I read an interesting quote from a game that is no longer obviously part of the Olympic Games . But did you know that there was an Olympic game where you'd run a race and the winner was not the one who was given the medal . It was the one who finished with his torch still lit , wow . So you had to run your race with a torch , and the one who had his torch still lit was the winner , so you got to run slow .
Ray ComfortWhat's the spiritual ?
Mark Spenceanalogy . Here's how Ray works . Ray , what is the spiritual ?
Ray Comfortanalogy . You keep your light shining . Don't let no man take your crown . Hold fast to that which you've got . Let their light continue to shine , so you don't want to cross the finish line without the light of the gospel sport .
Mark SpenceIt's not the thing . We ended up going rock .
Emeal ZwayneWhat is it about that song that just makes me want to run the Chariots of Fire ? It makes you want to run in slow motion . Yeah , chariots of fire . That's one of those songs that just like never gets dated or old or I guess I have lyrics , or is it just the ?
Ray Comfortno , I think it's just something about bananas . I just what do you say something about bananas ? The way you sung it ?
Emeal ZwayneI just envisioned Eric Little , you know , running on that movie , chariots of Fire . But , guys , you know , look , olympics come and go and I have no idea when our friends are listening to this Whoever's listening to this could be different times . But yeah , the Olympics . Ray , if you could do the Olympics , which sport would you do ? Oh , running 400 meters . Surfing 400 meters no not surfing In Tahiti .
Ray ComfortYou're crazy , not the . Have you seen that wave ?
Emeal ZwayneIt's insane , it's a killer .
Oscar NavarroIt's insane .
Emeal ZwayneIt's weird to me that they're actually Going to Tahiti To do stuff when the Olympics are in Paris .
Ray ComfortWhen you see that wave , it's just when the Olympics are in Paris . When you see that , wave .
Oscar NavarroIt's part of the curse . And do you know ? It's only part of the curse . What's ?
Emeal Zwaynewrong with the wave Ray ?
Ray ComfortIt's about four foot deep into coral and it's about 50 feet high and it comes down and kills you . Super powerful .
Emeal ZwayneAre you serious ? Yeah , it's scary . Wait , did we go there when we were in Tahiti to that area ?
Oscar NavarroNo , we were near it , but we go to that specific beach yeah .
Mark SpenceDo you know ? Ray thought the high jump was the limbo . I could go low , I just need to walk normal .
Ray ComfortI actually hated the high jump . I was good at long jump , but not high jump , not the short jump , right , no , no they call it the short hop . I was good with the hurdle and I'd just go under them .
Emeal ZwayneNo , I love that . Yeah , long jump is , yeah , one of my favorites .
Ray ComfortI don't know what it is like , just that . But they do this weird kind of that's to get the bounce .
Mark SpenceYeah , but it's crazy and but to me , what ?
Emeal Zwaynewhat blows my mind is how close they get to the line , because you think about it right , they're fighting for like millimeters do they ?
Ray Comfortdo they inspect their shoes to make sure there's no springs in them ?
Emeal ZwayneI'm sure they do . Can you imagine boing , boing , boing , uh , but no , I mean . But the thing is , they get so close to the line but if you cross it , you're , that's it , it's qualified . So it's like they , you know they practice that again and again . They execute you , you're not even disqualified . You guys have a favorite . Uh . So , ray running mark , if you could compete in anything in the o , what would it be ? The high hurdles , you serious , yeah , really . They have high versus low hurdles , yeah , oh .
Mark SpenceYeah , so the high hurdles are it's just a straight 110 meters , and then the intermediate hurdles are 440 meters all the way around .
Emeal ZwayneAnd they're lower , lower intermediate and high .
Ray ComfortSo all the runners for those things , tall people or not , because you can't just be tall .
Emeal ZwayneYou've got to be fast . Well , you have to be for the high ones , I would imagine . Yeah , yeah .
Ray ComfortDo you like the pole vault ? I'd stick it through my stomach , oh God .
Oscar NavarroYou would go flying in the other direction . I would love to see Ray You'd end up on the pole on top , not able to get down .
Emeal ZwayneThat would be crazy . What would you ?
Mark Spencecompete in Women's gymnastics .
Emeal ZwayneMark , how did you know Get ?
Ray Comfortaway with it fluttering the eyelids .
Emeal ZwayneI love the discus . I just love how they spin . They do the spin , probably something like that . Or the spear , the javelin .
Ray ComfortOh , this is so Arab yeah .
Oscar NavarroAll things that kill people . Throwing and killing . Throwing rocks , the one where they explode things yeah .
Emeal ZwayneAre you guys gaslighting me ? We were just talking about that . Seriously , I hear that word all the time . I'm hearing it this morning on the way in .
Ray ComfortI was listening to something . What you're talking about the origins of it yeah , it was . It's a play and it became a movie and it was about a guy who tried to drive his wife insane by saying things to her that didn't make sense what he would do called gaslighting yeah oh , it's from the 1930s , 40s , I think well , what ?
Oscar Navarrowhat he would do is he would . There was a back back then . The way they lit a room up is with gas-lit lanterns , and so he would slowly turn down the lighting on the lantern and she'd say , hey , it's getting darker in here , and he'd say , no , it's not . That's where gas lighting came from .
Ray ComfortThat sounds dark man , it was a dark movie .
Emeal ZwayneBut gas lighting it's kind of like turning it on someone , it's like speaking a narrative that's not true , but slowly changing aspects that make them feel like they're going crazy .
Oscar NavarroDemocrating .
Emeal ZwayneDemocrating . Speaking of that , guys , is it just me ? It's just me , it's always just you . Seriously , is there like an agenda for politicians to start cussing now ?
Ray ComfortOh , yes , I'm hearing the S-H word all the time . Now which word ? I've got a video coming out on that subject . Are you serious ? Yes , donald Trump keeps reminding the world about hell . That is his favorite word and it's getting right throughout the whole . All the commentators are using this . Yeah , guys that normally were conservative , wouldn't use it .
Emeal ZwayneWell , no , no , but now that the sh word I just heard a governor of a state in a big political suite . He just dropped the s there's no shame it's wow , it's changing .
Ray ComfortI blame you guys it's the uh frog in the microwave no more , no more boiling pot right it's the oreo and the glass of milk let's keep going .
Emeal ZwayneIt's the can't think of it .
Ray ComfortIt's the dog on the hamburger .
Emeal ZwayneIt's the meatball in the spaghetti oh boy , all right friends , no cussing on this program time for a cool , classy comment . By the way , before that , a shout out to Dan and Vicky Sebring . These guys are super podcast mega fans . We appreciate you guys . So thanks for listening and supporting the ministry in the way you do .
Ray ComfortRay .
Emeal ZwayneComfey , I got kicked out of Golden Corral , you did not . I did too Wait for ordering 10,000 steaks . I bet no , don't be silly .
Ray ComfortNo , I went on the carnivore diet for five weeks and I lost my little pot belly , which is great , and I thought I actually mix vegetables with the steaks now so I've tempered out a little bit . But I figured that Golden Corral have sirloin steaks on special . You can go in there and you can order them with your meal . So I went and ordered 10 . And they're only $2.50 each . Well , that was $30 for 10 steaks . That's what you pay in a restaurant for one sirloin steak .
Ray ComfortSo next week I went back and ordered 20 . Just got up to the chef who's cooking them and I said I have 20 . He goes what ? And then I told Scotty about him . Scotty went into the local golden crow , he ordered 10 . And then I went back on last Sunday and said to the chef , who was just standing there with his eyes kind of wide as I went up to him , I'll take 50 . I said 30 . And next thing the manager . The manager was right on me , I must be the steak guy Were you putting him in your pocket .
Ray ComfortNo , they put him in a box and you go and weigh it . It's to go , but they're not used to people Because I think they use the stakes as a draw card for people . Come in and they let you buy them . What's the problem ? Yeah , well they didn't let me buy 30 . They said , no , you can't do this anymore .
Emeal ZwayneOh , great yeah . I was saddened you got to do them in lots of like three . You flew too closer to the sun , yeah , no .
Ray ComfortI'm going in with a wig and A big wig , a real big wig , and glasses .
Emeal ZwayneSo wait , they didn't let you get any .
Ray ComfortNo , that was all over . You're kidding yeah .
Emeal ZwayneWere they treating you like you were doing something nefarious ? No , the lady was very very how he hooked us right With that tabloid headline . They kicked me out of the Golden Corral ?
Oscar NavarroNo , they didn't . He's a walking YouTube video . What happened next ? Why , oh man ?
Emeal ZwayneIt's become a part of your DNA .
Ray ComfortSounds like a good video . They kicked me out of Golden Corral . No here it comes . This is why .
Emeal ZwayneAll right friends After the shout out time for that cool , classy comment . This is from Debbie , my favorite podcast . I started listening when you were already at about 130 episodes , but I'm almost caught up . I've loved every episode and listened to some twice . I love the humor and the genuine brotherly love y'all have for each other . I love that I can laugh along with you but then get into the meat of matters and be challenged , rebuked , encouraged and edified . The humility , gentleness , biblical knowledge and devotion to truth even when it's hard truths of all four hosts inspires me to seek after the things of God with more fervor and , more importantly , most importantly , to share those things with a lost and dying world . Thank you for your faithful obedience to the things of God . You'll never know the full extent of how this podcast has helped me , but the Lord knows and I pray he'll continue to bless the ministry . God bless you all . From Scotland , debbie , from Scotland . Ah , kill haggis . What is haggis , ray ? Every time Scotland's mentioned , you're on to haggis .
Ray ComfortIt's some sort of food . I know what tripe is . I think it might be sheep's stomach .
Oscar NavarroTripe .
Ray ComfortYeah .
Oscar NavarroTripas . Yeah , that is , that's stomach , oh yeah .
Emeal ZwayneThat's tripe is sheep's stomach . Well , debbie , send Ray some haggis please .
Ray ComfortHe would appreciate that it doesn't sound good , does it ?
Mark SpenceI have another cool , classy comment that Ray gave me earlier today . Ooh , and it says Someone sent a card . Yeah , Ray , Living Waters crew , thank you for all that you do . Lately I've been praying much about where to put resources that God gives me . That would do the most good toward the spread of the gospel .
Ray ComfortSo often the podcast is impactful to me , except for easy singing I give that to you , so you can read it .
Emeal ZwayneThat's exactly what it says ? Does it really Mark it ?
Mark Spencereally is . Read the highlighted part . I don't believe you .
Oscar NavarroJust the highlighted part .
Emeal ZwayneI don't believe you . The highlighted part . I don't see you . Oh except singing . It doesn't say easy singing except singing . Turn it around In the front oh except easy singing . She said it twice oh , twice . Yeah , thank you , alan . All right , friends .
Ray ComfortEasy . I really love your singing . It's so great when you stop . Merci , merci beaucoup .
Emeal ZwayneAll right , friends , and now a radically revolutionary resource the Blue Book on Evangelism . Listen to this wonderful description someone from our ministry wrote . In the Blue Book on Evangelism , you will find more than 140 questions and answers about the most important of topics . This handy premiere presents the basics of witnessing the who , what , when , where , why and how . Ray , I think you actually put this together years ago for one of our . Was it for the academies ? Yeah , I think so . Yeah , great one . It got revived . It's become a yeah .
Ray ComfortThe Lazarus come forth .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , it's alive . Now it doesn't stink anymore . All right friends , make sure to check that out , along with the Living Waters mug , from which Ray just took a chug , and evidence study Bible . This Bible will bring revival . All at Living Waters . Yeah , love that singing . All right friends , today we are talking about how God was blasphemed at the Paris Olympics . We started off by talking about the Olympics . We are going to continue that and believe it or not . The amazing thing is that while that happened , the three of us were in Paris . Sure , were you in Paris , ray . In spirit . In spirit , not in truth . I'm sick of traveling
. Yeah , ray doesn't travel anymore , but he sent us to paris and , uh boy , was that an unexpected turn of events , guys , I've been watching the olympics since I was a wee little guy . Yes , ray , what do you mean ?
Emeal Zwayneyes , you were doing something like you're about to say something no , no , I just got a text from someone important .
Ray ComfortSee , I knew something was going on your nostrils were flaring if you looked your phone , you would see it too and go whoa , oh would I .
Oscar NavarroOh Sorry , listener , let's just pause for a personal experience Never mind .
Emeal ZwaynePersonal experience . Yeah , so I've been watching the Olympics since I was a wee little guy , when I no longer had one channel , when we were in Lebanon . But we came here and had the Olympics . I have I could not even fathom what we saw in that opening ceremony . I mean , and I think the thing that blows my mind is how so unmoved so many people seem to be .
Mark SpenceYeah , that's exactly right . On my flight home , the flight attendant and I we engaged in a conversation and what she brought up was wasn't the opening ceremony ? Absolutely amazing . She said that yeah , I couldn't believe it . You're all funny . You say that that was like her draw . And then she was asking my son if I was in a solid relationship with my wife . Huh , yeah , she was flirting with me .
Ray ComfortDid she have a ?
Mark Spencebank .
Emeal ZwayneAt that point it made me .
Ray ComfortDid she have a cane At that point ?
Emeal Zwayneit made sense . Did she have a ?
Ray Comfortcane . She was blind , Blind and deaf . I didn't know they let blind flight attendants Blind , deaf and desperate .
Mark SpenceWhat did the opening ceremonies where they're mocking the Last Supper ? What did that have to do with the Olympics ? I'm so confused .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , I think you and a lot of other sensible and reasonable people are asking the same thing , so let's kind of build up to that , guys . I think it's good to give some context of what was going on , why we were in Paris and talk about some of the good stuff that happened too . So , ray , where did this all come from ? Go to Paris , guys . It came from London .
Ray ComfortYeah , talk about London . You and I were watching the guys in London and saying how wonderful it was and we just got to do this again . And then someone mumbled something about the Olympics coming up in Paris and there it was . What a wonderful opportunity . Yeah , you go into all the world , preach the gospel to every creature , and it's great when the whole world goes to one city . It means you don't have to go into the whole world , they come to you . We did .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , that's one of the things we were talking about is the uniqueness of that opportunity . You know , we're called to go into all the world and the whole world was brought to one place and we did it . So London was like you said , Ray , we were watching the guys . You and I were in the studio here , Wasn't ? It like three in the morning or something .
Ray ComfortYeah , you'd gone to sleep at about 11 . Yeah .
Emeal ZwayneI was losing it , but it was cool because we did this kind of live thing , it was great .
Oscar NavarroWell it wasn't just us that went to Paris . We put a call out there and , like this , it's not three of us going with the incredible team that we brought , but it seems to be so many people from all over the world answer that call join us . Some of them go to the conference . We host a one-day conference and the rest of them go and they hand out the tracks .
Ray ComfortI think we had over 2 million tracks printed just for Paris , for Paris . But then there was the Euro paris also that was printed , and the australian olympics thing , because 300 sorry , 3 000 million apparently watched the olympics . Maybe not now , after what happened yeah but that's uh 3 000 million yeah yeah , and and what a joy it was to to be there .
Emeal ZwayneYou know , like you said , oscar , we did a conference and we had a great group of people that showed up and , again , once more blown away by the feedback we've gotten . I mean , there was a couple there that basically said our entire lives have been transformed through Living Waters . Yeah , their marriage yeah , yeah , and to hear that sort of feedback from people . But then , you know , it's one thing when someone says my life has been changed . It's another thing to say , okay , my life has been changed , I've been saved , I'm now going out and preaching the gospel , you know , and we touch on a lot of different topics in the podcast , but I have to keep reminding our friends who listen our heartbeat as a ministry is to get you engaged in the Great Commission . And again , I've been reading some of the comments we've been getting lately and I've been seeing more and more of that of people saying I've been activated , I have a zeal now to reach the lost .
Oscar NavarroYeah , let me just add it's so amazing to me when we do London and we had standing room only 300 plus people there for that one day conference when we do things like Paris , even when we do things like the Ambassadors Academy , to me the thing that stands out more than anything else is not the preaching or the teaching , it's the fellowship , and I often say , going to one of those things that we host feels like a pilgrimage , Feels like people travel to have this experience , to meet other like-minded Christians , and the edification that comes from being in a room full of a few hundred people that are like-minded as it pertains to proclaiming the gospel . It's so encouraging . It reminds you you're not alone , that God is at work all throughout the world , and it encourages you to press on Amen yeah .
Mark SpenceMark , it shoots just a vial of adrenaline inside your veins . It wasn't just happening at the Olympics . As they were leaving , I received this Instagram message from Lindsay Whitfield . She said , brother , I prayed for open doors and these lovely ladies , referring to these ticket agents at her gate at the airport , agreed to offer all of these Living Water Olympics souvenir gospel tracks . That's the millions , the millions to our entire flight . Praise his name . I also got to share the gospel with them and she included a picture of being able to put the gospel tracks on the table where you communicate between you and the ticket agent . She says , yeah , lay them all out there and be able to get them .
Ray ComfortAmazing . That is so cool . I'm glad you mentioned that picture because I was blown away when I saw it .
Emeal ZwayneJust so great well it brought back to my mind . You know the experience I had at the airport that I've shared before with the police officer that had our tracks on the actual kiosk counter . You know for their stuff .
Ray ComfortSo we're putting that picture in our update and I hope people who are listening get the update , because that keeps you updated as to what we're doing . Yeah , how do they get that update ?
Emeal ZwayneLiving Waters newsletter . Just go to our website livingwaterscom and sign up for it . Yeah , you'll be kept up on these different things . I mean , we've had people before say , oh , I didn't know you guys did this or were doing this . The newsletter is
a great way . Where's the next Olympics ? Los Angeles , los Angeles . I might go to that one . I hope so . Ray Comfort , that's going to be really cool to have it in town here .
Oscar NavarroSince 1984 . I was going to say it was 84 . When I was born , yeah . I'm an Olympic baby . I .
Ray ComfortYeah , I'm an Olympic baby I remember watching that in a pastor's home I was speaking , yeah , and you were being born at that moment . That's wonderful .
Emeal ZwayneIn that exact moment . Right Was that the Mary Lou Retton Olympics ? I think so .
Oscar NavarroIt was the Jenner Olympics . What Jenner ? What's his name ? Bruce Jenner . It was the .
Ray ComfortJenner Olympics and it was where that guy came down with that pack where you sort of float around the sky .
Oscar NavarroOh , that's right . Yeah , they had a back then . Yes , at the Rose Bowl .
Ray ComfortAt the Rose Bowl he came . Yes , you're right . Oh , this is the future . No , it's not . It hasn't happened . That's crazy yeah .
Emeal ZwayneBut you know , one of the things in Paris that really , really blessed me was at the conference . There were two families that were there . They came together and they said they were in London together as well . They got connected through Living Waters and now they're like doing evangelistic things like that together .
Oscar NavarroI said wait , are you ?
Emeal Zwayneguys . They're like yeah , we met , we've connected , now we're witnessing together . Yeah , it was really really cool . So yeah , so the Olympics , blasphemy , all that Oscar , are you gonna say something else ?
Oscar NavarroWell , I was gonna point out the French Olympic organizers . Before everything even got started , they made it a point to say that unity was gonna be a focal point of the opening ceremony , that it was gonna be about inclusion and diversity and non-discrimination , and yet so far they've done anything but accomplish that thing . And diversity and non-discrimination . And yet so far they've done anything but accomplish that thing . First , the French team banned all Muslim women from wearing a hijab because it was a display of the religious belief , and they believe , they claim to believe in secular neutrality , so you're not allowed to wear , most likely crosses , anything that represents your faith . Palestinians , we refuse to shake hands of Israeli competitors .
Oscar NavarroAnd then , of course , we saw the blasphemy , the disrespect , the dishonor at the opening ceremonies with the Last Supper , and it just reminds me anytime mankind has ever tried to make heaven happen on earth , it has failed miserably , since Babylon . What was Babylon ? Babylon was human beings trying to create a utopia , a heaven on earth , a heaven without God , and it did not work . It almost destroyed the world . And since then , whether it's socialism or communism , whatever you want to call it , every time we want to create non-discriminatory utopia , heaven on earth without God , we ruin it .
Oscar NavarroAnd the beauty , of course , of the gospel is , ultimately , the desire is good , the desire for a world in which there is actually not discrimination , where there is no such thing as hatred and violence and racism and classism . That is a beautiful desire , something written on all of our hearts . It is a cry for heaven , but the reality is that we will never have heaven without God . That is the work of God , and the beauty is we don't have to turn the Olympics for that . We turn to what God is doing in the local church .
Oscar NavarroWe turn to the gospel and the promise that heaven will come down to earth as it is in heaven .
Ray ComfortHeaven without God is the ultimate oxymoron .
Emeal ZwayneAmen , you're absolutely right , yeah , so true , yeah , oscar , you make some really good points there , and we've talked about this a number of times , but ultimately , that's what people are trying to do when they remove God from the equation . They're trying to create their own humanistic utopia that , in a sense , is crafting themselves into God , like you're always going to have an ultimate authority , and if the ultimate authority is not God , if the ultimate authority is not God's word , it's going to be man , and then it becomes a mechanism for worship , in a sense , because you are then pledging the fullness of your allegiance to man , or to that organization of man , or that platform that man directed , whatever it is . That's what ends up happening . So , ray , we were there and you were here .
Ray ComfortInterceding for you guys ?
Emeal ZwayneYeah , interceding , it would have been dead without my intercession yes of course , of course , and you you know we were kind of experiencing the sort of atmosphere there after that opening ceremony , what was going on . We'll get into the details of what we did and what God miraculously did through it , but what came to your mind as you saw this I thought , be not deceived .
Ray ComfortGod is not mocked . Whatever man sows , that will also reap . It's like man thinking how terrific he is because he's shaking his fist at the sun because it's too hot for him . But it's not . Nothing's going to happen , except he's going to incur the wrath of God . And that's what happens when men blaspheme God , when they mock God . God is not mocked , he doesn't change . Whatever man sows that will , he also reap . So God's wrath will come upon them on the day of judgment . I hope they come to Christ .
Ray ComfortBut what offended me wasn't just the blasphemy . It was the fact that these people , despite the oath of the International Olympic Committee which says let me give you the oath , I will act independently of commercial and political interests . That's the oath they said . And here they inject a homosexual idealism right in the middle of the Olympics . What's that got to do ? Try a little picture of Donald Trump just going past Something that pushes some political ideology . It's just not going to get through . They would have looked at everything with a fine-toothed comb because the whole world's watching . And so my thought was why didn't someone from the 105-member International Olympic Committee say something ?
Oscar NavarroYeah right .
Ray ComfortAnd I know why . If they had , in private , spoken up and said we can't do this , that would have been leaked to the leftist media . And suddenly , you don't bake a cake for homosexuals . They'll destroy you . They'll destroy your business . So you speak up like this and they're gonna ban you , they're gonna blacklist you , gaslight , you gonna protest outside your home , you're gonna be kicked out of the Olympic Committee because you spoke up against this issue that's so volatile .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , mark , wouldn't you say that that is a part of it , this atmosphere of fear that's been created because the repercussions are , they're real , you know , and we were starting to see people walk it back , like it was clear , there was someone that said that this , even one of the performers in there , there was that guy with the beard , the drag queen with the beard . He was interviewed and , like , made it clear it was in relation to the Last Supper , and one of the producers too , yeah , and someone from the committee . I mean , they were admitting and then suddenly it was like no , no , no , it wasn't that . It was , you know , the feast of the gods or whatever .
Mark SpenceYeah , who was it that said if you fear God , you don't need to fear man ? You did just there , just now .
Emeal ZwayneI just said it . Yeah , it was me .
Mark SpenceMax said it . I'm the one that said it , quoting somebody , but it's so right . I think that we have such a fear of man because we have such a lack of a fear of God . If you know what your marching orders are directly from the Lord , then it doesn't matter . I mean , you can't get canceled as a Christian . You're going to run your race with endurance , not caring what happens . I read an interesting quote from a game that is no longer obviously part of the Olympic Games . But did you know that there was an Olympic game where you'd run a race and the winner was not the one who was given the medal , it was the one who finished with his torch still lit ? Wow , so you had to run your race with a torch and the one who had his torch still lit so you gotta run slow so you everybody , what's ?
Ray Comfortthe spiritual analogy .
Mark SpenceHere's how ray works . Right ray what is the spiritual ?
Ray Comfortanalogy . Keep your light shining . Don't don't let no man take your crown . Hold fast to that which you've got . Let their light continue to shine , so you don't want to cross the finish line without the light of the gospel . Stay on fire , for the Lord . Yeah , that's what I would do if I was running with a torch .
Emeal ZwayneYou'd light the whole stadium .
Ray ComfortLook at that man , as he has caught fire .
Mark SpenceYeah , They'd be like what do we ?
Emeal Zwaynedo . The torch is out , but he's on fire . He's the same size as the torch , though . Run with him . But , Mark , it wasn't . Like you know , I remember we were out on the streets there in Paris talking to people about this . We'll get into that , but I realized afterwards that , like I didn't give details to people on the streets which which I wish I would have in retrospect uh , but you know , when you think about it , um , it wasn't just . It's like you have people , because the notion is you guys are saying lgbtq people were in this . How dare you be ? You know bigots like that .
Mark SpenceIt's what they were doing yeah , and Oscar brings us out inside of our YouTube clip which has more than 2 million views on it . Absolutely amazing .
Maybe Oscar do a better job at this , as you brought out the comparison that if we were to mock the LGBTQ community , you know we get in trouble .
Oscar NavarroRight , yeah , that's exactly right . I mean , can you imagine ? I said to somebody you know , can you imagine if there was news of a church that put on some sort of display that was clearly a mockery of the LGBTQ community , how would everyone respond ? You'd be watching that on TV and they'd be like but this isn't right , like this is hatred , this is discriminatory , it's intolerant , et cetera , et cetera . And yet we put on display the last supper , and it wasn't just drag Queens , it wasn't just um , et cetera , et cetera . There were children , there was a child in the middle of that . You know , um . And so you , you put it on display and all of a sudden it's like , oh yeah , that's a beautiful piece of art , that's great , that's amazing . They did such a great job .
Oscar NavarroYou know the double standard that's out there , and it reminds me of an experience that I had in Washington . I think I've told you guys this before . It was on a trip for Living Waters . I was at this coffee shop in Seattle , washington , and it just so happened that this coffee shop was hosting like a music and art festival and I had a few hours to kill between different meetings , and so I was sitting there getting some work done , having some coffee and and , uh , there's this like show going on and there was a pretty eclectic group of people there and at one point , a young woman , uh , shaved head , you know , ear piercings and tattoos , and uh , an elegant dress gets up and she welcomes everybody and then she says something effective like you know , I want to point out that this is a place of inclusion , that everybody is welcome here , and there's some cheering and then she goes and so if you , if you have any hate filled , bigoted , backwater views , you can get up and leave . And then she says you can get your expletive out of your seat and leave , and everyone roared and cheered , you know , and it and I'm sitting there , you know , working on like a sermon or something and it begs the question what is tolerance and can we get it wrong ? And I think , just to answer that question that I'd be here from you guys .
Oscar NavarroTolerance , first and foremost , is actually a gift from God to us , given to our culture through Christianity , and just like everything else , just like sex , just like money , we can take a good gift from the giver , and when we detach the giver from the gift , it becomes distorted , we abuse it , and so you think about tolerance like a biblical view of tolerance is this it's that truth is desirable , attainable and absolute . And in the marketplace of ideas we step in and we are like miners sifting for gold . And in that view of truth we can say you know what ? I may disagree with you , I may think that your ideas are stupid , but even if so , I still respect you as a person .
Oscar NavarroThis view of tolerance has everything to do with the image bearing quality that we have . That's a Christian view of tolerance . A post-Christian view of tolerance is this truth is subjective and therefore individualistic , and in that framework , truth is not an absolute to attain , but rather it's something the masses win over through suppression , because truth is ultimately about power and submission my truth over your truth . And the only way my truth wins is if you submit to my power . Right , and in that framework , suddenly we can use words like tolerance to put on display intolerance , and that's exactly what we saw at the Olympics .
Emeal ZwayneAbsolutely yeah . I think what's happened is the word tolerance has been infused with the meaning of acceptance , because it's not like okay , tolerance . Obviously it's connected to the word tolerate right , which means I'm not showing violence towards you , I'm not acting hatefully towards you , I'm not tearing you down with expletives and demeaning vocabulary or rhetoric , but now it's shifted to no , you must accept me and accept what I'm doing . And the thing with the LGBTQ community is it's not who you are Like . This is my ethnicity , this is my physical appearance , this is my height , this is me adopting certain practices that have , for millennia , been understood by the public as being immoral . And now you have to . You have to not just accept , but celebrate right , mark . Don't you think it's coming to the place where now you must celebrate me ?
Mark Spenceyes , in fact , I got into an online debate just this morning with this very subject . It wasn't with the person , I was with chad gpt , but I wanted to teach ch GPT a lesson and there's no doing yourself .
Mark SpenceMaybe I try to teach it the very thing that Oscar and you are talking about here easy , and there's just no learning . And I asked the question why is it that the LGBTQ plus community can mock Christianity but Christianity cannot ? It doesn't desire to , but cannot mock the LGBTQ community ? And the response was well , because the LGBTQ community has been marginalized for so long . I'm like that is your answer . It was quite silly , but we were going back and forth and Chet Chippety won , just because I was exhausted of going back and forth and I thought I had better .
Emeal ZwayneWow , Mark was arguing with a non-living entity . I thought I could teach it something by being reasonable .
Mark SpenceBut there's just . I kept saying hogwash , nope , doesn't work . Over and over again and I said I understand your frustration . And I said I'm not frustrated just because I have a different view than what you've been pre-programmed to say .
Emeal ZwayneIsn't it crazy that , like , in a sense , nothing in this world is neutral ? Like , in a sense , nothing in this world is neutral . I mean not even a non-sentient like artificial intelligence . It was obviously programmed by someone and it has a worldview .
Oscar NavarroMark , I really hope you guys can work it out .
Mark SpenceWe're getting coffee later .
Emeal ZwayneWe need a reconciliation intervention with Mark and ChatGPT . All right , guys . So let's get to the video , okay , Because this became the highlight of the trip in a sense . So we saw what was going on and , Mark , take us from there , because your boys were heavily involved in this .
Mark SpenceAbsolutely yeah . Originally , Nathaniel had reached out to Ray about producing a video on the subject and Nathaniel goes we could do this from here . So my son , Ethan , was there as well , and then they had the idea let's produce this . And then the three of us , we went off into our own little worlds and sections to talk about this very subject . So we shot the video , we did commentary on the video , we edited the video all in one day and then it was like up until three o'clock in the morning we kept talking about wow , these views are getting out of hand , they're getting crazy , and there's lots of people that started giving comments . And then you saw that there was a sponsor that pulled out from the Olympics because of this opening ceremony . I would not be surprised if that was in direct relation to our video , the YouTube video , which more than 2 million views . It's crazy , yeah .
Ray ComfortI mean 2.6 million .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , 2.6 million and growing . And I mean it became within a few days our like number eight top video of all time . And we have what ? 2,800 videos on our YouTube channel , and so I think it was within 18 hours we had crossed into like 1.3 million views or something . Guys , isn't that fun . It's so fun . I mean seriously , I could not stop going back over and over again . I'm thinking , look , this is translating into souls being impacted by the gospel , because it's packed with the gospel , and what I love about it is that it was on a whim , it wasn't pre-planned .
Ray ComfortAnd , ray , I mean you've had videos like that right In the past where you've just thought the idea up you put it up and one , two , three , four million views and it's always a shock when that happens , because you plan something , spend days or even weeks getting it and it flops . You do one in a couple of hours and it takes off and you just think this is great .
Oscar NavarroOne of the highlights to me in the video is we had a five-minute huddle in the morning where it was like all right , you're going to go here and talk , you're going to go there and talk and I'll go get some men on the street interviews . We didn't really hash out what we were going to say . You didn't really know how I was going to approach my conversation .
Ray ComfortIt's kind of like a podcast . Yeah , exactly .
Oscar NavarroI really didn't know what Mark and Easy had planned , if they had anything planned in that moment . But by the time Tani and Ethan got out of their hotel room after a few hours of editing it and put it together and I watched it for the first time , it was as if the three of us planned exactly what we were going to say , which to me is just like it speaks to the like-mindedness of us . You know , like we , we didn't talk , but everything I said to the person you ended up teaching . It's like you guys taught on something and I applied it and that was really just a gift from God to that moment .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , and Oscar , I would love for you to kind of share with us a little bit about your interviews with people
. But I want to say first of all , kudos to Tani and Ethan . Yeah , 100% , I mean , these guys gave up like expensive soccer Olympics .
Mark SpenceWe were going to a soccer game Israel versus Paraguay .
Oscar NavarroYou know my kids are .
Mark SpenceJewish and they weren't able to see it and I was like a little bummed that we weren't able to go there .
Oscar NavarroBut they were but they , without hesitation , were like let's do this .
Emeal ZwayneOh yeah , it wasn't like when I talked to them , they're like oh no , no , no , we're going to skip the game . I'm like , whoa , that's a big deal hotel room and praise the Lord for modern technology , like I mean , again we're away from our headquarters , I mean . But they had their computers , we have the internet and they threw it together . And I was shocked when I got the video for review . They're like , hey , here it is . I'm like what you guys are done and , ray , what'd you think of the video ?
Ray ComfortOh , it was so professional , so quick and held your interest , which ? Is what they've got to do . You can't lose interest within , you know , five minutes . You're just gone . Yeah , Held interest right through .
Emeal ZwayneAnd at the same time , you know , like we were dealing with the rain . Yeah Right , and that's difficult . We were at a place called the Pantheon and I was up on the kind of top level roof filming and there's crowds . I mean it's a tourist place , right , so we're like , all right , let's do it here . But there's people on either side of me and they're trying to cross to the other side . In fact , while I'm filming , one guy ducks under the camera and goes to the other side and you know it's in the rain and it was just . You know there were challenging aspects to it , but when it was all put together , I'm like man Lord . And to think , if our entire trip was for this video , for what may soon be 3 million people , I mean it's continuing to grow . Imagine 3 million people . You know , I try to think of that on the level of like a stadium . I think we have the SoFi Stadium . It seats like 70 , 80 , 90 million , you know , million .
Ray ComfortI mean , that was evangelistic .
Emeal ZwayneThe exact rating of evangelism ? No , but you know , 70 , 80 , 90,000 . I don't know , it's something like that which is massive . Right , 70,000 . Okay , 70,000 . Like multiple , do the math on that . How many of those stadiums would it take ? It's wild , you know , for all those people getting the gospel .
Oscar NavarroI wish I would've known it would have done that I would've worn something better than a trash bag .
Emeal ZwayneI know . I was gonna say , an Oscar with a trash bag . It's about 38 stadiums .
Ray ComfortWhat's that ? Probably about 38 stadiums .
Mark SpenceWow , it's unreal 19 years of watch . Time is what it was 166,000 hours . That's crazy . Wow , 19,000 . Praise .
Emeal ZwayneGod , yeah , just his sovereignty constantly blows my mind and I've said to you guys as well in a sense we're sort of desensitized to those kinds of numbers when we hear millions Like yeah , you know , we have a channel , almost a million and a half subscribers and almost 300 million views , but we have to let that register 2.6 million people already yeah , but the next video only got 120,000 .
Ray ComfortOh , 2.6 million people already .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , but the next video only got 120,000 . Yeah , so 120,000 , which is almost two SoFi stadiums full of people . We're like , oh yeah . So , oscar , you go out , you start interviewing people . What was your sense of things and how you were ? And let me just say one of the cool things was the compliment that I saw a few times in the comments of people saying man , oscar was just so tender with these people , especially the young black guy that you talked to , that just gentle and loving and giving the gospel so effectively , but no compromise , praise the Lord .
Oscar NavarroYeah , one of the things that stood out to me is I was running up to people and just trying to get as many conversations as humanly possible and in my mind I thought , like it'll probably be , just over 50% of the people are going to love it . It was 100% , not a single person . There's nothing that wasn't- . It told them about the opening ceremony , the opening ceremony .
Oscar NavarroI asked them what did you think ? And it was loved . It was great . What'd you think about the last supper ? I thought it was great . Some people wouldn't like it . What do you think about that ? Loved it , didn't have any problem with it . 100% of the people that I talked to were convinced that it was amazing and good and well done . And yeah , the conversation with the young black man was really cool . He promised me like five , 10 minutes and we ended up talking for probably 20 . Wow , but he was in it . He was like he was there . He never rushed the conversation . He was super interested . Same with the Spaniard that had a conversation with . He was um , I was really thankful that afterwards he said he'd think about it . I got to go through the gospel with both those guys and and and really thankful for their willingness to think critically and even have the possibility of changing their minds over something like that , and it seemed like they were really open about realizing the hypocrisy in what had just happened .
Emeal ZwayneYeah , yeah , oh man , I'm thrilled I still keep going back and looking at the views and the comments . And , ray , I mean what a , I think , great sort of moment right now for us to remind people of capitalizing on whatever's happening in the world to get the gospel out ?
Ray ComfortYeah , absolutely Springboards everywhere . One thing that I keep having to remind myself is that , as Christians , we're not overly offended by their lifestyle . That doesn't deeply concern us . It's like someone's living in adultery . They're fornicating look on pornography . Yeah , that's your business . Our concern is where are they going to spend eternity ?
Mark SpenceAmen .
Ray ComfortAnd that's why we've got to say to homosexuals do what you want , but realize this do not be deceived . Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God , and that's what's going to matter on judgment day .
Emeal ZwayneAmen . Yeah , and I think that's an important point to make . I think the world is expecting Christians to be up in arms and look , I mean , come on , we're not stupid . We know that those behind this were realizing this was going to cause an upheaval and it was gonna bring attention , and that's all a part of strategizing and stuff . But I think a part of it is this expectation that Christians are gonna be what . Now , of course , we can experience righteous indignation in the sense that this grieves our hearts . But , number one , we're not surprised . I mean , of course we expect this from the world , and especially with how things have been trending . But , number two , we're not hate-filled towards these people . We know God is sovereign , he's in control , but the truth is the truth and we see this as an opportunity to highlight . Hey , look at where the world's at . And in the comments I saw a number of people saying where are we Like ? What is happening ? There were even atheists , there were Muslims in the comment section saying I'm a Muslim , I'm an atheist , but this is ridiculous .
Mark SpenceSo Mark the Lord using things for the good like it meant for evil and God uses it for the good . Yeah , this is what we see with Joseph and his brothers . You cannot thwart God's plan . We can plan our ways , but ultimately , every decision , every step is ultimately from the Lord . We did not go out there to try to create a YouTube video . We went out there to create content for our Way of the Master television season , one of the episodes which we plan on doing , and we got some great content in order to do that . But we came back clicking our heels because of the ability to reach 2.6 million people and we had no intention of doing that that morning and it's still doing it in perpetuity . We could all die and it's still going to work because the gospel does not return void and God has a plan that is outside of our plan , but ultimately , if he would have asked us , maybe we'd have been too nervous to do it , except for Ray .
Oscar NavarroYou mentioned righteous indignation and it's so important . You also mentioned how in the comments they mentioned how there is a gentleness in the video . There's a difference between righteous indignation and the culture of outrage and cancel culture and the outrage culture , cancel culture will demonize and talk down , but righteous indignation actually comes from a place of humility and a desire for truth and a love for the lost , and so I would just say what do we do ? How do we respond ? We cannot take the bait . We have to be like humble miners , seeking and advocating for truth , beauty and goodness , while respecting those who disrespect us . Why ? Because we worship the God of truth , beauty and goodness , amen .
Emeal ZwayneThere's nothing more beautiful , nothing more powerful than to watch someone speak the truth in a self-controlled , humble wisdom , wise , gentle and non-compromising fashion . Like I mean , you are not veering from the truth one iota , you're speaking it in its fullness . But there's that demeanor about you of like man this person cares this person like they're different , like what in the world ? Like I feel you love me , even though you're telling me that what I'm doing is wrong and you totally disagree with me and I'm heading for a place called hell . How are you doing that ? In a way that's like making me want to hug you .
Oscar NavarroYou just described every Ray Comfort evangelist experience seriously because he just does such a good job of that .
Emeal ZwaynePraise God , may we press on in that and , friends , we hope you're inspired in that . Look , we sympathize with getting frustrated and agitated , but you have to remember what is the mission here To reach this person right . Remember , you can win the argument , but lose the person and you've lost . And so let's keep that in mind and let's capitalize on every opportunity . And if you haven't checked out the video , do it now . If you're not subscribed to the Living Waters YouTube channel , do it , because you'll get a lot of and the update A lot of good stuff . And the Living Waters newsletter update all that good stuff . All right , that does it , yep .
Ray ComfortThat does it , we did it .
Emeal ZwayneAll right friends , don't forget the blue book on evangelism living waters , mug and evidence , study Bible , all living waterscom podcast , living with ours , water watercom with your that's a different website .
Mark SpenceYeah , With your thoughts and your comments .
Emeal ZwayneSounded like waters . I know stuff . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the living waters oh boy podcast where mark has no idea what he's doing .