October 15, 2025 • 28 mins
A dead end in Barcelona forced us straight through a roaring protest, and that ten-minute walk became a mirror for a much bigger battle. The streets were peaceful, but the messaging was not. No counterpoint, no conversation—just a single, surging narrative. Back in Bordeaux, staring out over vines and stone, I kept hearing Isaiah’s warning about calling evil good and good evil. It clicked: we’re not just debating policy or headlines. We’re living through a marketing war for the moral imagination—one that plays out on TikTok, in marches, and in the quiet spaces of our minds.
So we go to the text. We read Ephesians 6 and break down the armor of God in plain terms: truth that keeps you steady, righteousness that protects your heart, gospel peace that guides your steps, faith that shields you from manipulative outrage, salvation that guards your mind, and the word of God as the only offensive weapon sharp enough to cut through slogans. We add prayer—not as a formality, but as supply and strategy—to stay alert without becoming angry, bold without becoming harsh. And we wrestle with Paul’s confession in Romans 7, because the war inside is real. If the apostle who wrote much of the New Testament fought against the pull of sin, then our flaws don’t disqualify us from speaking clearly and standing firm.
Along the way, we talk about why Israel faces not only a geopolitical fight but a digital and narrative one—and why Christians do too. If hate can trend, truth can spread. That means telling better stories, showing our work with humility, and refusing to take the bait that turns neighbors into enemies. The resurrection settled the end of the story; our part is to live like it now—calm, clear, and covered. If you’re ready to trade outrage for armor and confusion for conviction, press play, share this with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. Then tell me: what truth are you willing to speak this week?
We trace a tense walk through a Barcelona protest to a vineyard in Bordeaux and reflect on how an upside‑down world turns slogans into scripture-sized tests. We read Ephesians 6 and Romans 7, name the marketing war shaping minds, and commit to truth, prayer, and courage.
• pivot to faith and spiritual battles
• eyewitness account of anti‑Israel marches
• personal ties to Judaism and support for Israel
• Isaiah 5:20 as a lens for cultural confusion
• Israel, Christians, and the marketing/TikTok challenge
• clip criticism and media-driven division
• Ephesians 6: the armor of God explained
• Paul’s boldness and Romans 7’s honest struggle with sin
• practical steps: word, prayer, community, restraint
• closing call to resist bait and stand firm
This is the Buddy For Junior Show — where faith, truth, and courage come together. Join us as we explore life’s deeper purpose and carry the torch of conviction. The show begins now.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
Welcome.
Welcome to the Body Four JuniorShow where we're doing a little
bit of a pivot and we're talkingabout faith.
We're talking about spiritualbattles.
We're talking about anupside-down world since Charlie
Kirk's death and how we'reseeing a movement in this nation
finally and in this world,frankly.
Let's give credit to othercountries of truth and people
(00:35):
being honest and outward withtheir faith.
Doesn't make us perfect.
It just makes us God-fearingpeople that we believe in Jesus
Christ.
We've decided that Jesus Christwas a Lord and Savior, which I
have, my wife has, my twodaughters have.
Praise the Lord, praise God, theKing of the universe, the Alpha,
the Omega.
And just praise Jesus for hishis sacrifice at the cross and
the blood that he shed for us.
(00:58):
Now I'm working on it.
And today, what I want to goover, or what we've talked about
in the past couple episodessince the relaunch here, is
spiritual battles.
I want to go over that today.
And I'm sitting here inBordeaux, France.
I'm in the country at SaintEstef, which is the left bank of
Bordeaux, my favorite region,sitting here staring at a
(01:19):
vineyard.
And we are having a great time.
And I just got news of Israeland the hostages and the
negotiation of what's takingplace.
And it just reminds me of howbiblical this all is.
We're in Barcelona, France.
I'm sorry, Barcelona, Spain,about six days ago.
And there were anti-Israelmarches where I actually saw
(01:41):
visually uh Israel flags with aschwa sticker in the center of
it.
I saw signs of uh pro-Palestineand anti-Jewish.
I saw hate signs, hate America,hate Israel.
And I actually was right there.
I was in front of our hotel theday before we were leaving.
(02:01):
Tens and tens of thousands ofpeople marching and shutting the
streets down.
I had a permit.
It was all legit, so to say.
As well as the fact that ourfirst day that we took a walk
down by the waterfront, therewas uh a march, that same march
going on further down from us.
And I I was a little uh nervous.
Uh my heart was pounding.
(02:23):
For those of you that don'tknow, I actually wear a Star of
David a lot around my chest withmy cross because Jesus is
lineage of David.
David is Old Testament.
Uh he is somebody that isincredible in the Bible, in the
Old Testament, his journey, hisfaith, his sin, his fall from
grace, uh, the human nature ofDavid and the divinity of him.
(02:47):
David was a man made in an imageof God, yet he was so imperfect.
So I have an affinity towardsreading uh scripture with David,
and I do wear the cross of Davidaround my neck to show my
support for Israel, to show myuh connection to the Old
Testament.
And I'd say five, three out ofmy five best friends are Jewish,
(03:12):
and one of them is a devout Jew.
The other two better get to thesynagogue.
I'm gonna I'm giving them a hardtime a lot.
Uh one I'm gonna start giving awhole lot more time to, as far,
I'm sorry, a hard time to.
And these are very three verydear friends of mine.
They're the first ones I I callwhen I have milestones in my
life.
They're the first ones I callwhen I have advice I need.
(03:36):
And I respect and admire themdearly.
So I definitely have a Jewishconnection, not only because my
Christianity, but because of mythree of my five best friends
are Jewish.
Now, for my Gentile friends outthere, you're probably saying,
all right, who are we?
Do we fall in the top five?
Oh man, too much.
But that's not what this podcastis about as far as my
(03:57):
friendships.
However, I do have an affinity,I have a bias towards the Jewish
culture.
Uh, I worked in it, I have a lotof friends in it that are
Jewish.
I was around it.
It's heavily influenced in mybiblical life and my own journey
of my faith, which I'vejournaled immensely about.
And um I like I said, I put aStar of David around my neck
(04:19):
with my cross, which makes forinteresting conversations when
I'm out.
So being in the middle of thisparade, this anti-Israel march,
a lot of things came up.
All right, and I keep going overit, and I don't mean to laugh,
I'm just blown out of the water.
It's not a laugh, it's a I guessI'm just trying to take it down
(04:41):
a notch because I'll startscreaming and yelling on this
podcast.
Isaiah 5.20 and 21.
And I keep saying it everyepisode, but I'm sorry, someone
tell me I shouldn't, someonetell me I'm wrong.
Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil, who put darkness
for light and light fordarkness, who put bitter for
sweet and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise intheir own eyes and clever in
(05:03):
their own sight.
Isaiah 5.20 and 5.21.
I'm gonna read 520 again.
Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil, who put darkness
for light and light fordarkness, who put bitter for
sweet and sweet for bitter.
I thought of that as I'm what asI witnessed this march, this
protest, this anti-Israelprotest, pro-Palestine protest.
(05:26):
And now picture this.
Jen and I are in a foreign city,we don't speak the language, and
I'm a big guy.
For those of you that don'tknow, I lift weights a lot.
I'm a fighter, I'm amulti-national state champion,
junior Olympic champion.
I'm a tough dude.
South Detroit, New York, andit's just it's just the way it
(05:46):
is.
So picture us being in Spain,Barcelona, getting to the
waterfront, and there's no wayto escape this march.
And they're screaming, you canhear them blocks away.
Next thing you know, we'retrying to take detours in the
back roads and the alleyways andthose tall buildings, and we're
trying to evade what's going on.
(06:08):
And we can't eventually we getto a dead end.
We have to cross over in betweenand through the march.
And my wife is like, let's turnaround.
So we can't turn around.
It does take us another hourjust to get home where we
started from, and mypersonality, we complete what we
finish, and she really wanted togo to the waterfront.
(06:28):
And we're we're literally 10more minutes from the
waterfront.
And I got my app, we're at adead end.
There's construction.
We have to cross over throughthis march.
Now my heart is pounding, okay?
And I don't know what's going tohappen.
I don't want to endanger mywife, so I go up to it, to the
sides where people are standingwatching them walk by, and I
(06:51):
don't see any violence, I don'tsee any risk.
And then I see people crossingthe middle like we are, because
we all had to.
We were at a dead end.
And they're making their waythrough, and they did, without
harm, without incident.
So I grabbed my wife's hand andI said, Let's go.
And I walked fiercely throughthe crowd, and I moved, and I'm
(07:14):
moving forward because I can'tgo backward.
I'm moving forward as you likeyou do in any crowd to
eventually get through it.
And as I'm doing it, I'mobviously my alert, like
antennas, a skyscraper ofManhattan, and my heart's
pounding.
Now, I don't want any trouble,but I'm certainly not going to
(07:35):
put up with anything.
And now I have a hard time withthe stance of pro-Palestine.
I'm not anti-Palestine, I'm justpro-Israel.
So I am anti-terrorism, I'manti-Hamas, and we're going to
talk about all that right afterthis conversation.
Here's the deal.
As I'm pulling my wife, she saysto me, You're going too fast.
(07:57):
I'm going, man, just let's getout of this thing.
So we get through it.
And to my surprise, there was alot of young people marching
through or marching, marching tothe pro-Palestine beat with
flags and megaphones.
Young.
When I say young, I mean 18, 17,22.
And the next day, we saw them,or sorry, two days later, we saw
(08:22):
them up by our hotel, and wewere warned it was going to
happen.
So if you've got to leave,you'll be flying out, make sure
you leave early and just beaware of what's going on in
front of the uh hotel.
And this time I took more timeto observe.
It was a wider street, and therewas a lot more people.
And as I'm seeing these youngkids with Palestine signs, like
I mean in a crib and a walker,and then you know, they're
(08:44):
strollers.
And I'm seeing other ones thatare six and seven and are
marching with these anti-Israel,these hate symbols.
I just thought to myself, boy,what is gonna happen when these
kids are older?
Because there's a generation inAmerica, in Spain, and all
(09:05):
around the world that's beingtrained to be anti-Israel.
So, what does that look like in20 years?
I think it looks frightening.
And my wife went into Safara toget something because we're
leaving that day, and I'msitting there watching the
aftermath, the people who arestill around strolling and
getting back to their homes,going down to the subway, and
(09:27):
I'm seeing all these signs.
And my wife comes out, she goes,You're alright, you alright?
And I just said, Hun, I'm blownout of the water.
By the way, there was noviolence, it was peaceful.
I gotta give credit wherecredit's due.
However, there was also noopposition.
Like there was nobody with apro-Israel sign or pro-America
(09:48):
sign walking around.
I certainly didn't have one.
There was no oppositionwhatsoever, which probably is
why it was peaceful.
I gotta imagine if it was apro-Israel march, shit hit would
have hit the fan, but that's aconversation that we can't have
because I didn't see it.
And here I am observing this,and I'm just saying to myself,
(10:10):
Israel has a marketing problem.
Israel has a marketing problem.
They have a marketing problem,they have a social media
problem, they have a TikTokproblem.
Because the only way you canindoctrinate all these young
kids that are marching and theseyoung families is if you have
established some type of onlinepresence to manipulate minds
(10:33):
away from truth.
And they did.
Hamas did.
They literally must have anoffice filled with people who
are online creating content forpeople to hate Israel.
And it's working.
Uh so Israel has a battle tofight digitally, and believe it
or not, they have a marketingbattle.
(10:56):
And I think Christians also havea marketing battle.
I think God marketing is goingto be something that we must
lean into and not be afraid of,talking about our faith to
reverse the trend that Iwitnessed.
And what I did witness is thosewho call evil good and good
evil, who put darkness for lightand light for darkness, who put
(11:19):
bitter for sweet and sweet forbetter, marching for
pro-Palestine, anti-Israel,Israel from the river to the sea
is a Hamas executed marketingprogram.
And it's scary.
And let's dive into that.
Let's dive into the spiritualwarfare.
(11:39):
This is a spiritual warfare.
This is the devil's work.
And let's play a click, uh, aclip from Don Lemon, who's just
an idiot.
Let's just be real.
He's an idiot.
Let's do some truth telling.
Listen to this clip.
When you do, think about whatI've been saying.
What's right is wrong, what's upis down, what's black is white.
(12:01):
It's just an upside-down world.
So here's a clip where I am as Iplayed this earlier.
I'm on a vineyard staring at abeautiful chateau in these
beautiful vines in my heart.
I want to work through thepardon me, Jesus, pardon me,
God.
I want to work through the phoneand grab Don Lemon.
Here we go.
SPEAKER_00 (12:21):
White men, something is broken.
Something is cracked deep insidewhen so many of you believe the
answer to fear, to loss, tochange is violence.
(12:41):
Are you listening to me?
I hope I'm saying it loud enoughfor the people in the back.
Wake up, white men! What the fis wrong with you?
Because you're lazy and sittingin front of a computer or a
phone and you're just eating itup.
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01 (13:03):
This guy's out of his mind.
That's Don Lemon talking aboutwhite people into violence and
laziness at her computer.
I mean, listen, the devil wantsracial warfare, the devil wants
political warfare, the devilwants vaccine warfare, the devil
wants society warfare, the devilwants Democrats and Republicans
(13:25):
going at each other.
This is all the works of theenemy.
He's here to kill and destroyand to lie.
That's Don Lemon talking aboutwhite people, Republicans.
Meanwhile, his lovers are fromwhat I can see online were
white.
His relationships are with whitepeople as well.
(13:47):
So I'm assuming he's talkingabout conservative white people.
This man is the devil.
That is an example of a kingdomdestroyer of heaven and a
kingdom builder of hell.
If I've ever seen one.
So listen, why do I say that?
(14:09):
And by the way, I'm talking alittle slower, a little quieter,
because I am at the vineyard,and there are people relaxing
and enjoying their days, and Iwant to upset them.
I uh mainly because I was at alunch with my wife, and there's
a table next to us in SaintEmilion, Bordeaux, and there
were two Asian gentlemen with anAustralian gentleman.
(14:33):
The Asian gentleman, one livedin China, one lived in America,
and one and the Australiangentleman lived in Australia.
Only because I was eavesdroppingdo I know this.
And they're having conversationsabout X, Y, and Z politically
and Trump, etc.
And I just had to sit there andjust shut up.
(14:54):
And I was annoyed.
It ruined my lunch.
Ah, no, it didn't.
I didn't give them that muchpower.
I got to look at my beautifulwife across the table, enjoy
some great uh Cine Million rightbank wines and a great goose
dish.
So it really didn't ruin my day.
However, it would have beengreat if they just didn't have
(15:16):
that conversation right next tome.
So I try to have the samerespect to people.
Now listen, let's go to what isa spiritual battle.
So again, I'm talking a littlelower than Buddy usually talks
because I want to show respectto anyone that might be, you
know, 50 yards away from me,because you can hear me 100
yards or two miles away.
Anyone knows me knows that.
Okay, finally.
(15:37):
So here's I'm gonna read to youEphesians 6, 10, through, I
believe it's 25, I believe.
I'll uh we'll summarize it whenI get there.
This is the armor of God.
Finally, this is Paul writing touh this is the letter to
Ephesians, so it's Ephesians 5.
I'm sorry, Ephesians 6, 10 on.
(16:00):
Finally, be strong in the Lordand his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God sothat we can make, so that we can
take your strong stance againstthe devil's schemes.
So this is something that I'velearned in reading the Bible and
attending church and going toBible studies and being around
(16:21):
biblical scholars, the armor ofGod, right?
So I'm gonna read that againbecause it's a big deal, the
armor of God, and we're gonnaget into what exactly does the
armor of God look like.
And visualize yourself living inthe times when Paul was writing
this.
Finally, be strong in the Lordand in his mighty power.
(16:42):
Put on the full armor of God sothat you can take your stand
against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities,and against the powers of this
dark world, and against thespiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.
Folks, right there.
This is what I've been talkingabout for the past two or three
(17:04):
episodes.
What is the spiritual battle?
What is a spiritual battleyou've been hearing from
Christians since Charlie Kirk'sdeath at Charlie Kirk's uh
services that were viewed byover a billion people, that Don
Lemon also made fun of andcalled the national Christian,
uh nationalized Christianmovement, a call to arms.
Yes, it is.
It's a call to faith, it's acall to speak out.
(17:26):
And I'm gonna look for that clipas well.
But right now, let's focus onwhat is a spiritual battle.
Finally, be strong in the Lordand his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God sothat you can make your stance
against the devil's schemes.
For your struggle is not againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities,against the powers of this dark
(17:51):
world, and against the spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
realms.
Therefore, put on the full armorof God, so that when the day of
evil comes, you may be able tostand your ground.
And after you have doneeverything to stand, stand firm
then with the belt of truth.
(18:12):
Right?
Hear that gang.
Stand firm then with the belt oftruth buckled around your waist.
Okay, that's the Bible, with thebreastplate of righteousness in
place, and with your feet fit itto the readiness that comes from
the gospel's peace.
In addition to all this, take upthe shield of faith with which
(18:35):
you can extinguish all flamingarrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation andthe sword of the spirit, which
is the word of God, and pray inspirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert andalways keep on praying for all
(18:57):
the Lord's people.
Pray also for me, whatever Ispeak, that whatever I speak,
words may be given to me, sothat I will be fearlessly make
them knowing the mystery of thegospel, for which I am the
ambassador.
In claims, and chain, I am theambassador in chains.
(19:19):
Pray that I may declarefearlessly as I should.
Pray that I may declare it, thatI may declare it fearlessly,
fear fearlessly as I should.
I mean, this is Paul.
Let's go over the part wherehe's saying, Pray for me again.
Pray in the spirit on alloccasions for the with all kinds
(19:42):
of prayers and requests, withthis in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for allthe Lord's people.
Pray also for and whatever Ispeak, so that the words may be
fearless.
Make known the mystery of thegospel, for which I am an
(20:03):
ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare itfiercely, fierce, fearlessly, as
I should.
Ephesians 10 through 18, we justread.
So this is Paul, a man of God,who the who used to be a hunter
of Christians, of Jewishconverts to Christianity, these
(20:24):
Jesus lovers.
Paul would hunt them down.
He was a biblical scholar.
He is on the way to go getChristians and imprison them,
kill them, drag them on a horse,whatever he did.
And Jesus knocks him off thehorse after Jesus is his Holy
Spirit's now among us.
He's been crucified, he's raisedfrom the dead, now he's living
(20:46):
in the kingdom.
So now Paul sees him on the roadto Damascus, and Jesus blinds
him.
And that's once I was blind, nowI see.
Well, that's a Paul, ApostlePaul reference.
So Paul was Simon, he becomesPaul after uh his instructions
and his his encounter with JesusChrist as a spirit, and then
(21:11):
becomes the largest writer ofthe New Testament on fire for
the Lord.
So here's a man who had anencounter with Jesus saying,
pray for me, that I may declareit fearlessly, fearlessly.
So obviously, fear of declaringthe war the Lord's word is a
real thing.
Charlie Kirk did it fearlessly,fearlessly, and it's something
(21:34):
that more of us have to do inorder to beat this dark demonic
realm.
And we in order to do so, we'rebeing instructed by Paul to put
on a full armor of God.
He's telling us, put on a fullarmor of God.
I highly recommend you dive into610 through 618.
Now listen, we're at 21-minutemark.
I don't like to have thesethings go much longer.
(21:56):
So let me just read somethingelse to you that I really hit me
in my studying of the Bible.
Because I always feel like I'mnot good enough.
I'm not good enough to talkabout the Lord.
I'm sinful, I have a sinfulnature.
And why would I want toembarrass God by being one of
his people?
Okay, so let me let me just seeif I can find something that
(22:18):
really hit me.
Okay, here it is.
I'm gonna read you Romans 18.
So this is Paul writing toRomans, writing uh his writing
in Romans to Rome.
For I know that for I know thatgood itself does not dwell in
(22:38):
me.
That is, in my sinful nature,for I have the desire to do what
is good, but I cannot carry itout, for I do not do the good I
want to do, but the evil I donot want to do.
This I keep doing.
Now, if I do what I do not wantto do, is it no longer I who do
(22:59):
it, but it is the sin living inme that does it.
Let me read that again.
This is Paul, the Apostle Paul,the largest author of the New
Testament, a righteous man doinga work of God, talking about his
imperfections.
Let me read that again.
For I know that the good itselfdoes not dwell in me, that is,
(23:21):
in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do whatis good, I but I cannot carry it
out, for I do not do the good Iwant to do, but the evil I do
not want to do.
So he's doing the evil that hedoesn't want to do, and he's not
doing the good that he wants todo.
One second, do one just knockthat over.
Okay, for I have the desire todo what is good, but I cannot
(23:48):
carry it out.
For I do not do the good I wantto do, but the evil I do not
want to do.
This I keep doing.
Now, if I did what I do not wantto do, is it no longer who I who
do it, but the sin living in me?
So I find this law at work.
(24:09):
Although I wanted to do good,evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being, I delightin God's law, but I see another
law at work in me, waging waragainst the law of my mind, and
making me a prisoner of the lawof sin at work within me.
What a wretched man I am whowill rescue me from this body
(24:33):
that which I am subject todeath, thanks to God who
delivers me through Jesus Christour Lord.
So then I myself in my mind am aslave to God's law, but my
soul's nature but in my sinfulnature, a slave to the law of
sin.
(25:00):
So the point is we're notperfect people.
We are in a spiritual battle.
We need to be reading the Bible,listening to worship music,
being in community, and we needto be praying for not only
ourselves, but for our spiritualleaders, for our rabbis, if
you're Jewish, for our priests,if you're Catholic, for our
(25:24):
pastors, for our ministers, forour group leaders, for our Bible
worship leaders, for our Biblereading leaders, for anyone
doing the kingdom-building work,we need to pray for them.
We need to pray for ourselvesbecause we give in to our sinful
nature, and that's the hypocriteum the hypocrite within us.
I mean, read Genesis 6, chapter6.
(25:47):
Uh, it's pretty mind-blowing onthe sin that we are and how
disgusted God was with usbecause everything we said and
thought and did was pure evil.
And then he found favor in Noah,the flood, the flood came, etc.,
etc.
My point is, I start thispodcast off with sharing
examples of the spiritual battlethat's upon us.
(26:11):
Isaiah 520, 59, 519, 520, 521.
What's sweet is bitter, what'sbitter is sour, what's right is
wrong, what's good is evil,what's evil is good.
We're in an upside-down world.
We've got the media completelyon board with the spiritual
battle that the devil hasinvaded, taken over, and has
(26:35):
become in and of itself, thedevil is be in front of us with
the news that we consume in thedivision that's being created.
Anything or anytime we want todivide, we want to hate, we want
to criticize, we are in a battleand something's taken over us
(26:56):
that is evil.
Those of us in the word canidentify it.
The more we read, the more weescape it.
It doesn't mean that we escapeit.
Paul says it right there in hisletter to the Romans, chapter 7,
verse 18 and on.
It's a spiritual battle.
But without participating in,without diving into the word, we
lose this battle.
But in the end, no matter what,the devil loses.
(27:18):
Okay, we know that Christ'scrucifixion and resurrection
solve the devil's problem.
Now, where do we stand in thisjourney?
Where do we stand?
What are we doing to combatevil?
What are we doing?
Get to church.
And as hard as it is, as it is,don't take the bait.
(27:38):
Because this Don Lemon, boy, doI want to take the bait and just
wring his neck.
But that's the demonic nature inme.
I have to prevail with thekingdom building behavior.
God bless.
Get to church.
We'll talk next Wednesday.
Welcome.
Welcome to the Body Four JuniorShow where we're doing a little
bit of a pivot and we're talkingabout faith.
We're talking about spiritualbattles.
We're talking about anupside-down world since Charlie
Kirk's death and how we'reseeing a movement in this nation
finally and in this world,frankly.
Let's give credit to othercountries of truth and people
(00:35):
being honest and outward withtheir faith.
Doesn't make us perfect.
It just makes us God-fearingpeople that we believe in Jesus
Christ.
We've decided that Jesus Christwas a Lord and Savior, which I
have, my wife has, my twodaughters have.
Praise the Lord, praise God, theKing of the universe, the Alpha,
the Omega.
And just praise Jesus for hishis sacrifice at the cross and
the blood that he shed for us.
(00:58):
Now I'm working on it.
And today, what I want to goover, or what we've talked about
in the past couple episodessince the relaunch here, is
spiritual battles.
I want to go over that today.
And I'm sitting here inBordeaux, France.
I'm in the country at SaintEstef, which is the left bank of
Bordeaux, my favorite region,sitting here staring at a
(01:19):
vineyard.
And we are having a great time.
And I just got news of Israeland the hostages and the
negotiation of what's takingplace.
And it just reminds me of howbiblical this all is.
We're in Barcelona, France.
I'm sorry, Barcelona, Spain,about six days ago.
And there were anti-Israelmarches where I actually saw
(01:41):
visually uh Israel flags with aschwa sticker in the center of
it.
I saw signs of uh pro-Palestineand anti-Jewish.
I saw hate signs, hate America,hate Israel.
And I actually was right there.
I was in front of our hotel theday before we were leaving.
(02:01):
Tens and tens of thousands ofpeople marching and shutting the
streets down.
I had a permit.
It was all legit, so to say.
As well as the fact that ourfirst day that we took a walk
down by the waterfront, therewas uh a march, that same march
going on further down from us.
And I I was a little uh nervous.
Uh my heart was pounding.
(02:23):
For those of you that don'tknow, I actually wear a Star of
David a lot around my chest withmy cross because Jesus is
lineage of David.
David is Old Testament.
Uh he is somebody that isincredible in the Bible, in the
Old Testament, his journey, hisfaith, his sin, his fall from
grace, uh, the human nature ofDavid and the divinity of him.
(02:47):
David was a man made in an imageof God, yet he was so imperfect.
So I have an affinity towardsreading uh scripture with David,
and I do wear the cross of Davidaround my neck to show my
support for Israel, to show myuh connection to the Old
Testament.
And I'd say five, three out ofmy five best friends are Jewish,
(03:12):
and one of them is a devout Jew.
The other two better get to thesynagogue.
I'm gonna I'm giving them a hardtime a lot.
Uh one I'm gonna start giving awhole lot more time to, as far,
I'm sorry, a hard time to.
And these are very three verydear friends of mine.
They're the first ones I I callwhen I have milestones in my
life.
They're the first ones I callwhen I have advice I need.
(03:36):
And I respect and admire themdearly.
So I definitely have a Jewishconnection, not only because my
Christianity, but because of mythree of my five best friends
are Jewish.
Now, for my Gentile friends outthere, you're probably saying,
all right, who are we?
Do we fall in the top five?
Oh man, too much.
But that's not what this podcastis about as far as my
(03:57):
friendships.
However, I do have an affinity,I have a bias towards the Jewish
culture.
Uh, I worked in it, I have a lotof friends in it that are
Jewish.
I was around it.
It's heavily influenced in mybiblical life and my own journey
of my faith, which I'vejournaled immensely about.
And um I like I said, I put aStar of David around my neck
(04:19):
with my cross, which makes forinteresting conversations when
I'm out.
So being in the middle of thisparade, this anti-Israel march,
a lot of things came up.
All right, and I keep going overit, and I don't mean to laugh,
I'm just blown out of the water.
It's not a laugh, it's a I guessI'm just trying to take it down
(04:41):
a notch because I'll startscreaming and yelling on this
podcast.
Isaiah 5.20 and 21.
And I keep saying it everyepisode, but I'm sorry, someone
tell me I shouldn't, someonetell me I'm wrong.
Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil, who put darkness
for light and light fordarkness, who put bitter for
sweet and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise intheir own eyes and clever in
(05:03):
their own sight.
Isaiah 5.20 and 5.21.
I'm gonna read 520 again.
Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil, who put darkness
for light and light fordarkness, who put bitter for
sweet and sweet for bitter.
I thought of that as I'm what asI witnessed this march, this
protest, this anti-Israelprotest, pro-Palestine protest.
(05:26):
And now picture this.
Jen and I are in a foreign city,we don't speak the language, and
I'm a big guy.
For those of you that don'tknow, I lift weights a lot.
I'm a fighter, I'm amulti-national state champion,
junior Olympic champion.
I'm a tough dude.
South Detroit, New York, andit's just it's just the way it
(05:46):
is.
So picture us being in Spain,Barcelona, getting to the
waterfront, and there's no wayto escape this march.
And they're screaming, you canhear them blocks away.
Next thing you know, we'retrying to take detours in the
back roads and the alleyways andthose tall buildings, and we're
trying to evade what's going on.
(06:08):
And we can't eventually we getto a dead end.
We have to cross over in betweenand through the march.
And my wife is like, let's turnaround.
So we can't turn around.
It does take us another hourjust to get home where we
started from, and mypersonality, we complete what we
finish, and she really wanted togo to the waterfront.
(06:28):
And we're we're literally 10more minutes from the
waterfront.
And I got my app, we're at adead end.
There's construction.
We have to cross over throughthis march.
Now my heart is pounding, okay?
And I don't know what's going tohappen.
I don't want to endanger mywife, so I go up to it, to the
sides where people are standingwatching them walk by, and I
(06:51):
don't see any violence, I don'tsee any risk.
And then I see people crossingthe middle like we are, because
we all had to.
We were at a dead end.
And they're making their waythrough, and they did, without
harm, without incident.
So I grabbed my wife's hand andI said, Let's go.
And I walked fiercely throughthe crowd, and I moved, and I'm
(07:14):
moving forward because I can'tgo backward.
I'm moving forward as you likeyou do in any crowd to
eventually get through it.
And as I'm doing it, I'mobviously my alert, like
antennas, a skyscraper ofManhattan, and my heart's
pounding.
Now, I don't want any trouble,but I'm certainly not going to
(07:35):
put up with anything.
And now I have a hard time withthe stance of pro-Palestine.
I'm not anti-Palestine, I'm justpro-Israel.
So I am anti-terrorism, I'manti-Hamas, and we're going to
talk about all that right afterthis conversation.
Here's the deal.
As I'm pulling my wife, she saysto me, You're going too fast.
(07:57):
I'm going, man, just let's getout of this thing.
So we get through it.
And to my surprise, there was alot of young people marching
through or marching, marching tothe pro-Palestine beat with
flags and megaphones.
Young.
When I say young, I mean 18, 17,22.
And the next day, we saw them,or sorry, two days later, we saw
(08:22):
them up by our hotel, and wewere warned it was going to
happen.
So if you've got to leave,you'll be flying out, make sure
you leave early and just beaware of what's going on in
front of the uh hotel.
And this time I took more timeto observe.
It was a wider street, and therewas a lot more people.
And as I'm seeing these youngkids with Palestine signs, like
I mean in a crib and a walker,and then you know, they're
(08:44):
strollers.
And I'm seeing other ones thatare six and seven and are
marching with these anti-Israel,these hate symbols.
I just thought to myself, boy,what is gonna happen when these
kids are older?
Because there's a generation inAmerica, in Spain, and all
(09:05):
around the world that's beingtrained to be anti-Israel.
So, what does that look like in20 years?
I think it looks frightening.
And my wife went into Safara toget something because we're
leaving that day, and I'msitting there watching the
aftermath, the people who arestill around strolling and
getting back to their homes,going down to the subway, and
(09:27):
I'm seeing all these signs.
And my wife comes out, she goes,You're alright, you alright?
And I just said, Hun, I'm blownout of the water.
By the way, there was noviolence, it was peaceful.
I gotta give credit wherecredit's due.
However, there was also noopposition.
Like there was nobody with apro-Israel sign or pro-America
(09:48):
sign walking around.
I certainly didn't have one.
There was no oppositionwhatsoever, which probably is
why it was peaceful.
I gotta imagine if it was apro-Israel march, shit hit would
have hit the fan, but that's aconversation that we can't have
because I didn't see it.
And here I am observing this,and I'm just saying to myself,
(10:10):
Israel has a marketing problem.
Israel has a marketing problem.
They have a marketing problem,they have a social media
problem, they have a TikTokproblem.
Because the only way you canindoctrinate all these young
kids that are marching and theseyoung families is if you have
established some type of onlinepresence to manipulate minds
(10:33):
away from truth.
And they did.
Hamas did.
They literally must have anoffice filled with people who
are online creating content forpeople to hate Israel.
And it's working.
Uh so Israel has a battle tofight digitally, and believe it
or not, they have a marketingbattle.
(10:56):
And I think Christians also havea marketing battle.
I think God marketing is goingto be something that we must
lean into and not be afraid of,talking about our faith to
reverse the trend that Iwitnessed.
And what I did witness is thosewho call evil good and good
evil, who put darkness for lightand light for darkness, who put
(11:19):
bitter for sweet and sweet forbetter, marching for
pro-Palestine, anti-Israel,Israel from the river to the sea
is a Hamas executed marketingprogram.
And it's scary.
And let's dive into that.
Let's dive into the spiritualwarfare.
(11:39):
This is a spiritual warfare.
This is the devil's work.
And let's play a click, uh, aclip from Don Lemon, who's just
an idiot.
Let's just be real.
He's an idiot.
Let's do some truth telling.
Listen to this clip.
When you do, think about whatI've been saying.
What's right is wrong, what's upis down, what's black is white.
(12:01):
It's just an upside-down world.
So here's a clip where I am as Iplayed this earlier.
I'm on a vineyard staring at abeautiful chateau in these
beautiful vines in my heart.
I want to work through thepardon me, Jesus, pardon me,
God.
I want to work through the phoneand grab Don Lemon.
Here we go.
SPEAKER_00 (12:21):
White men, something is broken.
Something is cracked deep insidewhen so many of you believe the
answer to fear, to loss, tochange is violence.
(12:41):
Are you listening to me?
I hope I'm saying it loud enoughfor the people in the back.
Wake up, white men! What the fis wrong with you?
Because you're lazy and sittingin front of a computer or a
phone and you're just eating itup.
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01 (13:03):
This guy's out of his mind.
That's Don Lemon talking aboutwhite people into violence and
laziness at her computer.
I mean, listen, the devil wantsracial warfare, the devil wants
political warfare, the devilwants vaccine warfare, the devil
wants society warfare, the devilwants Democrats and Republicans
(13:25):
going at each other.
This is all the works of theenemy.
He's here to kill and destroyand to lie.
That's Don Lemon talking aboutwhite people, Republicans.
Meanwhile, his lovers are fromwhat I can see online were
white.
His relationships are with whitepeople as well.
(13:47):
So I'm assuming he's talkingabout conservative white people.
This man is the devil.
That is an example of a kingdomdestroyer of heaven and a
kingdom builder of hell.
If I've ever seen one.
So listen, why do I say that?
(14:09):
And by the way, I'm talking alittle slower, a little quieter,
because I am at the vineyard,and there are people relaxing
and enjoying their days, and Iwant to upset them.
I uh mainly because I was at alunch with my wife, and there's
a table next to us in SaintEmilion, Bordeaux, and there
were two Asian gentlemen with anAustralian gentleman.
(14:33):
The Asian gentleman, one livedin China, one lived in America,
and one and the Australiangentleman lived in Australia.
Only because I was eavesdroppingdo I know this.
And they're having conversationsabout X, Y, and Z politically
and Trump, etc.
And I just had to sit there andjust shut up.
(14:54):
And I was annoyed.
It ruined my lunch.
Ah, no, it didn't.
I didn't give them that muchpower.
I got to look at my beautifulwife across the table, enjoy
some great uh Cine Million rightbank wines and a great goose
dish.
So it really didn't ruin my day.
However, it would have beengreat if they just didn't have
(15:16):
that conversation right next tome.
So I try to have the samerespect to people.
Now listen, let's go to what isa spiritual battle.
So again, I'm talking a littlelower than Buddy usually talks
because I want to show respectto anyone that might be, you
know, 50 yards away from me,because you can hear me 100
yards or two miles away.
Anyone knows me knows that.
Okay, finally.
(15:37):
So here's I'm gonna read to youEphesians 6, 10, through, I
believe it's 25, I believe.
I'll uh we'll summarize it whenI get there.
This is the armor of God.
Finally, this is Paul writing touh this is the letter to
Ephesians, so it's Ephesians 5.
I'm sorry, Ephesians 6, 10 on.
(16:00):
Finally, be strong in the Lordand his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God sothat we can make, so that we can
take your strong stance againstthe devil's schemes.
So this is something that I'velearned in reading the Bible and
attending church and going toBible studies and being around
(16:21):
biblical scholars, the armor ofGod, right?
So I'm gonna read that againbecause it's a big deal, the
armor of God, and we're gonnaget into what exactly does the
armor of God look like.
And visualize yourself living inthe times when Paul was writing
this.
Finally, be strong in the Lordand in his mighty power.
(16:42):
Put on the full armor of God sothat you can take your stand
against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities,and against the powers of this
dark world, and against thespiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.
Folks, right there.
This is what I've been talkingabout for the past two or three
(17:04):
episodes.
What is the spiritual battle?
What is a spiritual battleyou've been hearing from
Christians since Charlie Kirk'sdeath at Charlie Kirk's uh
services that were viewed byover a billion people, that Don
Lemon also made fun of andcalled the national Christian,
uh nationalized Christianmovement, a call to arms.
Yes, it is.
It's a call to faith, it's acall to speak out.
(17:26):
And I'm gonna look for that clipas well.
But right now, let's focus onwhat is a spiritual battle.
Finally, be strong in the Lordand his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God sothat you can make your stance
against the devil's schemes.
For your struggle is not againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities,against the powers of this dark
(17:51):
world, and against the spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
realms.
Therefore, put on the full armorof God, so that when the day of
evil comes, you may be able tostand your ground.
And after you have doneeverything to stand, stand firm
then with the belt of truth.
(18:12):
Right?
Hear that gang.
Stand firm then with the belt oftruth buckled around your waist.
Okay, that's the Bible, with thebreastplate of righteousness in
place, and with your feet fit itto the readiness that comes from
the gospel's peace.
In addition to all this, take upthe shield of faith with which
(18:35):
you can extinguish all flamingarrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation andthe sword of the spirit, which
is the word of God, and pray inspirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert andalways keep on praying for all
(18:57):
the Lord's people.
Pray also for me, whatever Ispeak, that whatever I speak,
words may be given to me, sothat I will be fearlessly make
them knowing the mystery of thegospel, for which I am the
ambassador.
In claims, and chain, I am theambassador in chains.
(19:19):
Pray that I may declarefearlessly as I should.
Pray that I may declare it, thatI may declare it fearlessly,
fear fearlessly as I should.
I mean, this is Paul.
Let's go over the part wherehe's saying, Pray for me again.
Pray in the spirit on alloccasions for the with all kinds
(19:42):
of prayers and requests, withthis in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for allthe Lord's people.
Pray also for and whatever Ispeak, so that the words may be
fearless.
Make known the mystery of thegospel, for which I am an
(20:03):
ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare itfiercely, fierce, fearlessly, as
I should.
Ephesians 10 through 18, we justread.
So this is Paul, a man of God,who the who used to be a hunter
of Christians, of Jewishconverts to Christianity, these
(20:24):
Jesus lovers.
Paul would hunt them down.
He was a biblical scholar.
He is on the way to go getChristians and imprison them,
kill them, drag them on a horse,whatever he did.
And Jesus knocks him off thehorse after Jesus is his Holy
Spirit's now among us.
He's been crucified, he's raisedfrom the dead, now he's living
(20:46):
in the kingdom.
So now Paul sees him on the roadto Damascus, and Jesus blinds
him.
And that's once I was blind, nowI see.
Well, that's a Paul, ApostlePaul reference.
So Paul was Simon, he becomesPaul after uh his instructions
and his his encounter with JesusChrist as a spirit, and then
(21:11):
becomes the largest writer ofthe New Testament on fire for
the Lord.
So here's a man who had anencounter with Jesus saying,
pray for me, that I may declareit fearlessly, fearlessly.
So obviously, fear of declaringthe war the Lord's word is a
real thing.
Charlie Kirk did it fearlessly,fearlessly, and it's something
(21:34):
that more of us have to do inorder to beat this dark demonic
realm.
And we in order to do so, we'rebeing instructed by Paul to put
on a full armor of God.
He's telling us, put on a fullarmor of God.
I highly recommend you dive into610 through 618.
Now listen, we're at 21-minutemark.
I don't like to have thesethings go much longer.
(21:56):
So let me just read somethingelse to you that I really hit me
in my studying of the Bible.
Because I always feel like I'mnot good enough.
I'm not good enough to talkabout the Lord.
I'm sinful, I have a sinfulnature.
And why would I want toembarrass God by being one of
his people?
Okay, so let me let me just seeif I can find something that
(22:18):
really hit me.
Okay, here it is.
I'm gonna read you Romans 18.
So this is Paul writing toRomans, writing uh his writing
in Romans to Rome.
For I know that for I know thatgood itself does not dwell in
(22:38):
me.
That is, in my sinful nature,for I have the desire to do what
is good, but I cannot carry itout, for I do not do the good I
want to do, but the evil I donot want to do.
This I keep doing.
Now, if I do what I do not wantto do, is it no longer I who do
(22:59):
it, but it is the sin living inme that does it.
Let me read that again.
This is Paul, the Apostle Paul,the largest author of the New
Testament, a righteous man doinga work of God, talking about his
imperfections.
Let me read that again.
For I know that the good itselfdoes not dwell in me, that is,
(23:21):
in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do whatis good, I but I cannot carry it
out, for I do not do the good Iwant to do, but the evil I do
not want to do.
So he's doing the evil that hedoesn't want to do, and he's not
doing the good that he wants todo.
One second, do one just knockthat over.
Okay, for I have the desire todo what is good, but I cannot
(23:48):
carry it out.
For I do not do the good I wantto do, but the evil I do not
want to do.
This I keep doing.
Now, if I did what I do not wantto do, is it no longer who I who
do it, but the sin living in me?
So I find this law at work.
(24:09):
Although I wanted to do good,evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being, I delightin God's law, but I see another
law at work in me, waging waragainst the law of my mind, and
making me a prisoner of the lawof sin at work within me.
What a wretched man I am whowill rescue me from this body
(24:33):
that which I am subject todeath, thanks to God who
delivers me through Jesus Christour Lord.
So then I myself in my mind am aslave to God's law, but my
soul's nature but in my sinfulnature, a slave to the law of
sin.
(25:00):
So the point is we're notperfect people.
We are in a spiritual battle.
We need to be reading the Bible,listening to worship music,
being in community, and we needto be praying for not only
ourselves, but for our spiritualleaders, for our rabbis, if
you're Jewish, for our priests,if you're Catholic, for our
(25:24):
pastors, for our ministers, forour group leaders, for our Bible
worship leaders, for our Biblereading leaders, for anyone
doing the kingdom-building work,we need to pray for them.
We need to pray for ourselvesbecause we give in to our sinful
nature, and that's the hypocriteum the hypocrite within us.
I mean, read Genesis 6, chapter6.
(25:47):
Uh, it's pretty mind-blowing onthe sin that we are and how
disgusted God was with usbecause everything we said and
thought and did was pure evil.
And then he found favor in Noah,the flood, the flood came, etc.,
etc.
My point is, I start thispodcast off with sharing
examples of the spiritual battlethat's upon us.
(26:11):
Isaiah 520, 59, 519, 520, 521.
What's sweet is bitter, what'sbitter is sour, what's right is
wrong, what's good is evil,what's evil is good.
We're in an upside-down world.
We've got the media completelyon board with the spiritual
battle that the devil hasinvaded, taken over, and has
(26:35):
become in and of itself, thedevil is be in front of us with
the news that we consume in thedivision that's being created.
Anything or anytime we want todivide, we want to hate, we want
to criticize, we are in a battleand something's taken over us
(26:56):
that is evil.
Those of us in the word canidentify it.
The more we read, the more weescape it.
It doesn't mean that we escapeit.
Paul says it right there in hisletter to the Romans, chapter 7,
verse 18 and on.
It's a spiritual battle.
But without participating in,without diving into the word, we
lose this battle.
But in the end, no matter what,the devil loses.
(27:18):
Okay, we know that Christ'scrucifixion and resurrection
solve the devil's problem.
Now, where do we stand in thisjourney?
Where do we stand?
What are we doing to combatevil?
What are we doing?
Get to church.
And as hard as it is, as it is,don't take the bait.
(27:38):
Because this Don Lemon, boy, doI want to take the bait and just
wring his neck.
But that's the demonic nature inme.
I have to prevail with thekingdom building behavior.
God bless.
Get to church.
We'll talk next Wednesday.
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