# Bryce Crawford Meets British Atheist | #68

An episode of [The Next Generation](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1772698742), 3 Mar 2026, 1 h 11 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/107851968/podcast/play/116299173/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-2-2%2F419162132-44100-2-e20b1822e8f2d.mp3

Bryce Crawford is a 22 year old Christian evangelist and podcaster who is best known for sharing Jesus with people in the street. In his teenage years Bryce struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts until an encounter with Jesus changed his life forever. Since that day he has shared the message of God’s love with millions. He is currently in the middle of a US tour: https://jesusinthestreet.org/tourCheck out 321 here: https://321course.com/nextgenTry Jamie AI and use my code ELLIOT to get 20% off: https://www.jamie-ai.com/Bryce on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/brycecrawford/Bryce on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brycecrawfordCHAPTERS00:00 How would you describe Jesus to an alien?01:40 Why do so many young people struggle to come to Jesus?04:45 Elliot’s atheism/agnosticism05:51 Why do we sin?12:22 What’s the biggest lie Satan throws at you?13:32 Elliot’s spiritual journey15:17 What about all the other religions?21:16 Is Christianity just cope?25:55 Does it take more faith to be an atheist?30:20 Are we losing our souls for selfish gain?36:05 Bryce’s rock bottom42:14 What do Christians get wrong about Christianity?45:58 Bryce tackles the trolley problem49:56 Does Gen Z lack bravery?52:49 How do we deal with all the division and evil?58:01 Challenging the leader of the KKK59:47 Bryce’s craziest preaching experience1:02:51 What is happening in Gen Z?1:06:23 The importance of honestly seeking the truth1:09:17 Bryce’s most important messageMy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliotbewick/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elliotbewickX: https://x.com/elliotbewickABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION:In a world saturated by social media and marked by skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and ADHD among Gen Z, young people are growing up in a landscape of chaos and contradiction. While protests swell in city streets and activists hurl soup at famous artworks to demand climate action, a quieter crisis unfolds within - the mental and emotional battles faced by a generation trying to make sense of it all.The Next Generation is hosted by 20-year-old Elliot Bewick, offering a raw and honest look at the world through the eyes of those living in it. Bringing together insight from professionals and young people on the ground, this podcast isn’t here to complain or chase clout. It’s here to bend the arc of the modern world towards solutions, truth and a love for the beautiful adventure of life itself.

## Transcript

[0:00] Bryce Crawford, welcome to the next generation.
[0:01] Dude, thanks man, Thanks for having me.
[0:03] If you had to describe to an alien coming down to earth who
[0:06] Jesus is, how would you do it? An alien coming down to earth
[0:11] wow. I mean I I would tell Jesus
[0:12] exactly what I would tell a human being.
[0:14] I said Jesus Christ was fully man and fully God lived a
[0:17] perfect life that no human being on this earth and I don't
[0:19] believe in extraterrestrial can't live a perfect life either
[0:23] though the sinless life died on the cross and defeated sin and
[0:25] death. The only thing that no creature
[0:28] can defeat on their own. Why do you think Jesus died for
[0:31] our sins rather than other animals and the aliens too?
[0:35] Well, you have to look at the Christian perspective, right?
[0:38] So the Christian is going to believe what the Bible and what
[0:41] Christianity over the course of history teaches, right?
[0:43] And that and the Christian perspective is that God, Yahweh
[0:47] of the Bible created everything in existence in this universe.
[0:50] This ever expanding infinite universe is in the palm of his
[0:53] hand. I love that reference to know,
[0:54] OK, this is how big our God is. An infinite universe rests in
[0:58] the palm of his hand. He is eternal, always has
[1:00] existed, has created everything. And according to God's unique
[1:04] design, he designed human beings to be to be of greater moral
[1:08] value because they're made in the image of God.
[1:11] They have God's imprint and likeness in their life.
[1:13] So every human being is made in God's image and that means that
[1:17] they have this value that not the birds have that not the
[1:20] lilies of the field have. And it's not that God doesn't
[1:22] care about those things. I mean, in Matthew chapter 6,
[1:24] Jesus says, well, God clothes the lilies of the field with
[1:27] their beauty and he takes care of the birds and they don't have
[1:30] to work for their food. So it's not that he doesn't
[1:31] care, but he gives human beings this unique value.
[1:36] And that would just be what the the Bible and the Christian
[1:38] perspective would be. When you put it like that, it
[1:39] sounds pretty good. Why do you think so many young
[1:42] people struggle to come to Jesus?
[1:45] Well, I think the first thing is that having an objective truth
[1:48] ruffles people's feathers when they want to live for what they
[1:50] think their truth is, right? The the scenario of, hey, your
[1:53] truth is your truth and my truth is my truth.
[1:55] That doesn't work out when you think of extremes like rape or
[1:58] when you think of extremes like murder.
[2:01] When you think of extremes like mass genocide, well, your truth
[2:04] to your truth is my truth's my truth.
[2:05] What if Hitler thought what he did was OK?
[2:07] I mean, he obviously did, but you can't tell what Hitler did
[2:10] was wrong. So there has to be some sort of
[2:11] objective truth. And if there is objective truth,
[2:13] the natural desire in a human being for me and for you,
[2:16] whether you believe in Jesus or not, is I want to be selfish.
[2:18] I want to do things that benefit myself.
[2:21] I get a extra glance at myself in the mirror and I start
[2:23] thinking a little too highly of myself, maybe puff my chest up
[2:26] with pride. So that's the natural human
[2:28] desire. And that's what we're born into.
[2:30] We're born into this world of sin.
[2:32] And so I think that's why it can be hard to come to Jesus because
[2:34] people think that their way is the best way.
[2:37] They think that they know themselves better than anyone
[2:39] else. And the Christian perspective
[2:40] would say there's a God has that has uniquely created you, that
[2:44] has designed you, that has given you unique abilities and gifts
[2:46] and has put his imprint on your life.
[2:48] So you're unique and valuable and God is intentional with your
[2:51] life. But because God has created you,
[2:53] what do you think He would know what's best for your life?
[2:56] It's so pervasive, this toxic subjectivity in Gen.
[2:59] Z, especially our generation, where people go.
[3:02] It's my truth, I believe it, so it's true to me.
[3:05] And that's all that matters. And they struggle to break free
[3:08] from that. They view everything through the
[3:10] lens of whatever feels good must be true.
[3:14] And that was probably the misconception I had most of my
[3:17] childhood. Growing up was, well, I'm
[3:20] designed to feel pleasure in what's right.
[3:23] So I'm going to pursue perhaps more hedonistic parts of my
[3:27] life. And it leads to regret.
[3:29] It leads to what you would describe as sin.
[3:32] And I'd say it drags you away from true flourishing.
[3:35] Everything I've done in my life so far as kind of an atheist
[3:39] agnostic, it's been when I've suffered for it, and it's been
[3:43] through sacrifice, through this atheist lens of sacrifice,
[3:47] right? So it feels like there's this
[3:50] misconception in kids our age where just because it feels
[3:54] good, it must be true. Why do you think that's so
[3:58] common in Gen. Z?
[3:59] Well, because feelings are tangible, right?
[4:02] You know, OK, if I get pleasure from this thing, I might drink
[4:04] it more. Oh, my taste buds.
[4:05] I like the way this tastes. I feel OK.
[4:08] I feel the heat. Maybe I like the sun more than I
[4:10] like the cold. Feelings are tangible things.
[4:12] You can't grab feeling in the air, but your body can feel it.
[4:15] And feelings aren't inherently bad.
[4:18] When feelings become masters, that's when it's wrong.
[4:21] Because Bryce gets angry. Bryce may feel like hurting
[4:24] someone. Does that mean it's justified?
[4:25] No, not necessarily. Well, Bryce may feel like doing
[4:29] XY and Z. Does that mean it's right?
[4:31] No, not necessarily. And so I don't think feelings
[4:34] are inherently wrong. It's when they begin to be your
[4:37] master, they begin to be what leads you.
[4:39] And so that is that is the ultimate question.
[4:42] What leads a person? What leads you?
[4:45] And so you said you're atheist or agnostic.
[4:47] Are you at are you say there is no God or I don't know?
[4:51] I have no clue what's going on. Yes, I would say you're more of
[4:54] an agnostic, right? The atheist would say there is
[4:56] no. God, I would say I'm kind of
[4:58] like a weak atheist. It depends, and it's all
[5:00] semantics. There's the philosophical term
[5:02] of atheism versus the more practical term.
[5:04] And usually atheist means I don't believe in God, but it
[5:08] could also just mean a lack of God in your life, right?
[5:12] So I'm agnostic really I would say but but atheist agnostic.
[5:16] Yeah, and, and, and you know, one of my, and I, I love your
[5:18] honesty and your transparency. Like that's one of my favorite
[5:20] things about Alex O'Connor, who's also from the UK as well
[5:24] as he's an honest agnostic. I like that.
[5:27] I like honest people and God can move with honest people.
[5:29] Jesus himself said, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall
[5:32] see God. And I think those that are
[5:34] honest and sincere with God, their reward is him.
[5:37] That's what Jesus is saying. You know, that's, I think that's
[5:39] why some Christians, they say, well, God's not moving in my
[5:41] life and they're like hiding stuff from God.
[5:44] And I'd be like, well, of course God's not moving in your life.
[5:46] You're you're talking to an all knowing God who already knows
[5:48] what you're dealing with, but you're trying to hide something
[5:50] from him that doesn't make sense.
[5:52] Why do you think we sin? Is it because we forego the
[5:56] belief in God actually being more powerful?
[5:58] Is it that the desire is so strong that we lose trust in God
[6:03] actually being good? Why do people sit?
[6:05] I think there's a couple different things.
[6:07] We have to understand the creation narrative that God
[6:09] created human beings, man. Man is man and woman created man
[6:13] to be in a relationship with him.
[6:14] That's a whole purpose of the Garden of Eden.
[6:16] God is walking a relationship with them day in and day out.
[6:18] Now, because we are free creatures, you had the choice to
[6:21] choose to take a sieve of that Celsius which.
[6:23] Is delicious. Which is delicious.
[6:25] And earlier you took a sieve of that monster.
[6:27] You had the choice on which one you were going to pick up right
[6:29] there, right? We are all free creatures
[6:31] because we are free creatures. We have the choice to choose
[6:34] whether we want to follow Jesus or not.
[6:35] And in the garden, Satan deceived man.
[6:38] So, well, God just doesn't want you to eat that because you're
[6:41] going to become greater than God.
[6:42] So he obviously doesn't want you to eat that.
[6:44] Did God really say that? It's interesting how a question
[6:47] caused the fall of humanity in the garden.
[6:49] Did God really say that? And so that's where this fall
[6:52] began. And so because of sin, because
[6:55] God is a just God, there's punishment, right?
[6:57] If you murder someone and then I and then a cop arrests you and
[7:00] then you'll go to Starbucks and get doughnuts, I'm going to have
[7:02] a really big problem that you don't get the justice you
[7:03] deserve. So because human beings
[7:06] rebelled, sin entered into the world.
[7:08] It's not just physical actions of sin.
[7:11] I mean, This is why all of California caught on fire last
[7:14] year. This is why there's war and
[7:16] suffering. It's not just physical action.
[7:18] This curse called sin rampages the world.
[7:21] Now, that's the first reason why people sin.
[7:24] The second reason is what we said earlier is that people
[7:26] think that their way is better than God's way.
[7:28] People are their own gods. When I was born, I didn't come
[7:31] out of the womb going, I love Jesus.
[7:33] I came out of the womb going. Let me serve Bryce, let Bryce
[7:36] serve himself. Let me do whatever I think.
[7:38] And as as you grow up and as you're navigating life,
[7:40] especially at a young age, you're trying to make decisions
[7:44] that benefit yourself. You're trying to learn what it's
[7:45] like to grow up in this world. Which way do am I supposed to
[7:48] look in the road before I cross the road?
[7:50] Am I supposed to do this? Is that really what's best?
[7:52] Or should I just follow when I feel to jump over the road?
[7:54] You know, they're so you're learning to grow and make
[7:56] decisions now. I think This is why Jesus is so
[8:00] important. When I was growing up, I wanted
[8:03] to eat ice cream every day for breakfast.
[8:06] And my parents would say, no, Bryce, you can't eat ice cream
[8:08] every day for breakfast. And I would get mad at my
[8:10] parents really not going to let me eat ice cream.
[8:12] Well, if I would have eaten ice cream every day for breakfast, I
[8:14] might have diabetes and I might have a lot of different issues
[8:17] with my body. So maybe my father didn't know
[8:19] what was best for my life. And in the same way, that's how
[8:22] we have to view God. God is a father and he knows
[8:25] what's best for our life. And so when we sin, we're
[8:28] choosing to slap our dad in the face and say, no, I want to do
[8:31] what's best for Bryce. But when we listen to God, God's
[8:34] not trying to be a cosmic buzzkill to fun.
[8:37] God's not trying to say, oh, well, you can't have sex outside
[8:39] of marriage because I'm I'm trying to make you not have fun.
[8:42] Well, if I have sex with a bunch of random people, I'm probably
[8:44] going to contract a bunch of diseases.
[8:45] I'm probably going to have my emotions hurt many times by
[8:48] people. I'm going to get emotionally
[8:49] attached to people. There's going to be a whole lot
[8:51] of different things that God is trying to kill my fun.
[8:54] So we sin because we want to live for ourselves, but we
[8:57] listen to God not because we have to, but because we want to,
[9:01] because we love it. Why do you think God gives us
[9:03] the instinct to serve ourselves first?
[9:05] Well, God doesn't give us the instinct.
[9:06] That's the thing. God gives us free will because
[9:09] of sin. Sin is the natural desire to
[9:12] serve ourselves. We have to understand, and I
[9:14] think that's a lot of problem with people that don't believe
[9:16] in God is because the inherent desire, and I did this before I
[9:18] became a Christian, God causes suffering.
[9:21] Jesus asks his disciples this question, Matthew chapter 16.
[9:24] He says, who do the people say I am?
[9:25] And we ask ourselves that question every day about God,
[9:28] whoever God may be, who is God, Who's God to you?
[9:31] Who's God to me? We ask ourselves that question
[9:32] every day. And so we tend to blame a lot of
[9:35] suffering on God. God is not the cause of
[9:38] suffering, but God allows suffering.
[9:40] Why does God allow suffering? A couple of reasons.
[9:42] Number one, he's a just God. He has to allow it because we're
[9:45] free creatures. We chose to rebel.
[9:47] The result of rebellion was sin. If we believe God is all
[9:50] powerful, all just, all knowing and righteous, then we have to
[9:53] trust that His standard is the perfect standard because we
[9:56] believe He is all righteous, all good, all just, all powerful.
[9:59] So that's the result of sin. That's why people rebel.
[10:03] The grace of God is that, yeah, no, we don't deserve to be set
[10:07] free from our punishment. We deserve to do our time.
[10:10] But the grace of God is that he did our time for us.
[10:12] Now, God doesn't 'cause it, He allows it.
[10:14] What do we mean? Because we're free creatures, He
[10:16] allows the suffering. Suffering can produce good
[10:18] character. And we see that throughout
[10:19] Scripture. That's a narrative through
[10:20] Scripture. Even Paul, one of the greatest
[10:23] Christians of all time, wrote half the New Testament.
[10:26] He's complaining about a thorn in his side.
[10:29] I have the spiritual issue, the storm.
[10:30] We don't know if it's a sin issue or demonic attack,
[10:33] whatever it may be. But he says I'm grateful for the
[10:35] storm because it keeps me humble and relying on God.
[10:37] So maybe we then have to shift our perspective about suffering.
[10:41] Second point is that maybe suffering, God allows suffering
[10:44] because without the certain thorn in my side, maybe I
[10:46] wouldn't need God. Maybe it wouldn't keep me humble
[10:48] and relying on God. But the third thing is the God
[10:51] of Christianity knows what suffering is like because he
[10:54] suffered with us. The whole narrative of the
[10:56] Scripture shows how God is trying to get close to us.
[10:59] God in the garden created us for relationship.
[11:01] Sin creates this gap. So then the law, 613 laws and 10
[11:04] commandments was God's first way of getting close to us.
[11:06] Here's what righteousness looks like.
[11:08] I'm righteous. Here's practical righteousness.
[11:09] Then he says, I'll give you one further ark of the covenant.
[11:12] I'm going to put my presence inside of a box, carry it to the
[11:14] city's experience, my presence. Then he says, I'll do even 1
[11:17] even better. Jesus is going to take on flesh
[11:20] fully, God fully, man. He's going to live in the same
[11:22] world. He's not going to know what it's
[11:23] going to be like to be mocked, spin on, backstabbed by friends,
[11:27] experience, goods. Palm Sunday was a good Sunday
[11:29] for Jesus. In the following week, the same
[11:31] people that praise him were the same people that nailed him to a
[11:33] cross. He's going to know what it's
[11:34] like to suffer the most gruesome death in human history.
[11:37] Was Jesus Christ recorded in history?
[11:39] And then even further, God says when he ascends into heaven, he
[11:43] says, I give you my Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you.
[11:46] We have become the ark of the covenant, the Tabernacle.
[11:49] Now God can live inside of us. So God's whole desire is to get
[11:53] close to us, so much so that he knew if there's an infinite debt
[11:56] of sin, only an eternal payment can be paid.
[11:59] There's only one thing that's eternal, and that's Jesus Christ
[12:01] who's always existed. We're technically eternal when
[12:04] we die, according to Christianity, heaven or hell,
[12:06] but the one who has always existed is Jesus, and that's who
[12:11] pays the price. So we can look at Jesus and go
[12:13] any God out of any religion, he's the only one that suffers.
[12:16] I mean, yeah, you know, when people suffer in this lifetime,
[12:18] they never get the glory. But Jesus got the glory when he
[12:21] suffered. It's very interesting.
[12:24] You're wearing AT shirt, it says I hate Satan.
[12:27] Yes. What's the biggest lie Satan
[12:29] throws at you? Oh.
[12:31] Man, the biggest lie that Satan throws at me is I'm not good
[12:35] enough. When I was even battling it last
[12:37] night laying in bed. You know, we're about to go
[12:39] across the country and preach the gospel and I'm sitting there
[12:41] laying in bed going, man, I'm not good enough.
[12:43] I'm not worthy. I shouldn't be the one sitting
[12:46] and telling me I shouldn't be sitting here right now talking
[12:48] to you about Jesus. I have no right or reason to
[12:51] tell you about Jesus because I'm not worthy.
[12:53] And to be honest, there is some truth to that.
[12:56] The truth is that I'm not worthy and no human being is worry
[12:58] worthy on my own strength. And I think that's the
[13:02] difference is I have to remember that Jesus Christ is the one who
[13:04] qualifies people. Jesus Christ is the one that
[13:07] calls people in. Jesus Christ is the one that
[13:08] gives me strength. It's the only reason that I'm
[13:10] here. But but that lie can make me
[13:13] spiral sometimes, make me make me feel like I'm not worthy.
[13:19] How did you deal with it? Pray, pray, God, help me, Help
[13:24] me. Please help me.
[13:25] God give me peace. He's the Prince of Peace
[13:27] according to Scripture. Jesus, give me peace.
[13:29] Please give me peace. Yeah.
[13:33] See, I look at that as someone who doesn't believe in God, and
[13:37] I understand completely why someone would and the peace that
[13:41] it would give them, or at least respite perhaps from struggles.
[13:45] And I feel jealous. I envy it.
[13:49] I wish I could believe. And you know, I used to wish for
[13:53] the opposite. I used to wish that I wouldn't
[13:55] believe because I didn't want to sacrifice acting in accordance
[13:59] with what I want. I didn't want to give that up.
[14:02] That was terrifying because it would be a massive
[14:04] inconvenience. The best thing to do would be to
[14:06] live life with myself as the God and the arbiter of everything I
[14:10] do, every action. But then I started investigating
[14:14] further and going down different theological rabbit holes, and I
[14:17] realized that without a God, I don't have any inherent value.
[14:23] I probably don't even have free will, truly.
[14:27] And I struggle with that now. Without a God investigating all
[14:31] of the consequences of my worldview, the logical
[14:34] consistencies I must hold lead me in pretty horrible
[14:38] directions. They lead me to be unable to say
[14:42] truly that life is sacred, that I have free will, that people
[14:46] are equal, and I want that. I also want a God out there that
[14:51] has a plan for me rather than everything just being survival
[14:54] of the fittest rather than the arc of history bending towards
[14:58] the strongest dictator who's narcissistic and selfish and
[15:01] conquered, right? But I just don't feel convinced
[15:07] by it. And I know that it's not a
[15:09] thinking thing but more of an embodied feelings thing.
[15:13] And I've been trying to step away from this kind of
[15:15] philosophy bro attitude that I had before, but I still just
[15:20] can't quite buy into it. I look at all the religions in
[15:22] the world and I looked up the amount, the quantity of
[15:27] different religions in the world, and I was like, yeah,
[15:30] Christianity, it must be dominant.
[15:31] The amount we talk about it and the amount of faith we put in
[15:34] Jesus. It would make sense for like 5
[15:37] billion people out of eight to believe in Jesus because he's
[15:40] the one true Messiah. And I was shocked looking at the
[15:45] amount of Buddhists in the world, at the amount of Muslims.
[15:48] Christianity, I think, is still just about the biggest religion
[15:51] with about 2 billion people worldwide, but it's followed, if
[15:54] not surpassed by Muslims and by all kinds of variations.
[15:59] So when I look at that and just the sheer quantity, I'm like,
[16:03] OK, probabilistically here, no one is really better than the
[16:09] other religion in terms of probably putting their finger on
[16:12] the truth. Like to me, it seems that if I
[16:16] grew up in rural Saudi Arabia, I would have been a Muslim.
[16:20] If I grew up in the West, I would inherit these Christian
[16:23] values. If I grew out elsewhere, grew up
[16:25] elsewhere, I would be a Taoist or a Buddhist or whatever.
[16:28] It feels very location dependent.
[16:29] And I think that's what I struggle with it.
[16:31] It feels like everyone's scrambling for this answer, and
[16:35] they might be touching on the right things, but Jesus is kind
[16:39] of this creation situationally, depending on where you're
[16:42] located. Like, do you think if you grew
[16:44] up in rural Saudi Arabia you'd be a Muslim?
[16:47] I mean, yes, there's a high chance, but you know, when you
[16:50] think about Islam in particular, it's, it's their culture.
[16:54] You know, like here in America with the freedom of religion,
[16:56] like religion for an American is like an add on to their life.
[17:00] And I think we've got it wrong. It it is for for a Mormon, for a
[17:05] Muslim, for a Buddhist, It is their culture, it is their
[17:10] heritage. So the question is, and I don't
[17:13] think it's inherently wrong for you being a philosophy bro and
[17:16] being intellectual. I think it's very, very, I think
[17:19] it can be a strength. It can be a strength and
[17:21] weakness at sometimes because you being an intellectual, you
[17:23] can tend to overthink maybe and go well, how there must be too
[17:26] much. That's the weird thing about
[17:28] faith. Faith is the assurance of things
[17:31] hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.
[17:34] So there's an aspect of this faith in Jesus where I'm going.
[17:39] I'm trusting in something I can't see right now.
[17:42] I'm I'm trusting in something that happened 2000 years ago
[17:45] according to history. The question for me is where is
[17:49] the overwhelming amount of evidence?
[17:50] For example, like with his swamp, the Prophet Muhammad is
[17:55] encountered from the Islamic perspective by the Archangel
[17:58] Gabriel in a cave. 0 eyewitnesses.
[18:02] Well, as an intellectual, right off the bat, the whole reason
[18:05] that we have history, another World War, One World War 2911,
[18:08] all these things happen is because of eyewitness historical
[18:10] accounts. So right off the bat, that has
[18:13] me as an intellectual removed from the situation.
[18:16] Remove Christianity going, well, that already has me going a
[18:20] little bit. There's zero eyewitnesses.
[18:21] So what really happened in The Cave?
[18:23] And when you read Islam, I mean, Muhammad thought that he was
[18:27] being possessed by a demon. If you read the hadiths and he,
[18:30] he goes to his wife and his wife's like, no, no, no, no,
[18:32] you're a prophet, sin from God. And then she takes him to like a
[18:35] Christian believer in the Christians.
[18:37] Like, oh, if that's true, you're definitely a prophet.
[18:39] Couple days later, that dude dies.
[18:41] And so for a period of time, Muhammad tried to basically kill
[18:44] himself multiple times because he thought he's being possessed
[18:46] by a demon until he had finally convinced himself, well, I'm
[18:49] really a prophet. Well, OK, well Mormonism, Joseph
[18:52] Smith discovered these tablets, maybe 2 eyewitnesses supposedly.
[18:58] Still, that kind of makes it 2 eyewitnesses.
[19:01] We're talking 500 eyewitnesses saw Jesus raised from the dead.
[19:05] Now you can't mass hallucinate the same thing.
[19:07] I don't care if you were drunk. It was 9:00 AM.
[19:09] They weren't drunk in the morning.
[19:10] It was too early in the morning to be drunk on wine in that time
[19:12] period. So when I compared just
[19:14] eyewitness accounts on those things to go, OK, I'm, I'm a
[19:16] little more drawn to that. Are there any primary sources
[19:20] evidencing the 500 seeing Jesus? Yeah, I mean, the the scriptures
[19:23] tell us plain and simple right there.
[19:24] Hey, we've got 500 eyewitnesses who have saw Jesus send into
[19:27] heaven. This is the beauty of the
[19:29] Gospels. This is why I love it.
[19:30] Luke was a doctor. Luke was not a disciple.
[19:32] But Luke's whole purpose, because doctors are detailed,
[19:35] very informative. His whole thing was to create
[19:37] the best chronological account of Jesus life.
[19:41] Matthew, walk with Jesus, you're going to get his teachings.
[19:43] John, my favorite gospel for the sole reason he's the only
[19:47] disciple that saw Jesus at the foot of the cross.
[19:50] Imagine trying to record the most gruesome historical death
[19:52] in all of human history. You're the man standing right in
[19:55] front of the cross. That's a perspective I want to
[19:58] know. I want to know what that looked
[20:00] like. And you can look at a non
[20:01] Christian historians, Pliny, the whiny Cornelius Tacitus guys at
[20:05] historians today look back at their history and say these guys
[20:08] were legit. We can trust these guys.
[20:11] Obviously they're not going to say he raised from the tech as
[20:12] they're not Christian, but the accounts of what the day was
[20:15] like, was it dark? Was it light?
[20:17] What happened here? I mean, it's no short of a
[20:20] coincidence that these guys have some pretty, pretty sweet
[20:23] history lining up and so. The preservation of scripture.
[20:26] I mean I could go on but yes location matters.
[20:30] But the thing that gives me hope is Jesus in the Book of
[20:33] Revelation says every nation, tribe and tongue will be
[20:36] represented in heaven. This gives me hope for two
[20:40] reasons. The deep Amazon tribe in the
[20:43] forest of 12 people that have their own language that no one
[20:45] knows how to decipher. Wow.
[20:48] Every nation, tribe and tongue will be represented.
[20:51] So I have to trust that God is going to judge every single
[20:54] person to the best capability because we believe he's
[20:57] righteous, just, and perfect. But that gives me hope for even
[21:00] the deep Amazon tribe, up to the Muslims in Saudi Arabia, up to
[21:05] my friends in Nigeria who are getting persecuted, all the
[21:09] people over there, to the Americans here, to the, to the
[21:12] Taoist monks in China, to everything.
[21:15] It gives me hope, tons of hope. Thomas Cranmer is a very famous
[21:19] Christian. He says what the heart loves,
[21:21] the will chooses, and the mind justifies.
[21:24] And I love this. I think it actually can be used
[21:26] in my atheist framework of the world, which is this idea that
[21:31] actually perhaps we're more guided by our emotions and our
[21:34] deepest convictions that you can't quite grasp in the air.
[21:37] You can't quantify them, but they're somewhere floating
[21:40] about. Whether you believe in the heart
[21:42] or some sort of deep subconscious, they're there.
[21:45] But the way that it concerns me is that I see all of this hope
[21:51] as potentially Cove, right? It's this equivalent of that
[21:55] where you justify after the conviction itself.
[22:00] You don't logic your way through the world.
[22:02] No one does. I don't.
[22:04] I'm guided by my drivers deep down that I've been bestowed
[22:07] with by my parents and the environment and the media that
[22:10] I've consumed and even the food I've eaten and how hydrated I
[22:13] am, right? And after I act on those desires
[22:17] and those drives, I kind of map on an explanation after.
[22:21] And what I'm suspicious of is that Christianity is that for
[22:25] suffering. It is that for people that
[22:28] struggle to see the amount of suffering in the world and they
[22:32] need an explanation. And damn right you should
[22:35] struggle to feel all of that suffering in the world.
[22:37] I do. It makes you cynical and it
[22:39] embitters you. And if you're not careful,
[22:41] you're going to be a force of evil rather than good in the
[22:43] world. But that doesn't make it true.
[22:47] Right. It might be a good way for
[22:50] people to cope, and no more than that.
[22:54] So how do you square the fact that Christianity seems to
[22:58] console us so much and be so convenient with not confusing
[23:03] that for the truth, which may actually be pretty horrible?
[23:06] Well, I think that people try to cope with a lot of different
[23:09] things. I had thing more than just
[23:10] religion. I mean, that's why we sin
[23:12] inherently. I mean, before I was a
[23:14] Christian, I had a God sized soul.
[23:16] I called a God's asshole in your heart.
[23:18] And I mean, I tried people pleasing.
[23:20] I tried to find myself in sports.
[23:22] I, I had a pornography addiction.
[23:24] So I'm on this quest for love. I think everyone's on a quest
[23:27] for love. I think they find it in drugs,
[23:29] they find it in alcohol, they find it in many different things
[23:31] and people and friends and relationships who idolize
[23:34] relationships. So I think people try to cope
[23:36] for a lot of different things. So when it comes to
[23:39] Christianity, which I believe is the truth, I believe Jesus
[23:42] Christ is the way, the truth and life.
[23:44] It's more than just a cope. You found the answer, you found
[23:48] your purpose, you found your destiny, you found a true love.
[23:52] Because when we say Jesus is love, that's the embodiment of
[23:56] who he is. He's not just a definition like
[23:58] he is love. He's the embodiment of love.
[24:01] Jesus is the truth. He's not just the definition of
[24:04] truth like he is truth. That's who he is.
[24:06] He's God, He's the standard. And it's interesting because
[24:10] every religion makes a claim about Jesus.
[24:14] Christianity is the only one where we believe he is God.
[24:18] So Jesus himself said I am the way, the truth and the life.
[24:23] If you make a claim that big, then I need to test the water to
[24:27] see what kind of man you are and who you are.
[24:28] But in regards to the coping, every human being daily is
[24:32] trying to quote UN quote cope with something.
[24:35] When you find Jesus, you don't find a temporary solution.
[24:38] You know Jesus isn't like Advil. You numb the pain for 8 hours
[24:41] and then it comes back. You can find peace.
[24:43] And when I started following Jesus, my problems didn't go
[24:46] away, but I had peace. Psalm 23 even though I walked
[24:51] through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for
[24:55] you are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me.
[24:59] Sheep are stupid. Human beings are described as
[25:01] sheep. God's the Good Shepherd, man.
[25:05] You're going to get financial troubles thrown your way.
[25:08] You're going to get relationship troubles thrown your way.
[25:10] You're going to lose friends. You may even receive physical
[25:13] harm. But it's interesting.
[25:14] You can have peace. I mean, even look back about a
[25:18] decade ago, you had these 20 Orthodox Christians from Egypt
[25:21] who got arrested by an Islamic regime in the Middle East.
[25:25] And they said, oh, well, just say Jesus isn't God and we'll
[25:27] let you go. They wouldn't do it.
[25:30] Is that just coping or do they believe in something greater
[25:33] than themselves? And they believe it's the truth,
[25:35] so much so they were willing to die for it.
[25:36] And there was a there was a young black man who had been
[25:38] arrested by the same Islamic regime, not for being a
[25:40] Christian. And as they're beheading these
[25:43] guys, this young black man looks at the Islamic regime and says,
[25:47] whatever they are, I am so moved by their faith.
[25:51] Is that merely just coping with problems?
[25:53] I don't think so. Think something greater.
[25:55] It's the answer. Hey, sorry for the brief
[25:57] interruption. Many of you know from this video
[25:59] and others that Christianity has been a subject of fascination
[26:02] for me for quite a while now. As someone who isn't a Christian
[26:05] myself, I'm seeing more and more how Christianity has shaped the
[26:07] modern world, and trying to understand ourselves or the
[26:10] world without getting to grips with it seems silly when there's
[26:13] a key piece in the puzzle missing.
[26:15] That's where 321 comes in. It's an online course that gives
[26:18] you an introduction to Christianity, assuming no prior
[26:20] knowledge is presented, by Glenn Scribner, who's been on the show
[26:23] twice for extended episodes and is one of my favorite
[26:25] communicators and Youtubers in the world.
[26:28] I end up binging his content a lot of the time, and there's
[26:30] just something about the way he speaks that means I've got way
[26:33] more random knowledge of Christianity from binging his
[26:36] videos that I would have thought.
[26:38] Anyways, the video LED sessions are based around super beautiful
[26:41] animated stories that more than anything just get you thinking.
[26:44] I've done it and if you're investigating these things like
[26:46] I am, you can check it out for free by going to 321course.com
[26:50] slash next Gen. You just enter your e-mail,
[26:52] enter your password and you're in.
[26:53] No spam and no fees. That's three 21course.com/next
[26:58] Gen. And now back to Bryce.
[27:00] I look at the world and all the beauty and the feelings that I
[27:04] can have and the love that's out there or in US.
[27:09] I'm like, how could this come to fruition?
[27:13] How could this exist if there wasn't a God?
[27:17] And I struggle like you can think about love in the
[27:20] abstract, but just imagine it actually in your body right now.
[27:23] That feeling, that sensation of love, where does that come from?
[27:28] That consciousness and the ability to feel what it's like
[27:33] to be human, How does that just spring up from nowhere?
[27:39] One of my favorite quotes is from CS Lewis, who was probably
[27:42] one of the best Christian converts of all time, and he
[27:46] touches on this exact point and argues against these atheists
[27:50] and how random actually everything is with an atheistic
[27:53] worldview. Says supposing there was no
[27:55] intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind.
[27:59] In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of
[28:02] thinking. It's merely the case that when
[28:05] the atoms inside my skull happen for physical or chemical
[28:09] reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, that, as a
[28:12] byproduct, gives me the sensation I call thought.
[28:17] But if so, how can I trust my own thoughts to be true?
[28:21] It's like upsetting a milk jug and hoping it splashes out in a
[28:24] map of London. Wow, very interesting.
[28:28] I've never heard that before. That's very compelling.
[28:30] And it makes complete sense. Yeah.
[28:33] These atoms just happen to arrange themselves in a certain
[28:36] way that builds these buildings and gives us lights and
[28:41] microphones. To me, when I look at that as
[28:45] someone who's not a person of faith, I'm like you atheists are
[28:49] more dogmatic than the Christians.
[28:52] I think it does take more faith to be an atheist and does to
[28:55] believe in any sort of religion. I think it does because you're
[28:58] betting your life that there is no mind, no design.
[29:02] I mean, Romans 1, chapter 1, Paul writes, God's divine
[29:06] righteousness is displayed throughout all of creation.
[29:10] And I pause and I sit there and think for a moment, Wow, exactly
[29:15] what you described, thinking that emotions, intangible things
[29:19] that we have can come from Big Bang.
[29:23] Look, I don't care if that's what it looked like, but the
[29:26] Bible tells that God spoke to the universe in existence.
[29:30] I don't care from the from the camera lens perspective, it
[29:32] looks like an explosion. Sure, maybe it did.
[29:35] We're talking God spoke this thing in existence and his
[29:38] righteousness is displayed throughout all of creation.
[29:40] So we can go, wow, there's got to be an intelligent mind behind
[29:44] all of this powerful. So that to finish the verse,
[29:48] human beings are without excuse. So much is given, much more is
[29:54] required. So everyone watching and
[29:56] listening to this episode, whether you're a believer or
[29:58] not, so much is given, much more is required.
[30:02] But right off the bat, the Bible would tell us that God's
[30:06] righteousness is displayed throughout all of creation.
[30:08] So that number one, when people stand before God on Judgement
[30:11] Day, I think one of the first thing to say is, well, did you
[30:15] not look around and think there had to have been at least some
[30:18] mind behind it all? I think it's very compelling.
[30:21] Yeah, I think one of my favorite parts of the Bible is one that
[30:26] my Christian friend put on my car windshield when she was
[30:29] walking past, and I picked it up the next day.
[30:33] What's this note? Have I got a ticket?
[30:34] I'm parked on the street. Fine.
[30:36] I can't afford to pay this right now.
[30:38] And it's this scrappy piece of paper.
[30:40] And I go, oh, no, it's from Sophie.
[30:42] And it's Mark 836. For what shall it profit a man
[30:46] if he is to gain the world but lose access to his very own
[30:49] soul? And that stuck with me.
[30:53] As someone who's very driven and who wants to do certain things
[30:56] with their life. I always go back to Mark 836.
[31:00] And I think, yeah, what is the point of all of this?
[31:03] That constant chase, that pursuit?
[31:05] I'll be happy when if I'm going to lose my own soul, it's not
[31:10] worth it. And it feels like the modern
[31:12] culture today lends itself to foregoing that principle and
[31:17] doing exactly that, losing your soul to get the ends.
[31:21] The means justify the ends always.
[31:24] Like I was in Miami this weekend for a couple of days.
[31:27] I was filming with Jack Neal. By the time this goes out, I
[31:30] think we can say this that it was with Clavicular for round
[31:33] two of his podcast. So like the most popping guy
[31:37] right now in the world and all of these looks Maxes.
[31:40] I disagree strongly with their message because they're putting
[31:45] something that's superficial as the end and all the means of
[31:49] doing meth to hollow out your cheeks or whatever.
[31:51] Justify it and to go away from them and I don't want to attack
[31:55] them personally but just what they stand for.
[31:58] I guess I do, and I would. And speaking more broadly about
[32:01] Miami, I was in that city and we went on a night out and we went
[32:05] to this club called Vendrone, which is actually where Andrew
[32:08] Tate and Nick Fuentes and Myron Gaines, they're all singing that
[32:11] song Heil Hitler. So it's like just crazy to be in
[32:14] there. We got a table and there are all
[32:18] these girls around us dancing and putting on a performance
[32:22] basically like there's no authenticity there.
[32:26] And I was just stood there. I was like, none of this is
[32:29] real. This is all theater.
[32:33] This is taking us away from our humanity.
[32:36] And, you know, I don't have a God that gives me inherent
[32:40] value. But in that moment, I was like,
[32:44] wow, drifting from humanity, this much is bad.
[32:48] It reminds me of that Abraham Lincoln quote when he was
[32:51] speaking about slavery. He justifies banning it by just
[32:54] going, If this isn't wrong, then nothing is.
[32:58] And I was stood there in that Miami club with people popping
[33:01] bottles and spending a few bags on the tables to get these girls
[33:06] over through these promoters. And I was like, if this isn't
[33:10] wrong, than nothing is, yeah. Why do you think the modern
[33:14] culture takes us so far away from humanity?
[33:19] Well, that's what they define a success.
[33:22] And I mean, the thing that breaks me about that is every
[33:25] person in that club that you just described thinks that their
[33:31] utmost value is that right there.
[33:35] That's what they think the price tag on their life is.
[33:37] That's the kind of love that they think they deserve.
[33:39] That's why they do it. And yeah, I, I don't fully agree
[33:43] with though. You, you, you, you take the you,
[33:47] you give the love that you deserve.
[33:48] You take the love that you deserve.
[33:49] But like, seriously, in that moment, like that's what they
[33:51] think they're worth right there in that moment, society is
[33:56] pushing this narrative again because we're all selfish at
[33:58] heart. Like when when I get the
[34:01] unction, I believe from the Holy Spirit says hey, go bless that
[34:05] homeless guy with a meal. Do you really think I selfishly
[34:08] thought I'm going to go take money out of my bank account and
[34:11] buy a meal that's not for me and give it to somebody else?
[34:13] There's no selfish bone in my body that wants to do that.
[34:16] I believe that's God giving me an option to do something
[34:21] greater than myself. Serve this person.
[34:22] So when we serve ourself, that's just a sinful world we live in.
[34:26] But man, it just breaks my heart because people surround
[34:29] themselves with people that are impressed by them because that
[34:32] thing that that's what they think love is.
[34:34] They think love is sex. I think love is dancing in the
[34:36] club. They think true love is this.
[34:37] I think the ultimate goal is that they think, oh, I need to
[34:40] look smacks and hollow how my cheeks maybe because that's
[34:42] what's going to make me satisfied.
[34:45] And it's this endless pit of despair because then once it all
[34:49] happens, you go, wow, it really doesn't make you feel this good.
[34:52] And you know, it takes rock bottom sometimes for people to
[34:54] get there. And that is sin.
[34:57] But I also think if the devil can't make you sin, he'll keep
[34:59] you busy, keep you distracted from God.
[35:02] And so to answer the first part of what you were saying,
[35:04] ambitions not inherently wrong. What does it look like to have
[35:08] godly ambition? What does it look like to serve
[35:11] God with your ambition? What is it like to serve God
[35:13] with those actions? But then the world promotes sin
[35:17] because we live in a sinful world.
[35:20] That's our inherent sinful desires.
[35:21] According to the the Bible, we were born that way.
[35:23] We're inherently born selfish, rebellious, feeding ourselves,
[35:26] fueling ourselves, fueling our our carnal desires.
[35:30] Or the feeling I get when I have sex with someone.
[35:32] I need to do more of that. The feeling I get when I'm at
[35:34] the club. It's all just Advil as as soon
[35:37] as you get out of the club, the sunshine hits at 5:00 AM and
[35:40] you're like, I don't know if that was worth it, you know, or
[35:43] the hangover the next day. And the only way to cure the
[35:46] hangover is what keep drinking. It's weird, the Bible says that
[35:52] getting drunk online for it is a waste.
[35:54] It's an interesting that we call it getting wasted for it is a
[35:57] waste to get drunk online. Wow, Interesting.
[36:00] Fascinating. For what is it profit?
[36:02] A man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?
[36:05] Very fascinating. What's rock bottom for you?
[36:08] And rock bottom was depression and anxiety.
[36:12] I'll never forget it till the day I die.
[36:13] I'll never forget the pain that I felt 17 years old.
[36:16] That was the most honest I'd ever been with my myself,
[36:18] though. I was inside of Waffle House,
[36:20] which you got to go. It's phenomenal.
[36:22] I've been I can tell you it's biblical.
[36:25] The bacon strips at 3:00 AM loaded up into a big container.
[36:30] It is. How's the best night of my life?
[36:32] It's. Holy man.
[36:33] Yeah. I love Waffle House.
[36:34] It's a man. That night I went there, I had
[36:38] no intention of living after that meal.
[36:40] And I'll never forget sitting in that chair and no one preached
[36:44] to me. No one said anything.
[36:45] But this man who was his life was falling apart.
[36:48] His life was leaving him taking his kids.
[36:49] He said I love my wife, but she just doesn't feel the same about
[36:52] me. There's no growth in a
[36:53] relationship if the love is at mutual now you and I can't
[36:56] progressive our in our in our friendship if we don't keep
[36:59] hanging out, if we don't keep going deeper, if I don't spend
[37:01] time with you, you don't spend time with me.
[37:02] If I don't do things that you like, if you don't do things
[37:04] that I like will never become friends.
[37:06] And for a split second I just the Lord I felt felt like was
[37:10] challenging me in that moment. Maybe I don't know that God
[37:13] loves me because I've never given myself a chance to love
[37:15] him back was bitter was because I grew up there was a church in
[37:18] my hometown where the pastor at the time had stolen $1,000,000
[37:21] from the church and cheated on his wife and rant but you claim
[37:24] to love God and then there. Were people in my?
[37:28] Community and in my school, not everyone in my school, I need to
[37:32] clarify, like I had a great upbringing, phenomenal teachers,
[37:34] but there were some kids, people in my school that would tell me
[37:36] how to live my life and I would see them outside of school doing
[37:38] the total opposite of what they told me to do.
[37:40] I went to a private Christian School.
[37:42] So you love God. And then when I was in the
[37:45] eighth grade, my grandfather got pancreatic cancer and then he
[37:48] died. And who did the people say that
[37:50] I am? Jesus says, well, you're the guy
[37:52] that killed my grandfather. That was my response.
[37:55] So just had depression and anxiety for years and.
[37:59] And in that moment, God speaks to me. 17.
[38:01] Years old. Maybe you don't know that I love
[38:03] you because you haven't given yourself a chance to love me
[38:04] back and then in that. Moment.
[38:07] It was like all of time. Stopped and all this head
[38:10] knowledge I had from going to a Christian School, the 18 inches
[38:12] between my head and my heart finally connected and I realized
[38:16] maybe true love isn't a feeling. Maybe it's a person and maybe I
[38:20] can know what that's like if I grow in a relationship.
[38:21] It is. That's all God is.
[38:23] He desires relationship with human beings.
[38:25] That was the cross Hebrews chapter 12 verses one through 3.
[38:30] We now look to Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our
[38:33] faith. The whole chapter before it
[38:34] talks about like the goats of this faith that we have,
[38:38] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab, the prostitute, and you're like,
[38:42] what the heck, she was a prostitute, but you realize that
[38:45] she had sincere faith in God at some point helping me spy.
[38:48] Anyways, then you get to chapter 12.
[38:50] We looked at Jesus, who is the author and perfector of our
[38:53] faith, who for the joy set before him, he endured the
[38:57] cross. Why?
[38:59] If Jesus really was God and he really lived a perfect life, why
[39:03] would he endure the most gruesome death ever recorded in
[39:06] human history? Why would he take on something
[39:09] that he didn't deserve? Why is it that when they accused
[39:12] him of things he didn't do, he never talked?
[39:13] Well, hold on a second, I didn't say that why I never tweeted
[39:15] that I never commented that, why I didn't do that last week?
[39:17] You, you just misconstrue what I said.
[39:19] Why didn't you do that? They stripped him publicly.
[39:21] They beat him so bad, historical documents say that he didn't
[39:24] even look like a human being, look like an alien, he look like
[39:27] a dog. But.
[39:29] Jesus with joy. He endured the cross because he
[39:33] was thinking about me and he was thinking about you.
[39:37] It wasn't the. Thickness of the nails that kept
[39:38] him. On the cross, he was God.
[39:40] He could have gotten down. It was the love that compelled
[39:43] the sting that we searched. Love.
[39:47] And to think that that was all that I was looking for and
[39:49] that's all those people in the club were looking for.
[39:51] And to be honest, that's what you're looking for.
[39:54] But to think love is what motivated an all perfect,
[39:57] sinless God to endure something he didn't deserve.
[40:00] God has always existed. Death is not even in his nature.
[40:04] He took on something that was incomprehensible to his divine
[40:06] nature in the flesh because of love.
[40:10] And then it says in verse three that he despised the shame.
[40:15] Shame despises people, guilt despises people, but he despised
[40:19] shame because he had nothing to be shameful for.
[40:22] He had nothing to be guilty for. You and I have something to be
[40:25] shameful for you and I have stuff to be guilty for.
[40:27] He despised shame The. Second, he he surrendered his.
[40:32] Spirit to the Father, he defeated Satan in that moment,
[40:35] in that moment and three days later he really did when he he
[40:38] when he rose from the death mind blowing.
[40:42] That was my lowest of lowest, but that my lowest of lowest was
[40:46] the greatest day of my life, greatest day of my life.
[40:50] What came next? I couldn't.
[40:53] Stop crying. And I I ran to my car.
[40:57] I said, Jesus, if you're real, take away my anxiety and
[40:59] depression because this is the reason why I want to take my
[41:01] life. Didn't want to die.
[41:03] I just thought it was the only way to get the pain to go away.
[41:05] And in that moment? Death was my savior.
[41:09] Not Jesus. And in that moment, Jesus took
[41:12] away my anxiety and depression. I haven't had crippling anxiety
[41:14] and depression since that day. It's been over five years and
[41:17] I'm talking like the daily battle.
[41:18] I've only had one anxiety attack since that day, but I I.
[41:23] Really haven't had anxiety. Or depression crippling and and
[41:27] I was like, man, if this Jesus guy is a real he just cured
[41:30] something and I thought couldn't be cured.
[41:32] So that was my foot in the door. I would like to think I'm an
[41:36] intellectual. You're far smarter than I am,
[41:38] but that that started my journey in researching.
[41:40] Is this Jesus guy really who he says he is?
[41:43] Is the Bible true? Was Jesus really a man of his
[41:46] word? And that, that that was really
[41:49] where it all began. And I immediately started
[41:52] sharing my faith afterwards. Immediately I would say Jesus
[41:55] loves you. And then I'd run away before
[41:57] people could respond because they never answered their
[41:58] questions. Then I started standing there
[42:00] and letting them ask their tough questions.
[42:02] But that's where I'll start. I'm definitely not far smarter
[42:05] than you. I.
[42:05] Just have a British accent so I can spew crap.
[42:08] No, everyone from the. Everyone from the.
[42:09] UK is far more intellectual than I think any American.
[42:14] So what do you think, Christians?
[42:16] Get wrong most often about Christianity.
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[43:54] Ai.com and use code Elliott E double LIOT at checkout to get
[43:59] 20% off. What do you think Christians get
[44:03] wrong most often about Christianity?
[44:08] You know Christians like to preach against.
[44:09] Mental Health. But we cut the body every day.
[44:14] What? Do I mean by that slight
[44:16] different denominations? A lot of these denominations
[44:18] exist because they disagree on secondary and tertiary issues.
[44:23] Now, I'm a Protestant, so some of these things I call a
[44:25] secondary issue. Some of these other
[44:27] denominations would say no. This is a primary issue.
[44:30] Proudly A Protestant Christian, I have a deep love and respect
[44:33] for my Catholic brothers and sisters and my Orthodox friends,
[44:37] my Presbyterian, Baptist friends and all of them.
[44:40] But I think what they get. Wrong is we like to preach
[44:42] against. Mental health, but we attack
[44:43] other denominations. And that breaks my heart.
[44:48] Think we need unity? In the body of Christ and.
[44:50] Jesus called for unity and we. Need to begin to come together.
[44:55] And understand that we all love Jesus.
[44:57] Yeah, I believe that there's Catholic people and Orthodox
[44:59] people and Baptist people that aren't sincerely saved and
[45:03] aren't going to heaven. They don't sincerely love Jesus.
[45:04] But I also do believe there's some Catholic brothers and
[45:07] Orthodox people and Baptist people that do love Jesus.
[45:11] And so I think we need to unite under this unanimous truth.
[45:13] We believe Jesus is fully God and fully man who died on the
[45:16] cross, defeated sin and deaths that you and I can have eternal
[45:19] life, that the scripture that we have is a love letter from
[45:22] heaven shows what's it like to be a good dad.
[45:24] What does it mean to be faithful to Jesus?
[45:25] What does it mean to look like, you know, don't make this
[45:27] mistake like Israel did in the Old Testament.
[45:29] Don't do that. It's beautiful.
[45:31] And I think I think we attack each other more than we unify.
[45:34] I think that there's this Francis Chan, one of my favorite
[45:38] pastors I've I've gotten a glean from online says that there
[45:41] seems to be this impossible unity and I think what?
[45:45] Satan did when he realized he was.
[45:46] Defeated was that? Sure, I may have been defeated,
[45:49] but people don't have to know the freedom that they have
[45:51] because Jesus just rose from the dead.
[45:52] So let's create different denominations to get him to
[45:54] argue with each other so they don't unify.
[45:57] That breaks my heart. You have a trolley.
[46:02] Going towards three people tied up on a train track?
[46:07] OK, they're going to get ran. Over by this.
[46:09] Trolley by this train and killed.
[46:12] Now you have a lever in front of you.
[46:15] You can pull the lever and it will divert the trolley.
[46:18] It will divert the train onto a different track where there's
[46:21] only one person tied up. So you'll kill less people, but
[46:26] you will be essentially involved at least in that one person's
[46:30] death. Do you pull the lever?
[46:33] What is this question? What?
[46:35] Does that even mean? I thought it was like the like
[46:38] biblical analogy, but it's like, no.
[46:39] Do you just pull the lever? Is this just like a personal
[46:44] would I do it? Yeah, Yeah, I would.
[46:45] I would. I would ultimately have to count
[46:47] the cost. I would pull the lever.
[46:50] Human life is valuable. It's valuable.
[46:54] Like, let me, let me, let me, let me re re put it on you.
[46:58] OK, Say we're all at Waffle House.
[47:00] There's twelve other people inside.
[47:02] God forbid a shooter comes up and starts killing people in the
[47:06] Waffle House. He already kills three people.
[47:08] Would you hope that someone would pull out a gun and shoot
[47:10] that shooter? I would hope.
[47:13] I would hope so too. Why?
[47:16] Because human life is valuable and.
[47:20] These are big. Ethical dilemmas that sometimes
[47:22] there's not a full answer for. And it's tough because it's
[47:26] like, it's a human life. It's a human life.
[47:28] I mean, what are we doing, I suppose, in the Waffle House?
[47:31] The shooter is murdering other people, right?
[47:33] So there's that moral culpability.
[47:35] Whereas in this case, it's just a train that's jetting towards
[47:39] these innocent lives. And by involving yourself, you
[47:43] are taking responsibility for killing that person.
[47:46] Whereas at least if it runs over more people, it's no one's
[47:50] fault. Sure.
[47:52] Well, I. Think I think you have to count
[47:54] the cost of a couple things. How many human lives are at
[47:56] stake and taking? On the burden, sure, but like.
[48:00] I'm not murdering someone. I don't have the intent to kill
[48:02] them because I want to kill them.
[48:04] There's a sacrifice that has to be made.
[48:06] And unfortunately, maybe for me personally, maybe other people
[48:09] think, but me personally, I'm pulling that lever.
[48:10] Not because I I, I, I'm like, Oh my gosh, I want to take this one
[48:13] person out, but for the sake of human life and the amount of
[48:17] human lives at stake, I personally would have to pull
[48:20] the lever. I don't know what I would do.
[48:24] I think it's easy to say you'd pull the lever, but in the
[48:27] moment I probably wouldn't because I'd be scared of being
[48:29] involved. I don't know if that makes me
[48:31] more of a moral or, but wouldn't you still be involved if you
[48:34] didn't pull the? Lever because then the choice to
[48:36] hurt those other three people would still be in your hands
[48:38] because you chose not to pull the lever.
[48:39] Yeah, but there's a difference between a lack.
[48:42] Of a decision or a lack of an action rather than a passive
[48:46] reaction. I think you're still making a
[48:48] decision to not act. So technically the.
[48:51] Dilemma is in your hands, you make a.
[48:52] Decision not to pull or you do make a decision to pull and I
[48:55] think that's where the the I think me personally, that's
[48:57] where the question is, well, if I'm making a decision either
[49:00] way, then I got to count the cost to make a sacrifice.
[49:05] I like that I. Like that framing of not making
[49:07] a decision being a decision. I think we need more of that in
[49:10] the world. Whereas a lot of people that
[49:13] bystanders, and we used to get taught this in school in like
[49:17] group 6th grade, and it was pretty good advice.
[49:21] It was the the bystander is just as bad as the perpetrator.
[49:25] And if you actually dig into the sort of philosophical undertones
[49:27] of that, I think that's a healthy way to live.
[49:30] The fact that if you're a bystander, it's not that you're
[49:34] innocent and that you're void of any responsibility.
[49:37] It's that you made an active choice, an active calculation.
[49:41] You saw the thing unfold and you went, I'm not going to get
[49:44] involved with this, right? So I think that's a good way to
[49:47] live is the bystander is just as bad as the perpetrator.
[49:51] It feels like today people would rather put their hands up and
[49:55] say it's none of my business then go and act.
[49:59] Do do you think we're lacking a sort of bravery there in our
[50:02] generation to go after things? I think we lack boldness,
[50:05] bravery. And I think we lack
[50:07] responsibility. I think people do with sin.
[50:09] People do it all the time. Oh my gosh, this happens all the
[50:13] time. Bryce.
[50:14] I can't stop watching porn. What I need to do is stop
[50:16] watching porn. And this happened.
[50:18] This happens all the time. And I'm thinking of an instance
[50:20] in particular, so I'll show the instance without names.
[50:22] This young man was like, Bryce, I need to stop watching porn.
[50:24] I can't stop. So I asked him a couple
[50:25] questions. Well, when are you watching
[50:27] porn? What does it look like?
[50:28] He's like, well, late at night on my phone.
[50:30] I'm like, OK, where's the practical?
[50:32] Get a alarm clock with two AA batteries, charge your phone
[50:35] outside of your bedroom and wake up to a regular alarm clock.
[50:38] So I don't want to do it. I said, well, then you don't
[50:40] want to stop watching porn. You got to take accountability
[50:42] in the stance where you're putting yourself in that
[50:44] situation. Well, Satan made me watch porn,
[50:46] Diddy. Or did you just stay up late at
[50:48] night? And I mean, you and I would both
[50:50] agree. In the morning, that's the
[50:51] strongest your willpower is. Over the course of the day, it
[50:54] decreases. So did Satan make you do that or
[50:57] did you put yourself in that situation?
[50:59] I can't stop sleeping with my boyfriend or girlfriend outside
[51:01] of marriage. Yeah, but you keep sleeping over
[51:03] there every night. So is Satan really making you
[51:05] sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend or you just spend the
[51:07] night at their house and put yourself in a situation that you
[51:09] shouldn't be putting yourself in?
[51:11] I think we lack a lot of responsibility and I think
[51:13] that's where we see a lack of honesty because we like to blame
[51:16] shit, though it's not my fault. That's pride.
[51:18] I don't want to take responsibility.
[51:21] I don't want to deal with it. I don't want to deal with the
[51:23] the repercussions of my decisions.
[51:25] I like to deal with the good repercussions, don't like to
[51:27] deal with the bad ones. Hands off.
[51:28] I don't know. We need more of that, but we
[51:30] need more boldness. And I get it.
[51:32] Boldness is tough nowadays, especially in, in, in, in the
[51:34] time period that we live in. It's like if you don't, if you
[51:37] don't agree on the same political party, we have to hate
[51:39] each other. If you don't agree on the same
[51:40] religion, we have to hate each other.
[51:41] If you don't, absolutely not, Absolutely not.
[51:45] That should not be the case. Human beings are of greater
[51:47] moral worth than because of their sexuality, than because of
[51:50] their political party, than because of their religious
[51:52] affiliation, whatever they may be.
[51:54] Human beings are valuable not because of what they can do, who
[51:57] they're associated with, but according to the cursion,
[51:58] because they're made in the image of God.
[52:01] And so we need to do a better job of being bold and being
[52:03] responsible and being courageous.
[52:06] I mean, the Bible talks about passivity being a sin.
[52:09] Why do we sit back? Why do we sit back and keep her
[52:12] hands off? It's because we don't want
[52:14] responsibility. And to be honest, that's just
[52:19] the way I was raised. I, I, I had great parents and I,
[52:22] I tend to come from a little bit more of like a redneck
[52:25] background and I'd say a little bit more of a southern
[52:28] background. And they just I when I was
[52:31] growing up, my dad shot it with me straight told me how it was
[52:33] took a lot of responsibility and learn.
[52:35] And I'm grateful for that. And I think we need more of
[52:38] that. And I think that's why we need
[52:39] to learn what biblical manhood is what, what, what it looks
[52:41] like to be a woman of God, what it looks like to be a man of
[52:44] God, what looks like the lead and not be manipulative, what it
[52:46] looks like to take accountability and not blame
[52:48] shift. I think that's what.
[52:51] It needs to look like we. Live in this ecosystem of.
[52:53] Polarization of division and negativity.
[52:57] More than anything, I think all the incentives are there with
[53:00] the online platforms that we're using to spread hate.
[53:03] Especially when you're protected by this pseudonym that you can
[53:07] give yourself and a blank profile picture.
[53:10] There's no reason that anyone really should do anything just
[53:14] other than from the kindness of their own heart.
[53:17] If you're looking at it purely from a consequentialist
[53:19] perspective of what's in it for me, I'm going to spread hate.
[53:23] I'm going to train up some Only Fans girls to go viral.
[53:27] I'm going to take a profit and it's going to make me live a
[53:30] more luxurious life. Those are the incentives.
[53:33] That's the direction we're being guided in at the moment, I feel,
[53:36] and it's scary, it's terrifying. I don't know where it ends
[53:40] because it feels like this whole thing is exponential and we're
[53:42] only going lower and lower I think.
[53:46] Well, I think a couple things. I mean, I think this is bigger
[53:48] than just money, fame and power. I, I have my perspectives on
[53:53] things and I, I don't have to go too deep on, on what I really
[53:56] think is, is the end result. It's going to be.
[53:58] But I think that I think that makes me go, we need Jesus.
[54:03] That's what that makes me do. I need someone outside of myself
[54:06] to save me. Because when Bryce runs the
[54:07] world, it, it screws up. When people run the world, we
[54:10] screw up. We need someone outside of
[54:11] ourselves to help us out. And that's the, that's the
[54:14] ultimate goal. We need more people being bold.
[54:16] We need more people being courageous.
[54:17] We need more people standing up. And polarization is an
[54:19] unfortunate thing. And you know, I'm going to be
[54:22] honest, like lately I've been struggling a lot with the
[54:26] difference between being bold and unintentionally need to
[54:30] clarify, unintentionally, accidentally being mean because
[54:34] you know what the appearance of strength is firm, how loud you
[54:38] talk, the way that you you, you deliver information?
[54:43] Sure. Is that really what it means to
[54:45] be a leader? I don't think so.
[54:47] I don't think it's what it means to be a leader.
[54:48] I think those can be aspects of a leader, how you deliver your
[54:51] rhetoric, things like that. But like firmness and like the
[54:56] boldness is important. But like some, I think we get it
[54:58] mixed up. And right now I'm confused.
[54:59] You know, I'll make a bold statements.
[55:01] Yeah, they may be bold, but accidentally, I'm not.
[55:05] I'm not. I'm not loving.
[55:06] There's no grace there. That's the balance.
[55:08] The Bible says that Jesus came full of grace and truth.
[55:11] If you have too much grace and no truth, you compromise for
[55:14] people's lifestyles. You compromise for the only
[55:16] fans, people to keep doing what they're doing.
[55:17] You compromise for the drug addict to keep using drugs.
[55:19] You compromise for the alcoholic to keep drinking.
[55:22] If you have all truth, no grace, you just crush people.
[55:24] Well, of course they don't want this Jesus you got.
[55:26] So what's the balance? Right now?
[55:28] I'm having a hard time with the all truth and I I'm like Jesus,
[55:32] please help me, Help me. But the balance is love when you
[55:36] let the. The Jesus sums.
[55:38] Up all 613 laws and 10 commandments under this one
[55:40] truth, which he's quoting from Deuteronomy.
[55:42] Because he's God. He's so smart.
[55:44] Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, mind and
[55:46] strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
[55:48] When you begin to love God with your whole heart, you begin to
[55:51] see yourself the way that God sees you.
[55:53] You find your identity in Him, not in things in Him.
[55:56] And when you see yourself the way that God sees you, you
[55:58] realize he sees everyone else the same way.
[56:00] Same price tag you put on your life, the same price tag you put
[56:02] on everyone else's. You love God, you love people.
[56:05] I think we're missing love. And that's not like the ooey
[56:07] gooey feeling. Love is not.
[56:09] Love is not the feeling you get when you have sex.
[56:11] Love is not the feeling you get when drugs hit your system or
[56:14] the booze. Love is a person and love is a
[56:18] choice. And that choice that Jesus made
[56:21] was to love people. He loved people even though that
[56:23] they would never choose him. He died for people that chose
[56:26] not to follow him. He loved people even though he
[56:29] knew they would backstab him. He loved Judas and washed his
[56:31] feet, the utmost form of respect in that time period in that
[56:35] culture, even though he knew he'd backstab him.
[56:37] Love. I think we need more love.
[56:39] True love, not love. We need love.
[56:43] Separate out the difference. Yeah, well.
[56:45] I think love people define a. Sexuality.
[56:46] People define it as sex. People define it as
[56:48] relationships. People define it as a feeling.
[56:50] Love isn't a feeling. Love is not a feeling.
[56:54] You can feel love and experience love, but love isn't just a
[56:58] feeling. Love is greater than a feeling.
[57:01] We have to know what love is. And that's why I love Greek and
[57:03] Hebrew, right? We have one word for love and
[57:06] it's love and love. Blanket statements.
[57:08] I love pizza, I love my wife, I love Jesus.
[57:12] But when you read the Greek and the Hebrew, and this is in
[57:14] particular Scripture, there's numerous words for love.
[57:18] They have words for like I love pizza.
[57:20] They have words for I love my thing.
[57:21] But agape is the Greek word for God's love, unconditional love.
[57:27] It's so easy to be conditional in this lifetime.
[57:29] Will you scratch my back? I'll scratch your back.
[57:31] Well, if you hit me hard, I got to hit you harder back.
[57:33] Jesus says if someone slaps you to cheek, you give them the
[57:35] other one. If someone takes your tunic, you
[57:39] give them, give them your other one.
[57:41] That's interesting. It's for your counter cultural.
[57:43] It's not an eye for an eye anymore.
[57:45] And then I have the Hebrew word for God's love on my hand.
[57:48] A hava means to lay your life down for someone, a sacrificial
[57:52] love. And we tend to.
[57:54] Like to sacrifice forever? Nobody but ourself.
[57:58] And Jesus says no. I'm willing to lay my life down
[57:59] even for people that will never love me back.
[58:01] That's real love. What's going through your mind
[58:05] when? You're preaching to all of these
[58:07] people that perhaps don't have that true feeling of love in
[58:12] them, or at least they do, but they haven't found access to it.
[58:15] You've spoken to so many different people.
[58:17] You've preached to the lead of the KKK.
[58:20] What's going through your mind when you're doing that?
[58:23] Well, I treated him a little bit different than.
[58:24] I would treat the average bearer I find in the street because he
[58:28] was just believing some false doctrine, he said.
[58:30] If you weren't white, you were of lesser moral value than every
[58:35] other human being on the planet. What do you base that off?
[58:37] And you couldn't. Enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
[58:39] I have no idea still to this day.
[58:42] He said he was arguing with my if you watch the video, he
[58:45] doesn't say anything of substance.
[58:48] I still watch it back sometimes. I'm like, he didn't respond to
[58:50] anything I said. He just was like, yeah, I'm not
[58:53] white people are better and blah, blah, blah.
[58:55] Absolutely not. But I also talked to Hebrew
[58:58] Israelites who say black people are the only people that can
[59:00] enter the Kingdom of heaven. Absolutely not if I cut myself
[59:04] and I cut you and a black person cuts himself.
[59:05] We all bleed the same. We all have the same price tag
[59:08] in God's eyes. So with him there had to be
[59:12] rebuke. Hey bro, I love you got wrong
[59:16] and This is why I think you're wrong.
[59:17] I'm pointing in scripture now. The average bear I run into 99%
[59:22] of the time my heart just breaks for them.
[59:25] I think man, I used to be you maybe not things that you do in
[59:27] particular. I did other things I used to be
[59:29] like you and and I hope I can be some sort of example for you to
[59:34] maybe point you in this direction that Jesus really is
[59:36] the truth. He really is loved.
[59:38] That's what he looks like and I that that's really just my hope.
[59:41] I wish you had this thing that I got and I'm going to do
[59:43] everything and through the strength of the Spirit of God to
[59:45] represent that and the utmost best way I can to you.
[59:49] If you don't have it. What's been your craziest
[59:51] experience? Preaching good or bad?
[59:55] Either I. I like to talk about.
[59:58] The good the there was a there was a a homeless man who was
[1:00:02] yelling at me. We weren't we weren't even I was
[1:00:04] doing like a like an interview with a with a company and we
[1:00:09] were changing locations because the area that they were shooting
[1:00:11] in this guy started playing live music.
[1:00:13] So we're walking in this homeless guy yelling at me,
[1:00:14] you're going to die, you're going to die.
[1:00:18] And I remember their camera crew was like trying to avoid them as
[1:00:21] we were walking. They were like trying to walk
[1:00:22] past them, but I couldn't walk past them because I'm, well,
[1:00:25] he's talking to me and he's pointing at me, but.
[1:00:28] Oh, so that's a human being. I don't care what you say.
[1:00:31] It's a human being. I walked up to him and it's on
[1:00:34] video. We didn't film it.
[1:00:35] These guys were recording just camera by your side.
[1:00:38] They were walking the camera having to be rolling.
[1:00:40] They kept recording it. When you're not doing your
[1:00:42] videos, Like what? What is, I guess like business
[1:00:45] come from, you know, like how do we make money?
[1:00:49] Money. You're OK, man.
[1:00:55] What's your name? Next to me?
[1:00:58] I'm Bryce. How you doing, Bryce?
[1:00:59] I need some help. What?
[1:01:00] You need help with some money. Will you shake my hand?
[1:01:04] Be real. Guess what, I'll.
[1:01:06] Be online. I love you man.
[1:01:08] Was the last time someone told you that?
[1:01:11] Long time. I love you bro.
[1:01:16] I used to have anger filled in my heart.
[1:01:18] I used to lash out at my friends when things didn't go my way and
[1:01:21] it was so hard. But it's been such a long time
[1:01:24] man. I just want you to know I love
[1:01:26] you and Jesus loves you. Pray for me.
[1:01:30] I'll pray for you. Let me pray for you.
[1:01:32] Jesus. I thank you for my friend.
[1:01:33] God, I just bless him. Jesus, would you just fill him
[1:01:36] with strength? God, comfort him right now.
[1:01:38] You're the Prince of peace. We just rebuke any assignment
[1:01:41] from the devil coming against his life right now.
[1:01:43] God, would you just bless him? Keep him safe, Reveal yourself
[1:01:47] to him in dreams and visions. God, we just bless my friend in
[1:01:50] Jesus name, Amen. I love you man.
[1:01:55] You need a hug? Give me a hug, brother.
[1:01:57] I love you, dude. You're awesome.
[1:01:59] Just because people get angry, and does that mean that's who
[1:02:01] they are? No.
[1:02:02] Maybe they've been hurt. And maybe because they've been
[1:02:05] hurt so many times and maybe because we've been conditioned,
[1:02:07] particularly with homeless people.
[1:02:08] Oh, don't get the homeless guy money because he's only going to
[1:02:09] use it for drugs. Is he really?
[1:02:13] Sure, that does happen. I'm not going to deny that.
[1:02:14] But like, really? You're going to profile every
[1:02:18] homeless person ever to exist to be of lesser moral value and
[1:02:22] don't talk to them, don't interact with them because all
[1:02:23] they want is money and oh, they're quote UN quote dirty.
[1:02:26] No, no, no, it doesn't matter if.
[1:02:28] They have $0.00 in their bank. Account or a billion dollars in
[1:02:31] their bank account. They're just as valuable as Bill
[1:02:33] Gates, just as valuable as me, just as valuable as you.
[1:02:36] That was one of my favorite experiences.
[1:02:38] That was one of my favorite experiences because it was just
[1:02:42] honest. Let's talk about Gen.
[1:02:47] Z specifically and young people, because I think that's the most
[1:02:50] fascinating age group to me with everything that's going on in
[1:02:53] the world and the whole podcast that I have the.
[1:02:56] Next generation. It's all about bringing up the
[1:02:58] next generation, this intergenerational exchange of
[1:03:01] ideas and values. And it feels like that long
[1:03:05] chain that's run through history, through scripture,
[1:03:08] through religions, through teaching.
[1:03:11] It's kind of been severed a little bit for our generation.
[1:03:14] We've got access to this new technology and we're teaching
[1:03:18] ourselves our own lessons through TikTok and scrolling
[1:03:21] with our thumbs rather than flipping a page with our
[1:03:24] fingers, you know? So what do you see as the future
[1:03:29] for our generation and how do you see our generation?
[1:03:33] When you're going around preaching, do you feel like
[1:03:36] we're yearning more for religion or less?
[1:03:40] I think right now. People are yearning for truth, I
[1:03:42] think. I think, I think you're seeing
[1:03:43] things happening. I think the first thing is
[1:03:46] people want true. I think they're tired of fluff.
[1:03:47] I think people are realizing, OK, the things that I'm doing
[1:03:49] aren't satisfying. I think that's why we're seeing
[1:03:51] a lot more younger people turn to Jesus right now, especially
[1:03:54] in America. I think we're seeing a lot of
[1:03:56] younger men to turn to Jesus, which is important.
[1:03:58] There's an important statistic that says like if, if the, if
[1:04:01] the, the mother of the household is bringing the kids to church,
[1:04:05] there's a 15 to 30% chance 30 on the higher end, 50 and 30%
[1:04:09] chance the children remain in the fate.
[1:04:11] If the father is the one that brings him to church, 74% chance
[1:04:15] that they remain in the faith. If both the mother and the
[1:04:18] father father, if the both the mother and the father, 80 to 90%
[1:04:22] chance the children remain. And so I, you know, I, I think
[1:04:26] when it comes to what are we seeing, what's going on, I think
[1:04:32] there's children that are hungry for it.
[1:04:34] I think they're tired of fluff. My caution and my worry is that
[1:04:39] people are becoming lazy and we're using technology to
[1:04:42] replace critical thinking. We're using technology to
[1:04:46] procrastinate. Everyone's turned into AII.
[1:04:49] Don't think AI is inherently bad, but when you let AI become
[1:04:53] your brain, then let your brain be your brain, we got a problem.
[1:04:58] We got a really big problem. We lose critical thinking
[1:05:00] skills. We don't think for ourselves,
[1:05:01] and we're going to let a robot think for us, basically an
[1:05:05] algorithm. We're going to let an algorithm
[1:05:06] think for us. No, by no means I'm not going to
[1:05:08] let an algorithm think for me. I like using AI to pull up
[1:05:10] statistics quickly for me and things like that.
[1:05:13] And then I click on the links and go check.
[1:05:14] But letting AI tell me what to do with my life, with decisions
[1:05:17] to make and things like that. No, absolute no go.
[1:05:19] I think we need to be careful and I think we need to become
[1:05:22] literate. I think we need to use critical
[1:05:24] thinking. I need I think we need to
[1:05:25] challenge ourselves. You know what I think we need
[1:05:27] more of? I think we need more debate.
[1:05:29] I think we need more argument. And that may sound
[1:05:32] controversial, but it's how you argue.
[1:05:34] It's how you debate that's beneficial.
[1:05:36] Yes, some debates are not fruitful, but I think we need to
[1:05:38] change the way we debate. And that's why I like the way
[1:05:40] that Oxford and Cambridge debate.
[1:05:42] Big props to you guys over there.
[1:05:43] I think it's a big deal. And I think we need more that
[1:05:48] all of Paul's letters were arguments.
[1:05:50] Hey church in Galatia, stop doing that Church of Corinth.
[1:05:55] I got a lot of junk going on. You guys need to stop sleeping
[1:05:57] with each other and you guys need to listen to the truth to
[1:06:00] these truth claims and you need some guys.
[1:06:03] Hey Ephesus, you guys are doing some great work over there.
[1:06:05] But if look don't get caught up in the ministry monster, just
[1:06:08] keep pressing on the faith. I think we need to use critical
[1:06:09] thinking and I think we need to have more conversations with
[1:06:12] people and books then we do with a robot.
[1:06:16] I think it ties back to what we were speaking.
[1:06:18] About at the start of this, which is this prioritization of
[1:06:21] comfort over everything else. And debate can be uncomfortable.
[1:06:25] You have this pit in your stomach when you're putting out
[1:06:28] an idea that you have about how the world should be and you're
[1:06:31] waiting for someone to rebuke it or disagree with you or agree.
[1:06:35] You have no clue. That breeds anxiety, It breeds
[1:06:38] fear, but you kind of have to sit with it and be at peace with
[1:06:41] it. And the easiest way to do that
[1:06:43] is by having honest intentions. You're going to be nervous going
[1:06:46] into to a debate if you've got bad intentions, if you want to
[1:06:49] one up someone and you want to expose them and destroy them
[1:06:51] with facts and logic, right? Whereas.
[1:06:54] If we breed. This culture of debating for the
[1:06:56] sake of finding the truth and because we value each other,
[1:06:59] which I think we all are really at the core, we just get
[1:07:03] misguided. We're not going to be nervous.
[1:07:04] There's not going to be this hostile environment because you
[1:07:07] know that ultimately you're both working towards the same thing.
[1:07:10] And this is what I see more than anything, is this confusion that
[1:07:14] leads us astray where we're actually at the core arguing
[1:07:18] about the same stuff, we just don't realize it.
[1:07:22] We're all caring about humans, and perhaps a small minority of
[1:07:26] people will care just about their humans.
[1:07:29] The KKK leader who only cares about white people, the black
[1:07:32] Israelites or whatever. But they're a minority.
[1:07:35] Most people want what's best for people and they get misguided,
[1:07:40] they get LED in the other direction and they get
[1:07:43] manipulated. And that's not because they're
[1:07:45] stupid. It's not because certain people
[1:07:47] are smarter than others. It's just the way the world and
[1:07:50] especially the online world is set up at the moment.
[1:07:53] So I think at the core of everything, it's remembering
[1:07:56] that we want the same stuff. And, and the path to that is
[1:08:00] debate, it's disagreement. And it's picking all the holes
[1:08:04] in your world view and my world view and where you're a Sinner
[1:08:07] actually, and where I'm a Sinner and where I'm illogical and
[1:08:11] where you're perfectly logical and where I'm up on my high
[1:08:14] horse thinking that there's no God and that I've got it all
[1:08:16] worked out. And when you're up on your high
[1:08:18] horse and you're being dogmatic, it's a trade, it's an exchange.
[1:08:22] And I think iron sharpens iron. You need to, I agree, go up
[1:08:27] against each other. And not.
[1:08:28] Be scared and gripping onto the world views that you came in
[1:08:33] with. Yep, and and I think we need to.
[1:08:36] Not attack people's character when we disagree.
[1:08:39] I think that's so silly. Probably attacking character
[1:08:42] that's so silly. But most importantly, if we
[1:08:46] don't know something, just admit you don't know it.
[1:08:48] Don't mislead people. That's so silly.
[1:08:51] If I don't know something, I'm going to be like, I don't know.
[1:08:53] That's great. Great question.
[1:08:55] I don't know, Someone asked me on a college campus one time, Do
[1:08:58] you think dinosaurs were real? And if so, do you think they
[1:09:00] disprove Christianity? And my response was, I hope they
[1:09:03] were real because my favorite was the pterodactyl.
[1:09:06] That was my response. So I think we just need to be
[1:09:09] honest. If you have to condense all the.
[1:09:13] Teachings. All the lessons you've learned,
[1:09:16] all the videos you've made, all the preachers you've done into
[1:09:19] one message in the next 60 seconds.
[1:09:22] What would you say? I would say.
[1:09:24] Jesus Christ. Was fully God and fully human.
[1:09:27] He lived this perfect sinless life was able to avoid sin,
[1:09:31] falling into temptation, living a perfect life that no one could
[1:09:35] do but God alone died on this cross defeated sin and death.
[1:09:39] And and if someone's curious about Jesus, I would just say do
[1:09:43] what Jesus said is the greatest commandment, the greatest thing
[1:09:46] that we can grab a hold of instead of looking at the at the
[1:09:50] biggest mountains and how am I going to climb the mountain?
[1:09:53] Love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind and strength.
[1:09:55] I'm talking about the God of Christianity.
[1:09:57] Love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind and strength
[1:09:59] and love your neighbor as yourself.
[1:10:01] Bryce Crawford, thanks for coming on the.
[1:10:03] Show Matt. Thanks bro, Thanks for having
[1:10:04] me. Where can people find more of
[1:10:05] your work? Just look my name.
[1:10:08] Up. I think it'll all pop up.
[1:10:09] It certainly will. They'll all know where to.
[1:10:11] Find your work. If they're watching this and
[1:10:13] you're on tour, Yeah, I'm on tour right now.
[1:10:15] We're we're. Bouncing across the country 2425
[1:10:18] stops and preaching the gospel gathering believers and non
[1:10:21] believers and and preaching about Jesus Christ.
[1:10:25] Dude, I appreciate you for. Coming on, I love your work.
[1:10:28] I love the way you approach your work as well more than anything
[1:10:31] else. There are so many people where
[1:10:33] you look at it and you wonder if it's genuine and whether people
[1:10:37] actually believe what they're even saying.
[1:10:39] And that's not Christians, that's everyone, right in the
[1:10:41] online world. They're content creators and
[1:10:44] that comes first. Whereas with you, I obviously
[1:10:48] can tell it comes from a much deeper place and a love of
[1:10:51] humans and humanity. So I I appreciate you man.
[1:10:55] Thanks for saying that. I appreciate you.
[1:10:56] Thanks for all.

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