Neil Johnson and Heather dissect Good Friday's significance, contrasting Jesus' resurrection with communist leaders like Marx who sought to eliminate God. They cite John Adams on the Constitution's religious foundation while addressing immigration impacts and "woke" cultural opposition. Personal testimonies include a makeup artist's dolphin sunrise miracle at Huntington Beach and Neil's healing missions in Africa. Ultimately, the episode urges returning to America's Christian roots through faith over fear, concluding with a prayer for national restoration. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Faith vs Government Control00:14:53
See this guy with the pillows on Fox?
My pillow guy, Mike Lindell.
He is the greatest.
The My Pillow guy.
Thank you.
Mike Lindell.
And he's been with us right from the beginning.
Friday, the Son of God was nailed to the cross, crucified, and he died.
For all of us, it was a day of darkness, but it wasn't the end.
By any means, it was not the end.
On Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away and the grave was empty.
Christians everywhere rejoiced, and we continue to rejoice.
Easter is one of the incredible days.
It was the miracle in all of history the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It was one of the great.
It was the great miracle, I guess.
He told his followers, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, because of the events of Holy Week 20 centuries ago.
People from every nation, language, and background can take on any difficulty, press through any trial, and endure any hardship.
With Christ, not one thing can separate humanity from the powers of God's Everlasting love.
Across the generations, what happened on Easter has inspired his followers to love one another, to forgive, to do works of charity, and build the beautiful churches.
And we have some of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
To me, churches I love.
I love great architecture, and we have some of the most beautiful churches.
Christians have opened schools, ministries, and hospitals on every continent to teach care and heal those in need.
And they do it with love and they do it with great affection.
Welcome, everybody.
Happy Friday.
That was President Trump giving a nice speech there on the importance of Good Friday.
And joining me now on this Good Friday is Neil Johnson of Lumberjack Logic.
Hi, Heather.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Well, now it's Great Friday because you're here, Neil.
Oh.
Thanks for joining us.
You see what I did there.
But it really is a very important day here.
You know, Good Friday, the day that Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.
And, you know, just your reaction to hearing President Trump from the White House talk about the importance of this day.
Yeah, well, it's just great to hear our president actually acknowledging that and that it was the miracle, the greatest miracle in the history of humanity.
You know, everybody else is still in the grave.
Jesus Christ rose from that grave, then taking off the power, the curse of the power of sin over our lives and told us that we could walk as he walked, live as he lived.
In 2 Peter, it says, he has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
I mean, you think about that.
He's given us everything.
Everything pertaining to life and godliness, and then tells us that we can walk as he walked.
And we're not talking about perfection here.
We are talking about holiness, though.
And they call this Holy Week, right?
But holiness, holy is a word set apart for God.
But he said, Be ye holy as I am holy.
He imparts his holiness to us, and then he expects us to walk differently.
And I think one of the things about the Christian faith that's so great is that there is the power to transform your life.
You do not have to keep living.
As you have.
He talked about, Trump talked about their love and forgiveness.
And that's really the crucible.
It's the crux of the whole thing.
So, Jesus, that was an act of love.
You know, you might get frustrated with people in your life and you might give up on them.
We're not supposed to do that.
Jesus, could you imagine if he had thrown down the cross?
I mean, you have to remember, I mean, they came to see him strictly for miracles, they came to see him to get free food.
A lot of people came for reasons other than serving God.
God.
I mean, they came for what they could get.
Yet we're supposed to come and lay down our lives, pick up our cross and follow him.
And so, could you imagine if he had laid down his cross?
He's going up the hill there, right?
And he's got the cross, but he just throws it down.
You know what?
These people let Barabbas go.
Barabbas, the murderer, all I've done is healed these people, fed these people, loved these people, and now they want to kill me.
And Barabbas, come on, God, I'm done with these people, and throws down the cross and walks away.
Whole story changes and he calls us to live like he lived.
It's a wild ride.
Yeah, for sure.
And you know what I find interesting is, you know, growing up in sort of like a very blue area, you know, you didn't hear a lot, at least in schools and things like that, about God and how the Bible itself was tied to our American history.
And it was actually Charlie Kirk that opened my eyes as an American to just how much of our nation's founding is truly rooted in.
And the teachings of Christ.
And so I want to play a quick clip here of Charlie Kirk breaking it down so beautifully and making the connection to our founding documents and Christianity.
So take a listen.
They say that God was only mentioned four times in the Declaration of Independence.
Well, that's a big deal.
John Adams seamlessly said the Constitution was only written for immoral religious people, it was wholly inadequate for the people of any other.
The body politic of America was so Christian that our form and structure of government was built for the people that believed in Christ our Lord.
One of the reasons we're living through a constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian nation, but we have a Christian form of government, and they're incompatible.
So you cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population.
And so, your reaction, we kind of no longer have like the full Christian people that we did back, you know, 250 years ago, but there is a revival going on in America.
So, you know, what do you think is the future of America?
Are we going to get back to that, you know, body politic of a Christian people here when we've had, you know, the borders open for, gosh, decades now between Obama and Biden?
And we've had so many people.
Of all different faiths, all different countries and stuff come here, that it's really sort of diluted the Christian population here in America.
On top of the fact that we've had, you know, a lot of, I believe, our nation's adversaries trying to deliberately remove God out of schools and God out of movies and music and entertainment.
There was this mass sort of push to try to keep the American people and the younger generations away from Christ.
And from knowing him.
And then when you combine that with the amount of people let in here, I mean, like, just, I guess, where do you see the future of America going as far as turning back to Christ?
Well, you know, it's interesting.
You talked about how there's been a concerted effort to keep God at the, you know, not at the forefront, but at the back burner to basically delegitimize God, say God is dead.
And that coincidentally is exactly what communist nations do.
You can look at the Marx, Lenin, Mao, they all needed to eliminate God because God, quite frankly, is what gives you hope and it also promotes freedom, right?
So they obviously weren't pro freedom.
Interestingly, I will say this much, Heather.
We've had a lot of people come here from different countries.
Obviously, the Muslim faith is completely incompatible with a constitution like we have, with a Declaration of Independence like we have.
The one thing I do find interesting is a lot of the migrants from Mexico were Catholic, and some of our very strong Catholics.
They were actually fairly conservative in their views.
So, you know, but again, you know, illegal immigration is a whole separate issue in a sense because we're a nation of laws and we have to be able to put up those laws.
It's like I saw the meme one time, you know, Jesus was a carpenter, he would have helped build that wall, but I'm not going there right now.
But the bottom line is I don't, You know, some immigrants can be very good for this country.
Obviously, we were a country that was built on immigration.
They brought their faith, their values.
That was the whole point of the Mayflower Compact, Plymouth Rock, you know, coming over here to escape religious persecution.
So, when we have people who want to immigrate and assimilate, those can be very good things.
The problem is, obviously, that wasn't what we had going on.
And it has just really eroded some of the social fabric, the moral fabric.
And the institutions of law and order in this country.
So, if I had a crystal ball and I was looking to the future, I could go dark or I could call for revival.
I don't know which way it's going to go, but it almost seems like it has to go one way or the other.
Either we turn back to God and we create a government again that is of, by, and for the people, we go back to what that was, or we're going to go off the slippery slope and this whole American experiment is going to be done.
I don't see a middle ground.
Yeah.
And it's when you brought up like Mao and some of these other, you know, communist leaders and stuff around the world, it's really any man that seeks to have power over another man doesn't want you to know the Lord, right?
Because if you're following the Lord, you're essentially that like Jesus Christ becomes your king.
And as a Christian, when we follow him and we follow God's commandments for how we're supposed to live our life, that becomes as Christians our ultimate governing authority.
And so if you're a government and you want to control people, You want to keep them from knowing the Lord because Christians will not put government above God.
They'll always put God above government.
And that's what made America so great is that our constitutional rights didn't come from the government.
It came from God, like our inalienable rights, they call it.
So that means no man, no judge, no governing body can take away the things that God gave you.
And when you don't have God, when you don't follow Him, then you become susceptible.
To following your government.
Your government then becomes your God, and you ask that government, What am I allowed to do?
You know, like what rights do I have?
And they can dictate what you do, what you can't do, so on and so forth.
But when you're governed by God, it's a totally different ballgame, and you become a threat to the very men that walk this earth that seek to control other people.
Because there's nothing more liberating than accepting Christ as your savior.
Because it also does one of the biggest things and it conquers death.
And how many men across this world, right, act and behave in ways because they're afraid of death, right?
Death becomes the fear.
Like, don't go out during COVID or you might die.
Don't go worship during this war.
You might get hit with a missile.
Don't do this.
It's just this constant fear mongering that you need to be afraid of death and that you need to walk around and we need to control your life so we can keep you from that death.
But when you accept Christ, right, and I hate to break it to people watching, but we're all going to die at some point.
It's inevitable, right?
It could be a car crash, it could be a missile, it could be a killing.
Who knows?
We're all going to, that's going to happen.
But like the beautiful thing about accepting Christ as your savior is you conquer death, and death actually becomes a good thing.
You gain eternity in heaven.
Once you accept him, it's like whenever your time is up, it's like, fine.
Every day now is a gift.
And I just get to live out however many days I have left on this earth.
Making the most of it, trying to be as good a person as I can, because I know someday I'm going to reach that next level of enlightenment and spend eternity in heaven because of the sacrifice Christ made on the cross today, all those years ago.
So it's one of those things where it makes sense that the powers that be in this world want to keep people from God.
Why there's been the constant attacks in the movies, right?
In the schools, in the sports, you just had an NBA player get waved from a team because he's boldly proclaimed the truth and spoke out against the Pride Month and all that stuff.
But the attacks on him and the celebrities in the movies, right?
You don't get cast for a film if you come out as a Christian and you say you don't support the LGBTQ stuff and the glorification of sin.
If you speak out against sin, we're not going to cast you in films.
You're not going to play on this sports team.
There's been a nonstop attack.
On Jesus Christ and Christianity in this country.
But despite those attacks, more people are speaking up, Neil.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, fear is just a myth.
I don't know.
I, you know, one of the things that I've, and fear is typically the absence of love.
We commit sin due to fear in our life because it's a manner of control.
We want to bring back control when, you know, and we have control over our actions.
We can choose to love or we can choose to not love.
But what I'm talking about here is like the grand plan, the grand design, and actually.
Trusting in the Lord.
Compelling Evidence of the Risen00:11:54
It says, faith without works is dead, and that you must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
So it also says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
So you have to believe that if you do as God instructs you to do, and you're reading your Bible, and the Holy Spirit will never give you something to do that Is contrary to the Bible.
That is like one thing people really need to understand.
And I think there's a lack of Bible knowledge in the country today because you'll hear people making decisions, doing things, and they'll say, Oh, the Lord told me to, when it is completely contrary to what the Word of God says.
So, you know, the faith is the opposite of fear, love is the opposite of fear.
And when you have faith and you have love, you trust the Lord.
Okay.
And that's what it all boils down to is that trust and trusting that.
Leaving the results in his timing, in his design, in his plan, knowing that he has the best in mind for you, knowing also that he disciplines, and people don't like discipline.
It says it's unpleasant for a time in Hebrews, but it produces the fruit of righteousness.
You know, a lot of times people say, Well, what is my calling?
I'm going to break it down to you, James.
You're called to suffer.
It's right in there.
For to this you were called.
For to this, you were called.
So you're going to face suffering for doing the right thing, you know, just like that basketball player.
I mean, getting cut from a team, I mean, that's a big paycheck to lose, folks.
Don't kid yourself.
Most people don't want to do that.
They wouldn't do it.
Okay.
So kudos to him for being willing to stand up for the truth.
That's just a great analogy there, Heather, that you brought up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, definitely kudos to him because it reminds me of that scripture like, what good is it to gain the world but forfeit your soul?
Right.
Like, when you see all of these things of the world, like nothing you have here, no amount of money, no amount of materials, cars, houses, whatever, you can't take that with you at the end of this life.
It is all temporary.
What you can take with you is your family, so long as they're saved, your family and your friends.
And that's why it's so important to go out and, and, Teach your family members and invite people to church this weekend to go learn about Jesus who don't have Jesus because we can take them with us when we lead them to Christ, but we can't take all the things of this world.
So, you know, kudos to Jaden Ivey because he's aware of that, he's rooted in that fundamental truth.
He knows that the greatest gift he could have is Christ as his Lord and Savior, not the millions that come with the basketball, the fame, and all that stuff.
That is like nothing.
In comparison.
And, you know, I think another, I want to play another clip for you, Neil, and get your reaction to this because I heard this this morning.
I was like going through some stuff because I really wanted to make this episode about, you know, Jesus and the importance of it, but also like hit some of the talking points where people will be like, well, you know, science can't prove Jesus, but that's actually not the case.
There's a ton of compelling evidence.
Oh, yeah.
This was real.
The resurrection was real.
And I found this clip.
In particular, from an Oxford professor named John Lennox.
And he's a mathematician, a bioethicist, and this is a lay theologian.
And he's written many books on religion and ethics and all kinds of stuff.
But I want to play this clip.
It's a little long, but we're going to play it in its entirety.
And then I'm going to get your reaction on the other side, Neil, because he says you actually can measure Christianity.
So let's just take a listen and we'll unpack on the other side.
Now, my final point is this.
I'm a scientist of sorts.
And people say to me, come on, you can't believe this stuff.
Because in science, in practical science, you do experiments, you test your hypotheses.
Christianity is not testable, isn't it?
Isn't it?
You see, the difference between the two last things I read were the difference between seeing something, those great thoughts, And working out an intellectual conclusion that something utterly remarkable has happened, that's not quite the same thing as meeting the risen Jesus.
And you see, ladies and gentlemen, if it is true that Jesus rose from the dead, then he's still alive.
And it's possible to meet him.
Now, you can do an experiment.
And it's this this Jesus who claims to be risen tells us.
That if we are prepared to trust Him, repent of the mess we've made of our own lives and the lives of other people, and we are prepared to receive Him as Lord and controller of life as the risen Son of God, then He will give us forgiveness.
Does the word forgiveness mean anything to you?
He'll give us new life and a new power.
And you know, I meet many people in life.
And I'll tell you just one story to illustrate this.
I was speaking to a huge crowd at Harvard University.
And when I'd finished, a young Chinese student stood up at the balcony and he shouted to the whole crowd, He said, Look at me.
And of course, we all looked.
And I said, Why should we look at you?
He said, Listen, his face was radiant with joy.
He said, Six months ago, my life was in a mess as a student.
And I don't know all the things he mentioned that were wrong with his life and so on.
He was in total despair.
And he said, Someone brought me to a lecture.
That you gave at one of the Ivy League universities, but not Harvard.
And he said, Just look at me now.
He said, I found peace with God.
My life has been completely transformed.
I've discovered meaning.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is the test.
When you see that in life again and again and again and again, when you see people with narcotic or alcohol dependence and they've no food to put on the table in front of their children, and you meet them then a year later and something has happened, you say, What's happened to you?
And they say something like, Well, I met Jesus, or I became a Christian, or they put it different ways.
When you see that again and again, you add two and two and you get four, I wouldn't sit here for a nanosecond if I didn't believe that not only is the resurrection of Jesus intellectually credible, but I believe it's existentially credible, Because the center part of my life and that of my wife and family is to walk with him from day to day.
Now that may sound absolute jargon and mumbo jumbo to you.
But we're living in a universe where we discover that we are persons.
And every analogy we know tells us that our origin cannot be subpersonal.
It's suprapersonal.
And if we enjoy human friendship, what a magnificent thing it is.
If God makes a way.
Where we can, through faith in Christ, become his sons and daughters and enjoy the biggest friendship and the most exciting friendship in the universe.
And that is friendship with the risen Christ.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
I mean, I had chills when he said that line.
He said, The resurrection of Jesus is not only intellectually credible, he says it's existentially credible.
I mean, I just had like chills when he said that.
Yeah, I mean, I want to jump.
John's books, Against the Flow, it's actually talking about Daniel and how we can live righteously in unrighteous times because that's what Daniel did under a Persian king.
He got thrown into a lion's den because he wouldn't bow, as did his buddies Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who got thrown into a fiery furnace.
And these are just pictures of the trials of our lives and the need to stand and that God will deliver us through those trials.
And I like what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said too.
They said, Our God is able to save us.
But even if he doesn't, oh dear king, we will not bow.
And God did show up and save them.
But sometimes, you know, you read in Hebrews and the Hall of Faith, and it goes through all these different people in the Bible and the persecutions and how they stood.
And then they talked about all the other sawn into, beaten, all the descriptions and the martyrs of the faith.
The world was not worthy of them, and they will receive their reward in heaven.
And here's the beautiful thing about it.
If you're going through life and you're experiencing tough times for righteousness' sake, then you will be rewarded.
And guess what?
God pays interest.
So, those that are enjoying their rewards here, I mean, it's great, right?
I mean, we get rewards here.
But if you get them in heaven because you didn't get them here, if you suffered for doing righteous things and you did not expect the reward down here and you just kept battling, I'm telling you, there is great reward for you in heaven.
So, stay the course, do the right thing, love people, forgive them, forgive them, forgive them, forgive them.
You're going to have to forgive people every single day of your life.
If there's one thing you've got to get good at in the Christian faith, it is forgiving.
And not only forgiving, folks, because a lot of people talk about forgiveness.
Well, you know, I'll forgive them, but I won't forget, or I'll forgive them, but that doesn't mean I need to be their friend, or, you know, these types of language.
Watch it.
If you're not willing, Jesus gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Reconciliation.
We are to be reconciled to one another in love.
Okay.
We're not to be holding grudges forever.
And we're not just, well, I forgave them, but you know, it's a weird process.
I mean, you think about the way people say things, their language always gives them away.
I mean, and you've got to watch your language because as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
And that power of the spoken word, when you send that out.
See, here's the beautiful thing, folks.
I'm going to give you like a.
I had to tell my daughter this one time because she was complaining.
And it says in the Bible, we're not supposed to complain.
I believe that's in Philippians or Ephesians, but it says, we're not supposed to complain.
Erica knows that one.
Yes, yes.
But we are not to complain because we are to shine like lights in a crooked and perverse generation.
And that is actually a call back to the time when Israel came out of Egypt, okay?
And they were complaining, oh, back in Egypt, at least we knew where our next meal was going to come from.
And, you know, at least in this, that, you know, they were slaves and they were asking for it back because they were whining so loudly and complaining so loudly.
And here's the thing you know that Satan is not omnipresent and God is?
He's not omniscient.
The Power of Not Complaining00:06:04
He's not any of that.
But he is not omnipresent, meaning.
Satan can only be in one place at a time.
Okay.
And Satan does not know your thoughts.
Okay.
He can only guess what your thoughts are based upon your actions.
So if you're over here complaining, because Satan obviously isn't anywhere and he's got a demonic horde and all that, right?
And demonic influence is real in people's lives.
But how does that demon gain access through people's complaining?
How do they know what's going on through your complaining?
So if you don't actually speak the complaints out loud, if you don't Actually, act out in anger at others around you.
Guess what?
They're going to eventually get tired of you and leave.
And they can't influence your life.
So, your best not to voice your complaints, even if you have them, but keep them in your own mind.
Explain this to my daughter.
You know, he does not know and he's not omnipresent.
And he, you know, so long he can't see what's going on inside of you.
God can.
So, just don't give voice to that.
Hmm.
Preach Neil.
Um, I want to play.
I actually want to play another sound bite here.
This one in particular is from Charlie Kirk, but he's speaking about the smartest man alive, right?
The guy with the record highest IQ in recorded history came out and said, Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light.
So let's take a listen to Charlie Kirk.
Hey, everybody, did you know that the smartest man in the world, Young Who Kim, With the highest documented IQ on the planet, well over a 246 point IQ, which has been approved by the official society that measures these things, has come out and said that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.
The smartest man on the planet knows that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In fact, the truth of the scriptures and Jesus being Lord has satisfied the greatest minds in history from Newton to Bach to Kierkegaard to Tolstoy to Dostoevsky.
So many of the greatest minds of history have admitted that Jesus is Lord.
What is stopping you?
Are you smarter than them?
Accept Jesus today.
It's the most important decision you'll make, which is the answer to the question who is Jesus Christ?
Amen.
And I love hearing that from Charlie because, like, we all know where Charlie is right now.
He's with our Savior.
And I just want to pull up the tweet from the highest IQ record holder.
He said, as the world's highest record holder, I believe that Jesus Christ is God, the way, and the truth, and the life.
That one tweet, just on X alone, on that post alone, I should say, got 23.7 million views.
It was, of course, screenshotted, reposted.
So it's probably closer to a billion.
When you add all of the articles and everything together.
And then he also put another tweet up there, a picture of him and his son from today.
And he said, Today with my son, we confess Jesus as the Lord, the way, the truth, and the life.
So, I mean, it's just there's so many people out here that are, you know, incredibly brilliant people that are speaking to the power and the truth that is Jesus.
Yeah.
And the beautiful thing about it, too, Heather, is whether you're the smartest, Or whether you're just average IQ or below average IQ, so long as you can see the truth of that, you have a way home.
And, you know, the fact though, it does, you know, it gives validation.
And I almost think, I mean, if you look at the historical record, if you look at, you know, just what John Lennox was talking about there, the changed lives around you, you basically have to, you could say a person would be dumb to do that, but it's actually more than that to deny Christ.
They're just hardened in their heart.
They have hardened themselves against the truth.
But there's a beautiful promise in the book of Ezekiel that God can take your hardened heart and turn it into a soft heart of flesh.
And that soft heart is what you need to be, because it requires humility to come to a higher power and say, I need help, or to come to a higher power and say, I believe you're Lord.
You are the way, the truth, and the life.
And I will follow your way, your will, your precepts, because I don't know better.
I had a really interesting conversation one time, Heather, with a friend of mine.
They were a friend back in high school days, and his dad was an attorney.
He went on to become an attorney.
He was actually an intellectual property attorney for Facebook.
He's a smart guy.
We actually did a kind of one of these brainiac things, word tests.
It was a national thing that we won together.
And I remember one night, We got into a discussion.
I was talking to him on the phone because he had said something on Facebook.
And I went and I called him up and we were talking.
And I said, You know, I said, Here's the thing.
He goes, Well, Neil, and he's kind of a liberal, right?
And he goes, Well, you know, Neil, I think we all want kind of the same things.
You know, we want a good life for our kids.
He's got a couple of daughters, right?
We want good things for our family.
He said, But we just have a different way of getting there.
And I said, Well, the problem has been that you think that you can come and reason this all.
Like his whole basis was that man's reasoning will get us there.
I said, but every man reasons differently.
And that's why it's so important to have a true north, a compass, because what is truth, Ben?
What is it?
Is it your truth, the truth you come up with in your mind, or do we have a true standard that we can adhere to?
That's the mind of man when we get so puffed up.
Choosing Trust Over Reasoning00:03:33
And that's a hardened heart to God.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, I want to play a quick package now that our very own Allison Steinberg put together.
On the importance of Jesus and this whole weekend, and then what we as Christians can do going forward.
So let's take a listen to Allison's package, and she's going to join us on the other side.
As we near the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, or what most of the world calls Easter, it's important to remember it's not about bunnies, candy, and eggs, but about the greatest gift one could give.
John 15, 13 says, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus uttered these words to prepare his disciples to understand his coming crucifixion, where he would literally die for not only his friends, but for the sins of the world, even those who stood in opposition to him.
Jesus' voluntary sacrifice on our behalf was the greatest gift he could ever bestow.
Though innocent and without sin, he chose to give his life as an atoning sacrifice for mankind, bridging the separation between a holy God and a sinful humanity.
Romans 5 8 says, By any objective measure, there is overwhelming historical evidence for both the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus.
What is also abundantly apparent is that so much of humanity has chosen to reject his free gift of salvation, a gift.
Is exactly that, free, with no strings attached.
His gift of salvation and a new life, free of guilt and shame, is what Jesus gives.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
The question now is, what are you going to do with Jesus?
This is the question we all face, one with eternal consequences.
Jesus said in John 14 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
Now let that sink in.
Jesus himself said there is no other way.
There are not multiple roads and many paths to God.
Acts 4 12 says, Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
The Roman governor Pontius Pilate faced a similar question and did not choose wisely.
In Matthew 27 22, the Bible records Pilate asking the question, What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?
Well, ultimately Pilate chose to go along with the crowd.
Condemning Jesus, whom he knew to be an innocent man, to die a criminal's death of shame and humiliation on a cross.
So let us not go along with the crowd.
Let us not take the path of least resistance and give in to the ways of the world, much of which we know demands inclusivity, so called tolerance, a fake Jesus, basically the mantra of the woke popular coexist bumper sticker.
Rather, let us dwell on the simplicity of Jesus and make a decision.
One, acknowledge you are a sinner, you've made mistakes, just like we all have.
But you also understand Jesus proved his love for you by dying for you, paying the penalty for your sins.
Two, believe that Jesus' act of death and resurrection are fully sufficient.
Believe he is your savior.
Believe there is no other way to be made right with God.
And three, place your trust in Jesus as your savior.
Receive him by faith, fully trusting in him alone.
Finding Simplicity in Jesus00:17:14
Now begin your life of relationship with Jesus, fully trusting that he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Then focus on growing your relationship with him by daily prayer and reading your Bible.
Then seek to have fellowship with other believers.
I've made my decision, but what are you going to do with Jesus?
Reporting for Lindell TV, I'm Allison Steinberg.
And joining us now, Allison Steinberg.
What an incredible package that you put out for people.
Well, thank you so much.
It was an honor to write it.
And it's always such a special time of year where we get to reflect on the incredible gift that is available to all of us.
You know, so many people get caught up in going out to brunch or Easter egg hunts, which are all fun.
And I love those things too.
But we have to remember the true meaning of Resurrection Sunday.
And so I just wanted to put together a little something to drive that point home and extend the invitation to.
Those that don't know that this opportunity is available to them.
Yet, like me, I used to be lost.
I used to have no clue.
I was not raised in a religious home.
I was, you know, wandering my way through life totally clueless.
And then, you know, I came into this incredible space in my life where I invited Jesus into my heart and he's changed my life radically for the better in every way imaginable.
So I always love to talk about it whenever I can and try to encourage others to come to know him if they don't already.
Yeah, I know Neil over there who's joining us, Allison.
He's been a huge fan of your work down there at the Hill, and he's been wanting to get you on his podcast for some time now.
And I was like, I'm going to have Allison on today, and she's going to be sharing a little bit of her testimony.
So I was like, why don't you just stick around?
Oh, that's awesome.
Well, thanks, Neil.
It's nice to meet you here.
Nice to meet you, too.
No, I actually have utilized some of your videos.
You do some great jobs questioning, following those people down the halls.
Running away from you.
I mean, they do not want to answer your questions.
They're just real questions.
I don't understand it.
You know, I mean, it's like, just answer a question.
They're running.
She's definitely doing it.
I mean, Elena Omar is like going away.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Spreading the truth.
That was actually, that was a.
Go ahead, Neil.
Yes.
But that was a great package that you put together there.
You know, one thing that you said, Alison, I think is so true.
And I thought about this as I was watching that.
If all of us, just think, if every believer, Talked to enough people, right?
And they spread this message of love and they acted out the true gospel, right?
They loved like Jesus loved.
And that attracted other people to the gospel.
And they gained just one convert a year.
Do you know that in a few years?
Like the whole world would be changed.
Like one a year.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, we're not talking about one a day or something.
We're talking about one a year just by living your life and professing Christ through it, through your words and through your actions.
Absolutely.
And you never know that you can impact in your day to day life, right?
Just going about your day, what kind of impact you can have on someone maybe who doesn't know the Lord or maybe has fallen away from the Lord and just, you know, trying to be that love and be that light in this dark world, which, you know, especially here in the swamp, there's a lot of darkness.
So it's actually easy to get like swept up into that sometimes.
Sometimes I find myself just so overwhelmed and caught up in this daily grind where I'm like, I gotta, you know, get these demons in Congress.
Then I'm like, Wait, no, I need to be the light.
So it's a good reminder for all of us every day to reflect scripture in that matter and try to help bring others, especially those who desperately need Him, into their lives.
So, yeah, that's my thought.
I feel like I have the same struggles over on social media that you do in Congress, right?
It's so easy to take the bait of temptation when these people are out there just.
Like glorifying sin and calling, you know, those that oppose it like god awful names to like become almost like what they are and fight back.
Yeah.
It's a lot, it takes a lot more self discipline as a Christian to be able to respond with that kind word to a harsh word.
And that actually goes directly to scripture where it says, you know, a harsh word will stir up anger.
So when we respond angrily, it creates more anger, whereas a soft word, Can dispel it, and it really is like I this is something I struggle with constantly because, like, you've talked with me about that, Heather, which is war, right?
Like, I'm literally covering war for a living, so it's like, how do I go into war and be like, I'm here to love everyone?
But that's the reality, it's like it is something that we have to choose daily, right?
It is a daily practice to be to walk with.
Christ.
You have to wake up every day and remind yourself, like, you know, and pray and ask Him to give you the discipline and discernment to go through that day.
And you're going to screw up like we all do.
And then you repent and you carry on.
But it's definitely a practice.
But, you know, that actually reminds me, Heather.
Oh, sorry.
I was going to say that reminds me of when I got started and all this, like right before I was saved, I was out in the streets of Los Angeles.
Protesting all the COVID madness.
And again, I didn't know the Lord at the time, but I was surrounded by many Christians who were just wonderful, lovely people.
And I would be out in the streets just like, What are you doing, you idiots, with your muzzles and all this, just harassing everyone walking by with their vaccines and everything.
And all of the amazing people that were joining me in these protests and rallies and whatnot, they're like, Kate, we're not going to take that approach.
Let's tone it down.
Let's approach it with love and kindness.
And that was such a foreign concept to me.
I'm like, What are you talking about?
No.
And then I learned from them over time that, yeah, that's actually how you're going to reach people.
You're absolutely not getting through to anyone if you take the other approach, like I was.
But I think it was a really good lesson and something that I still have to work on to this day.
Like when I accepted the Lord into my life, he changed a lot of things about me very quickly, like almost overnight, like completely something I can never do on my own.
But that particular one, trying to, you know, fight those urges of coming at people in that manner, yeah, it's a work in progress for me too.
And we're only human, right?
And we can only look to the Lord to help us.
So.
It's a lot harder to say.
Pleasant words are a honeycomb.
Elon, Jesus loves you.
I want to bring you to church on Sunday.
Loud be a new one.
Pleasant words are a honeycomb.
It's a scripture verse.
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
I mean, that's real.
And do you know what the real danger is?
Like, the more, like, if we shout back and we become the accuser, this is so true.
You watch this with anything in your life, the more you start calling out in people around you and you tell them what they're doing wrong and you take that approach, it's the plank in the eye.
You will mirror their behavior.
It's 100%.
I've never seen this not happen.
Everything in Scripture, it's a beautiful thing about the Bible.
The promises all come true.
I mean, so when the Bible says it, take it to the bank.
I mean, it's not, and again, the Holy Spirit will never contradict the Bible.
So if you say you're hearing something from the Lord and that's contradicting the Bible, you're not hearing from the Holy Spirit.
You're going to have to check what spirit you're hearing from there.
The word is true.
Yeah, for sure.
This is a little extra bonus.
That was free for you, Heather.
Well, let me get Allison's reaction to this next video.
We have a sound bite from an NFL star who is speaking about Jesus.
I know you're from California, where a lot of the entertainment industry and all that has been, you know, sort of waging war against Christianity.
But we're starting to see more celebrities and sports athletes and things like that speak out.
So let's go ahead and And take a listen to this NFL player speaking about his faith with the Lord.
Jesus is obviously the Son of God, but it is grace, it is perfection, somebody that sacrificed everything, that gave us this opportunity to live life.
And for me, when you say he's your Lord and Savior, you proclaim it whenever you can, but he's the reason we're here.
And the story of Jesus.
Walking among the flesh, the only perfect man, and to be sacrificed on the cross and die for our sins forever.
And when you accept that grace, it's an unbelievable feeling that then you dive into the Word and you see the stories, and the Scripture backs up what you're saying and the things that you go through.
Whatever you're going through, there's something in the Scripture that can help you out.
And it's been written and it's the truth.
I just love that we're hearing you all speak out.
So, like, what are your thoughts?
I mean, you're from California.
Just, you know, what was it like, I guess, like being a Christian out there when you first got saved?
Well, he said something so true at the end there that is, you know, if you just open up scripture, you'll be amazed at what you can find.
And a perfect example of that is that before I was a believer in Christ, I went through some really tough times.
I literally, you know, was kind of a punk, quite literally like causing, wreaking havoc, like going in and saying, like, you know, Screw everyone, that kind of attitude.
And I just, you know, didn't really care how that impacted anyone or anyone around me, really.
In fact, I had no hope, no future tattooed on my hands.
Um, and then lo and behold, when I am miraculously saved, I find that the Bible quite literally tells us in Jeremiah 29 11 that we have a hope and a future in Jesus.
So that is always one to this day that shocks me because I literally just thought, you know, my life was hopeless.
I thought I was a lost cause.
And so that is forever the most impactful.
Uh, piece of scripture to me personally.
Um, but I also love that he is fearlessly and boldly speaking out for the Lord.
This is, uh, thankfully becoming more common today.
But prior to now, I mean, there's been such, um, you know, such a weirdness surrounding faith in anything cultural, really.
I mean, I am not the biggest sports person.
I don't even know who this guy is, but I applaud him for speaking up.
But, you know, I used to love baseball and I had to stop watching baseball because for a time, all they were doing was promoting this woke garbage, having LGBT pride nights and, I just couldn't support that.
So I kind of just stopped caring, to be honest with you.
And that's exactly what the Bible says Woe to those who call good evil and evil good.
And it's like evil, demonic culture in today's society is totally uplifted and celebrated.
I'm not going to partake in that.
But I do appreciate those brave few people who are now starting to speak up that we're hearing more from these days who are not going along with the crowd, who are pushing back on this woke, demonic influence and culture and who are proudly professing the name of Jesus.
I think we need to see more of it.
And I absolutely love to see it, especially in a place like.
California, as I like to call it, because things are so, so terrible there.
And it does seem hopeless in California at times, but then I see a video like that and it certainly does bring me hope.
So that is well, I mean, your testimony brings me hope because you were walking amongst the hopeless in California, you essentially were one of the hopeless.
In California.
So, but then God found you and reached out to you.
So, for people watching, maybe they haven't found the Lord.
What was it that, like, was there like a defining moment that you felt like the presence of the Lord on your life?
Like, how did you have that sort of come to Jesus meeting, if you will?
Well, it was incredible.
Like I said, I, you know, was kind of a punk.
I was anti authority.
So, it was shocking to me when, you know, everyone surrounding me started.
Complying with all of these COVID measures.
This is when I really had my big wake up.
I was working as a makeup artist in Hollywood, totally entrenched in the thick of Hollywood and everything surrounding that, all kinds of parties, drinking, drugs.
Not a lifestyle I am proud to admit I was a part of, but that was my life.
And so when COVID hit and everyone just started going along with what they were told, I was like, well, I'm not doing that.
I'm sorry, but that does not align with what I believe in.
I didn't really know what I believed in at that time, but I'm just so grateful that.
God had given me that discernment, at least to not go along with that.
So, interestingly enough, that led me to meet all of these incredible Christians and, you know, led me to all of these amazing rallies and protests.
I started attending, actually coming in contact with like minded folks who thought the same way that I did on the COVID stuff, which was really unprecedented.
I just thought everyone in LA was a hardcore liberal because that's all I'd really been surrounded with and that's all I'd ever known.
So, it was very interesting to find this new group of people that were so welcoming and so nice.
Like I said, they were all Christians and, um, Really were so sweet to me, even though I was not very pleasant.
I have to admit, I was just like, you know, causing chaos in the streets of LA.
And they were so nice to me.
I was, I'm still amazed by that.
But anyway, throughout that time, I was given a Bible.
I didn't really think that.
I was going to read much into it.
I kind of just actually went home and put it on my bookshelf to the back of the bookshelf and I covered it up with a bunch of stuff and never opened it for a couple of years, actually.
Then at one point, I came home from a long day at work.
I was just really depressed and had a lot of anxiety.
And I came home and for some reason, I just felt called to open that Bible.
I can't tell you why or how.
I was just like, I just need to find that Bible.
So I had to dig through the bookshelf to try to find it.
It was covered in dust.
I opened it at night.
I started reading through it and I was just amazed, like totally immersed in it.
I couldn't put it down.
I was started, you know, just crying my eyes out, reading all night for hours and hours.
Before I knew it, it was actually like almost sunrise because I couldn't put it down.
And at this point in time, I was actually living in Huntington Beach close to the water.
So I'm like, you know what?
I just want to take this Bible and go down to the beach.
And I just feel like that's what I need to do.
I don't care that I have mascara dripping down my face and I look horrendous, which normally I would never go out in public like that, but I didn't care.
I had to bring the Bible with me to the beach and read it for the sunrise.
So I did just that.
I walked down to the beach.
With the Bible in hand, opened it up.
And I was just like, God, if you're real, because I was very skeptical.
I was very doubtful.
I mean, I, you know, heard all of these stories from all these Christians that I'd surrounded myself with and, you know, felt like they were on the right track, but I didn't really know why I couldn't explain it.
And I was very skeptical.
So I just said, you know, God, if you're real, if you want to work on my life and my heart, I guess I'm going to need you to prove yourself to me right now.
And I need to be shown that you are this incredible God that everyone talks about.
And I'm not even getting you in that very moment.
I look up as the sun is beginning to rise, and there are two dolphins that arch out over the sunrise from the water.
And dolphins are my favorite animal.
And they arch out over the sunrise.
And like it was just this glorious, incredible, supernatural moment that you could not even make up.
And I was just like, wow, this is everything I needed.
I guess I'm a believer now because this is just incredible.
And this was the sign that I was looking for.
And I know that you are a real God because how could any.
All of this beauty surrounding this gorgeous sunrise, this vast, immaculate ocean, these dolphins, just everything about it was obviously pointing to the creator.
And in that moment, I knew that I had to change my life forever and I never looked back.
I gave my life to Jesus in that moment.
And like I said, ever since then, everything has changed for the better in every way imaginable.
So it was the best decision I ever made.
And I just hope that others can find him too.
Praise God.
Praise God.
I think what I love about that is like, I love.
A Life Transformed Forever00:06:19
Hearing people talk about them hearing from him, right?
Like when you felt that nudge to go crack open that Bible, you know, a lot of people, you know, might have more clear communication with the Lord, you know, and they talk about it and they get like it's more clear.
Sometimes it really is just that nudge to go do something or talk to someone or read a passage and you don't know what it is, you don't know where it's coming from, but you feel like you're supposed to go in a certain direction and do something.
And that is God putting things on your heart.
That's like your moral compass, and He's guiding it.
And so, when we take the time to really sit and sort of like meditate on Him and really dial into His will for our life, that is the way we get back on track.
Because the world will have you going all over the place.
But when you dial back in to that, to being in tune with what He wants for you, and you submit to that, And you say, you know, forget what I want for my life, what I'm feeling right now.
It's just your whole life can be transformed.
So, you know, I love hearing your testimony.
I know Neil is sort of one of those like seasoned Christians, probably like one of the ones you meet on the street that are out there being so nice when we're all chaos.
Neil's one of those Christians.
I mean, Neil, just tell us a little bit about your faith.
I know you've gone on missions trips with churches, you've been.
Quite involved as a Christian.
When did you give your life to Christ?
And just tell us a little bit about your walk with the Lord.
Well, I went to what's called Sunshine Festival.
It's a Christian music festival in Minnesota.
And I don't know, I just felt such a strong pull.
This lady was talking about it, you know, accepting Christ and turning your life over.
And I just went to the tent outside there at Sunshine Festival and then, you know, went through the high school years and then really got even more strongly committed post high school.
And I did.
I've gone to Africa a couple of times.
I actually saw somebody receive their sight back as we were praying for them.
One of the things that I think is so fascinating, and I think we always have to be ready to do, is to pray for people.
It's one of the greatest things you can do when you're out there.
I do this at the health club all the time.
People are like nursing an injury or whatever, and I'll just say, Can I pray for that?
You know, and then they don't have a lot of people they don't turn a maid.
They'll all take, you know, and just praying for people and actually expecting something is going to happen.
Because when you watch Jesus through his ministry, he healed all who came to him.
Now, I don't have the all record, okay, but I have actually had people get healed.
And that's on me.
That's not, that's not, it's not even on them.
So if you look, there's only a couple times where Jesus said, Your faith has healed you.
Typically, it was Jesus' faith that healed them.
So that's for us to walk in the word, to walk that out, to really walk this Christian life.
And I, you know what I've determined, Allison?
I want to see a picture of you back in the day before you became a Jesus lover.
Because our countenance changes.
It sure does.
It absolutely does.
I'll be happy to share that.
I actually have my testimony pinned on Instagram.
So go check it out.
It shows the old Allison in there.
Oh, God.
I should show you pictures of the old Heather because I kind of probably had a similar walk with Allison just on the Hollywood of the East, which is Massachusetts.
I mean, it's.
It's a, you know, you know, Neil, you should reach out to your church and instead of taking these mission trips to other countries, start hitting like LA and Boston and like some of these inner cities in America because, man, they need the Lord in some of these American cities.
Well, we need the Lord all over.
Our neighborhood is a missions field, our health club is a missions field, everything around you is a missions field.
And we have got to shine the light.
You know, I teach group cycle at the Y, and I'm always, you know, I know my people request certain songs, and, you know, I I've got a bunch of young gals who like boy bands and all that.
But I mix in my Christian music.
I'm going to help them get something.
It's just part of the deal.
I mean, you're going to come to my cycle.
I think we got about a minute left here of the show, guys, for Good Friday.
But, Neil, would you pray us out real quick in about a little short, sweet prayer?
Sure.
Father God, we just thank you and praise you for this beautiful, glorious day.
We thank you for your son, Jesus.
We thank you for the obedience he had in coming to this world.
Being born of a woman, living in a womb for nine months, trusting the whole plan would work out, and God dying that painful death on the cross, but more importantly, rising on Easter morning that we might shake off the shackles of sin and death.
Thank you.
We praise you.
May all of us come to know you more, and may we turn back to this nation, to a nation built on your foundation.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Beautiful.
Well, thank you both for joining, and I hope you both have a wonderful Easter this weekend.
Thank you so much.
I hope you both do as well.
All right.
Yes.
Thank you, guys.
That is a wrap for today's show.
And I just want to remind everybody that there is power in prayer.
So don't be afraid to get on your knees and pray to God Almighty.
If you're struggling and you want a relationship with the Lord, just get on your knees, pray, and ask for it.