AM Show Hr 1 | It Was A Revival

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time time time, luck and load.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Arry Show is.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
On the air. Out looking into Mica week. You gotta
feed ay bead. I don't plan to shave, and it's
good thing, but I just gotta see I'm doing all right?

(00:33):
Will you come make me support. It's I'm beating Verdy Doune.
That's the truth.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
It's neither drinking, no drug and noool.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I'm just doing all right. It's a great tad be
alive and no suns still.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Shining in a close my eyes.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
It's hard times in the neighbors, but whyk in Every day.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
During my middle school and high school years, I would
travel with a friend who was a mentor, was older
to me named Scott Freeland. And Scott had gone to
my same high school, Orangefield High School, where he was
something of.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
A legend because he was a fighter.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Wasn't very big, but he was the guy that if
some other if a bully of another school was bothering
somebody at our school, Scott will walk up to him,
be a crowd, there's gonna be a fight, and usually
there's gonna be a lot of smack talking and slapping
and holding your head. He'd just walk up and punch
him in the face and knock him out lights out, and.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Wasn't all that big.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
He was devilishly good looking and tough, and I admired him.
He'd been raised without a dad and his grandmother. His
mother and his grandmother separately had kind of raised him
by committee, and he had really thrown himself into his faith,

(02:19):
and he was on his way to preaching. He ended
up preaching on the side and working in a plant
but at the time he was getting more and more involved,
and I would ride with him in his little toilet
of silica to revivals where he would preach, and I
can remember thinking the whole world was on fire for

(02:41):
Jesus because everywhere we were, they were and it was
such an invigorating time for me. And my mother knew
this was a good influence all my life, so I
could pretty much go anywhere that Scott was going if
he wanted somebody to trail trail along. I looked up
to him.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
He was probably.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Ten years older than me and a very, very, very
positive influence for me. When I watch what happened yesterday
at they're calling it a Charlie Kirk memorial, but it
was a revival is what it was, a bringing back
to life, a new awakening. I see a level of excitement. Look,

(03:29):
you can see a level of excitement at the Republican
National Convention. You can see a level of excitement at
political or religious gatherings. The question is in your own community,
what do you see? And that is where I see
and hear and feel the vibrations of a revival, and

(03:52):
I think everybody was ready for it. I think people
are ready to engage in a deeper way with family,
with friends, with their workplace, with their community, and live
out their faith in a way that is meaningful. And

(04:13):
that is what I think this whole. I think that's
what the assassination has brought. And interestingly, I think I
think if the Left had said this is wrong, this
is awful, let's bring the temperature down. We're going to

(04:33):
show up at his memorial to show the country that
we know this was wrong. We're not at fault. They
could have said this, we're not at fault necessarily, but
could we tamp down the rhetoric. Sure we could, and
let's all do that together. Let's hold hands and less
mourn a father, a husband, and a man who was

(04:58):
passionate about this country. But they did they they did
the exact opposite. They call him nasty names, and that
has led a lot of people to say, well, if
he's all these horrible things, let me go to the
body of work, and there's a lot out there and
see what he's done, and let me see for myself.

(05:21):
Why would they say that if it wasn't true. Well,
it turns out, of course it's not true. In fact,
quite the opposite. Like many of you have watched more
Charlie Kirk over the last going on two weeks on
Wednesday than I ever did before, and I'm amazed. I'm

(05:41):
truly astounded by the patients he exhibits in listening to people,
by the patients he exhibits when they keep cutting him off,
when they keep jabbing in the middle. I'm I'm gobsmacked.

(06:02):
How on earth he could he or why he would
continue to take this nonsense. People just show up to
hurl insults, and they don't know anything about what they're
talking about. When they call him these names or say
these things, they're just upset and they've heard things. And

(06:22):
yet I think his ministry is powerful because it is
an act of faith for him every single day. And
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I think
that Charlie Kirk was an evangelist more than a political organizer,
and I think that will be his legacy, a far
bigger legacy.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
May I say?

Speaker 1 (06:43):
Well, we will talk this evening more about the revival
that occurred yesterday, although that will be a part of
what we do today. And I'm going to ask of
you if you watched or if you have found yourself
over the last two weeks engaged in a personal revival,

(07:03):
then what is that commitment you've made? What concrete commitment
have you made, whether that be a Christian faith renewal
or whether that be a political renewal, activism, engagement, whatever
that is, I'm going to ask you what that is.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
But hold because for a couple of.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Segments, we're going to talk to a young man named
Jack Robertson who was at Stratford High School, which applied
for a Turning Point USA chapter.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
After Charlie Kirk was.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Assassinated, and this Belgian immigrant Natalie Herpes got involved. She's
part of these Spring Branch Democrats, and she released the
names of all these kids miners, mind you, and the
sponsors at the school. In an effort to intimidate them,

(07:55):
she encouraged the members on her seven hundred and thirty
strong Facebook page to intimidate the kids and the school
and the school sponsors, the teachers who agreed to be
sponsors for these kids.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
And it got national attention. And so Jack.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Robertson, one of the core of the kids organizing that group,
Stratford High School is our guests. This star Timwad, I
started getting emails and alerts from folks on the national

(08:37):
scale about something that was happening in my own backyard
of which I was not aware, and that is that
at Stratford High School in the Spring Branch Independent School District,
some young folks, after Charlie Kirk's assassination, had applied for
a Turning Point USA chapter. And this woman, this liberal

(09:03):
activist woman who presumably lives in the neighborhood. She's part
of a group called Spring Branch Act Spring Branch Democrats.
Her name is Natalie Herpin that she had sent out
an email to a group of seven hundred and thirty
people trying to shut down this chapter. And I heard

(09:24):
from A Cory Morrow, the singer went to Stratford High School.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
He reached out to me.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
A lot of folks locally all the way up to
the national level, said you know, you need to know
what's going on here. And I thought, well, first of all,
adults should not be getting involved in kids organizations. If
there was an act of violence and you were stopping it,
that'd be one thing. But this is a group of

(09:49):
kids starting a chapter and an adult trying to butt in.
This is the worst. This is bullying, is what it is.
One of the folks who applied for that chapter's name
is Jack Robertson, and I'm delighted to have him as
our guest.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Jack, Welcome to the program.

Speaker 4 (10:10):
Howdy, miss Berry. Thank you for having me on.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
So did I hear you're a freshman?

Speaker 4 (10:17):
No, sir, I am a junior at Shepherd High School.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
You're a junior, Okay. I was about to say, that's
a lot to come blazing in and already be starting
a chapter. So tell me about what was going on
with you that you wanted to start this chapter. Why
did you want to do that, what.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Led to that?

Speaker 4 (10:34):
So you know, I got to give credit where credit
is due. There's two boys at my school that had
originally reached out to Turning Point to start the chapter,
and there is a group of about fourteen of us
really pushing for it, along with about three hundred others
that have engaged in given interest in the club. But

(10:54):
for me personally, you know, I love the idea of
the club and be able to be a leader for
the other students at our school and hopefully inform, advocate
or excuse me, inform, educate and teach them to advocate
for themselves and what they believe in.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
And so, had you started a club before, how did
y'all know what the process was?

Speaker 4 (11:23):
No, sir, So this is my first club to like
officially start and not just join. But we've kind of
just been winging it and we've reached out to sponsors
and we've all last week we weren't in our homeroom period,
which were able to do. We were going around asking

(11:43):
teachers if they'd be willing to sponsor us, and we
were trying to just get the clubs started and do
what we needed to do.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
And the teachers that did, I'm trying to remember was
one of them a soccer coach.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
I don't know exactly what their positions were, but they
were willing to help out, and we appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Of course, they've got a lot of things going on already,
and now they're adding one more thing to their to
their plate, and that's not an easy thing. So you
go and you get a sponsor. I guess you fill
out the paperwork, y'all started an Instagram page. As I understand,
I don't know these things to be true, Jack, I'm
just telling you what's what's been written.

Speaker 4 (12:32):
You're on the right course.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
And then what happened.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
So we had reached out to potential sponsors and we
had talked about it on our group to me and
the word had gotten out about that, but they were
just potential, they weren't official yet. And then when the
news had leaked about that things had changed a little bit.
We had gotten a little we had faced a little

(12:59):
bit of a setback. But besides that, it just kind
of motivated us to keep pushing and keep going forward,
and we reached out to some more teachers and got
teacher support.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
And that setback was that because of external pressures of
this this group. I was mentioning, yes.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
Sir, it was, but that's that's being taken care of
now and that's out of our hands.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
And so what has been the response from your peers
when they found out Because Charlie Kirk has been in
the news, TPA, U s A has been in the news.
How have your peers reacted, if at all, to this.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
So we've actually just been invigorated. I guess you could say,
you know, we've been inspired to keep going. We've been motivated.
We want to keep our heads up and just being
mature about it all, of course, but we're just we're
trying to keep on pushing and get our clubs started,
and we've never felt more motivated to do so well.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
And what do you hope to accomplish with us? What
would be a success?

Speaker 4 (14:07):
So with our club kind of a model or phrase
we're workshopping right now I had said earlier is inform,
educate and advocate, And what that means is we want
students to we want to inform them about knowledge of
events happening in a local, national, and global scale. We

(14:29):
want to educate them on their rights, constitution and the
importance of their voice and their vote, and we want
to inspire them to advocate for themselves so that when
push comes to shove or they're faced with discussion or setback,
they're able to stand firm and their values and their beliefs,
and we just we hope to create leaders for the

(14:52):
next generation.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
You know you're supposed to be nervous to be on
the radio. You don't seem terribly.

Speaker 4 (14:59):
Nervous, No, sir, I've got some pretty good parents that
have helped prepare me well.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Folks know that my policy is I don't speak directly
to miners.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
I asked that the parents be brought in.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
So I did have a nice long conversation with your
father yesterday evening last evening about all of this, and
obviously he's protective of his son and proud of his son,
but he was also eager that you share your story.
And I got to say, the fruit doesn't fall very

(15:32):
far from the tree. You must have very very good
parents because you say yes sir, no, sir, which puts
you ninety percent of the way to people liking you
before you ever start. So you've got very good parents.
I can already tell Jack, can you hold with me
for just a moment. I want to continue our conversation,
all right, hang tip understand Jack Robertson at Stratford High

(15:56):
School the group that applied for the TPUSA Chatre. There
was some outside interferences. Our guests coming out the big
honor to be living in the United States. Well, look
come from Jack Roberts, junior at Stratford High School in

(16:16):
the Spring Branch Independent School District, is part of a
group of young folks who applied for a Turning Point
USA tp USA chapter. After Charlie Kirk was assassinated. They
went around and followed the procedures, got their sponsors, and
an outside group of liberal leftist activists Spring Branch Independent

(16:37):
School or Spring Branch Democrats, tried to intervene try to
stop the kids from starting a group which is just
crazy to me, just crazy to me. And maybe, you
know what, maybe this will turn out to be the
first uh in a series of challenges these young people
will face and have to overcome in order to be
successful in their lives. Jack robertson our guest, Jack, what

(17:02):
has been the reaction of young people You're a junior
at the high school to Charlie Kirk's assassination.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
Honestly, there's been lots of reactions about it. I remember
I was thinking a quiz, so I wasn't able to
hear when it had first happened. But when I got
in my car after school, my friends had all called me,
texted me talking about what had happened, and we were
all scared because he was a wonderful leader for the
youth and America. And that seems to be the idea

(17:33):
that many people have had, is how can we continue
what he's started and continue his legacy, to make sure
that his death does not just stade away.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
You know, I think that's fair to say.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
You know, I was a sophomore in high school when
the Challenger space shuttle exploded, and I remember it. It
really really affected me. And shortly after graduation from high school,
the Berlin Wall came down, and I remember, perhaps more
so than today, having a very heightened awareness of these

(18:10):
major events and how they were going to affect the
world going forward. And I think that this event is
going to We'll see what the reaction is, but in
the early days, I have to say it's an event
that twenty thirty years from now will still be talking about,
not just because of a trigger that was pulled, but
because of the awakening that occurred. Have you noticed that

(18:33):
young people are perhaps more eager to get involved now
because of this than maybe they would have been before.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
I would agree. I think it's awakened someone inside of people.
I think people want to stand up for what they
believe in more. They want to make sure that what
Charlie stood for continues. They want to make sure that
you know their voices are heard and that what they
believe in is not just going to get drowned out.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
So, without disclosing where it'll be or any of those details,
have y' all planned your first meeting? Have you had
your first meeting? When does that happen?

Speaker 4 (19:14):
So once we get officially recognized by the school, which
we're in the progress or process of doing this week,
we're hoping to have our first meeting, ideally either the
end of this week or next week, and once we
do that, it can be set up. It's gonna be great.
We're gonna have a location, we're gonna share to the members.

(19:34):
It's gonna work out.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
Jack, have you thought about life after high school what
you'd like to do from there?

Speaker 4 (19:41):
Yes, sir, I'd probably like to go into business or law,
hopefully in Texas and university.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
And do you have a Texas A and M history
in your family?

Speaker 4 (19:54):
Big time, yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
And what would you like to study? Do you know?

Speaker 4 (19:58):
Probably business or law? Those two speak to me. I
like to be able to have relationships and hopefully help people.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
And in the course of your high school experience, is
there a course you've taken or particular teacher that really
awakened in you this sort of activism, this desire to engage.
Obviously that comes from your home life. But has there
been one teacher that you would say that teacher really
lit a spark for me.

Speaker 4 (20:30):
Teachers not so much. They do a wonderful job at
teaching us and preparing us, but I haven't really been
inspired by them as much. The credit really goes to
my home life, my parents, my grandparents, the people around
me every day that have helped to raise me and
make me who I am.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
Good for you, now, this case has drawn attention across
the country, a lot of media coverage, a lot of
influencer coverage, a lot of Twitter commentary. Have you heard
from other chapters, from folks outside who've reached out to
y'all to inspire, to guide, to to advise.

Speaker 4 (21:06):
So we've gotten word from just what Attorney General kN
Paxton has said, you know, telling us to keep our
heads up. And a lot of the other posts and
reposts about the viral Twitter post just encouraging the kids
to do keep going. And that's about all. Like the

(21:28):
direct communication we've had besides with you, which we're very
appreciative of, by the way, not just me, but the
whole club. And yeah, that's about That's about the communication
we've had.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
And would you like to give the names of some
of your buds in the group that are that are
fellow leaders so they can hear themselves mentioned.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
Yes, sir so, there's about fourteen of us. I can
list them off. That's okay.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, I want you to list them up, but I
want you to go real slow and and and use
one word to describe each one or one little little
thing about each one real quick.

Speaker 4 (22:03):
Yes, sir so. There's Charlie Dina. He's a great leader
and one of my closest friends. There's Zachary Patrick, he
is another great leader. He's younger stepping up. Same with
Duncan Kirk. The same goes for him as Zachary, both
younger stepping up being great leaders. There's Callan Kirk, Duncan's brother,

(22:28):
and he is a great leader. As well, make sure
he keeps us on task. Then you have Kit Taylor.
Kit is very knowledgeable and wise. He helps make sure
that we stay on the task, just like Callan, and
we don't get sidetracked by the big things. You have
Eloise and Edie Mahan, and they do a lot to

(22:50):
make sure that we know what we're doing. They communicate
with staff at our school and make sure that we're
well on schedule and things of that sort of know
when we're meeting. Same with Sarah Kate Oakland. She does
the same as them, takes notes to make sure that
everybody's involved and included. And then you have Addi Greenway.

(23:12):
She helps with social media and making sure that we
appear nice to the public. Then you've got Jake Curtin.
Jake also helps with notes and communication. Then there is
I'm gonna forget somebody.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Uh oh, Jack, did you do this from memory?

Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (23:33):
Sir, Wow, that's impressive.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
That is super cool, son.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
That is uh that is that.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
Is really really neat. I like that a lot.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
I'm assuming you know about the event this Wednesday evening.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
I don't know if we're allowed to talk about that yet.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
Right, so, uh yeah, I have I have put in
a request while we've been talking to see if that's
going to be public or private invitation only, and if
it is, I will announce it. I know you've got
to get into class and go learn and lead. And
what an honor you give me faith, Jack Robertson, and

(24:16):
you keep the faith because you give me faith in
the youth of this country. Wow, thanks for taking time
for us. Fantastic conversation, Aaron, Thank you so much.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
They remain scared to death of you, and they remain
scared to.

Speaker 3 (24:30):
Death of Trump.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
The Michael Berry Show.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
You're not going anywhere even if Trump does.

Speaker 4 (24:35):
You're not.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Kid even writes a thank you note after the interview.
Thank you, mister Barry so much. Give me the opportunity
to be on your show today.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
It means a lot.

Speaker 1 (24:48):
That was a Twitter direct message.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Which was the only way he had to reach me.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
But I mean he's finished his interview and then he
follows up. Chris Tomlin sang Holy Forever yesterday at the
revival contribute of Charlie Kirk. Today, it is number one
in all genres on iTunes, five of the top ten

(25:19):
songs downloaded on iTunes over the last twenty four hours
or from the Charlie Kirk revival yesterday. Ramon go to
Jim's prep if you would, and there is a clip
from JD Vance and he's speaking at the revival yesterday

(25:44):
and he says he's always been uncomfortable talking about his faith.
It's a very open moment, very raw, very exposed, very
vulnerable moment for j. D. Kirk, and I admire him

(26:04):
for saying this. I think a lot of people probably
feel this.

Speaker 6 (26:07):
Way, a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public.
As much as I love the Lord and as much
as it was an important part of my life, I
have talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two
weeks than I have my entire time in public life.

(26:32):
And that is an undeniable legacy of the great Charlie Kirk.
You know, he loved God, and because he loved God,
he wanted to understand God's creation and the men and
women made in his image.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
So yesterday, while this was gone, we were communicating, messaging
each other as to what the show would look like today,
and we agreed that an alter call of our listeners
you would be the best way that we can honor
what is going on in this country and perhaps in

(27:10):
some small way help it along its way. Poor a
little gas on this fire. So today we ask that
you call and share your new commitment or renewed commitment
to political activism, to American patriotism, to your Christian faith,

(27:32):
whatever that may be. What decision have you made and
what does that look like? What are your action items?
What will you now do that you didn't do? What
accountability will you have for yourself? Seven one three nine
nine nine one thousand seven to one three nine nine

(27:53):
one thousand. We were filming for our movie about the
the July fourth floods. The film is called River of Angels,
and I was with Sean Welling last week, who's the
filmmaker and the director, and he was talking about the
fact that they are now praying as a family nightly,

(28:14):
which was something they didn't do before, and he said,
what happened to Charlie Kirk changed a lot of things
for him and his wife. They have two young daughters,
and it really caused them to focus much more, to

(28:37):
consider things anew that perhaps they had not considered before.
And what would be the traditions, the rituals, the daily
observations that they now want to bake into their process
to make sure that in their home they are a

(28:59):
guy home in the way that they would like to be.
You know, it's interesting because it has made the fringe mainstream.
It has made the seemingly extraordinarily devout much more commonplace,
and I think that's a good thing. Seven one three

(29:20):
nine nine nine one thousand seven one three nine nine
nine one thousand. I have to say of this showman,
Jack Robertson, I'm so impressed with this kid. I'm so
incredibly impressed with this kid. And to know that there
are probably other kids in this chapter who are just
like him. Now, his name was sent to me from

(29:42):
various different sectors, as he's the one in the group
you don't want to talk to.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
I'm sure the others are good as well.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
And maybe it was that his parents have mutual friends
of mine. I don't know what that was, but I'll
tell you for that kid, I am, I am very impressed,
and I am impressed with other young who when they
see something as awful as an assassination, they don't cower,
they don't think, well, maybe that wasn't a good idea.

(30:11):
Let's not go in the water. It's it's too deep. Instead,
they're jumping in there. They're saying, this country is worth saving,
my salvation is worth it. My faith is powerful, and
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
And just this fearlessness in the face of things far

(30:35):
larger than anything they've ever witnessed before. I admire this
a great deal. Seven three nine, nine, nine, one thousand.
Let's start with Lynn. Lynn, you are on the Michael
Berry Show.

Speaker 5 (30:45):
Go ahead, Hey, Michael, how are you today?

Speaker 2 (30:49):
I'm good, sweetheart? Go ahead?

Speaker 5 (30:51):
Can you here?

Speaker 4 (30:52):
Okay?

Speaker 7 (30:53):
Great?

Speaker 5 (30:54):
So I'm a singer. My husband and I have been
musicians for twenty years or so. I'm sixty sixty year old.
I'll let you know. So Saturday, I just don't tell
you what happened.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (31:05):
Saturday night we had a Uh we had a show
out at Connor Lakehouse on Lake Conroe. And first of all,
I've been following you and Charlie for years. My husband
and I had lived in Nashville, so while we were there,
we were following Phil Valentoie. But when we moved back here,
of course I came back to you, so longtime listener.
I love your show. But Saturday night I do go

(31:28):
to the church and uh Montgomery the loans for Cab Church.
And I've been feeling this pool even before Charlie was assassinated.
I was feeling a pool from God to come back
to where I felt he had, you know, had planned
all my life for a music ministry and they just
didn't work out the way I had planned. So we

(31:50):
just got back into singing, you know at UH at
secular venues as they called it when I was growing up.
But Saturday night something happened, and I'm trying not to.

Speaker 7 (32:02):
Saturday night, a young girl had been requested a couple
of songs and they were partner in another song, and
a little later she came out. And I've been really
wanting to do gospel stuff, you know, included in my shows,
because I mean, Dolly has, Willie has, so I was
wanting to get to that point again. But I just
kind of was, you know, nervous about it, like jd.

Speaker 4 (32:26):
Vance was