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July 4, 2025 - Health Ranger - Mike Adams
54:15
Claim your SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE from the religious industrial complex – a powerful interview...
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Welcome to today's interview here on Brighteon.com.
I'm Mike Adams, the founder of Brighteon, and Happy Independence Day to all of you watching.
We've got a real treat for you because on Saturday, July 5th, we begin streaming free of charge at brightyou.com this incredible new course called All the Things That Matter, which is a course about spirituality.
It's about Christ.
It's about things beyond this world.
And the key creator of that course, Brad Cummings, who is an accomplished Bible scholar and publisher of the Founder's Bible, he joins us today to discuss this.
And we have a lot of questions, a lot of great information to go through.
So welcome, Brad, to the show today.
Thank you, Mike.
Pleasure to be here.
Hey, it's great to have you here.
And, you know, thank you for all that you do.
You are valued and you are appreciated.
I even personally appreciate some of your criticisms of my interpretations, which go off the rails usually.
So thank you for all of that.
And you really know the Bible inside and out and applying it to our modern time.
So that's the focus of today.
It seems like, let me begin with this question, and we'll get to your course in a little bit, but right now, a lot of people are observing the world and thinking or saying like, this seems biblical.
Why is it that so many people are looking at current events and thinking this is like end times or book of Revelation or whatever?
I think because most of us have been taught that as the world gets worse and worse, it's like somehow that's we're nearing the end.
And I think what's crazy is I think that's the exact opposite, to be honest.
I think what we're seeing is the unraveling of an awful lot of things that man has done.
And that sets the stage for the return of Jesus, which is actually good news, not the end.
It's just the end of the second act before we open up the third one.
Okay, so you're saying that these events are a necessary stage to get to?
Yeah, I think what we see is everything that man has put his hands to, it's like when you sow to the wind, you reap the whirlwind.
We're seeing that a lot of what man has done just simply doesn't work.
The problems are bigger than what we know how to solve.
And I think we're recognizing at this point, we actually need God's help to see this through.
Right.
And so I think it's actually good news, not bad, if it turns our heart back to him.
Yeah, really good point.
And so I agree with your assessment that we seem to be approaching the end of humanity's series of failures leading up to the potential of annihilation.
Like we have enough technology now, military weapons, nuclear bombs, but also bioweapons and all kinds of other things.
There's enough technology in the hands of men to destroy us all.
And if anything would get the attention of our creator, seems like this might be one of those things.
Do you believe that the moment of divine intervention is drawing near?
Yeah, because I think one of the things that we miss is God has promised like five different times throughout the scriptures that as he lives, he swears by himself because there's nothing greater, the whole earth is going to be filled with the glory of God.
I don't think we're going to end up in a ball of fire and just it's a roasty, toasty, crispy, you know, destruction.
God has promised that he is going to bring creation into harmony with what he designed.
And I think what we're seeing is dominion has been in the hands of men and we've made a real mess of things.
Is it possible, though, that God's promise exists beyond this world, you know, in the heavenly realm after we destroy this realm?
Is that possible?
It's possible, but I think one of the things that we kind of miss is that in the Hebrew mindset, God is looking to marry heaven and earth together.
You know, it's like when we die, we don't just go to heaven.
Heaven is ultimately going to come down here and God is going to dwell with man on the earth.
And so I don't think it gets destroyed.
It might get into a real, you know, bind of difficulty, but God is going to restore all things.
And I don't think it's like he's going to let this one get roasted and then he's going to bring a new one out from behind his back.
Do you think that, let's talk about the book of Revelation for a minute.
Do you think that the book of Revelation, you know, John of Patmos, do you think that's the legitimate word of God through angels speaking to him?
Or is it something else, his fears, his visions, his dreams?
Like, what's your take on that?
I actually think we kind of mislook at it because it's supposed to be the revelation of Jesus Christ.
All of creation is going to get summed up in him.
And I think as opposed to just looking at all of the minutiae and the events that we're afraid of, we don't recognize that it's bringing all of creation back to the garden and to a wedding where God actually marries humanity as his bride.
And that's the mystery of all the ages.
And so I do think it's very much God's word to us, but I think man has kind of done a whole lot of crazy interpretations.
I must have like 35 commentaries on the book of Revelation, and they all go off into odd kinds of things.
Well, I've got my own interpretation that no one else shares either, which, but of course, I'm reading it rather literally, and I find it fascinating.
Of course, my interpretation is about the comet impacts being described with the trumpets and the seals and so on.
But obviously, there are many different interpretations of it.
And then there's also the interpretation that it already happened in 70 AD, right?
You've heard that.
Partially, yeah.
I mean, there's partial fulfillments in history.
I think a lot of what we're seeing In the book of Revelation, you can find elements that have been fulfilled in history, but not the culmination of everything.
Because it talks about the destruction of Jerusalem at different times, but in Isaiah 29 and Jeremiah 19, it says it will be destroyed, never to be rebuilt again.
So it's been destroyed twice, but it's been rebuilt twice.
So the third time is it's over.
Talk about Jerusalem.
Yeah, go ahead.
Because I think the reality is, is God is going to remove the earthly city to make way for the heavenly one to come down.
And I think the word Jerusalem in the scriptures is a plural, and it's actually specific, a dual, meaning it's precisely two.
And yet most of the prophets, when they've spoken about it, they didn't know that they were speaking about earthly Jerusalem or the heavenly one.
We have to read the New Testament to kind of recognize the differentiation.
And all of Revelation is talking about ultimately the heavenly Jerusalem coming down here and dwelling on earth.
And it says, we'll no longer have need of the sun or the moon because God will be in our midst as our light.
You know, I don't know what that does to the cosmology of how we understand space and everything else, but it changes everything.
Well, I agree with you on that point.
But when I read that chapter of Revelation, which is like what, chapter 21, that talks about 21, 22?
No sun, no moon, and the illumination comes from the beings, right?
Comes from the souls of the beings.
We're born to be like him.
As we're no longer on earth.
Like we're no longer in the 3D space.
Now we're in God's space, which transcends earth.
And that's why there's no moon and no sun.
But I would disagree because it says God is made his dwelling place here on earth.
It was the Greek mindset that basically looked at a separation between the physical realm and the spiritual realm.
And so the Greek mindset has this idea that salvation is being freed from this corrupt physical material world.
That's not a biblical worldview.
That's a Greek worldview.
And the New Testament was written in Greek.
And so a lot of it was flavored that way.
But the Hebrew mindset is the marriage between the two.
Interesting.
God is very much committed to the earth and to it fulfilling its full purpose and all of creation and each one of us.
But then also in Revelation, doesn't it also say that every mountain is flattened and every island is gone at the final judgment?
I mean, that seems to indicate that every human city and building would be destroyed.
Is that?
Yeah, I think one of the challenges is in revelatory panoramic visions, we're not dealing with just everything as literal interpretation.
I think there's symbolic representations of things.
Mountains are oftentimes systems of authority and rulers.
And so I think if there weren't a whole bunch of the rest of the Bible to help us interpret Revelation, I think it'd be super challenging because it does, you can read it.
And I think most of it been taught to us is that everything gets destroyed.
And it's like, oh, no, we don't want to be here.
Interesting.
But I think the truth is, is God is so committed to us.
He's so committed to what he began.
He's promised that he will finish it.
I think one of the problems with religion, as it's been taught to us, is we think, you know, we largely sign up for the do better, try harder gospel.
And that somehow it's through our commitment, our sincere effort that we're going to become something.
And I think the reality is, is God's kind of saying, I never expected you to do this by yourself.
I always wanted to do this with you.
And I'm going to do something in you if you let me that will transform it all.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, allowing God to work through us.
Yeah, because I think God is altogether far better than we've been told.
And I think Christianity is not supposed to be this super hard thing.
I think it's meant to be like a walk and a talk with Jesus in the cool of the day.
And he's going to help us become the very thing that he purposed.
Let me mention the, for those who want to watch the full course, again, it's called All the Things That Matter.
It's at brightyou.com.
It begins streaming free of charge with registration required, that's all, on Saturday, July 5th.
And then it runs for 10 days with another episode repeating on a streaming loop each day.
And let me mention our guest here, Brad Cummings, is the publisher of the Founders Bible.
And that's the website, thefoundersbible.com.
And this is my favorite Bible because it combines scripture with the founding fathers of America and how they actually interwove fundamentals of understanding of Jesus and God into things like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and these fundamental rights.
And a good example of that, Brad, if I could just ask you to clarify is that our founding fathers, as they wrote and finalized the Bill of Rights, which were the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, and these were finally ratified in 1791, right?
It was understood and written that these are rights that are given to us by God, not by government.
That's key.
Right.
And they were trying to protect that, going like government is enacted to protect our rights, not to become the boss of us.
Right.
Correct.
So, whereas how that's been twisted today is that a lot of people believe that government gives you your rights and that therefore government can take them away.
Yeah, it's like the forgotten sovereign is a double entendre.
It's God who's the king.
We start first with a king and a monarch, and then he gives us rights.
And then we set up government to protect those rights.
We, the people, collectively, are supposed to be the one in charge.
And I think what We're seeing is because we have been derelict in our duty of doing the keeping function of keeping government in check, it has usurped its place.
It's become the boss.
It thinks it's God.
True.
And it just, you know, I think what we're seeing is an unraveling of all of that.
I think to bring us to a place of real repentance where we kind of go like, hey, God, sorry, we forgot you were a necessary part of the equation.
Could you help us, please?
Well, a good example of that is right now, you know, big debate about the so-called big beautiful bill.
And I see that the advocates of the bill are saying, no tax on tips.
No tax on tips.
How awesome is that?
And I'm thinking, you are settling for no tax on tips when all taxation is theft.
It should be no tax period.
You know, I mean, it's the slave mindset that has become adopted by the vast majority of Americans today, and not to mention Europeans, where it's even worse.
It's astonishing to me that they will settle like they're prisoners in a prison planet and they will settle for little crumbs like no tax on tips and they will celebrate that as a reason to support the prison guards.
Yeah.
You know, it's crazy.
Yeah.
I mean, we are so far away from the foundations of our constitution.
I think the real problem is, I mean, the reason we did the founders Bible is because I'm going like, I graduated from seminary with a master's degree in 16 units of U.S. history.
And the truth is when I met David Barton, who's our signature historian, I didn't know about 85% of the stuff that he was exposing me to.
And I realized, oh my gosh, we have been lied to.
Wow.
There is a beautiful foundation that was laid to establish liberty for everyone, not just a limited few.
And I think when Benjamin Franklin was asked, you know, what form of government do we have?
He said, a republic, ma'am, if you can keep it.
A republic is the most fragile form of government there is, but it brings maximum liberty, but it requires maximum engagement from the citizens.
The founders knew the only check for an out-of-control government was the people.
But the people have forgotten that.
And so we've not done our job.
And we go, I hate politics.
It's like, whether you hate it or like it, you're going to get it.
And unless you're engaged in it, it will tyrannize you.
Yeah, well said.
And, you know, excuse me, here we are looking at the fact that the GOP is supporting an expansion of government now.
No one believes in small government in Washington anymore.
Except Thomas Massey.
Yeah, who is being really viciously attacked by President Trump, right?
And even Rand Paul, I think, is also in that same boat.
But the institution of government has in many ways been weaponized against the people in contradiction to the intention of the founding fathers that we just talked about.
But I want to also mention that the institution of the church has also suffered, I think, a similar kind of erosion of the understanding of the role of Christ in our lives and the role of the individual responsibility on that spiritual journey.
So would you like to address some of that?
Yeah, I mean, just as we have the military industrial complex, I think we have the medical industrial complex and I think we have the religious industrial complex.
Jesus didn't come up to set up institutions and then a hierarchy of authority.
He called people into relationship with him.
And I think sadly, most people kind of prefer to have God at a distance.
They show up.
They feel like they're doing their duty and doing that, but they're kind of frightened of actually knowing him for themselves.
That's kind of a scary exposure thing.
And so it's easier to be told what to do.
And so I think sadly, that's the state of where we're at is the church is always meant to have been something that is each one of us has a direct relationship with God.
I mean, I used to be a pastor and I happily resigned because I didn't think it was working.
We had the most successful church in LA.
A lot was going on.
Great.
But then there was a whole bunch of corruption that was happening.
I'm just going like, we're not supposed to be doing this.
And so I'm not a real big fan of the industrialized, institutionalized church.
Nor am I. Of course, and I apologize for the background noise.
We just got hit with like a cloud burst of rain as you were saying that.
I had to mute myself during that.
Maybe God's saying yes.
Yeah, yeah.
Maybe there's an exclamation mark that just hit our roof here.
That's for sure.
But yeah, you know, I have become very disillusioned about the institution of the church, but also at the same time, even more deeply reverent about the teachings of Christ and how important that is for our time.
But I see this divergence.
And let me ask you, I'll try not to get you into too much hot water.
This may be politically sensitive, but what I witnessed and what became very frustrating for me was seeing so many people quoting the Bible in order to justify violence against civilians in other countries.
And that immediately struck me as, no, that's wrong.
That is not what Jesus taught.
It's exactly the opposite of what Jesus taught.
But it shows how Bible teachings can be distorted, Old Testament and new, in order to achieve political crimes.
Yeah, and so much of what has been standard fair that's been taught to people is God has this special chosen people, and we don't recognize that that was always a conditional element and that he actually kicked them out of the land because they completely forsook the covenant and him.
And so we've been left with this kind of narrative that has been given to people, and they think they're kind of being virtuous in supporting, quote, the home team.
And it somehow doesn't matter what They do, and I'm just going like you have to throw out 99% of your Bible to come to that conclusion.
And I think one of the biggest problems is most people don't read the Bible for themselves, they have it taught to them by somebody.
That is true.
That's one of the biggest problems is because each one of us is responsible to know the truth.
And I can't blame my pastor for telling me something wrong.
I'm supposed to test it and see if that's true.
And if I'm not seeking it for myself and waiting for a sense of a double witness, man, it says in the Old Testament that we're not supposed to eat unclean animals that don't have a cloven hoof.
And for most of my Christian life, I had no idea what that was about.
But that's about how do we eat clean spiritual food?
And you got to eat something that stands on the double witness of truth.
Let everything be established by the presence of two or three witnesses.
It doesn't matter what I say and how firmly I believe it's true.
If I say something, you're supposed to check it out.
And you're also supposed to wait till you have that inner witness from the Holy Spirit that says, yes, that's true.
Yeah.
You get some confirming element from somebody else.
Most of us don't bother to check.
I'm so glad you're saying this because I, although I'm nowhere near an expert in scripture, I do read it.
I make sure I'm reading it and I'm quoting it.
And one of the reasons I stopped doing podcasts about scripture was because I ran into these situations where I would read scripture and no one would believe me.
And I came up with this saying, I said, the hardest thing in the world is to convince a Christian of what's written in the Bible.
And that's what I've lived with since then, because I realized it's pointless to read the Bible to a Christian when they already have, and I'm talking like mainstream mega church Christians, not people like you and those watching this who are more independent thinking, but the mainstream industrialized Christians, they have a view of the Bible that they are convinced is true when it absolutely is not true.
It is false, but you can't teach them what the Bible says.
At least that's my experience.
It's interesting.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in his day.
And who were the Pharisees?
They were the super students of the scriptures.
And he said to them, he said, you neither understand the scriptures nor the power of God.
He said, you search them because you think that in the scriptures you're going to find life, but yet you refuse to come to me.
And it's they that are testifying of me.
And so the Bible is meant to be not, it's not life-giving in and of itself.
It's meant to be a stepping stone to fellowship with the author.
Yes.
We're supposed to be coming to Jesus to have life.
And I don't think, I think most people are settled like, I just, I read my chapter.
I did my little tick box and, you know, I've done my devotion.
I don't really care about your devotions.
I want to see a life that's lived out in devotion to the one we're following.
This is why your course is so critical.
And I love your title, All the Things That Matter, because now you're talking about the application of this.
Just like you said, a spiritual journey doesn't end with the rote memorization or reciting of scripture, tithing to a church, singing hymns, or even technically attending church.
And I've received flack by telling people, you do not have to attend church in order to know Christ.
I mean, you can't.
Church is you.
Exactly.
Exactly.
It's not the building.
The building is where the church meets.
It's not the church.
Just like Jesus of Nazareth himself.
He was a roving teacher.
I mean, he didn't.
My understanding is he wasn't a fan of the temples at all.
I mean, so tell us about your corpse.
It's going to get destroyed.
And the glory of God leaves the place and it never returns to that place.
So when the temple got destroyed, the glory never returned there.
They rebuilt it, but guess what?
God was no longer dwelling inside.
You know, one of the big things of the second temple, which is the temple that Jesus showed up and there, God was not dwelling in there.
They did not have the Ark of the Covenant.
They did not have the presence of God dwelling in there in the Holy of Holies.
And yet everyone else assumed that it was because that's what they, you know, had seen in the other scrolls.
But the high priest would go in there once a year and he should have come out.
The first one that went in there should have come out running like, help, help, he's not here.
But everyone just kept quiet and just kept going through the motions.
I kind of feel like so much of church that we do today, God is supposed to be there dwelling in the midst with us.
And that's supposed to be a felt known reality.
That's not supposed to be just for some super holy special people.
Can you go ahead?
Yeah.
Can you speak?
One of the most profound things you ever said to me.
And yes, I do remember most of what you've told me is about the fact that God's covenant is with all people, not just certain special people.
So some people like to claim, no, no, no, we are God's chosen people, nobody else.
But that's not true.
All of us are children of God.
Can you please explain that covenant with all of us?
Can I give you a wonderful verse that will blow most people's minds?
Please, please.
It's 1 Timothy 4, 10.
Oh, that's okay.
And it is for this that we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the savior of all men, comma, especially of believers.
What?
How is God the savior of all men, but he's especially the savior of believers?
Well, that means he's also your savior.
I haven't sat and thought about that, but that's talking about the universality of mankind.
He was the Messiah and the Savior for everybody.
And just to be clear, that includes people of every religious faith or even the non-faithful atheists.
Yeah.
If he's the savior, especially of believers, it would suggest that he's actually going to save even unbelievers.
It's just the fact of salvation has been secured in what Jesus did on the cross.
There's no other salvation apart from him.
But the timing of that is dependent upon how we respond to that.
Some people respond to him in this lifetime.
And there's a special blessing for doing that.
And this is where most people go like, oh, you're now about to go into the heretical place.
And I'm going like, no, it's just you haven't really read your Bible.
There's a thing at the end of the millennium that's a thousand year reign where Christ is on the earth with us, ruling and reigning.
And at the end of all that, everybody gets resurrected from the dead, both the righteous and the wicked.
And they all get resurrected bodies.
And then the righteous at that time, it says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.
The word to confess is not just to speak the same as, but to speak the same as with joyful agreement.
That means nobody's being forced to say this.
They'll all come to an awareness.
Oh my gosh, he really is God and this is really wonderful.
And then the believers will receive their resurrected bodies and then they will actually go through a period of judgment.
After the millennium, there's an age of judgment, which is no fun.
I don't want to be a part of it.
And you do get a way out.
If you become one of the overcoming remnant believers and the followers of Jesus that are, you know, well done, good and faithful servant, you get exempted from that time of judgment.
Why?
Because you allowed him to do such a deep work in you in this life.
He decided, I'm going to let you rule and reign with me for the millennial thousand years.
That's such a cool deal.
I'm going like, Lord, would you please help me qualify?
Yeah, that's, I'm glad you mentioned that because even that topic, how do we qualify in the eyes of the Lord involves ferocious debate, obviously, you know, across so many religions.
But I find it interesting, and please comment on this, that even Islam recognizes Christ as a prophet.
And I believe, I think that Islam says that Christ will return.
They acknowledge him as a prophet.
Yes.
I don't know that Islam really believes is worshiping the same God as the one revealed in the Bible.
Sure.
And the reason I say that is because when you look at the character description of that deity, they're nowhere the same.
You know, and it's like, but the reality is, is there's only one true God, and that is God who's revealed in the Bible.
His name is that YHWH, which is the sound of a breath.
I think what's so amazing is we weren't supposed to add vowels into it and call him Yahweh.
I think we're supposed to just make the sound of a breath because that's declaring his name.
You can't participate on this planet without saying his name.
And it doesn't matter what religion, what language.
It's just, it's the breath.
He is the living one.
And he breathes his life into us.
And he's promised.
There's the new covenant and then there's the old covenant.
And I think most people have that totally confused.
You know, what you were referencing is the promise of God to the covenant was made to everybody.
That's in Deuteronomy 29.
And it's at the end of the wilderness wandering.
And Moses is kind of saying, you know, Deuteronomy means the second law.
It's like he's rehearsing everything that they should have heard and learned, but they rejected it the first go around.
You know, when they came out of Egypt to go to, you know, Moses' job was to take them out of Egypt and bring them to Sinai.
And then God wanted to speak to everybody direct.
We have Sherry.
And they all freaked out.
They ran away.
And they said, Moses, don't let him do that ever again.
You go talk to him.
It's too frightening to us.
And then they came up.
They said, Moses, you go talk to him.
Find out what he wants us to do.
And then we will do everything that you say.
That was the invention of the thing called the old covenant.
It's not old because it was first.
It was old because it's Hebrew says it's obsolete.
It never worked.
Sorry to interrupt, but we have Dr. Sherry Tenpenny joining us now.
Welcome, Dr. Tenpenny.
It's always a pleasure to have you on the show.
Oh, thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
I've been sitting for a little bit listening to this great conversation.
What a great way to introduce this course.
Absolutely.
And, you know, thank you.
I was so pleased to be able to have you as a guest in studio not long ago.
That was really wonderful.
It was really fun.
It was a fun interview.
Oh, it was a blast.
And we had such great feedback on that.
You know, you are such a beloved person by our audience and so many people around the world.
You've done so much important work for humanity, which is really aligned with what we are talking about today with Brad.
So I want to go to Brad next and say, extend that thought to the point of this course, which is free and how it helps people achieve what I believe is part of our life's mission in this world, is to do good.
But we have to understand the rules of the spiritual system, how it works.
So please speak to that, Brad.
Well, it's interesting.
When Sherry asked me if I wanted to do another series, I was just trying to summarize what are some of the most important things that I've learned over the last 58 years of Walking with Jesus.
And so, without any real intent, we just sort of discovered the title like halfway in.
We had tried to do four sessions, and I had more material that it turned into eight.
And I just kind of said, without really knowing, it's like, you know, we're talking about all the things that really matter.
It's like, how do I sift through all of the minutia that's not as important?
And what are the central things that really matter to God?
And then how do I have a real relationship with him that walks it out without getting all stupid and religious and caught up in all these controversies?
But actually, I'm putting my hand to the purpose and mission that he's given us as his followers in this earth.
And so unashamedly, we try to tackle those.
All the things that matter, it's like, you know what?
Is it all the things?
No, I'm not going to be arrogant enough to say that we cover every last little thing.
What we center on those things.
And I think one of the most important things that we look at is we've reduced following Jesus down to a simple raise my hand and make a decision for him.
Like, well, that's nice, great.
But then most people go like, now what?
It's like the offer they were given is, where would you like to spend eternity in heaven or in hell?
Well, I'll take heaven, please.
And then so they make that decision, but then they really functionally don't know what to do from there on out.
And I don't think that's a good idea as far as a good perspective on what it is to become a Christian.
Well, I'm so glad.
And I want to ask you to give us some specific examples that are in the course.
I also want to mention Dr. Tenpenny.
Can I call you the co-host of this course?
Yes, I was.
Let me call me the facilitator.
Facilitator.
So the facilitator, because I asked questions and, you know, we had a bit of a conversation, but this was mostly Brad's incredible revelations to our head and our heart and our walk with the Lord.
And so I would call me the facilitator on this information.
Perfect.
Perfect.
So my question to you, Brad, to continue where you were just going is, and I'll share my personal belief, which is that I've become the notion that you qualify in God's view by simply professing Jesus with your mouth, but not with your actions and deeds.
And I know this is highly controversial to a lot of Christians, but what I see is people, they go to church, they tithe, they sing, they say, yeah, I accept Jesus was resurrected, Jesus died for our sins, he was resurrected.
And then the next day they go out drinking and fighting and hiring prostitutes or whatever.
And like, come on, come on.
That doesn't work that way, I'm pretty sure.
What do you say?
Right.
Well, do you know the word righteousness?
That's a nice word in the Bible.
Do you know in Plato's Republic, he uses that same word, but it's always translated as justice.
And I go like, that's extraordinary.
Righteousness and justice, the same word, but we have two totally different response to it.
Christians have accepted this idea that, you know what, I'm not really righteous, but because of what Christ did, I get this imputed righteousness to me.
And so I'm declared righteous, even though I still act like a hellion.
I'm righteous because God declared me as such.
And I'm going like, well, there's an element of truth to that.
It is because of what Jesus has done that my sin is covered.
But God wants to not just cover it.
He wants to remove it and transform me.
And I think what I really love about both you and Sherry is because you guys didn't sort of just grow up just in the church.
You lived your lives and successfully pursued a lot of things.
Neither of you seem to have all the religiously transmitted diseases.
You know, you're still kind of critically thinking for yourself.
And so when something doesn't fit, you call BS on it.
And I love that.
I mean, this course was really the outgrowth of Sherry and I having a lot of wonderful conversations just as friends where she would call me, say, I don't get this.
Or she's reading through the Bible and says, really, do I have to read here?
What's in here that's important?
And it would lead to great conversations.
And so she just kind of said, would you put together something like our conversations?
And yeah.
And so I think when we think of getting born again, the reality is it's not just a confession and a declaration.
That's what we've reduced it to.
The scripture talks about being begotten from above.
It's like God causes his life to enter into us and we're born again, begotten from an incorruptible seed.
That gives my spirit life on the inside, which was formerly dead and separate.
That's not what most people are doing when they raise their hand.
They're just getting a get out of jail free card.
And I wonder, it's like, have you really, has the life of God actually entered into you?
Is it possible for that to happen and you not know?
Go ahead, Sheriff.
Let me add to that too.
It's like, I think that when Brad talks about, you know, just raising your hand and, you know, going forth on the altar call or whatever like that, people think that there's this sudden transformation, this metamorphosis, like you're a caterpillar, you're an ugly caterpillar, suddenly turned into a butterfly.
And it's a linear upward pattern from there forward.
Everything is going to be hearts and butterflies and just wonderful things.
And everything will be resolved and God will just make smooth your paths and all this stuff.
And, you know, that's not life.
And honestly, that's not where you grow.
You know, it's the struggles and the weaknesses and the betrayals and the illnesses and the different things that happen to you that make you dig in deeper and say, what is this about God?
And you can get mad at him sometimes and say, this is not making any sense to me.
I've always said, you know, God's got kind of big shoulders and I think He knows what you're thinking anyway, so you might as well just tell him you're mad at him.
And it's a relationship.
And in a relationship, if you truly have a friend or a spouse or really a relationship with somebody, you don't always get along.
And sometimes it's in the blow up that you kind of then sit back, that you end up with more love, more in the resolution, more love, more closeness, more forgiveness, and you understand each other better.
And that's in my experience.
And then from all the conversations I've had with Brad, that's kind of me, you know, when I get mad and say, I'm disappointed by this, or I don't understand this, or why is this happening?
And, you know, I'm stomping my foot like an obstephorous two-year-old, you know, and just like, and Brad would sort of say, but have you thought about it this way?
And then go back and talk to God about it.
And that's where we grow.
It's not in, you know, it's not in the good times.
It's in the bad times.
Yeah.
And it's really understanding that those are the times that make you stronger.
I'm really glad you said that, Sherry, because that leads me to a question I wanted to ask Brad anyway, which is about, is it true that this course can help people who are already well versed in scripture, in the practice of Christianity, as well as people who really don't know much about the Bible at all?
Because it seems very practical to me, what you're offering.
Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest.
I went to seminary.
I was very good.
I'm super smart as a person, but that's not the same thing as actually walking this out and having a real relationship with the living God.
I think we get far too mental and Erudite and we cerebrate about God as opposed to actually talk to him and figure this out with him.
We're not on our own, but most people do their Christian life as if they are.
And it's why it's not working and it's not very satisfying.
And I'm going like, I've been a pastor for forever and I have sort of no shock ability.
Human beings are capable of all kinds of evil and unkindness towards one another.
And most of it's because we really haven't yet laid hold of God's love for us.
We love because he first loved us.
And so this course is trying to take it all out of the ether and make it make sense and make it make sense to someone that knows a lot or doesn't know anything.
And I'll add to that too, is that, you know, where I really think this course really resonates is with kind of the lukewarm Christian, you know, the people that have been doing all the things you've been talking about, going to church and, you know, they've been reading their Bible.
They've been, you know, thinking, you know, been walking with God for a long time, but they don't have any spark.
They don't have any real big enthusiasm.
So I think that this really will put the enthusiasm back in for their savior and for what they believe and want to dig in and learn more.
And for the people that are sitting on the fence, it's like, yeah, I tried Christianity.
I don't know.
It didn't really work for me.
But when they really listen to what Brad has to say through this course, it will give them so much hope.
And they'll feel like I need to jump off the fence and, you know, deep dive into the pool to be able to really absorb God's heart and to know what his real plan is for us.
I'm so glad you said that.
And I'll respond.
And also, Brad, I know you'll love to hear this, that the most important thing that I've taken out of attempting to learn and teach some lessons from the Bible is a great deepening of my love for humanity.
Now, of course, great skepticism of institutionalized religion at the same time, but my love for humanity has become so much stronger since reading scripture.
Yeah.
And to the point where it's politically incorrect.
It's like, you're not allowed to love everybody.
No, you can only love these people.
You got to hate these people and you got to call for death to those people, but you can't say death to these people.
Right.
And I'm like, wait a second.
I actually love all human beings equally.
How very Jesus of you, Mike.
Well, apparently I'm a heretic for saying such things, you know, but then again, so was he.
Again, you don't have the religiously transmitted diseases.
You haven't had spiritual racism taught to you and bred into you.
That's a very powerful term, spiritual racism.
That's very, you know, I think the reality is, is God has hid himself just about everywhere.
And where anyone in the dark is groping for him, he's egging them closer.
Do they have it all true?
No, they don't.
But are they searching for him?
Is there an ache in their heart that they're trying to fill?
Yeah.
And God is going to work with that.
You know what I mean?
God isn't going like, oh, you grew up in a Muslim home.
Sorry, can't do that.
Your doctrine's wrong.
You know, the thief on the cross that was next to Jesus, he's the only one that we have red letter confirmation is confirmed as saved and will be with Jesus wherever paradise is.
And did he have his doctrine correct?
Doubtful.
Did he know what the Trinity was?
Doubtful.
Did he get baptized?
Not unless Jesus hogged up a big Lugie and spit on him.
No.
So what saved him?
It was looking at Jesus and recognizing simple thing.
He's innocent.
I'm guilty.
There's something about him.
I want his life.
I want to be with him.
And Jesus said, game on, today you will be with me in paradise.
You know, it's like, it's about that simple.
And was that conversion real?
Yeah, it was.
That guy still died an excruciating form of death, the most torturous thing you could go through.
And his death didn't save me, but Jesus' death kind of did.
I'd love to ask this question about what you guys think.
And it's not a test, but is it Jesus' life that saves me or his death That saves me?
That's a good question.
What would you guys think?
I think no matter what I say, the audience will go insane.
So, what, Mike?
Sherry, you want to tackle this one first?
This is awesome.
I honestly would say both.
His life is an image in a guidepost, and his death saves me through his resurrection.
And it's like the conquering of death.
So I think it's both.
His life, the way he lived it, his teachings, what he tried to teach us about God and the way to live and et cetera.
And then his death, when he bore all of our sins and transmuted them through his resurrection into separating us as far as the East is from the West.
I think it's both.
Yeah.
And I think the problem is, is most of us have been taught that it's the death of Jesus that saves me in a confessional, declarational way.
And I'm going like, yes, that's partly true, but it's his life in me that changes me and transforms me.
Salvation is not just a one, one and done.
It's happened in the past.
It's then an ongoing transformation daily.
And then ultimately, Peter, James, and John, who saw Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, they kind of went, oh my gosh, that's a picture of the fullness of our salvation that will be revealed to us when he returns.
And they wrote about it.
John said, you know, little children, we do not know what we're going to be like when he appears, but we'll be like him.
And then Peter talked about the salvation that we've been given that we're awaiting the full possession of it at his appearing, when he returns.
And I'm going like, most Christians are going like, well, I prayed the prayer, but now what do I do?
And I think that the reality is it's a lot like Mary when, you know, Gabriel showed up and said, hey, favored among women, you're going to bear the life of God in you.
You're going to become pregnant with Jesus.
You'd go like, oh, wait, I haven't been with a man.
How's that going to happen?
And what was being said to her, she had no understanding for, but she said, nevertheless, I don't know how this is going to happen, but I believe your promise to me.
And so be it done unto me according to your word.
I don't know how everything works, but God promised to do a work in us.
And if we'll say yes to that promise, the onus is on God to do that work in me.
And it's me to respond to that and allow it to happen and participate.
Brad, we're going to have to wrap it up.
I'm sorry to interrupt.
We're going to have to wrap it up there.
And thank you, Sherry, for bailing me out of that pop quiz.
But yeah, great, great answer and amazing conversation.
Let me remind people, this stream's beginning Saturday at brightyou.com.
And one episode each day, it's on a continuous loop for 24 hours.
And it's free to view, or you can optionally purchase and download the entire program, which helps support Brad and Sherry's work as well as this platform.
It's called All the Things That Matter.
And it's great that this is happening on the Independence Day weekend, because I would say this is a celebration of spiritual independence.
I mean, but I mean, connectedness to God, but independent from artificial constructs that may have misled you, like institutionalized.
I'm going to call it fast food drive-through religion, actually.
It's the happy meal of religion that you really don't want, actually, with the dipping sauce and the nuggets.
You want the reality.
You want the real thing.
And I think that's what this delivers.
So we've got to wrap this up.
I want to thank both of you for taking the time to have this conversation.
It's really, really amazing.
You're both such amazing givers to humanity.
Thank you for your gifts.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
I enjoyed talking with both of you.
And we'll talk off camera over the weekend.
I'll let you know how this is going.
But thank you so much for your time today.
And thank all of you for watching.
This is brightyou.com is where you can, of course, sign up for this.
And be sure to check out Brad's book.
It's called The Founders Bible, and his website is thefoundersbible.com.
And it's an extraordinary assemblage of historical knowledge combined with scripture and interpretation of that scripture through the lens of our founding fathers.
So check that out at thefoundersbible.com.
And thank you for watching today.
And today, I speak for all of us when I say God bless each and every one of you for watching today.
Happy Independence Today.
Happy Independence Day today and all weekend.
And take care.
We'll talk again soon.
We'll talk again soon.
you Happy Independence Day.
Look, I love this holiday because, of course, I love independence from British rule and the tyranny of the king as an American and a tax.
And of course, we are celebrating Independence Day with some specials for you.
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You ready for some mango?
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Up?
Yes, good boy.
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You ready for some mango?
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Do you like the mango?
He likes the mango, too.
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You want some more mango?
Come on up.
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Good boy.
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So this is incredibly delicious.
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And it's apple and mango.
You get both of them free when you place any order of $129 or more during our July 4th celebration sale.
And that lasts all weekend through Sunday night, July 6th at midnight.
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Take advantage of all of this and more through Sunday night, July 6th, just by going to healthrangerstore.com slash July4.
That's the numeral for.
And thank you for all your support.
And you're going to love these mango slices.
And I'm going to enjoy these next because you can't beat Mother Nature when it comes to nutrition and taste and the cleanliness of the organic fruit, right?
It's amazing.
Thank you for your support.
Happy Independence Day, America.
We love this country.
God bless America and God bless Texas.
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