SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome everybody to something that Pastor Russell and I have talked about since uh late summer of last year and never did it. We're gonna start doing our best to do one of these a week. This is Russ and John's live podcast because we never were able to think of a better title than that. And we got Faith Shropshire on as well. We got you guys on as well, listening. And as soon as Russ accepts the oh, there he is, the co-host himself. How's it going, Russell? Where are you? Seattle?

SPEAKER_03 0:35

I'm in the great city of Seattle.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

So you guys were one of seven states with no income tax, state income tax, and that ended today, correct?

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Yeah, that ended today. They they just passed it. They're gonna challenge it at the state supreme court, but the the state supreme court will likely uphold it. So yeah, we just became like the highest taxed, one of the highest taxed states in the union now.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Oh, whoa, so it went from zero to what?

SPEAKER_03 1:03

Well, they passed what they're calling the millionaires' tax, but it will ultimately lead to a graduated income tax. And then in Washington State, we also have what's called the B and O tax for business and occupation. And then with the income tax, they are also counting business pass-through income. So even money in your business that your business made but that you didn't take as income still will count towards the quote unquote millionaire tax. So it's taking a bunch of people who actually aren't millionaires and taxing them at this aggressive rate at 9.9% on top of all of the other taxes that we have. So it's it's a really terrible piece of public policy, actually.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

So when they challenge it, how um like like on what grounds can you challenge it if it went through the legislature?

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Washington state's constitution forbids an income tax. However, um the state legislature is trying to redefine the income tax as an excise tax on the privilege of making above a million dollars. So they're just using language to try to redefine what an income tax is by saying, no, we're not taxing your income, we're taxing the privilege of you making that income. And so it's a totally ridiculous um uncon, you know, unconstitutional from Washington state's perspective. But the the state Supreme Court is is um, you know, like 6'1, super liberal. And so they will likely uphold it. And um yeah, so like the the way they build it is oh, if you make a million dollars, you can afford it. But you know, there's a lot of small business owners, they might make 150,000 a year, but their business does a million in total gross receipts. Well, if that's the case, now you're getting charged 10. So it's just nuts.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

That's a huge jump out of out of uh nowhere. If you guys want to ask a question, you can comment on the podcast and we can see them in in real time and answer you. You know her, you love her from uh kitchen abominations. Please, please welcome to the broadcast face traps. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 3:32

I'm doing great. I actually just made orange chicken, believe it or not, because the kid that I make the lunch for is favorite. I did not add as much sugar this time. It's definitely getting better. You know, I'm getting I'm perfecting the recipe more.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

You couldn't you couldn't imperfect it anymore. Who is this kid? Who is this kid that got put in? Listen, he's not you don't have custody of him, so we can't like petition the state to take him away.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

No, you can't. He probably needs to be taken away from his own situation, but it couldn't be worse than whatever you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

I remember if I was 11 and I had a choice between eating what you cook or doing a stint on Epstein's Island, I'd be on the Lolita Express to Little St. James that night.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

No, you wouldn't. It's good, it is good, bro. I taste it, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I know you like it, but there's no way it could be good. Even my mom, that's like a very nice person when she washed it, it's disgusting.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

It gives new meaning to uh Hell's Kitchen, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Oh my gosh. So um Pastor Russ, did Adallis send you the video of Adolis of uh Camila opening her birthday gift, you said.

SPEAKER_03 4:49

Oh yeah, I was dead. That was that was funny. I'm glad she liked it.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Pastor Russ sent Camila Caviar.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Oh my gosh, that's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

And she sat down and went to town on it like immediately after school.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

What a great gift!

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah, so nice. She was she was like so happy. Let's go. Um did you did you see world uh the world baseball classic that just went down like minutes ago?

SPEAKER_03 5:20

Yeah, didn't the US uh win?

SPEAKER_02 5:23

They came back? No, we no, they were losing against Italy.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

We were losing 8-0 and we made it 8-5, and then it ended at 8-5. The coach who I really like, it's Mark DeRossa. He's uh he's one of the hosts on the MLB network, and he used to be one of the announcers on the MLB video game. He did an he did an interview before the game and said something about how we've already clinched like to go to the quarterfinals, and we haven't clinched to go to the quarterfinals. So he he started like the B team when we needed to win.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah, so if Italy doesn't beat Mexico, we're we're out. Dang. With probably the most stacked team we've ever had.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

I don't even understand. How are they calling it like world? These are all American baseball players, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Well, they all play in the in the major league, like uh like other nations don't have baseball, do they? They do. Our league is where you make the most money, so people end up going there. But no, they're they're all like professional, almost all of them are professional players. It some teams there was Croatia, I think it was. They had a guy pitch yesterday against Japan against Shoyo Tani and stuff. He's a full-time electrician. He like does like a team, and he threw 4.2 scoreless innings.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Oh my gosh. Has this always been a thing? I guess I've never paid attention.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

It's been going on longer than what I thought. I I just I sort of paid attention to it um two years ago. But it's great, it's it's almost all major league players, and they really try.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

And there's like fights and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

People that hate each other.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Did you see the um the news uh about the Iranian women's soccer team that was playing in Australia, and seven of their um seven of their soccer team members defected and got granted asylum in Australia, but then the rest got sent home on the plane to Tehran?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

I did, and I heard that they I I have it bookmarked for tomorrow, but I like some girl got like dragged by her hair onto the bus or something.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Oh my gosh, it's crazy. What does what does deflected mean? Listen, you it's it's defected. Defected, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

We're not laughing that you had a question, it's that it's defected. How can you not know grammar or cooking?

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Oh my gosh. What is what is the word that you said? What happened to those?

SPEAKER_00 8:11

If you live in these other countries, you're not allowed to like leave the country for for any reason. So then they'll just like bail, like they had a tournament in Australia, so they just like fled the team hotel and hopefully Australia would allow them to live there because uh Iran's so so bad. I'm sure Bester Russ kind of feels like I do. Of course, we're men, not women, but if I had a choice between living in Iran or Australia, I would take I Iran any day of the week.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Oh my gosh, yeah, you don't have to during COVID.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

You don't gotta deal with snakes. Snakes, huntsmen, spiders, or I feel like Australia is more tyrannical than Iran. Legitimately. They're sister spirits.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

So they just leave their whole family.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Oh, everything. Like just make a dash for it.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 9:11

Yeah, it always did they win? It always happens like during the Olympics, too. Like North Koreans uh soccer team or whatever, they always try to oh my god, they always try to like run to the embassy and get asylum because they don't nobody wants to go back home.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Right. Um, it's your one chance to get out, yeah. And like their families are happy about it. Their families are like, please, please make a run for it.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Literally, and that's called defecting. What'd you say?

SPEAKER_00 9:40

That's right. That's actually why I'm glad I I like having you on because there's a lot of other people that would have similar questions but would be too shy to ask. But you're just right out there with your black stupidity. No, I want to know. Stupidity's harsh.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Oh yeah, whenever I saw the title, I was like, World news and North America travel. I was like, crap, this is gonna be well. I mean, what what topic can we select that you would be able to exactly honestly that's they don't they don't have puppetry?

SPEAKER_03 10:13

Not yet.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Oh my gosh, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Tell everybody when your kids' show that I would consider the number one kid show, secular or Christian on. Tell them when people can see it.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

You're so kind. It's on Saturday at 9 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Um every Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Tell me about Sunday, Russ. How'd it go? Tell me, tell let everybody know about what your Sunday looks like.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Yeah, it's a little chaotic. Um uh starts about 6 a.m., gets home about midnight. But um yeah, we just launched the campus in Spokane. So I'm doing that Sunday nights, flying over, get done preaching about 3 p.m. on the west side, and then hop on a plane, fly an hour in Spokane, do a 6 p.m. service there, uh, and then um and then fly back home. But yeah, Spokane's been Spokane's been good. That's our newest campus, and uh it's been um it's been pretty full or over capacity ever every every Sunday, and then obviously we're getting ready for the week of uh revival meetings with uh shuttles, and so it's gonna be dope.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Which is next week or the week after?

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Uh next week.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Dang. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

It's coming up. It's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Um how how were protests or whatever non-existent this weekend or a little bit?

SPEAKER_03 11:39

Oh yeah, no, they they you know had some they there was a liberal reporter there last week who was uh from the the big newspaper of record in Spokane that's dropping a hit piece on us, and then they have they've been sending out these like Antifa guys to the services to try to take pictures of everybody at the service. And I'm not sure what the intent is, uh outside of just intimidation or whatever. But um yeah, they're they're you know, they're organizing online right now to to try to um you know have a protest group out there every Sunday, and then they'll they uh they started this week, they'll like bomb our um Google uh business page with negative reviews. It's just like rents repeat, you know, it's all the stuff that they've done that they've done before, but it it's like you know, what are we gonna what are they gonna do? We just we just keep having service and who cares. So they try to try to flex on us. But yeah, I mean I'm sure they'll be out there protesting every night when we're there for the revival week and in service as well until they try to get disruptive or do something dumb and we kick them out. But yeah, it's it's it's basically like that every week at one of the campuses.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

So that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah, that that is. Uh again, if you're listening, you can submit. I've I've been enjoying reading your comments, but there's not not really any questions. Um just just people chiming in. So how did you get from from campus to campus this weekend?

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Uh we took uh the Pilates uh PC twelve, uh uh seats like nine, I think, in the in the airplane or prop plane. And we fly out of um the uh FBO in Everett, um, which is right next to the big Boeing plant. And um then uh the helicopter that I was gonna use ended up getting cancelled last minute late Saturday night. It's a little finicky with some of the weather.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Uh yeah, well you you you definitely wanna I'm glad you heated it. Like I one time when I chart when I charted a jet to go to uh Kansas, they so I'm it was just me going so that I I can see up through into the cockpit and there's like a red light on that's like pretty glaring, and and then like it wouldn't start up right. So the guy's like um hey you can debord. Uh we're we're gonna get this fixed real quick and uh we'll be able to go up. I said, I said, like you can be real with me. Like I saw the red light. What are the chances that you're gonna be able to get this booted up and just go? He's like, Well, we're gonna try to we're gonna we're gonna use power, like like power from the FBO to try to help with the engine to get it started. If that doesn't work, then we won't be able to do it. I said, So then they they couldn't work. He's like, Well, let me fix something, let me check something, and then we'll see if we can go. I was like, you know what? Don't worry about it. I don't I don't want some like jimmy rigged things that we like can take off. And that's how I feel about like with a helicopter. Like, if you know, that's how um Miles Monroe died in his jet was it bad weather? Prime Minister was supposed to go with him, and his detail, security detail like pulled him off. But Miles Monroe went anyway, so I guess there's like really heavy winds in Barbados or the Bahamas where he was. And um, he went anyway because they like get used to it, you know. So they they ignored the like weather thing, and then they basically, from what I heard, got blown into a crane, you know. So it's like you don't want to play around with that, right? And I remember even the pastor I was fine to see when I called him and I'm like, hey, I'm sorry, but I can't make it like there were mechanical problems with the jet. He's like, Well, I'm gonna pray that you're able they're able to get it going to you know. I was like, Yeah, I'm not coming. I was like, I'll be there tomorrow. Right. I'm not I'm not like putting my faith out and risking my life for a Friday. We can start Saturday, it'll be okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

Right in Kansas, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah, no, we're good. Or anywhere, it's not worth dying.

SPEAKER_03 16:21

Yeah, that yeah, that you know, the helicopter is a little um it's a little uh you feel every gust of wind in that thing. It's it's a it's a little more unstable than some of the other modes of transportation, but I've got a guy who's working on getting me a uh a little bit of a better one that that has some more tech with it that that kind of increases the chances of survivability.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

So the helicopter stirred up so much mess on X though.

SPEAKER_03 16:57

I was surprised actually, yeah, because you know, some of this so here's here's actually what happened. So there was a kid from our youth group, uh, I think he's 17 or 18, and he happened to be outside in the parking lot when the helicopter was taken off. And he's got maybe like a hundred followers on Instagram or 200 followers, and so he took a video of it and tagged me in it and was like, Cool uh helicopter my pastor is using today. And 24 hours goes by and it has like 40 views and one comment, nothing. I wake up the next day, it's got like 2,000 comments, uh hundred thousand views, because what happened was these like angry reformed um uh you know, Instagram and Twitter uh, you know, ministry accountability accounts picked it up and then just started blasting it. And so then it got shared amongst their tribe. And uh, so it's like the ultra-religious people who just hate anything that's um successful or prosperity, and then on the other side, it's all of these um kind of like progressive deconstruction type folks who just hate the church, anyways. And so they team up to be like one negative comment after another, and then every once in a while, somebody who actually understands aviation is like chiming in on the thread and is like, hey, right, if anybody's trying to roast Russell over living a luxury life because he's in this helicopter, doesn't understand anything about helicopters because this is like from the 1960s and looks like one of the ones that you could buy from like a JCPenney catalog and build build out of a kit in your backyard. So, like this is not the flex on anti-mega church, anti-prosperity you think it is. Right. And so that was funny.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

That's all lame. That's but no press is bad press. I thought if anything you would get like made fun of for it being like a low-grade helicopter, I can't believe those guys. I mean, that's not even anti-prosperity, that's like just anti-aviation, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:12

100%.

SPEAKER_02 19:14

It's so tiny. I mean, it looks so tiny. It's awesome, but like, why are people and then that massive man that was making fun of you or saying something that Jonathan reposted, it's like, bro, you wouldn't ever be able to fit in a helicopter, let alone barely commercial. Like now the planes are so small, I feel like.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Yeah, that's called the that's called a seatbelt extender. Yeah, that's a body tape.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

He no, he needed two seats. You don't need an you have to pay for two seats now, at least if you fly some.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

But yeah, it's just like the funniest things that people get irritated uh about. And it's like, you know, first off the the the that that charter to to be able to fly back and forth and preach at all the campuses, that helicopter, that was a grand total of fifteen hundred dollars. Oh my god. You know, so number one, it's not exactly to those people, that's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Like they they're they're losers.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

That's true, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:11

You know, and their their churches don't grow because they don't get it. Like, I don't know. I I promise you, those guys seem like they're smart and funny and sarcastic when they're with each other. They would not even be able to like defend from an economic standpoint or a what part of go-yee into all the world is too difficult for you.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

That's like a douche fest. There's no way they have fun together.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

No, no, they're just all it's all like shared anger over uh and it was funny. It was actually Driscoll, Driscoll posted this the other day, but he was like, Beware people who have um large uh large podcasts and tiny churches, you know, and he was like kind of taking a hit at some of the reform guys who would come after him as well. But it is this weird, um it is this weird like uh a subgrouping of of people who who like get off on all being fake outraged by the same stuff, and really it's what they're really offended about is that somebody who's outside of their tribe is having any type of like success or momentum, and then everything is viewed through the lens of suspicion. But it was funny because um Shuttles was saying this when we was in um South Carolina, but um but uh I actually looked it up. I I looked it up to verify it, but it's it actually is true. One of the things that Spurgeon was criticized for um at the height of his ministry was that people thought he was being too fancy or too um prideful. By using a horse to ride around and get to different churches to preach. And uh, and so like it's it it it the the the people who want to criticize the helicopter would criticize a car, they'd criticize a bus, they'll criticize a bicycle, they would have criticized Spurgeon for riding on a horse. It's like anybody who is potentially doing something more successful than me now you know I can just say you're anti-movement, yeah, yeah. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

You know, what's looking at that reformed uh podcast guy, he looks anti-movement.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Because there are like six good summers left.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Yes, yeah, and it's just the funniest, it's it's the funniest thing for people to be um uh it was actually, you know, the the at the grand opening of our Kirkland campus, which is our main building, and Kirkland is uh just east um of Seattle, and it's like the home of Microsoft headquarters, Google is like very wealth-centric, very high-tech, very highly educated. It's a very expensive part. It's actually one of the most expensive zip codes on the West Coast. So we we opened a campus there two years ago, and um I remember the first negative um feedback that I got was on Grand Opening Sunday because somebody had seen me pull up in my Model 3 Tesla. Well, you know, if anybody understands anything about Model 3 Teslas, you know, they're some of the most affordable sedans that are on the market today. You know, you can buy one of them brand new with all the different tax rebates uh at the time that I bought it for like 40 grand. I mean, these are not like luxury vehicles, um, they're cool to have, and I I I still own one. I'm I'm glad to drive it, but it's not like you know, this is not a Bugatti, this is not a Bentley. Um and uh one of the first emails that I got after grand opening was, you know, I tried out this church today, but when I saw the pastor pulp in his Tesla, I just knew it was one of those faith prosperity places, and I'm just totally done with these types of churches. I this is confirmation I'm never going back. And and I'm looking at that going, you know, first off, you're just an idiot. But secondly, like this is a personality type, just looking for a way to get offended that somebody else dares to drive something that they have deemed to be marginally above what the that they they think is the top line of what a a pastor should be driving. It's just totally crazy. And you know, these same type of people who will um make these complaints or accusations, they'll turn around and get into a brand new truck, you know, that was$98,000 right off the lot. You know, it's like it's like they're the only ones who are allowed to live their life without without somebody making a constant complaint or critique about their level of socioeconomic status. But like, God forbid the pastor of a 4,000-member multi-site church in the Pacific Northwest drive a$40,000 um couple year old model free Tesla. Like it literally makes no sense, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:24

No, and and I mean, I can't imagine what making so many assumptions on how the person got the car, you know, where did they get their money from? Why are these people all so stupid that they feel like the only source of income, which first, you know, obviously if they did get it from their pastor's salary and bought it, I don't care. But like, why are you assuming that all of their money comes from their pastor's salary that they made no outside investments, no one ever willed them any money, nobody, nobody bought a car for them to use, you know what why just make all these assumptions? Uh they they've got no economic understanding. I'm telling you, they all sit with each other on their podcast. And if they were, if they sat, you know, it's like protestia when I was like hammering back at them for making fun of you with a helicopter, and why does he have to preach to all the churches? Then they got kind of docile and we're like, well, well, what is the explanation? Because you don't even know what you're talking about, right? Right. Put another pastor in, like they're just that you know, Washington State is swarming with great pastors. So the reason the church is empty in Spokane was because of a woke pastor, which you're against as as reformed. Then a a pastor with good theology comes and takes it over and packs it out. You're against his mode of transportation for getting there. You know, at what point do you realize you're just a miserable prick?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Yeah, uh yes, uh uh a hundred percent correct. And then, you know, sometimes p uh people will say um things like um, oh um, like uh I I uh I guess uh you know, I guess this is I guess this is what you know the the church is supporting. Oh, I guess the church is, you know, uh buying him a car or buying him a hog or something like that. And it's like, well, um yes, I get a salary from the church because it's the place that I work. So like it's not breaking news or revelatory information for somebody to make an accusation that um uh I am able to live uh my life and uh have clothes on my body and a roof over my head because of a salary that my employer provides for me. So it's like, you know, in no other environment, work environment, would it be would it be controversial that somebody uh is able to live life by virtue of the salary they make from the employer that they have? And also, like in no other environment does um the leader of of that organization outside of church world voluntarily give um tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars back to the organization that employs them by virtue of tithe and offering over the course of a year, just because you want to honor God. So it's like right there there's no winning with these guys because it's a spirit. They they they they get blinded by this this spirit of poverty, this spirit of critique, this spirit of jealousy, uh comparison, whatever you want to call it. And so then they just make these irrational claims that completely fall apart, unless you're operating with a familiar spirit. And then, like shuttles this saying, yeah, they all they're all on the same podcast, all freaking, you know, um, jerking each other's ego, talking about the same BS, all mad at like everybody else who's more successful than me. And after a while, it's it's like people can see right through that and just go, Oh, you're just miserable with life, you're just angry at life. That's what's happening.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Absolutely. Well said. Um all right, got got a got a couple questions. Let me pull them up here. Recent. Here we go. Where's that first one? All right, this is from Hannah. And again, if you want to comment your questions, we'll be happy to answer you. I have a super I have a super heavy question, but you don't have to answer it. Now we're gonna answer it. The Bible says to honor your parents, but how do you show honor to your father who's in prison for being a pedophile? Oh I hadn't read ahead. This is kind of heavy. Should you give any attention to him? What if you're the victim? Go ahead, Pastor Rush.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

You know, in situations like this, I like to appeal to a little word I like to call boundaries, because sometimes the most honoring thing that you can do with an individual who uh has committed, you know, obviously some morally heinous indiscretions is that you establish a boundary. And some sometimes that is the best way that you, you know, they kind of say that old axiom of like um it's a solid fence that makes the best kind of neighbor. You know, sometimes a definitive boundary is actually uh the best way that you can honor um relationships. You know, in a situation like this, uh, I would look at it uh uh as going like, yeah, that would be a person that I would be motivated to physically harm or end their life if uh they had done that to me or to someone that I love. So, yes, the best thing for the best way that I could honor them is by making sure that they're locked away in a prison cell so that um a situation uh uh for physical harm does not arise. So I think sometimes people think about honor or even forgiveness, like this thing of everything, you know, and and Shuttles has talked about this with like even like when people have moral failings in ministry, people can be honored and forgiven. That doesn't necessarily automatically mean that everything gets reset to what it was prior to the crime or the moral indiscretion being committed. So um, you know, yeah, I think there's a way you can honor and and and whatever, but you can honor at a distance. You you can you you can you can have a boundary that never changes for the rest of your life and still and and still fulfill the biblical, you know, uh the biblical command to honor because um you know there's there's you know Abraham and Lot going separate directions because both herds were growing, you know, there's a boundary, and the boundary is what helps actually preserve any fragments of the relationship that's left. So I wouldn't feel bad about you know not visiting or not being pen pals or like if I really forgave this person, we would just be doing Christmas together. No, there are there are consequences in the natural realm for sin, for crime. And, you know, you can still honor somebody and pursue justice, you can honor somebody and have a boundary, you can honor somebody and have a restraining order, you can honor somebody and testify against them in a court of law. Um, and uh yeah, you know, the idea with forgiveness is not not not that what they did to you was okay. When you forgive somebody, you're making the determination that what they did to me doesn't get to control my trajectory from here on out. So, like forgiveness is not about necessarily restoring the relationship to what it was prior to something bad happening, it's about making the determination I'm not gonna stay stuck.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

I like that. Great job. Um, let me get to the next question. That was a heavy question and a great, absolutely great answer. Very good answer. You know, I was thinking today that how when Adam and Eve messed up, God is the God is love. He never talked to them again. Right. They got booted out of the garden and that was it. So you can you can walk in love and never talk to someone again.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

Hey Jonathan Russell, I was with the assemblies of God and left to plant a non-denominational church in January. My sending church and a few others came alongside us. 150 people coming, 30 saved, 24 baptized. God has moved, but leaving a denomination means I gave up that structure and covering. And I don't want to just be a lone ranger pastor with no authority over me. Can you walk me through what it looks like to come under the covering of the Goal Pursuit Network and how you know if a church is a good fit, Pastor Russ first, it requires a tithe to the bishops.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

We accept crypto and precious metals.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Um human organs and human organs.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

No, I I think it's a a great question, and I think I I I might have, or it might be somebody else with a similar name, but I think I met Pat in um preaching somewhere in the Midwest, you know, over the last year or so. But um, yeah, I think you know that what what Patrick is describing is the trend that me and and Shuttles and others recognized more broadly happening in the charismatic stream. Um, people are launching out, they're starting non-denominational uh uh uh uh churches, but they're still looking to be interconnected. They want to be a part of a network, but they don't want to be in an old wineskin that forces them to tithe the district or forces them to shut down their churches because, you know, the governor says that it's too dangerous for people to gather. You know, they they want people who are built in a similar way running alongside of them, not lording over them. And so, you know, we've gotten a ton of of of um emails and and DMs that essentially say the exact same thing. This is how I grew up. I was denominational, I'm branching out, but I don't want to do this thing alone. Um, so how do I come into relationships so that I can run with people who are headed in the same direction and at the same speed? See, it's not it's not that the denomination you're coming out of is not running in the same direction. It's they're not running at the same speed.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Totally.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

And, you know, we're operating under the um uh under the real idea that that we've got a limited window of time to like make maximum impact for the kingdom, bringing the harvest prior to the return of Christ. Like we don't, you know, it's not well, you know, if the Lord returns in a thousand years, it ain't gonna be a thousand years. We're we're on the precipice, and so there's like an urgency, and people want to be a part of something big, something that is is willing to, you know, go after the things of God, not back down, not apologize, genuinely charismatic, believes in healing, believes in prophecy, believes in uh five-fold ministry gifts, believes in holiness, believes in blessing, um, and you know, doesn't doesn't shy away from that stuff. And so there's been a real draw to to the revival today global global pursuit network. And so, you know, there's a website set up, social media page, people can go in there and fill out the application and be a part. But you know, we've set this up intentionally. There's no fees, there's no yearly. Um, you've got to send in your offering, you gotta attend this many Presbytery meetings in order to be in good standing. It's it's it's by invitation, not not by obligation. Um, and you know, we want people to be a part of this because they feel like a kindred spirit, you know, brother is born for adversity, we're we're we're on the battlefield, you know, we're head, we're headed in the same direction. And so um uh, you know, and with that being said, like Shuttles has said, we don't accept everybody because this is also not a place for people who just want to be upset at the last three denominations that kick them out for being insubordinate. So now they want to align with us. It's like we want people who are in good standing who who aren't operating with a chip on their shoulder or unforgiveness, but recognize that you don't have to be a lone ranger and you can be a part of um of something that's blowing and going on both sides of the coast. You know, we've got west coast representatives, east coast, we've got Midwest, we've got Southwest. Uh there's an evangelism arm, there's outreach, you know, between what uh Revival Today is doing with their outreaches, foreign missions, um uh uh Bishop Dag uh heading up uh uh uh all of Africa for us. Like there's some serious wind and weight behind this thing. And people who want to be a part, it's like, yeah, head to the website, fill out the application, and we'll make you aware of everything that we're doing and everything that we have, we make freely available. There's no, you know, there's not a masterclass that you're gonna get hit up for that's extra and it's gonna be a thousand dollars a month. It's like, no, come come to the events we're hosting, come to the conferences we're putting on, come be a part of the meetings, uh, come be around other people who are cut from the same cloth because your life moves in the direction of the people that you're connected to, the anointing that you sit under and the value of the hands that are being laid on you. And that people are recognizing that and jump and ship in record numbers to be a part of networks like this that give them the freedom to rally without lording over them weird bureaucratic rules, or they're being managed by presbyters who led churches of 75 people their entire lives, but because they were faithful company men, they've weasled themselves into quote unquote apostolic positions in denominations that have been going downhill for 40 years. It makes no sense. People don't want to be a part of that. It's like and it's a no-brainer, yeah, you know. And so uh uh when when Shuttles and I started talking about the potential of this network, it was just like, dude, there's there's wind all over this. Like, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

Well, you said you said there's networks like this, there's no other network like what y'all are doing. That's the bottom line. And so it would be foolish to remain connected to a sinking ship when there is a network that is available like this. Like it's incredible. It's incredible what y'all have done. It's incredible what you're doing. And in ministry, like if you don't have that, if you don't have people that are ahead of you and people that are running hard, you know, we've seen it. You become complacent, and that's when people become carnal. And then it's like the people are just casual, and then there's all kinds of casualties. And then, you know, for what? Like there was a call of God on your life, and because you weren't connected to the right people, there's a lot of devastation, and it's just not worth it. Like Jesus is coming back, and this is the network that I mean, should you be accepted, this is the network that you would want to be a part of. There's nothing like it.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Well said. This is from Colton. Advice for when preaching out of the country for the first time. We'll be going to Cuba and India soon. Ross.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

Yeah, I think, you know, I mean, that I that's where I cut my teeth starting was was uh preaching overseas. My parents were uh missionaries in Liberia, West Africa. I spent time um over there. I spent time in Mexico, um in India, in Japan. Uh uh, and that's that's really kind of you know uh where I started. Uh and some of that is because there's a lower there's a lower bar of entry when you're preaching in the jungles of West Africa, because not a lot of people are willing to go there. So um, you know, they'll make room for, you know, a 15-year-old kid who's just starting out, figuring out, you know, whether or not there's a call of God on his life. And so I'm grateful for uh, you know, a lot of those places. Um, you know, likely in both of those places you're going to, you're you're gonna be preaching via translators, and that's a little bit of a different skill set to adopt. Um, and having a good translator um is oftentimes the make it or break it difference, uh uh, you know, when you're on stage and and you're communicating. But at the end of the day, it's like you don't go to war with the army you want, you go to war with the army you have. So if it's, you know, a little karaoke sound system with a little bit of electricity and a bad translator, it's like, well, you got to make the best of it. That's what you've got. But yeah, I mean, I, you know, swing for the fences. It's it's it's it's uh it's a safe place to to exercise the the call of God on your life, and it it pulls on a different part of you. Preaching in the United States pulls on one part of you, and then preaching in a different country that's not your home, it pulls on another part of your anointing, another part of your spirit, another part of your mental acuity, your emotional intelligence. And I think it gives you the opportunity to you know also connect with people um truly in ways that they can there there is something profoundly spiritual that happens in your life when you do something for somebody who has no possible chance of ever repaying you. And certainly there are there are scenarios like that that happen in the states, but everywhere you go in a a third world country that that has you know really uh high levels of extreme poverty, you'll you're you're meeting people every hour of every day who are in that zone. That it it does does not matter what happens in their life, they would never be able to repay you uh for what you're depositing in that setting. And I think it's important for people to have like enough ministry experiences like that on a recurring basis because the higher you go and and the bigger you grow, the easier it is to become disconnected from how a majority of the world lives their daily life. And so I I try I I almost look for experiences like that, uh like on a semi regular basis. They don't always have to be out of country. But but I look for those like, you know, and uh so I'll give you like a real world example. And I'm not saying this because like I need a pat on the back or whatever, but this is how I mentally process it. Um there was a mom who was who was who's going to our church and she's been there, but it's been kind of off and on, and she has a mentally disabled son, and uh she wanted me to take time to meet with him and pray with him and kind of befriend him and blah, blah, blah. And you know, I I normally don't have time to meet with with anybody uh at the church, you know, buzzing in, preaching, doing everything I can. We have a team of care pastors who who who do most of that. But as soon as she made that request, I knew in my heart this was an opportunity for me to connect with someone on a level where they would never be able to repay me. And I need that. I need that for me. So it was like, yes, I'm incredibly busy and no, I don't have time for this. And yes, I'm going to make time for this because it's important for me. Uh, it's important for my heart to stay soft and sensitive. And so uh I think it's a great opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Um, Bishop Dagg said something about preaching overseas and how it like makes your ministry one when you do it and and do it successfully, it it adds a dimension to your ministry that people that only preach in their country don't have. Like it's like if you have somebody come to America and preach and they've never preached outside of Nigeria before, they preach very Nigerian, and it it almost like um isn't they're not received well by an American crowd or a Canadian crowd. But then, like when Dr. Paul Nietzsche or Bishop Dad coming from Ghana that they preach internationally all the time, it's like the crowd loves them. So he was saying, think of it like a movie that some movies do very well in the United States, but do almost nothing overseas because nobody can relate to it. So I looked up Jackie Robin, that Jackie Robinson movie 42. It did like next to nothing overseas because nobody knows baseball in most countries. The thing about like a black player being able to break into the league, nobody knew anything about the color barrier overseas or anything like that. So it just didn't make sense. The blind side was Sandra Bullock, made no sense. White family adopting a black kid and getting him in American football that nobody knows about overseas. Whereas like Rambo does great overseas because it's everybody can relate to it. You know, a guy's friend gets captured by a hostile military, goes in and breaks him out, that kind of thing. So like you learn to preach in a way, style, like you can't have just an American Church of God style or an American assemblies of God style or whatever. You you start having to have a style that goes well not only in America or you're part of America, but it it translates to people, and um your examples have to change. You know, nobody knows baseball overseas. There's very few nations that play baseball. Um, you have to one of the worst ones I ever was involved with. It was one of my it might have been my first overseas trip. And I won't, I'll keep it vague because I'm not 80 years old and the people are all still alive, but okay, like remember this when somebody's translating you. Um it would help to like kind of learn a foreign language just to understand the difference between something having to get translated. So this guy does his message to the pastors on, and no one speaks English here, like everybody's just getting it translated. So the mess his message is on as a pastor, making sure your devotional life doesn't slip, and so employs the soap thing. So, what does that soap stand for again?

SPEAKER_03 48:11

Scripture uh like scripture, I think observe, apply, yeah, practice practice, prayer, prayer, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

So, okay, so it's soap, scripture, observe, apply, practice, and he's talking about how like soap cleans you. This practice from the word of God will keep you clean. Okay, soap is not spelled S O A P. This language doesn't even have an S, an O and A or a P. So then when he's to the translator, like, so for S and the trans like, uh, you know, there's no word for S, then S scripture, it's like there's no S, and then the word's not scripture in that language. So you have to you have to communicate in a way, and then he would give baseball examples on top of it. It's like when there's two outs in the ninth and you need a run. There's literally no way to translate that in Sri Lanka, you know what I mean? And then um, what was the other thing? This this one evangelist, he's actually like powerful, but he had only preached in America. Really, really strong miracle ministry. So he went with Teal Osborne to the Philippines, and after he preached the first thing, Teal Osborne like angrily told him, quit talking about McDonald's. Oh my god none of these people know what McDonald's are. He goes, talk about seeds and birds and clouds and rain. So there is like a way that you have to learn. Um, and you can even tell when people don't aren't like well-versed and only preach where they're from. It's like how people like refer to the grocery store when they're preaching in America and they use like their grocery store from their place that no one knows what that grocery store is. Like, like, what's the grocery store where you're at, Russ?

SPEAKER_03 50:17

Uh maybe like uh QFC. Okay, like Safe.

SPEAKER_00 50:21

So like if Russ is is preaching in Pittsburgh and he says QFC or even Safeway, like we don't have those in Pittsburgh. We don't have them within like a thousand. So he's like, it's like when you go to Safeway, it's like nobody knows what that means. So you it it it's just a great skill that traveling and getting to meet more people, it makes you like a very, very well-rounded and like Russ said, you're not gonna be just talking about like um believing for a vacation. It's like like people don't you get around and get get around people that have like tumors growing out of their head, covering their eye and stuff. It just gives you like uh you become a real minister instead of like a specialized minister that can only work in one place, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

Yeah, yeah, and like you said, it force it forces you, like for example, um, most of the times when I preach in the states, I have a manuscript that um depending on the night or the event, uh, you know, I I might be like exclusively following, especially if I'm preaching at a place that has like a tight timeline on it, and they they they're really nervous about me going over time, you know. I I'll I'll script things out to try to you know make sure I'm on time. Well, um it also allows me to preach very technically, um uh to um break down um philosophical concepts, to refer back to the church fathers, to um make a reference to the uh you know historicity of the church, to um, you know, uh like I'm preaching, um, like I was preaching last Sunday at Pursuit Um out of Matthew 16, upon this rock I'll build my church. And so, you know, I took a minute to break down how the Protestants view that verse versus the Catholics, you know, through Peter being the first pope of the church and then apostolic succession and palpal infallibility and you know, all of those types of things. Well, you know, that I I just you know took a couple minutes to nerd out on that because you know, I think I I don't know why, I just thought it was interesting. But, you know, overseas, yeah if I'm preaching in, you know, um in uh the bush in in West Africa, where they're they're still like recovering from back-to-back civil wars, they don't care about that, and it doesn't translate and it doesn't scratch where they itch. You know, in in the Pacific Northwest, I'm speaking to a place that by statistics is the highest density population of postgraduate degrees, I think, in the nation. And so I'm tailoring my communication to speak to people where they're at. And this is like one of the leadership lessons from the life of Moses, where it's like, yes, he walks in front of the people, but not so far ahead that they lose sight. So you've got to like uh you've got to like have more than one gear, and preaching overseas forces you to develop another gear where, yeah, like Shuttles is saying you're not going, hey, so like how many of you have the experience of logging into chat GPT and it gives you the wrong answer? It's like they don't have chat GPT, they don't have the internet, you know, they don't have electricity, they had to walk three days to get to church. If they don't get a miracle at your service, they might die. Yeah, you know, so preach preaching to where people are at uh instead of just this one mode. I I was uh I was in Uganda once preaching, and there was this guy who was preaching up before me. And this was a similar situation, like you're extra you're describing shuttles, where he got up there and he was trying to give a message to pastoral leaders about sexual purity. And so he was using the life of Joseph and talking about how Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife, and he was talking about the importance of you've got to, you've got to use your renewed mind. You've got to you've got to think with your renewed mind about these situations, else you're gonna get overcome by a situation and and fall into sin. So his like he's building towards this like power line that he's gonna use. And here it is. Here it is to a group of Ugandan pastors, you know, hours and hours outside the capital city. He's like, You've gotta think with the right head.

SPEAKER_02 54:54

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 54:55

And he's like, he's like, you like, and he's like, he's like, do you guys and and and then he keeps drilling down on it because nobody else in the room gets it except me, because I'm the only American. He's like, you know what I mean? Like, you gotta think with the right head, because if you think with your other head, it's going to lead you to a and so he keeps trying to use this, and it's like, first off, you know, that that sounds like a bad youth camp analogy from like 1992, you know. Secondly, no, these people don't know what you mean. They don't know what the crap you're talking about, and the more people didn't get it, the more like he must have repeated this line a dozen times. And people are just looking at him confused, and so it like it forces you to to to to uh it and this is what Jesus does in the parables, but it it but it and and partly Jesus does that because it's the first century, but that's what you have to understand when you are ministering in a third world country that's in the bush. I'm not just talking about well, they don't make as much money as people in Seattle or Dallas. I mean, in the bush. It's a culture that in many ways is trapped in antiquity. That like so, like use the parables, use the a farmer goes out to sow a seed, the clouds, the wind, the rain, the waves, appeal to the things that are most baseline and common because it doesn't matter if you know what chat GPT is, everybody knows what a cloud is, everybody knows what rain is. And so I think that's great advice.

SPEAKER_00 56:35

We'll do uh one more question and then I'll I'll reluctantly call it a night. We'll we'll keep this going.

SPEAKER_02 56:40

Jonathan, let me say one thing really fast because I really like the fact that whenever you're um, and I haven't, I apologize, Pastor Russell, but I haven't heard you as much going other places whenever you're preaching. I haven't listened. But whenever Evangelist Jonathan, whenever you go, it's like you know the area, you know what the people are about. And I think that evangelist ministers, you know, it's like you can't lose sight of the people. Like these are people that have grown up in different cultures in different areas, and it's like you can't just go in there and just bombard and like I'm I've got a message to deliver. Like you always relate to the people. And I I you know, it's not like I don't know how you do it, but you just know, like whenever you're in Hobbs, you're talking about the oil fields.

SPEAKER_00 57:26

You want to know how I do it?

SPEAKER_02 57:28

Do you remember that? Um the guy that talks about all the mistakes.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

Yes, Colin Quinn, the greatest.

SPEAKER_02 57:34

Right, but it's like that's something so simple, and it's just like, and and that comes from, you know, a place of like genuine like love for people. Like, I'm not just gonna come in here and bombard people with like the message that I carry. Like, I want them to know, like I care about them, like what they're coming from, the oil rigs that they're coming from, the you know, whatever they're coming from and all these other states. Because every place, I mean, and I'm just talking about America, I've never been overseas. And so it's like, but even in America, like some ministers are like, what the frick are you doing? Why are you talking like this? Why are you saying this to these people?

SPEAKER_00 58:11

Well, America is like number one, it's fascinating to me. And number two, I love America and I love Americans, and I love how different it is.

SPEAKER_01 58:19

So you're right.

SPEAKER_00 58:21

Like America is basically 50 different countries in one country.

unknown 58:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 58:26

You know, there's nothing in common with Hawaii and Vermont.

SPEAKER_02 58:32

Well, and it's like I feel like ministers, if you don't, if you can't evangelize like and care about people here, like, dear God, when you go over to another place, right? This could be very bad. Like, you've got to cultivate like a genuine like love for people and like care about where they're coming from, like what their little families have been through. Like, even in Hobbes, it's like these people have like they've come over here with a coyote, you know what I mean? Like illegally, and they're trying to learn English and they're trying to get things straight, you know.

SPEAKER_00 59:05

And if you come in with this message, this like then they have faith smiling and they ask the coyote if they could have a return trip.

SPEAKER_02 59:11

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 59:12

Hey, can I hit your ride back to Medal? Wow.

SPEAKER_02 59:15

Wow. Wow. Anyways.

SPEAKER_00 59:20

No, that's very nice. I mean, I don't know why I'm so ill-mannered that you want to you paid me a very nice compliment. I don't like cut you off.

SPEAKER_02 59:28

I'm complimenting the office, not the man. Okay, that's what's happening right here.

SPEAKER_03 59:33

The anointing. Well, this is um this this like strategy of um of um like tailoring your communication to the to the to the geography of where you're at, you know, or you know, you could call it like situational leadership or whatever. This is this is actually most prominent if you follow politics, especially in primary season for like a presidential campaign. And um they're hosting debates with all of the candidates in different states. And the people who win those debates and ultimately go on to win the primary are people who are able to uh address the the issues in those states on the debate stage. You know, what they're speaking to a national audience, but they're also speaking to the people in the room. So like one of the people who did this the best was Newt Gingrich during uh I think he ran for president in 2012. Um, but uh it what you could always tell there was like a level of research he did before going to the debate stage in Pennsylvania, before going to the debate stage in Ohio, so on and so forth. Like he's he's like speaking to like local issues in the room. Because yeah, you're right. You know, there's gonna be some states that care about farm subsidies and others that don't. Right. There's gonna be some states that you know uh care about an income tax that just got passed versus others that that don't have one. And so yeah, I think you you gotta understand, you gotta understand the people and the places, and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

I'll tell you a great example of that of what you're talking about was um John Fetterman and Met Oz when when they were running in Pennsylvania, and people that are outside of Pennsylvania couldn't understand. They're like, how is this guy in a black hoodie and shorts and sneakers running for Senate? And and how is Oz not whooping this guy? And they don't understand, like Pittsburgh is the most dressed down, you know, everybody was a steel factory worker or coal miner or or something related to that. They actually have a disdain for anybody that thinks they're like, I don't know, like like a Dr. Oz type person. Like if you carry yourself, like I mean, Russell, you've been to my place. You don't count any luxury cars. Like the only wrapped vehicle in the whole city is probably mine that I just did as like a joke. So Fetterman acting like that, which he wasn't doing it to one votes, he's really like that. But you know, Dr. Oz went to a Penn State game with a tumbler of wine and a wine glass, khakis and a tucked-in shirt to go and talk to the people of Pennsylvania. It's like you might as well just ended your campaign right there. Whereas if it was Manhattan, then then Fetterman would have got laughed out of the place, you know. But knowing knowing where you're at, and I I think another thing, and it it's strange, I don't understand why this stuff happens because I hate being pandered to, and I'm not saying you're pandering if you do this because I do it, but you might as well use it to your advantage. People love if you know their convenience store name, or if you just show any type of like that you've you've learned anything about the area when you're preaching, the people eat it up, and it's like a hundred X if you do it overseas. If you mention, like if you show that as an American, like you actually know the name of the market where they get groceries or wherever, or you you drop anything like that, the people are it's like dang, this guy like actually took the time to he knows where he's at, he can like relate to us, it'll set you apart from all the other speakers.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

Right. And you know, you know who also does this real well is stand-up comedians in different cities, you know. Yes, they know what to roast, they know the sports teams, they know the they know the cities, and it it makes them immediately relatable to the audience because you know it's not just a generic, a generic act. There's a lot, I think there's a lot that that that preachers can learn from either the comedic space or the political political space. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:53

There's already there's already so much that people like come into a service or come into church like carrying, and it's like they you don't want to create another like boundary or blockage from them to be able to receive exactly what they need to receive. And if you're pompous or if you're you're no, you're putting on airs or you have no clue like where you are, it's just something else that they have to fight through to actually receive like what they need.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

Yes. I'll tell you something that's like semi-off topic, but I you know, this kind of stuff's fascinating to me, like um what people laugh at and what people like and what they don't. So a lot of you have heard me say this over the years that when I'm preaching out of Acts 2, and I go, um, in the New Living Translation, Peter says, Some of you are saying these men are drunk, but it's not true. People don't get drunk by nine o'clock in the morning. And I'll say Peter Peter had never been to, well, I'll tell you what I used to do. Like, like, say I was preaching in um, okay, like let's say I'm preaching at Russ's church in Seattle. When I was younger, you know, there's there's drunks and alcohol and alcoholics in Seattle, so it's not like you're out of line saying it. But one thing that is like a major no-no that it took me a while to realize is people don't like insults about where they live. It's a huge mistake. In fact, after we did the Joy to Houston um gift giveaway, I made them redo the video because like a chill, I didn't I didn't listen to it ahead of time. And on the on the on the copy that the voiceover lady read, she said, we went to one of the poorest cities in America, Houston, Texas. Well, we were in Dallas when we played the video, and even even though Dallas and Houston have a rival, it's like, what the what are you talking about? We're not poor. So I had to take it to one of the poorest sections of Houston because hey, Houston is a rich city, and nobody likes their city or country being portrayed that way. That's another mistake you can make when you go overseas. You don't want to show video of like starving people. People or make their city look bad, just like you want to like if somebody came to your city and they showed like the most crime-ridden area, like that's not the whole city. Why don't they show this part? People, people are proud of their country and and they don't like it insulted. So getting back to the thing, like if I was in Seattle, I would say, I would read that verse. Peter said, People don't get drunk by nine o'clock in the morning. And I would say, in Seattle, I would go, Peter had obviously never been to downtown Seattle. Well, people, the crowd would clam up and like turn on you. So then I started picking a place. You can't pick a place that's so far away, none of the people can relate. Like you can't say if you're in Seattle, you can't say Peter had never been to Cleveland because nobody gives a crap about Cleveland in Seattle. So you have to pick a place. It can't be too close. You can't say Tacoma, you can't even say Spokane. But if you pick a place that's like far enough away that people know about it and they feel superior to that place, then you get a huge laugh. So then now, like if I'm if I was in Seattle, Vancouver in Canada, a it's Canada, so people already have like uh screw Canada kind of thing. But in vain they've been to Vancouver because it's not that far from Seattle, but they don't like, you know, like they they feel they're better than Vancouver. So then if you change it and go, um, Peter said nine o'clock in the morning's too early uh to get drunk, and you say, Of course, Peter had never been to Vancouver, everybody laughs. But then if you say Seattle or Tacoma, everybody's like mad. So so you can't rip a place, and then if you if if you can, just learn a little bit about it. Learn the name of their grocery store, learn what the people do for work. And what Faith brought up, there's a comedian named Colin Quinn. And you know what Russell's saying is true. There's a lot of similarities between stand-up comics and and traveling preachers. You know, they're in they go from comedy club to comedy club in different states. It's similar. The crowd doesn't really like them, the crowd will turn on them. So this guy, he did a book called Overstated, a Coast to Coast Roast of All 50 States. And he talks about, as somebody that has traveled all the states, what the states like. So when I got that audio book, I would listen to it before I would go to that state, especially if it was one that I didn't, you know. Like obviously, Massachusetts, I've I've had a lot of dealings with. I've lived in Maine, I've lived in Virginia. So if it was a state like that, I don't really need much help. But then if it was a place I've never been before, I would listen to the history of it, his experience of being there, what the people are like, and it's like very interesting to me.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:42

Yeah, 100%. Totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:45

It is fun on the road, isn't it, Russ? Like feeling your way out with the crowd. I mean, it's a challenge, but it's a fun challenge.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:53

Yeah, because you're always you're always you're in one sense like competing against the room, even if they're with you, you're still you're still looking to to kind of gain that upper hand. And you know, you can it's like from the uh I I got this um friend who goes to the church who is always quoting this line to me from Gladiator, the first one where he says, uh, win the crowd, win your freedom. And and it's it's always this like it's just a stupid thing he says, but it's always this reminder of like, yeah, they're there the the dynamic of the room that you're in, the city that you're in, the crowd that you're speaking to. The crowd, depending on how how how you're working with them, they can take a sermon that's a two out of ten and make it a ten out of ten. And a crowd who a crowd who's not with you can take a ten out of ten sermon and make it a two out of ten.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:51

So, like which is a mistake, which is a mistake a ton of preachers make is like to treat the crowd as an enemy and like right, you know, unnecessary evil, and all y'all ain't hearing me, and uh y'all berate them. I'm preaching better than you're shouting. I mean, that that's a mistake, is to be like adversarial with the crowd, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:10

Right, or or like the line of like uh, you know, if there was really if if people really had faith here, there there wouldn't be uh empty chairs, you know. How many of you are sitting next to an empty chair? You know, if we if we were if there were real Christians in here, and it's like, dude, what are you doing? You're just right, you're shoot, you're shooting yourself in the nuts by becoming uh by developing an adversarial relationship with the crowd that you don't need to have. It's like there's it to me, it's almost like the way that I think about it is like it's it's a fret, it's it's almost like you're playing a one-on-one basketball game against a friend. It's like a friendly competition. You're you're working in and through and writing the waves of the cadences and the and you know, uh, and and people, you know, the other thing too in communication is what people appreciate um because it humanizes you to the audience, is people appreciate um uh at least a a little bit of like self-deprecating humor. Like it's easier, it's easier to make a joke about you than it is to go like, yeah, well, how many of you know this this you know Pittsburgh sucks. I don't, you know, I don't even know why I'm here. If I if I really wanted to have a good offering, I wouldn't even be in Pittsburgh, you know, this place is miserable, but here I am. It's like no, I I don't you don't make the crowd feel lucky that they have been graced with your presence, you know. So I'll always, you know, hey, yeah, I hey, I I I know I look like I just got out of an Antifa gang, but you know, thanks for having me. I'm all you know, always trying to like, hey, I know I'm a little off, I know I'm a little weird, yeah. Whatever. People like that because it's like, oh, he's one of us, you know. He he exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:59

I'll tell you, since you brought that up, I'll tell you something funny. Is like, I don't know how it is in Seattle because I've only preached there the two weeks I was like, oh no, I've I've been with Pastor Greg, but I I I don't I I can't remember, but because I've lived in Pittsburgh and I've been in the Northeast so much, there's a thing different than Louisiana or Texas. Like, if you're in Louisiana and you say, like, boy, is it great to be here? What a beautiful town. The weather's so nice. People like enjoy hearing that. If you say that in like Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Boston, Maine, people start to distrust you. They don't like flowery speech here. Right. So I had a minister at our church, and he had one of his staff promoing his books and stuff, and we were up in the office watching him on TV. So he's like, so great to be in Pittsburgh, such a beautiful city. And the crowd's like dead quiet, like like, and so the guy mentions like, man, they're not really liking my assistant. I said, you know why? Because they don't like flowery speech. I was like, do this when I introduce you, say, I can't believe I left beautiful California to come to this freezing cold industrial hellhole. And I said, I I promise you they'll love it. So he he took me up on it. So I introduced him, he goes, Man, I just left beautiful California to come to this uh freezing cold six-degree industrial hellhole, and the crowd roared. You know, because like they like if you do it in the right spirit, obviously if you're like genuinely upset, but if you do it with a smile, they thought it was funny. You know what I mean? Right. Whereas, like, if again getting into this regional thing, which whoever brought it up, it it does like fascinate me that if you did that same thing in Louisiana, people would be horrified. I'll I'll tell you another one is freaking and crap and jackass. There's there's states you can do that where nobody bats an eye. Okay, West Virginia. West Virginia, you could say ass from the pulpit, people would chuckle. If you go across the border into Virginia, it's gentleman central. Georgia's like that, especially rural Georgia, right in the south. It's like people, families would get up and leave.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:25

Right.

unknown 1:14:27

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:27

It's pretty pretty wild. The like the differences in in all in this country.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:34

Right. Yeah, and all you know, one of the things that we started to do, even when people invite me to speak now is, you know, we have like a forum online where people can request or whatever. You know, I I had them put in their um dress code and most people don't care. It's just like, hey, whatever. But every once in a while um I'll get a church that um specifically requests a certain type of hey, this is a black tie event, or don't wear a hat, or you know, whatever. And that stuff doesn't really uh uh offend me one way or another. It's just easier to know than to show up dressed one way, and then they're like, oh, you know, Pastor doesn't usually allow anybody on stage without it without at least a suit coat. And it's like, well, my suit coat's in Seattle, you know, I have a sweatshirt.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:30

And so it it's uh I I also try to, you know, try to get information beforehand too, because yeah, I mean, ultimately I'm there to serve, I'm I'm there to help take that person's ministry if I can, move the ball forward, help take it to another level. And I don't want to be, you know, a distraction or anything like that. But um also, yeah, there's some places you go where if you dressed up a certain way, then then they feel like you're being pretentious. It's like exactly right. Hey, we're not a suit and tie place. And so I've I've gotten flack on both sides of things. I have too. Being overdressed some places and being underdressed. And so now I just say, hey, if you care, if your church has a preference, let me know. Put it in the put it in the booking forms, and and then I'll I'll do that. But other than that, I'm just coming just normal, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:18

It's that's a great point that you brought up. Um what what was I gonna say to add on to that? It just just slipped my mind, but it was like important to me. Let me see if I can think of it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I I follow this fashion guy on um X, and he has a great line. Of course, he used it for fashion, but I took a whole day and taught my Bible college on it. Uh, before you break the rules, you need to do something to show that you know the rules. So I like that for preaching. It's like if you're a guest speaker, it's a mistake not to at least watch a Sunday of that church on live stream before you go there to preach. Like, know what they do right so you can give a nod that you know the rules. Like, I've I've said this before to my staff. Think how much entirely different my ministry would come across if I was dressed in army fatigue pants, a black t-shirt, and and and combat boots. Now, all of a sudden, me jumping on the chairs and stuff is a little much because it's like this guy looks like he's nuts, but then like the suit and tie kind of balances out. It's like, well, he can't be that crazy. He has a necktie on. So you know what I mean? Like, like there's that element to it where before that's one of the reasons I dress up like I do, because like before I completely eviscerate everything and how it's done at this church, let me at least just be dressed well, where it's like I'm showing respect in my appearance for your church and what you've built before I do things that many are gonna consider extremely disrespectful. Whereas if I just if I showed up t-shirt, jeans, and sandals and was jumping around the chair and saying freaking you'd have people, I guarantee you the people people would get up and leave because like this guy's nuts, right? Right, you know what I mean? Right, yeah, you can give like a nod to like, hey, I understand, you know, I understand the general the decorum, even Russell's kind of like that in the opposite way that like he's dressed like disrespectfully in a sense, but then he's gonna give the most eloquent, you know, wrote the whole thing out ahead of time. Great message. If he was in a suit and tie with glasses, it'd be like, Who's this nerd? Right, but then to hear a guy dressed like how he's dressed and then deliver this poetic message, it's just it's like a nice balance. It's like the opposite. I'm dressed like Russell speaking, and Russell speaking how I'm dressed. So, you know, if I was dressed like Russell, acting like me, everybody's out. If Russell is dressed like me, speaking real poetically, it's like, all right, I've had enough nerd of this nerd.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:21

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:24

So it's not not the worst way to play things. Uh, what do you got coming up, Rush?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:29

Uh, I leave tomorrow early for um Canada preaching for Brett up in Alberta. Oh good. Uh fly out uh Thursday morning from Canada to preach in Idaho, and then fly out Friday morning to preach in Sacramento, Sacramento.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:56

All right, so Sacramento, Idaho, and Edmonton. Yes, sir. So if you want to go see Russell, he's there. Faith, what do you got coming up this week?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:05

Hey, I've got Kids Church tomorrow night, and then I've got Faith Like Us on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:09

That's Hobbes, New Mexico of Choose Life Church, and then your your show can be viewed where?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:15

On Choose Life Church YouTube, and then here in New Mexico on Channel 11.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:20

Yeah, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:23

Have you had any correspondence with any of them like in your show or anything?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:26

Um, I mean, they're still they still want to pay for it, so I feel like that's a plus.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:32

Wait, what do you mean they want to pay for it?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:35

I mean, the news the station they need you to have it on. No, they don't pay me to have it on, but they're paying for it to be on. Like I don't have to pay anything.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:44

Oh, that's huge.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:46

Yeah, for I faith like us and then my kids' church on Monday, they have a show. Like they take what I preach on Sundays or Wednesdays.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:54

So dang. And so if you have kids, I'm I'm not just saying this because she's on here. It it is a great children's show. Hands down, the best Christian or secular show. There's so much production value that goes into it. It's worth seeing it. Faith like us, you said it's what time? 9 a.m. 9 a.m. So that's 11, 11 eastern. I am in uh Marshill, Maine, at Sanctuary Church. That's the furthest northeast you can go in the continental United States. The sun rises in this town, the first of any place in America. Did you know that?

SPEAKER_02 1:21:27

Oh, is that for real?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:28

Yeah, the sun comes up here at the uh first of anywhere in the United States, Marshall, Maine. So if you're in New Brunswick or in the Maritimes or Maine, I'd love to have you. We're probably gonna have to move to another venue Thursday or Friday. Um, because we're we're in overflow tonight already. It's awesome. And then uh where am I? Arizona Saturday, Texas Sunday. I love you guys. Thanks for coming on for the the inaugural Russ and John's podcast. The the least creative name ever, but we we never get weird anymore. Thanks for being on, everybody. We love you. Have a good night, guys. See you.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:04

Y'all are awesome.