on “individual fulfillment” over public health, and the use of euphemisms like “commercial sex spaces.”

  "We are so set on making sure that the individual feels good about him or herself. Even though we know better... we will actually facilitate it for you." — Todd Friel [19:23]

• He links such policies to bad social science and a lack of understanding of the imago Dei (the image of God).

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4. The Effects of Gender Transitioning Policies

Segment: Finnish Study on Transitioning Children

• Todd shares findings from a major Finnish study: gender-transitioning treatments often worsen mental health in adolescents.

  • For boys, mental health comorbidities jump from 10% to 60%.
  • For girls, issues rise from 22% to 55%.
  • Other statistics: suicide rates and physical complications rise after medical gender transition ([21:49], [22:44]).

• Despite the data, U.S. cities and medical centers continue these practices and even promote them with tax dollars.

  “Europe is actually banning them. Minneapolis and America promoting them. And they want your tax dollars to pay for them.” — Todd Friel [24:07]

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5. Persecution for Christian Convictions

Segment: Jaden Ivey’s Firing

• Discusses the firing of NBA player Jaden Ivey after he posted a video criticizing Pride Night as celebrating “unrighteousness.”
• The conversation turns to the limits of free speech and how “tolerance” often does not extend to biblical values.

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6. The “Which Story is Most Disturbing?” Game

Friel and Hicks engage in a regular segment, comparing stories for their disturbing nature:

• Story 1: Paul Ehrlich’s impact on demographic decline.
• Story 2: Gruesome crime in Florida.
• Story 3: Minneapolis considering bathhouse legalization.
• Story 4: Evidence on the harms of pediatric gender transition, yet policies persist.
• Story 5: Persecution of a Christian athlete for biblical beliefs.

Jimmy Hicks picks Story 3 (Minneapolis bathhouse legalization) as the most disturbing, for its display of societal values prioritizing personal gratification over communal well-being ([25:35]).

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7. Fortis News Break

Key stories:

• Children’s Minnesota resumes puberty blockers immediately after court ruling.
• Supreme Court to address birthright citizenship and its abuse.
• David Daleiden, pro-life journalist who exposed Planned Parenthood, cleared of all charges.
• Bill Gates to testify in Epstein investigation.
• Lawsuit over a “fake ICU” in Connecticut, staffed remotely.
• Violent incident over data center dispute in Indianapolis.

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8. Worship and Church Engagement Trends

• Todd lampoons manipulative, repetitive worship songs (“Fuego song”), encouraging deeper, substantive worship ([29:32]).
• Recommends the new movie “A Great Awakening” about George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin.

Trends:

• Some evangelical churches are seeing increased engagement from Gen Z and young men, possibly a reaction to broader cultural drift ([43:55]).
• In mainline Protestantism, liberalization is linked to declines in marriage and faith; Friel argues faith is the engine for societal health, not the other way around.

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9. Church & Worldview Data

• George Barna’s study: Only 19% have a fully biblical worldview; 68% have little/no biblical alignment.

• Friel attributes this to the “dumbing down” of church teaching, failing to challenge youth toward maturity.

  “Young people, we should be shoving them to like, hey, mature. Hey, we need to get you grown up... and yet the church and its incessant effort to tribulize the faith... is just wrong.” — Todd Friel [48:37]

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10. Theological Compromise & Evangelism

• NT Wright’s podcast is critiqued for equivocation on the unreached: “He resisted definitive claims about who is in or out, urging believers to trust in God’s mercy”—which, argues Friel, undermines the urgency of gospel missions ([52:23]).

“You must hear the name of Jesus Christ to be saved. How will they hear unless they are sent? N.T. Wright... just needs to read what the Bible clearly says.” — Todd Friel [52:23]

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Most Notable Quotes & Moments

• Re: Ehrlich’s Influence:

  “I took it to heart and now have no grandchildren. But 50 years later, the population has increased to 8 billion without dire consequences. I was gullible and stupid.” — Reader, Wall Street Journal [09:13]

• Re: Minneapolis Repealing Bathhouse Ban:

  “Enhancing HIV prevention... enhancing feelings of identity, camaraderie, authenticity and belonging. Where people can overcome isolation and develop a sense of community and pride.” — Todd Friel reading city rationale [19:00]

• Re: Church Trends:

  “They want cool, they want hip, they want groovy pastors, and they want anecdotes. They want TED Talks. So we’ve given it to them...” — Todd Friel [46:20]

• Re: Missionary Reluctance:

  “There’s no need to go if God’s saving people without hearing.” — Todd Friel, critiquing NT Wright [52:20]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Paul Ehrlich’s failed predictions and their social cost: [02:43] – [10:20]
• Analysis of crime and the decline of moral restraint: [10:48] – [12:07]
• Minneapolis bathhouse debate and public health: [17:13] – [21:49]
• Finnish study on gender transition and mental health: [21:51] – [24:07]
• Firing of Jaden Ivey for Christian convictions: [24:15] – [25:19]
• “Which Story is Most Disturbing?” reveal and discussion: [25:20] – [25:49]
• Fortis News Break (national headlines): [26:01] – [29:03]
• Worship song commentary and church engagement trends: [29:32] – [43:55]
• Barna’s worldview data and critique of church teaching: [43:55] – [48:37]
• Critique of NT Wright on the unreached: [52:16] – [52:26]

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Tone and Style

The episode balances serious cultural and theological critique with characteristic sardonic humor and banter. Friel’s perspective is deeply evangelical, urging biblical fidelity against cultural drift, with regular tongue-in-cheek asides (especially about “gifted judges” and AI mishaps).

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For the Listener

This episode is a wide-ranging meditation on the intersection of bad ideas and real-world suffering — examining why culture is “collapsing” and who pays the price. With plenty of direct Bible application, historical references, and practical implications for Christians engaging with the world, it’s both a warning and a call for discernment, truth, and gospel boldness.

Transcript

[Todd Friel]

Don't worry, I'll make it snappy. Hey. Right now, our spring match giving campaign, no Retreat. We have every intention of standing firm, proclaiming the gospel more loudly than ever to more people than ever. It's a match giving campaign. If and you are not yet a gospel partner, this would be a really good time and it would really help us advance our proclamation of the gospel. The campaign is called no Retreat. It is a matching gift campaign and you can [e-mail] donate.

[Wretched Radio Announcer]

Wretched radio begins in 3, 2, 1.

[Todd Friel]

I want to mourn the old trees and tell them that we love them. I've looked at clear cuts in burnt

[Jimmy Hicks]

forest and I felt outraged. We are the crowning glory of God's creation and all of nature was made for us.

[Todd Friel]

Nature is more productive because of us, not less.

[Wretched Radio Announcer]

It's time for Wretched Radio with Todd Friel.

[Jimmy Hicks]

You be the judge.

[Todd Friel]

You want answers? I think I'm entitled. You want answers? I want the truth. You can't handle the truth. Order in the court. This is Wretched Radio, hoping you're prepared to play one of America's fastest growing game sensations. That's right. Oh, the ratings on this huge. Which story is most disturbing? That's right. A slew. And I mean a slew. A veritable slu o stories. You have to determine which one is most disturbing. And you say, well, how can we do that when this is kind of a one way communication affair? Well, don't you fret. We have a federal head just for you. His name Handsome Jimmy Hicks. Sir, are you prepared to play federal head and represent the tens and tens of people listening to this here wretched radio program as we play. What do we call it? Which one of these is most disgusting? Or something like that?

[Jimmy Hicks]

Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready.

[Todd Friel]

Really? You're ready? Absolutely. And what exactly did you do to prepare for this moment? Stretch? Was there any fasting involved? No. Prayer closet.

[Jimmy Hicks]

That's it? That's it.

[Todd Friel]

You're just generally ready.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Look, I'm always ready to judge.

[Todd Friel]

That's true. It is your spiritual gift. Mine too. I think a lot of us have this gift. Frankly, it's kind of a gift I wish I didn't have. Because you know, Jimmy, to resist the temptation when you're actually always right, it's a burden.

[Jimmy Hicks]

It is.

[Todd Friel]

It's a yoke. And sometimes it's heavy. Let's play which story is most disturbing. You ready? Oh, these are all so bad. Oh, I don't even. Okay, here we Go. You're gonna say, well, wait a second. Why is this particular story so bad? Well, it's bad because of the results of it. Are you familiar with the fellow named Paul Ehrlich? He was a doomsayer. He made predictions going back to his population bomb book. Oh, it was just all the rage because he was prophesying that the world is basically going to end if we don't deal with this climate change business. Well, he recently died at the age of 93, and people have taken a look at his predictions. He got everything wrong. Everything. Every single prediction. For instance, in the 70s and 80s, hundreds of millions of people will starve to death from mass famine. Didn't happen. We're doing better, by the way, when it comes to feeding the population explosion that we're seeing on the planet. Contrary to what the doomsdayers said, we've figured out a way to just make more food. Now, I'm not saying there aren't any issues to discuss with GMOs, but in fact, Jimmy, you would appreciate this watch. Kind of a farming document. It was. No, I guess it was more of a movie. It was Christopher Walken. Walken. Walken.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Oh, Christopher Walken. Yeah, yeah.

[Todd Friel]

Is that how you say it? Walken? Yeah, yeah. Normally he's kind of known as, you know, kind of like a creepy character. Well, he was a farmer in Canada, and on his land he was being accused by Monsanto of stealing their proprietary work. When it came to GMOs, well, what had happened is the other farmers had been using those seeds and the fertilizer, and it got blown into his land. He would collect the seeds and he would use the ones that produced the most. Well, it turns out they did produce the most. And so they tried to sue him and shut him down for using their trademarked work, their patented work. Well, he was ignorant in that he had done it. Nevertheless, it went to court over GMOs and the fertilizer that gets used. And it's worth watching because it is an important conversation. There is a tension here. How do you feed this many people? Because if you look at crop production courtesy of GMOs and pesticides, you just can't argue it. We can make more food. On the other hand, all those chemicals we're putting into our body and all the gut issues that seem to be proliferating, it's a good conversation starter on those issues. Well, if you were Paul Ehrlich, you would think everybody was going to starve. It turns out human beings with their ingenuity found a way to actually feed people. He claimed the US population in 1999 would be about 22 million because there was going to be a great die off. How's about in 1970 the Earth was on the verge of a catastrophic marine mortality event, stating in 10 years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Jimmy, you've been on a cruise a couple. Yeah, yeah. All the animal life in the sea extinct? No, no. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish. He said. Now. Okay, I was going to make a New Jersey joke, but that would not be very polite to do that. That ain't happening. There are some coastlines, I grant you, but it ain't from a bunch of dead fish. In 1969, he placed a high probability on the likelihood that England would not exist by the year 2000. Well, I don't think that I. No, I actually was in England in the 2000s. That's when Ray Comfort took us on that death march through Europe where we had to do like a gazillion cities in six days or something. Very Ray Comfort like we were in. Oh, I went to. Went to where, where, where went not only to London. Ah, ah. What is the name of the town? Pilgrim's Progress. John Milton, where he was in jail and his little daughter, I think her name was Susie, she would bring the shoelaces that the kids and mom. No, he would make the shoelaces. She would bring them back to the mom and to the kids so they could sell them to buy food, which then they would make. And little Susie would bring it to dad in the prison who would then give her the shoelaces. Mainford, are you looking it up? Please help me from this nightmare that I'm stuck in. It was a really groovy little town. England is still there. That's the point. Ehrlich said if current trends continue by the year 2000, the UK will simply be a small group of impoverished islands inhabited by some 70 million hungry people of little or no concern to the other 5 to 7 billion inhabitants of a sick world. Well, which is it? Dude, his numbers were all over the place. Talking about mass extinction. We could lose all of Florida. What? Now, see, Florida, I could understand it happening because it's so flat. It would take about a teaspoon of extra water in the ocean to just wash over the entire state. I'm telling you, tables wish they were as flat as Florida, but it's still there. Washington, dc, Los Angeles, it's all going to Be gone. He convinced millions of Westerners not to have kids. That is what makes this story so disturbing. This is from not the Bee. They shared a quote from the Wall Street Journal opinion quote from one individual reading about Ehrlich's death. I was a college student when I read Mr. Ehrlich's the Population Bomb. I took it to heart and now have no grandchildren. But 50 years later, the population has increased to 8 billion without dire consequences. I was gullible and stupid. This was a guy from Woodbury, Minnesota. That's what makes this story so disturbing. Bad policies have bad impact. Bad worldviews have bad results. When people forward these horrible ideas without any real genuine science to support them, it hurts people. And we're seeing that today in Western civilization. We aren't making babies. Now, is this the only cause? No, it certainly isn't. I think there's a lot of other causes that contribute, but this one isn't small. How do I know? Because I've talked to enough young people who have literally said, don't think we should be having kids. You know, with the climate change and everything. It's real. Jimmy, what was the. Bedford. No, what was the name of the town?

[Jimmy Hicks]

The only thing that I'm finding is London. I have no. Yeah, that's all that's telling me.

[Todd Friel]

You got a bad AI machine.

[Jimmy Hicks]

I think so.

[Todd Friel]

Where was he actually? Where was he imprisoned in Great Britain?

[Jimmy Hicks]

Marlow.

[Todd Friel]

No.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Or Manchester.

[Todd Friel]

No, not right. What good is AI if it can't tell us something this simple? It could be Bedford. Okay, try Bedford. All right, story. Were you even paying attention to story number one?

[Jimmy Hicks]

I was.

[Todd Friel]

Story number two, It's a brief one. See what book of the Bible comes to mind when you hear this one. Florida teen admits to murdering a sex offender, cutting him up and putting remains in a suitcase. You say that's really disturbing. I don't think it's something that is a pandemic. But it could be in that when you read the Book of Judges, this was the act. This is the culminating act in the Book of Judges. Because if you recall the cycle in the Book of Judges, the people would be naughty. God would send trouble to them. What would they do? They'd cry out, God would send a judge, they'd repent, and oops, they'd forget. And round and round the cycle went, culminating ultimately with the killing of a concubine. And then the individuals in the town responded by saying, the best thing that we can do with the body of the concubine is to cut her in pieces and send her off to the other 11 tribes in Israel to get them to deal with the people who killed this concubine. And you go, that's just nuts. And that is what happens when every man is a judge. They do what is right in their own eyes without some sort of internal restraint system in America. I'm not saying we're going to see a lot of people getting cut up and put in suitcases, but I am saying behavior won't get better. This is Wretched Radio.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Thanks for listening to Wretched Radio today. Seriously, I mean it. Thank you so much for being a part of what we do here at Fortis Institute. Not just with Wretched Radio, but with all of our other content that we're producing on a daily basis. Whatever keeps you coming back and showing up, we don't take that lightly. There is a reality about all of this, and that's that producing daily radio like Wretched takes resources. It takes studio time, equipment, staff, distribution, and it all adds up. And the reason that we are able to continue doing this at the level that we've been doing it is because of our Gospel partners, men and women just like you who have linked arms with us and give to this ministry so that we can stay on the air and reach more people in more places all over the world. And so if our ministry has ever been a source of encouragement for you, would you consider joining us as an ongoing monthly gospel partner? You can get all of the answers to all of the questions that you like, likely [e-mail] right now. Wretched Amazing Grace Amazing Gospel Is it

[Todd Friel]

possible a Christian university can actually be ranked high when it comes to preparing students for the real world? The hat tip to Masters University. You want to send your kids someplace where they actually still teach the Bible, not just based on a document that they may be having a file cabinet someplace, but they actually use the Bible there. The education at the Master's University not only biblical, but oh so practical courses, diplomas, degrees. They can be achieved online or of course, on their beautiful campus in Southern California. Would you like to learn more about the Master's University? To prepare you or your child for the future, I encourage you to visit Masters. Edu Wretched Masters. Edu Wretched.

[Wretched Radio Announcer]

Important Dates in Christian history 1206 Francis of Assisi renounces wealth and goes on to lead a band of poor friars preaching the simple life. The 13th century saw the rise of a number of monastic orders dedicated to simple living and social engagement. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Friel.

[Todd Friel]

Cuthbert street, to be exact. This is wretched radio, Jimmy. Your AI machine is Kufritz, man. I just typed it into my little Google system here. Bedford. He lived in Bedford.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Okay.

[Todd Friel]

Cuthbert Street.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Oh, you got his address.

[Todd Friel]

I was at his house.

[Jimmy Hicks]

You have a powerful AI.

[Todd Friel]

It's actually. It's actually. It was actually a museum. I'm sorry for sure. This. This might be. This might be a part of. You be the judge. A disgusting story. We were there. We. We were filming kind of a tour of the different reformer sites and we visited Bedford. Really? When you think like, oh, that's like a really one of them adorable British towns. That would be Bedford. Went out to the place where they say that is home. Or it was a museum. And I was sitting on a fence and I was supposed to be talking about John Bunyan. And some birds flew over that had apparently that morning, that very morning, had been to a church. Blueberry pancake breakfast. And they strafed me right across my lap. Remember it vividly. Why? Because I had light colored pants on. So what do you do? You just shoot from the waist up and you carry on. Because Ray Comfort was just relentless. Get to the next country, get to the next town. You know how Ray is. Did I mention this is wretched radio? That would be disgusting. Story number three. But I don't think it compares to our others. Jimmy. Story number one. Paul Ehrlich. When you don't have reality fixed in your mind, an understanding of how things work, and you don't submit yourself to God, your thinking gets increasingly out there, untethered. Paul Ehrlich. Predicting death and doom because of the climate. And what was the result? People didn't have babies. It is a contributing factor to the decreasing birth rate in Western civilization. I find that pretty dis. Here's another example. This is story number three for you, Jimmy.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Okay.

[Todd Friel]

Well, actually I'm not going to feel too sad because I'm not a Minneapolis boy, I'm a St. Paul boy. There's a big difference, don't you know? Although St. Paul, man, I'm telling you what happens. Bad leadership. That's what happened. Cities crumble with bad leadership. People stop having babies from bad philosophies and worldviews. And how's about people are going to get more diseases in Minneapolis? Back in 1988, the city council decided no more bath houses. That's right up until 1988. Well, today's city council, of course, they've done got smarter. And so they are considering legalizing venues where adults can engage in those acts. And it's the reasoning behind it that just makes. It's like, okay, well, this is just. This is just dumb. On full display here, the. The Minneapolis health department and other public health organizations acknowledge this ordinance is no longer. It's the ordinance that forbids this type of behavior. No longer the tool needed to promote public health. That was the reason, in fact, in 1988, the individual on the city council. The first openly gay council member in Minneapolis in 1988 was one who pushed for the ban. Why? Because he had aids. And he wanted to make sure other people didn't. Because he understood that's how the disease is. Is transmitted from one to the other to the other to the other. It was a gay city councilman. But today we're smarter than that. And here it is. Social science research, get ready for this. This is just. This is just woke up in a disgusting manifestation. Social science research tells us that commercial sex spaces. Jimmy. Commercial sex spaces? Yeah, they're not bath houses. Commercial sex spaces. I can't even imagine what that. How that functions or operates. Or is it a brothel? They say, like gay saunas are important for promoting safer sex practices. I guess that's the only place where safer sex can take place is in a sauna. Enhancing HIV prevention. So in other words, my people. I'm so sorry for the. Any of these details. They're so sordid. They've got. They've got. They've got them. What I'm trying to say is about group activities at these places. That's what they will facilitate here. That's going to help the HIV rate go down. Because that's what social science says. I wonder if Paul Ehrlich was on that committee before he did because that's really good social science. And increasing access to testing and treatment. These spaces, not only that. Here comes the wokeism. Enhance feelings of identity, camaraderie, authenticity and belonging. Where people can overcome isolation and develop a sense of community and pride. Okay, see, we are so set on making sure that the individual feels good about him or herself. Even though we know better, Even though we know that this is bad for people, we will say, we will actually facilitate it for you. Because we are so myopic in our worldview and that we think that everything is about you. You. You. You've got to be able to do what you want. Everything is about you. We'll let you participate in risky behavior. Not to mention what it does to the community around it, what it does to society, what it does for medical costs. All of these ideas trickle and roll downhill. That's inevitable. And a society that doesn't have a correct understanding of imago dei, it's more important that we do things for people that are better for them rather than letting them have their own way. Because sometimes their own way is detrimental even to themselves. Jimmy, that's story number three.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Okay,

[Todd Friel]

Minneapolis. Story number four. Also actually kind of a little bit has to do with Minneapolis. A finished research. Another study. There's been study after study. It says that transitioning kids does not help mental health. In fact, it makes it way worser. Gender referred adolescents show high psychiatric morbidity. Gender differences and mental health trajectories after medical gender reassignment remain poorly understood. And yet in Minneapolis, they want to fire them back up again. Here's the statistics. They're a little complicated, but this is a simplified version. Mental health among boys who were castrated and injected with estrogen rose from 10 to 60%. The next time somebody says to you, we've got to allow this for mental health reasons, 10 to 60% for boys. For girls who had similar acts done to them went from 22 to 55%. Please note, other studies include suicide rates increase among minors after states allow them access to puberty blockers. Males who take cross sex hormones like estrogen increase their risk of heart disease by 93%. 95% of women in their 20s taking cross sex hormones. They develop pelvic floor dysfunction, which usually only happens to postmenopausal women. Suicide rates among men doubled after, well, a procedure that they do to them. Suicide risk increases 12 times for those receiving gender affirming operations. Oxford study of 100,000 people showed that same sex operations increase faced mental disorders. Europe is actually banning them. Minneapolis and America promoting them. And they want your tax dollars to pay for them. That's story number four. Here's story number five. Which one is the most disturbing? Is that. Yeah, that's it. All right. Jaden Ivy, are you familiar with this guy made a personal video because the Bulls, the basketball team that he plays for, they were going to have a Pride night the world can proclaim.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Lgbtq. They proclaim Pride Month in the NBA. They proclaim it. They, they show it to the world.

[Todd Friel]

They say, come, come, come, join us for pride.

[Jimmy Hicks]

For Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.

[Todd Friel]

That was the word that got him in trouble right there. So they waved him. He's gone. By the way, video surfaced of this guy. He's out in the street doing some street preaching. I don't know if it's good or bad, but he's out there doing open air preaching, which is amazing. And so he lost his job because of that post. And then it was, I don't know why that the Patriots head coach, Mike. Is it Vrabel?

[Jimmy Hicks]

Yeah. Mike Vrabel.

[Todd Friel]

Yeah. He said, well, you know, they got to get reeducated. I want people to have free speech, but they got to get re educated. Well, it's one or the other, sir. So there's story number four. He calls it something disgusting. And so in a tolerant fashion, they can him. Jimmy, that's story number five.

[Jimmy Hicks]

You be the judge.

[Todd Friel]

You want answers? I think I'm entitled. You want answers? I want the truth. You can't handle the truth. Order in the court. Which story is most disturbing?

[Jimmy Hicks]

Yeah,

[Todd Friel]

I'm gonna wait till you please make it snappy.

[Jimmy Hicks]

It's gonna be story number three.

[Todd Friel]

Number three, Minneapolis considers legalizing venues where adults can be frisky.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Yeah.

[Todd Friel]

Bad worldviews, bad consequences. This is Wretched Radio,

[Jimmy Hicks]

And it's now time for your daily Fortis news break production of Fortis Institute. A massive Finnish study confirms what common sense already basically told us, and that's that transitioning children doesn't fix their mental health problems. Research found that psychiatric morbidity among boys given estrogen skyrocketed from 10% to 60%. Girls who underwent mastectomies saw their mental health issues jump from 22% to 55. Yet despite mounting evidence, Children's Minnesota announced on Monday that it would be resuming puberty blockers and cross sex hormones for minors. After a brief pause, a federal court vacated the Trump administration's restrictions, and the hospital wasted no time contacting families to let them know the assembly line is back in operation. The Supreme Court is finally confronting a constitutional question that should have been settled decades ago. Does being born on American soil automatically make you a citizen? The Trump administration says no, at least not if neither parent is a legal resident. The case has exposed China's lucrative birth tourism industry, where companies charge up to $80,000 to fly pregnant women to California, deliver in American hospitals, and fly home with a U.S. passport. The 14th Amendment was written to protect the children of freed slaves, not create a backdoor citizenship program for Beijing. After nearly a decade of legal persecution, pro life journalist David Daladin is finally free. The last criminal charge against him has been dismissed, and his case is completely expunged. Daladin, if you remember, exposed Planned Parenthood clinics for selling aborted baby parts for profits. California saw those undercover videos and decided the real criminal was the guy holding the camera. The prosecution began under surprise. Then Attorney General Kamala Harris, which tells you everything you need to know. Microsoft co founder Bill Gates will be testifying before the House Oversight Committee in June regarding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Gates says he never witnessed or participated in any illegal conduct, though he has admitted to affairs and apologized for what he calls a huge mistake in spending time with Epstein. That's the understatement of the year. A Connecticut hospital is being sued after a patient died in what the lawsuit calls a fake ICU staffed not by on site physicians, but by doctors watching monitors remotely. An ICU with remote telehealth doctors and political violence has reached the anti AI movement. An assailant fired 13 rounds into an Indianapolis councilman's front door over a data center dispute while his eight year old son slept inside. There's no policy disagreement that I can think of that would justify anything like that at all. And that wraps up today's Fortis News break. I'm Jimmy Hicks. If you want more, you can download Fortis or sign up to become a Fortis insider for exclusive daily content. Both can be [e-mail] and don't forget, you can also subscribe to Fortis News on your favorite podcast app in order to get these updates daily. And until tomorrow, go serve your king.

[Wretched Radio Announcer]

Books of the Bible. The prophet Jeremiah preached judgment and repentance to Judah. For more than 40 years. He was mocked, beaten and imprisoned. But in the end, God's judgment came upon Judah. When you hold fast to the word of God, you will be heartbroken, mocked, and even persecuted. But let Jeremiah remind you that every word of God will prove true. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Frio.

[Todd Friel]

Sorry about this. This is wretched radio. Oh, again, Sorry about that. Was on my way looking for the church's one foundation for church news. What do I stumble into? It said in my little sound file dealy my thingy here. Fuego song. What is the fuego song? Well, here's the answer. It's a worship service. No manipulation going on here. Don't judge. Spontaneous worship. You know what? We should do this with a different word. Fire always tends to be a favorite word of these ecstatic worship services. Jimmy, think of a different. Fire really isn't a theological word, but nevertheless, think of it. Think of a different theological word and let's see if we can set it to music. What do you got? Angels. Okay. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel. Angel.

[Jimmy Hicks]

That works.

[Todd Friel]

No, it doesn't work, nor does this. How's about we sing a song before communion? Table, table, table. Table. Table. Table, table, table, table, table, table, table, table. You'd go, what is the matter with you? Exactly. These types of ecstatic worship services with their spontaneous worship. If any other word were chosen, it would be revealed to be the nonsense that it is. Even the Ohio players only repeated it a couple of times. Let's get to the originally intended search for song though, please. Friel. No, With a little entertainment news. Let's go to the movies, shall we? In fact, I. I'm. I'm planning on it. I don't. I hope we're going to be able to make it. I think it opened last weekend a movie called A Great Awakening. I think it's the story of George Whitfield and Benjamin Franklin, the open air preacher who had a booming voice. And by the way, some of the stories that are told about George Whitfield, that he could basically people who were 100 yards back at one of his open air events, they could hear him crystal clear. And you think, oh, that just must be some sort of a legend. Well apparent. There were enough people who said no. This guy's voice thundered. I actually know two guys now who are like that. Josh, who's in Great Britain. You're in Great Britain right now, bro. And he's on staff as an evangelist doing open air preaching. And when he preaches, I'm telling you, Josh Williamson's voice, it just thunders somehow. It just rattles around inside of and then comes out magnified. And our Sunday school teacher at Alpharetta Bible Church, by the way, Jimmy, when I think I went a whole day this week without mentioning First Peter being preached at Alpharetta Bible Church.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Oh, you did?

[Todd Friel]

Yeah, because, well, you know, I don't want to just, you know, beat the horse about us preaching through First Peter at Alpha at a Bible church. Our Sunday school teacher Eric, his voice, when he calls the class to attention, you jump. It can be done. Some of the. Some guys, they just have these thunderous voices. That was George Whitfield. And a movie is being made about him, his open air preaching and his relationship with Ben Franklin, who at best was a deist. It's called A Great Awakening. And what kind of pushed me over the edge, I saw the trailer for it. It looked pretty good, but then Ryan sent the lyrics to a song that is inside of the movie. And I read the lyrics and I went, well, this is pretty good stuff. This is actually, like, better than. I don't know, most worship these days. Sorry. From the oceans through the valleys from the mainland to the shore Let your kingdom be awakened in the hearts of men once more Call your children into freedom Captive souls to liberty Come awaken, Holy Spirit Come awaken us today Love, unending grace Unyielding tender mercies from thy throne Brings the lost souls into families Calls the wayward sinner home Bring salvation, great redeemer oh, oh. Guess what word is in here, Jimmy.

[Jimmy Hicks]

What's that?

[Todd Friel]

Holy fire Fan to flame oh, Come restore us Come revive us Come awaken us today. The holy fire thing concerns me a little bit, but there's nothing wrong with asking God to set our hearts on fire. Fire for him. The problem, of course, is these days, it's. Well, needless to say, it's kind of been abused. How can you go to these things year after year and just. And get it whipped up? How can you be the worship leader and jump around on the stage to get it whipped up? I'm hoping to go to the movie tomorrow night. I think it's open around the country. I'll let you know what my take is on it. Not that I'm a Siskel or an Ebert. Nevertheless, a great awakening. It looks good, Jimmy. We'll see. I'll give you the review on Monday.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Okay.

[Todd Friel]

We're actually. You know what we're gonna do with this movie. We're going on a date night.

[Jimmy Hicks]

You've been. If you're going to the movies on a date, you've been saving up for a while.

[Todd Friel]

Oh, is it that it's crazy, isn't it Not.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Yeah. Don't.

[Todd Friel]

Don't worry. We won't be buying the popcorn.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Just smuggle your stuff in, Jimmy. Everybody does it now.

[Todd Friel]

Everybody does it. That makes it okay? Okay, fine. We'll let you know. We. We just don't do a lot of date nights. I'm not bragging on that because I'm not sure it's a good thing. I'm just saying this is going to be something unique. A story number two from Church News. This is good news. The Supreme Court actually ruled against Colorado, and it was 8 to 1 regarding Colorado's conversion therapy ban. This has implications on the church. They struck down the law that bans licensed professionals from engaging in therapy with minors seeking to change their sexual orientation or help kids with gender dysphoria except their sex. Now, this may or may not have implications for biblical counselors because they tend to not Be licensed. Nevertheless, a conversion ban. We've seen what's happened up in Canada, haven't we, that you can't. In fact, the latest legislation. You can't speak about these things. You will be arrested for that. Because. Because somebody who actually comes to you and says, hey, I have these attractions, I don't want them. Can you help me? The church has to say, well, at the risk of being arrested, sure. Otherwise you're gonna have to go elsewhere, or we're just gonna have to get arrested for doing what is right. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissent, arguing that as a licensed medical professional, that these people that are trying to help people convert doesn't enjoy the broad First Amendment protections others do. So, in other words, because they're a doctor, they can't speak what they actually believe because they believe that the gender, the ability for somebody to express their gender, that needs to be enshrined in the Constitution. Speaking of good news, this isn't really a church issue. But nevertheless, Scottish Parliament rejects assisted suicide. This is a big deal. Assisted dying for terminally ill patients. It's the name of the bill. It would have allowed the terminally ill mentally competent adults who are residents in Scotland for at least a year. Hey, we got some standards. To receive medical assistance to end their lives. Medical assistance to end their lives. Medical. We're aiding you in dying because that's what the medical profession is all about, aiding you in dying. Assisted dying. These. These the lingo that people use to shield and to mask what is downright evil. Okay, so I'm going to pass Assisted poisoning bill. That's what we're. Assisted assisted body mutilation. Let's. Let's call it that and see if that passes in the Scottish Parliament, thankfully. And it will just be a matter of time, frankly, I think. Yep. The vote was 69 to 57 against the proposal. So for now, they won't be experiencing what's going on in Canada, but it's really just a matter of time. Scotland has. Has. The Scottish Church, it's my understanding, has never been as conservative as the Church of England. Now, consider the status of the Church of England right now. And that kind of gives you then a good idea where the Church of Scotland is at. This is fiery, wretched radio.

[Jimmy Hicks]

No retreat. That's the name of Fortis Institute's Spring Match campaign. And we chose that name for a reason. The Church has been quietly backing up for years. A doctrine gets a little uncomfortable. A truth sounds a little too exclusive. So we set it aside. And before long, the gospel sounds more like an apology than an announcement. Fortas Institute is determined to push the other direction to encourage churches to hold fast to hard truth and to proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ rightly and loudly. That's why we're inviting you to join us on the no Retreat Spring Match campaign. Right now through the end of May, every dollar you give is matched dollar for dollar and your gift will help launch two new podcasts, published Todd Friel's new book Go Serve youe King Through HarperCollins and Fund Gospel proclamation on college campuses. The gospel doesn't move backward, and neither should we. You can find out more right [e-mail] donate ask most Christians what they know about hermeneutics and you'll likely get Herman who That sounds like somebody's uncle. Is that the guy that always comes and just stays quiet in the back of the small group? Hermeneutics is actually the art and science science of interpreting scripture. And if you don't know how to do it rightly, you're going to read the Bible wrongly. Worse, you're actually going to be an easy target for every false teacher with a podcast and a proof text. Herman, who is basically a master's level education and how to read the Bible correctly and it's condensed into something that you can actually finish. You'll learn how to interpret a 2000 year old book in a 21st century world without twisting it into something you possibly never meant to say. By the end of it, you'll never read scripture the same way again, and you'll never have the wool pulled over your eyes by someone who sounds confident but doesn't know what they're talking about. Herman who it is streaming right now for free on Fortis. Download the app on your smartphone, on your smart TV, or just simply go to fortisplus.org so we decided to run the gospel through a Focus Groove and they loved the part about love. Then came the note sin sounds a little bit harsh. So they suggested we call it personal brokenness Hell. Well, that's a big negative. Maybe spiritual separation saying Jesus is the only way. That's just intolerant. You have to make him one of many meaningful paths and the call to repent and believe. That just raises a little bit of friction. How about like and subscribe? We thank them for their time and kept the message. If you're done rounding off the edges, Witness Wednesday here at Wretched Radio will help you share the word. Real Gospel, a holy God real sin, a just wrath, a crucified and risen Savior, and a clear call to repent and believe. And we'll do it kindly, clearly and without the sales pitch. It's Witness Wednesday on Wretched Radio. You can listen to your heart's [e-mail].

[Wretched Radio Announcer]

God has given the church many gifts for the building up of the body. One gift is administration, the spiritual ability to guide, govern, manage and correct. Church leaders are charged with keeping the church on the biblical path. As God has given that charge, he has also provided the gifts which enable us to fulfill that charge. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Friel.

[Todd Friel]

You're welcome. I just put it in the trash so I won't be tempted. This is wretched. And not that I need to play the Fuego song again, because let's be honest, it is stuck in all of our noggins. You talk about an earworm. Zoink, Scoob. Let's get to church news here on Wretched Radio, shall we? A question that was asked by George Barna. Are young adults engaging more at church? This seems to be somewhat anecdotal, but nevertheless, two in five senior pastors say their church has experienced higher engagement among gen Z and millennials. 45% say, yeah, we're seeing more kids come to church, specifically boys. 40% of pastors report increased engagement among men ages 18 to 35. Hmm. Larger, non mainline churches, led by younger pastors are most likely to report rising engagement among young adults. Larger non mainline churches would indicate not Protestant. Mainline Protestant churches, which could be another signal that evangelical churches, ones that are preaching conservatively, are growing. Protestantism in America, I'm telling you, it's limping on three legs. Maybe two legs at this point. Can you limp with two legs if you're a dog? Kind of. I guess you'd sort of bounce is what you'd basically do. I'm not a veterinarian. The point is, Protestantism in America, because of its liberal drift, is shrinking. Now, please note, there are still some conservative Methodists. There are still some conservative Lutrians and Presbyterians. But the mainline denominations that have historically been the foundation of this country, they're crumbling. And it isn't because they're preaching the Bible. Let's hope that it's a trend. I don't know that it's accurate or not. Interestingly, churches in the west, followed by leaders in the Northeast, are ahead of those in the south and Midwest in terms of increased engagement, especially among Gen Z. Maybe they're just so fed up with the liberalism that could be it. I think young men are so tired of being feminized and so shamed for just being a dude who just wants to do dude stuff. Maybe. Maybe this is the whiplash from that why the Decline of Marriage is Driving America's Faith Crisis that's the question that was asked in the Christian Post. I have a different answer. Faith writes this article didn't collapse in America over the last 40 years because of secularism's inevitable or the triumph of reason. It collapsed because of marriage's demise. This author is contending that the lack of faith is the result of a lack of marriage because faith follows family. And the case that he tries to make is when there's a dad in the house, when he's a believer, then the rest of the family tends to follow dad. But I would suggest to you the exact opposite. The reason that marriage is crumbling is because faith is diminishing everything. The headwaters are faith. It's always faith. That is true for government, that is true for family. That's true for morality. Everything. It is downstream from faith. Why are fewer people getting married? Because, well, fewer people are getting saved. George Barna he has his second installment of his American WorldView inventory for 2026, and it examined the level of biblical alignment across eight specific categories of beliefs and behavior that form the foundation of a person's worldview. Once again, I think George does a pretty good job at this. He tries to. Rather than just saying, hey, what are you? And accepting their answer, he tries to qualify them. And then he asked them questions. So this particular report revealed the overwhelming majority of respondents had little to no biblical alignment. Not a shocker. But think about these churches and what they're preaching. The sermon that we listened to earlier this week, where the dudes telling stories about going on the treadmill at the gym, it's like. And how we've watered down preaching and we're seeing this. I really experienced it. Was it last Monday? We were at Gtech, talked to about 10 kids. None of them really had any understanding whatsoever of the gospel. Some of them went to church, but they're not hearing anything. Why? Because we've determined we've got to take theology out. It's just too difficult. It's too hard for people. It's too boring. It's not relevant. People want fuego, fuego, fuego. They want cool, they want hip, they want groovy pastors, and they want anecdotes. They want TED Talks. So we've given it to them and you see it do you remember at a Christian university, the hundred kids that were asked why are you a Christian? They couldn't articulate their this is the fruit of dumbing down theology. This whole approach to kids that we come down to their level or below them in an effort to amuse them into the kingdom, assimilate them into the kingdom is just wrong. And it is so abiblical. And young people, we should be like shoving them to like, hey, mature. Hey, we need to get you grown up. Hey, we need to get you thinking adult thoughts and doing adult things, even if your peers aren't doing it. And yet the church and its just incessant effort to tribulize the faith, to water it down. George Barna shouldn't be shocked that he's seeing these particular results. 19% of respondents had a worldview reflecting full biblical engagement. 13% had some biblical engagement. 68% had little to no biblical alignment. Ouch. That hurts. The fruit of dumbing down church. Pete Hegseth he sees a similarity between US Airman rescue and the Resurrection at a press conference on Monday. This is regarding that pilot that was rescued. Very cool. A lot of the world, it seems, can't understand why America would spend so much money and effort and actually risk more lives to save a life. Really? That's complicated. I don't get it. First of all, it's an image bearer, so we'd make every effort to save image bearers, unlike what they're doing in Canada. Furthermore, if a soldier doesn't know that his nation has his back, that ain't gonna be a very good soldier, tell you that much. Would you risk your life if you knew that we weren't willing to risk ours to save you if you got in trouble? Nevertheless, he said this quote shot down on a Friday, Good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday, flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn. I guess it's reasonable to mention it's Good Friday and Easter, but if that's sort of supposed to be, I don't. And. And it happened on Good Friday and it happened on Easter Sunday. And how am I supposed to interpret that? What is the message there? What's the implication of suggesting that there's some sort of correlation between the two? The answer is I. I can't think of any. Can you? NT Wright, this is Christian Post. NT Wright has a podcast. It's called Ask NT Wright Anything. Jimmy. Let's see if we're on the same page. His podcast is called Ask NT Write Anything. If you could add one word to that podcast, what would it be?

[Jimmy Hicks]

Ask if I could add one word.

[Todd Friel]

Yep.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Biblical.

[Todd Friel]

No, no, don't.

[Jimmy Hicks]

Because he couldn't.

[Todd Friel]

Yeah, well that's Don't Ask nt, right?

[Jimmy Hicks]

Don't ask anything.

[Todd Friel]

And I mean anything. Just don't ask him anything. Get ready for some waffling and some obfuscation. Somebody asked the question, hey, what about the people who have never heard the gospel? Here's the quote. This is chin boogie. Whenever you hear equivocation like this, you're listening most likely to a Universalist quote from N.T. wright. The judge of all the earth will do. Right. God is God and it's our job to stand back and let God do his job. Well, he's gonna do his job whether we stand back or not, whatever that means. But that's the way of introducing it and saying, hey, don't feel bad if he does, but I'm not going to commit to if he doesn't. I'm just going to waffle all over the place. He pointed to Cornelius in the Book of Acts because he was devout before hearing the Gospel. Well, that's because he was practicing the Jewish faith. He was devout. It doesn't mean that he was saved or not saved. It doesn't mean that he was actually saved. Therefore he was devout. Then he heard the gospel. That's nonsense. Wright also highlighted that he described as a recurring pattern in missionary history. Individuals in non Christian cultures sensing a higher truth before encountering Christianity. No, there is no higher truth. There's either truth or there's not. They didn't have a higher truth. You must hear the name of Jesus Christ to be saved. How will they hear unless they are sent? N.T. wright. Some people say we always thought there must be something like this, suggesting that such experiences may reflect a form of divine preparation. Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with answering the question? He resisted definitive claims about who is in or out, urging believers to trust in God's mercy. Why? You can just, you can just hear the missionary organizations jumping for joy at that comment. Who? There's no need to go if God's saving people without hearing quote. I would want to back off from an over precise analysis of who's in and who's out. Okay, then let's let Jesus do it. He who believes in me has the Father. He who does not believe in me does not have the Father either. You don't need to draw lines, nt you just need to read what the Bible clearly says. And this, sir, is why we go. And until tomorrow, go serve your king.