Real Life Ministry
A podcast for Christians living in America. Talking about the constant struggles that we face in life. Teaching and educating the followers of Jesus Christ to Live Free and Live Strong.
Real Life Ministry
We Need A Biblical Framework For Wokeism Islamism Anti-Semitism And Socialism
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I share why I think God is stirring something in our country, starting with a personal update that turns into a bigger conversation about faith, truth, and freedom. I also announce a new training event and give a practical update on our upcoming Israel trip and how to join us.
• excitement about the Charles Wesley Godwin concert and what faith-forward art can signal in the culture
• why I see a renewed spiritual hunger among young people and young men
• announcement of a special event designed to equip believers to think biblically about culture-shaping ideas
• overview of the four major topics: wokeism, Islamism, anti-Semitism, and socialism
• what it means to build convictions from Scripture instead of reacting to headlines
• event logistics, featured speakers, and plans for a live Q&A
• Israel update, safety note, and details for the September Holy Land journey
If you found any of what you heard today helpful, please share it with others who may benefit. And if you would like to support the content that we put out, please consider making a donation at reallifeministry.us.
Welcome And Rapid Fire Updates
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Real Life Ministry, where we are dedicated to teaching and encouraging Christians to live free and live strong. Your host today is Ryan Rice, a Bible teacher, a pastor, entrepreneur, and a writer. Join us as we dive into various topics and how they relate to faith, values, and making a positive impact in America. Let's dive into it.
SPEAKER_02Alright, guys, welcome back to another episode of Real Life Ministry. It's Ryan in the studio, so good to be with you. Well, I didn't I didn't mean to do that. Uh more like that's what I was trying to do. Okay, man, I am gearing up. This is coming to you live and fast. It's a Thursday. This is gonna be dropping midnight on Friday night. And uh every Friday I'm trying to get this to you. So it's August 13th, uh, just hours, uh seven hours before midnight. So uh this is gonna come to you on Friday. And Friday's a special day for me because I'm going to Charles Wesley Godwin concert. And so in this episode, this is a more of a special announcement, some personal updates, um, some events that are coming up, experiences that are coming up. So we're gonna pause and just do a special announcement and
Music Faith And A Cultural Shift
SPEAKER_02all that. So, but first, just to start off with, I just want to tell you like I think God is on the move in our country, and I'm seeing that. I'm holding a little flyer in my hand, Charles Wesley Godwin, and he's got a tour called the Christian Name Tour, August 14th, Phoenix, Arizona, Van Buren. I am so pumped I'm going to this. I had uh I've got 21-year-old twins, and both of them got married and recently in the last few months, and they bought me tickets, and I'm going, and I'm taking a wonderful uh worship artist guy, uh creative singer, songwriter, and his wife, my wife. We're all gonna go tomorrow down to the Van Buren, check it out. And based on what I know with Charles Wesley Godwin, is that he was like on tour with Zach Brown Bryan. And if you know Zach Bryan, Brian is a phenomenal singer, songwriter, but terrible life, based on what I know. I mean, allegations of abuse and drunkenness and uh alcoholism and all sorts of really rough, tough stuff that goes along with the country music, uh, traveling and uh touring kind of culture. But Charles Wesley Godwin kind of went along with him and he canceled in the tour. And I thought that was strange. And then the next thing I know, he's coming out with this album, and here's just a sneak peek. Boy, that's good. Hey man, you gotta start by letting the word of God receive his word. Wow. So I mean, he's got this album, it's like a come to Jesus kind of album, and so through it, it's just like really cool. He's got these these different songs. Like Try Again, Sermon Better That Way. I mean, he's doing uh he's got one with Luke Combs. So this is a popular one.
SPEAKER_01Radio singing. He's good, dude.
SPEAKER_02So anyway, um, I'm going to that concert. I'm happy about that. I'm excited about that. I I just sense like God is on the move, and I think it's a it's a window in time in American culture where you see so many young people come into faith in Christ. And uh Charles is in his 30s, uh, so he's a little older than what's been happening, sweeping the nation. But we've seen a revival of young men getting back into church, and I think this is part of the testimony of that. And you think about guys like Forrest Frank, dude, who's killing it and just doing an awesome job sharing and showing the love of Christ unapologetically, and I just love it, dude. So so proud of this kind of work. So we'll see. I might go and be a little disappointed. I have no idea. Um, but based on the music I've been hearing and kind of what I've been catching is uh, you know, he sings about faith and family and freedom. And those kinds of things matter tremendously to me. So um, and I know they matter to
Announcing The Faith Under Fire Event
SPEAKER_02you. So uh speaking of some of the other things I wanted to talk to you about, I want to talk to you about a big deal that I'm working on. It's a special event. I don't really have a name for it right now. I've come up with a couple of ideas, and I'm not gonna throw them out there just because I don't want you guys all um, you know, saying like, hey, I like this one, but not well, I don't I really don't really care. So fine, I'll just tell you. Faith under fire is one idea. Um, I've got a bunch of other ideas as well. And uh that I'll just tell you if you've got some better name for this event, uh, then help me out. But it's ideas kind of thinking biblically, standing on truth, live free. Um the the the idea is faith under fire. It's a designed, it's a special event designed to equip believers to think biblically about major ideas shaping our culture. Stand confidently on truth of God's word and live with courage and freedom in Christ. Jesus says, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. There you go. So this is not simply an event about politics or culture, it's about truth. Our goal is to help Christians examine the ideas shaping our world through a lens of scripture, develop biblical convictions necessary to live faithfully in a rapidly changing culture. So this event is going to be uh we want to reach, we're really working hard. We want to see if we can reach, uh, make a concerted effort to reach the 20s and 30-year-olds, primarily the Gen Z and younger millennials. Um this generation is being confronted every single day with truth, identity, justice, religion, Israel, economics, government, freedom, biblical authority. And we want to create an environment, an event that speaks directly to these issues, equips a rising generation of Christians on what they believe, why they believe it, and how to
Wokeism Islamism Anti-Semitism Socialism
SPEAKER_02live it. And uh we're gonna have featured speakers and topics. So the topic number one is wokiesm. Wokeism. Wokeism. And I mean, gosh, like defining wokism is is a big deal, but I'll tell you more about the definition of that in just a second. But the guy that's gonna be teaching this is uh a friend of mine. He wrote a book called The Stand. It's John Bisinger, is the guy's name, and he's an awesome dude. He's uh pastor down at Riv Redeemer Bible Church uh in the East Valley. Good, good guy, and uh loves Jesus, and um just pumped to have him a part of the night. Uh, it's November 6th, is when it is. I'll get back to you in a moment about that. But he's gonna be teaching how Christians should think biblically about truth, identity, justice, sexuality, and the cultural ideas associated with a woke ideology. John's gonna help believers recognize where cultural thinking conflicts with scripture and how Christians can remain grounded in the truth. And so uh wokeism is kind of, I would call it as uh an ideology that views society primi primarily through the lens of identity, power, privilege, and oppression, and seeks to correct perceived inequalities through cultural, institutional, or political change. And John's gonna just overth overthrow that with a power and the authority of scripture and and kind of lay out a biblical framework um on how to view things when it comes to that kind of stuff. So um then there's number two, we're gonna be dealing with Islamism. So lots of isms. You could call the con the uh the event uh the four isms. Um, but the second topic is Islamism, and uh, we're gonna be dealing with what are the fundamental uh differences between Islam and Christianity. Uh Al-Fahadi is the guy who's gonna be doing that. He's a professor over at Arizona Christian University, it does a fantastic job um teaching in a number of different areas uh that pertain to this subject, and he grew up a Muslim in Saudi Arabia before becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. This guy's been on Fox News, he's a a legend in his own right. Uh, he's also a suffering servant for the Lord Jesus Christ because he has been uh uh considered an apostate, uh, cast out of the Muslim community and uh lost friends and family over his conversion. Um, but he's a devout follower of Jesus and a good, good, godly man. He's gonna come and help believers understand the worldview of Islam, its differences with Christianity and why the gospel of Jesus Christ offers something radically different. And I think this is pertinent for Arizonans because I mean, gosh, we had this kind of conspiracy, maybe not, of this massive Sharia law community that was gonna go in in the North Phoenix Valley called Qatar City. You can look it up. Uh, and it was gonna be a massive, basically uh city within a city of Muslim infiltration. Uh there is kind of two forms of Muslim uh uh transformation and conquest and kind of their Great Commission that I write about in my book called Think Biblical About the Geopolitical Israel, Iran, and America's Future. And that is jihad, and that is what you got at 9-11. It is like the thunder, it is like the lightning storm, the strike, the sudden, the terror. It is killing in the name of Allah for terror and maximum impact, and and uh that's how you have all these radical um um well, I wouldn't call them radical, I would actually call them faithful to the Quran, uh, Muslims. So um Islamist, that's what you could say. Uh, they're seeking to uh fulfill uh all all of it. And uh uh and then you have the Fatah. It is like uh more like termites, it's cultural change from within. That would be probably a little bit more like that idea of Qatar City or some places in Dearborn, Michigan and different states, and where you're seeing like almost a Muslim majority, and they're just changing the culture of the city within. Um, so Al-Fahdi is gonna come and speak to us. I mean, I had a Muslim guy show up at my doorstep the other day, and uh had a friendly conversation with him about faith and religion and differences of views of Jesus, and uh, you know, uh, you know, it's it's everywhere, man. It it is a growing religion. Um, Christianity is still the largest, and uh, but Islam is on the move, dude. It's always in the news. So that'll be in in in the uh in this break and the uh speaking session. And then I'm gonna speak on anti-Semitism. I mean, it's that is huge. I think it's a sign of our times. Jesus talked about it. So anti-Semitism, there's a such a you know an interesting view of Jewish people today. Either they think people think too highly of them, like there is some crazy cabal controlling the whole world and blaming them for everything, or that they are like low like vermin, uh, like Hitler's view. I had somebody send me a 14-hour documentary basically painting out Hitler to be a hero, and I refused to watch it because I realized that the group that was sponsoring it was actually labeled a terrorist group by the Trump administration. So I I uh very firmly and clearly warned the guy that sent it to me uh you are propagating uh terrorist information and propaganda. I would not do so. Um and I warned him and tried to give him a bunch of other really credible sources of history, and uh, but Hamas is the new Hitler. Uh, the devil has always been against uh the Jews. Uh why? Because he wanted to take out the lineage of Jesus Christ. We get salvation from the Jews, Jesus was a Jew, the scriptures come from the Jews, um, and the Lord Jesus is coming back, and he's not coming to America, he's coming to Israel, and he will establish a kingdom. Uh, as the scripture tells us in Acts chapter, uh, the early chapters of the book of Acts, and then uh, yeah, Zechariah as well. So the prophet Zechariah. So I'm going to be speaking on why has hatred towards Jewish people continued throughout history. I want to examine some biblical and spiritual dimensions of anti-Semitism, uh, and uh some denominational um and theological roots of anti-Semitism. It'll be interesting. I might get in trouble on this uh with some people, but I think I I'm working at it. Uh so I'll give a presentation, 30 minutes, and then later we'll do a long podcast series to unpack a bunch of these things. But I want to help people understand what scripture is teaching about Israel, the Jewish people, our responsibility to stand against hatred. So, yeah, those are three big isms wokeism, Islamism, anti-Semitism. Uh, and then the last one is get ready. Socialism. Socialism. It's basically where the government owns everything and you own nothing and you will like it. Sounds like the World Economic Forum. But I'm working on the special guest, so you can say some prayer requests for that. Because I'm I've actually reached out to a number of different people, and I am waiting to hear at the time of this recording, so we will see what's going to happen. I'm really excited about it, but I think it's gonna be good. And so, yeah, it's uh socialism. Um, we're gonna look at how Christians should think biblically about socialism, capitalism. Um, and just so you know, I'm very pro-capitalist. I think the Bible, I mean, thou shalt not steal, very much implies of ownership. Uh, people don't give a bunch of money to the church unless they own something and make money. So, anyway, we're gonna look at that. I'm not gonna even teach on that. I would love to teach on all of this, but I think there's better suited, more qualified people to do this uh to help me out and give you a well-rounded experience. I mean, these are heavy hitters. John Bisinger wrote a book called The Stand. You should pick it up on uh Amazon. It's really good. It can help you understand a lot about social justice and wokeism and the identity, uh identity politics and all this other stuff that's going on. These are major agendas that are eroding our culture and confusing this generation. And uh these are major uh cultural influencers that are causing lots of havoc and uh hurt and harm. You could call them the four deadly horsemen of our culture today. Um, wokeism is seeking to wreak havoc, Islam is seeking to wreak havoc, anti-Semitism seeking to wreak havoc, and then socialism is is a destructive force. Uh so um yeah, and I think again, I think if you think about the end-time scenario, what's the trend and what the Bible foretells is that basically it's gonna be global domination and control, and socialism totally leans towards that, where it's you know, government controls everything. So the socialism uh conversation teaching will compare kind of two economic philosophies, a biblical worldview, examine principles, including work, wealth, private property, government, generosity, personal responsibility, stewardship, economic freedom. I mean, there's gonna be a lot of great topics in it. Uh the goal's not simply to just defend one political or economic system. The larger question is here it is, right? What does the Bible say? And what does the Bible teach? How should how should biblical truth shape the way Christians think about economics, government, work, wealth, and freedom? So anyway, yeah.
Event Night Details And Live Q&A
SPEAKER_02I think we're gonna try to have the doors open again. The event we're hoping it's going to be, it should be November 6th. I'll just tell you it's November 6th, North Valley Church. Uh doors are gonna open before 6. So I'll just tell you that. Uh, probably 5 30 or so. And uh, you know, for now, I would just say stay tuned to Real Life Ministry. You can visit our webpage, reallife ministry.us, in the coming weeks and days ahead. I'm gonna be talking about it much more. Um, but again, help get the word out if you could. You know, it's gonna be really, really good. Uh again, I'm really grateful for this. Um, these guys that are coming to speak and teach are really gifted individuals. Uh, and you need as a Christian to live free and live strong. And it's hard to do that if you don't know truth. Jesus says, you know the truth, the truth will set you free. So I want you to stand on it, soak it up. It's gonna be a great experience. Uh, you're gonna learn, you're gonna engage, you'll connect with others, you can ask questions, we'll have a live QA. Um yeah, it's gonna be live. Yeah, you'll have we'll have all four speakers lined up on the stage, and then you can ask your questions as well. And if we don't answer them there, uh we'll do our best to answer them on like a podcast forum or whatnot. Um yeah, so this is, you know, we want to reach out to Arizona Christian University. So if you've got contacts there, Grand Canyon University, Turning Point USA, the Western Journal, uh, Phoenix Area Churches, college ministries, young adults, Christian schools, Christian radio, Christian media, apologetics ministries, pro-Israel organizations, Christian business leaders, like-minded ministries and organizations. So if you want to partner with us and help us, we'd love to have your support. Um it's gonna be really cool. Uh sharing faith under fire. So if you can invite some people, remember we want to try to reach a bunch of those young people. So bring a friend, bring, bring some folks. If you want to help sponsor the event, we'd love to explore that with you as well. So it'd be a ton of fun.
Israel Update And Holy Land Trip
SPEAKER_02Okay, well with that being said, I'm gonna transition and I want to talk to you in closing about Israel just for a minute. And I got a video the other day uh from a pastor, and I'm hoping that I can play it real quick. And um did so this is a pastor in Israel, and here's what he says about what's what's going on.
SPEAKER_05Mike, Pastor Mike, how many times have you been to Israel? Oh, probably 25 or so throughout the years. 25. Long time. Long time. What do you think? We are standing at the border with Lebanon. So, what do you think today?
SPEAKER_04I feel very safe. It's so it's a beautiful day. Everyone is calm, and our group is very happy, and we're we're really glad to be here. Actually, this is the this is the closest we've ever been on all of my trips to Lebanon.
SPEAKER_05Do you encourage other pastors to bring them?
SPEAKER_04Bring your groups, bring your groups, and everything's safe, and Pote is awesome, drivers are awesome, Nets awesome. You guys will ever bring. Time. Everything's really, really good.
SPEAKER_05We love you, brother Mike.
SPEAKER_04Love you too.
SPEAKER_02All right. So you heard it from one of the pastors over there. So we're going with signature tours. Uh the things are going well over in Israel right now. So that's good news to hear. And if you visit us over at real life ministry dot us, uh you can go there and then just at the top of the homepage, go over to the right side and it says Israel Trip. And then it's hosted by signature or it's run by Signature Tours. They've been in business for decades. Um there's uh Israel develop developments in Israel. The same alert has been in Israel since the October uh 7th event. So nothing's really changed on the alert status. Um, but I am leading a 10-day Holy Land journey to the Holy Land, September 21st through uh September 30th. There's still some room. So if you want to go, um, we've got uh roughly about 20 folks going on the trip. Love to have you be a part of that. Join us, my wife and I, for a lifetime journey as we explore the Bible, follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his disciples, travel through the holy land where our Messiah lived, worked miracles, watch the scriptures literally. I mean, kid you not, come to life like 3D. When we visit these places, I mean, we're visiting Bethlehem, Jericho, the Mount of Olives, Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem. We're gonna float in the Dead Sea. That is so cool. Uh, literally, you can't sink. Uh, we're gonna just explore all sorts of split, gaze upon the valley of Armageddon, and then I'm gonna teach in some of the spots um prophetic implications. So the trip is gonna be an incredible experience, and so we will depart from uh the US on September 21st. Uh, we'll be in the land of the Bible September 22nd, and then we're off to Caesarea on day, you know, Wednesday, the 23rd, which is so cool. It's the launch pad of uh a gospel message to all nations. Uh, we're gonna look at when visit the Roman theater and Herod's Great Seaside Palace, and where you know um Peter had this vision about the gospel for all nations. And so September 23rd for us is a special time because that's the day that we started our church, some 14 years ago. So I can't wait to be there with our bunch of friends and family from North Valley. And then we're gonna go day four, we'll go up to Upper Galilee and Magdala, we're gonna go to the Sea of Galilee, day five and Betshan, and then day six, the Mount of Mountains of Jerusalem, and then into uh the Mount of Olives, and then Bethlehem and Manoman, some really cool spots, and then Masada, Jericho, the Dead Sea. Uh, we're gonna go to day eight, Jerusalem, the holy city is unbelievable. Day nine, the big one is Mount Zion, and then uh the garden tomb. So and then day 10, we head back to the big US of A. So um all the the trip price includes your all your airfare, all your transportation, all your food, minus the lunches. The lunches are on your own. Uh, we'll be out together in the city together. So don't worry about that. But anyway, um, the trip is happening, things are going good. Love for you to be a part. Um, man, it's gonna be a ton of fun. So God bless you guys. Again, uh, check out reallife ministry.us for more information and look forward to seeing you soon.
Share Support And Closing
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to Real Life Ministry. If you found any of what you heard today helpful, please share it with others who may benefit. And if you would like to support the content that we put out, please consider making a donation at reallifeministry.us. While you're there, check out some of our episodes. And together, let's continue to educate and encourage Christians to live free and live strong.