Afleveringen
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As you move through this new year, are you merely setting Christian-sounding goals or truly seeking God daily with a heart of worship? In this special episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan reflects on the importance of pursuing godliness above all else. Drawing from 1 Timothy 4:8, listeners will be reminded that physical and worldly disciplines have some value, but true transformation comes only through knowing Christ.
Join Jonathan as he explores how cultural obsessions with self-improvement infiltrate the church, diluting the power of the Gospel. Weâll challenge the tendency to seek quick-fix sermons and practical tips over the deeper call to sit at Jesus' feet.
Be inspired to continue 2025 with a renewed focus on what matters most: knowing, loving, and glorifying God.
For questions or to connect with the Candid community, visit LTW.org/Candid.
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In this compelling episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan Youssef sits down with Pastor Jaime Owens of Tremont Temple in Boston, a church rich in history yet facing the challenges of revitalizing faith in one of Americaâs most secular cities. Jaime shares his dramatic journeyâfrom a hungover skeptic stepping into a church for the first time to a state trooper turned pastor on a mission to lead a spiritual revival.
Discover how God transformed Jamieâs life, calling him from law enforcement into full-time ministry. Learn about Tremont Templeâs fascinating legacy, where abolitionists once stood, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln spoke, and Charles Dickens famously read from A Christmas Carol. Hear how God works through Jaime to breathe new life into this historic church, drawing young professionals and students into a vibrant faith community amidst Bostonâs intellectual and cultural hub.
Key topics include:
Jaimeâs powerful conversion story: âI walked into church hungover and skeptical, but something changed forever.âFrom chasing criminals to chasing souls: Jamieâs unexpected career shift from state trooper to pastor.The untold history of Tremont Temple and its role in abolition and revival.Reaching Bostonâs diverse culture and engaging the next generation with the gospel.The importance of sound theology and church governance in guarding the gospel.This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about church revitalization, sharing the Gospel in challenging environments, and seeing God work unexpectedly.
Donât miss the upcoming special event at Tremont Temple on October 24-25, 2025, featuring Dr. Michael Youssef and Mac Powell!
đ§ Listen now to hear this incredible story of redemption, revival, and hope in the heart of Boston.
Discover historic Tremont Temple: Tremont Temple
Learn more about Awake Boston: Awake Boston | Leading The Way Celebration
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Have you ever stopped to think about how the first Christmas was meticulously planned centuries before it happened? In this week's episode, Dr. Jonathan Youssef shares the divine blueprint behind the birth of Jesusâone too precise to be left to chance.
In a world of uncertainty, discovering the fulfilled prophecies of the first Christmas can bring a sense of wonder and assurance. These ancient promises reveal a God who is faithful and precise, offering hope and a deeper understanding of His love and plan for us.
Listen now and share this reflection with a friend who could use reassurance of the certainty of God's plan this Christmas.
For questions or to connect with the Candid community, visit LTW.org/Candid.
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What does it mean this Christmas season that "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight"? Join Jonathan on Candid Conversations to reflect on this Christmas hymn and the birth of Jesusâthe light of the world who fulfills our deepest hopes and fears.
In this reflection, Jonathan talks about:
The promise of peace and security in Jesus The transformative power of His grace Why our response to Christ makes all the differenceDonât miss this heartwarming reflection on the true meaning of Christmas.
For questions or to connect with the Candid community, visit LTW.org/Candid.
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Are you wrestling with beliefs that feel more like chains than freedom? Do you wonder what it means to experience a faith rooted in grace, not fear? In todayâs episode of Candid Conversations, Jinger Duggar Vuolo joins us to share her powerful journey from a life of rigid rules and public expectations to one of true spiritual freedom.
Raised in the spotlight of TLC's most popular show, 19 Kids and Counting, and within the strict teachings of Bill Gothardâs IBLP, Jingerâs story is one of courage, transformation, and rediscovering a loving, grace-filled God.
In this powerful episode of Candid Conversations, the Vuolos share insights on distinguishing between faith and fear, disentangling from unhealthy beliefs, and the difference between âdeconstructingâ and âdisentanglingâ faith.
Listeners will hear about Jingerâs experiences with the âFree Jingerâ movement and how her journey led her not to abandon Christianity but to redefine her relationship with Christ. Jingerâs story is a testament to the courage it takes to question deeply ingrained beliefs and find freedom within faith.
This heartfelt conversation is a must-listen for anyone grappling with religious teachings, seeking a genuine relationship with God, or interested in how the Gospel differs from man-made rules. Join us for an honest look at faith, freedom, and finding grace in a world of fear.
Key Topics:
Jingerâs reflections on growing up in the public eyeThe journey of disentangling faith from rigid teachingsUnderstanding âdisentanglingâ vs. âdeconstructingâ faithInsights into Bill Gothardâs teachings and their impactJeremyâs perspective as a supportive partner through Jingerâs journeyAdvice for those raised in restrictive religious environmentsTune in to explore how Jingerâs faith journey can inspire us to seek truth, freedom, and a closer relationship with God. This episode is for anyone looking to break free from limiting beliefs and experience faith as it was meant to be.
To ask Jonathan a question or connect with the Candid community, visit https://LTW.org/Candid
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Are you facing the difficult journey of caring for an aging parent and wondering what it means to honor them in this season of life? As parents age and face cognitive or physical decline, families are often left with more questions than answers, including how to handle challenging emotions, manage difficult decisions, and stay true to their wishes and Christian faith.
In this episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan Youssef speaks with Dr. Bill Davis on the complexities of honoring aging parents through a biblical lens, especially as they face cognitive and physical decline. Dr. Davis shares insights from his research and ministry experience, exploring practical ways to navigate the emotional, financial, and spiritual challenges of caring for dependent parents. From understanding the fifth commandment to engaging in complex but vital conversations, this discussion provides guidance and encouragement for families walking this journey.
More Episodes featuring Dr. Bill Davis on Candid Conversations:
How Should We Care for Our Aging Loved Ones (Part 1): Dr. Bill Davis
How Should We Care for Our Aging Loved Ones (Part 2): Dr. Bill Davis
Roe v. Wade Conversations with Dr. Bill Davis
Building Bridges in a Cancel Culture: Dr. Bill Davis
Let's Talk About Suicide: Dr. Bill Davis
For questions or to connect with the Candid community, visit LTW.org/Candid.
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On this special election day episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan addresses the balance between political engagement and spiritual grounding. As the nation watches election results roll in, Jonathan reflects on the hope, fear, and faith that often accompany these moments.
He emphasizes that while participation is essential, our ultimate peace comes from trusting Godâs sovereignty, not political leaders. Drawing from Philippians 4, we are reminded to shift our focus from fear to faith, remembering that our hopes are anchored in the eternal promises of Christ.
Join us as we navigate this election day with a reminder that our true hope lies in the Lord Jesus Christ.
To ask Jonathan a question or connect with the Candid community, visit https://LTW.org/Candid
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In todayâs fast-paced media landscape, truth and integrity remain essential, especially for journalists who are Christians. But with todayâs divisive narratives, how can believers step into mainstream media with a commitment to honesty and faith?
Join Jonathan Youssef on Candid Conversations as he welcomes award-winning journalist and news anchor Jane Robelot. With a distinguished career that has included co-anchoring CBSâs morning show and hosting several of Leading The Wayâs media programs, Jane offers a unique perspective on living out her Christian faith in a challenging industry.
In this timely conversation, Jane shares her powerful testimony, emphasizing the importance of unbiased journalism and encouraging young Christians to be salt and lightâeven within mainstream media.
For questions or to connect with the Candid community, visit LTW.org/Candid.
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Do you feel intimidated by the idea of evangelism or wonder how to share your faith in todayâs world?
In this remarkable new episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan sits down with his father, Dr. Michael Youssef, to discuss the misconceptions surrounding evangelism and share this simple truthâitâs just one beggar telling another where to find bread.
During the conversation, Dr. Youssef reflects on the sermon that led him to Christ 60 years ago, a message about Godâs open door of mercy, and how that eternity-changing message now fuels his ministry at The Church of The Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia, and around the world through Leading The Way.
Listen in as one generation encourages the next to press ahead as long as the door remains open.
If you have questions or want to engage a community around this topic, connect with Jonathan and the Candid community:
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Have you heard someone say, "I'm spiritual, but not religious"? It's a phrase everywhere, from casual conversations to celebrity interviews, and it might leave you wondering: What does that mean, and where does it come from? In this enlightening episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan Youssef welcomes back Dr. Michael Horton, a renowned theologian and founder of Sola Media, to answer these questions and more. Dr. Hortonâs latest book, Shaman and Sage: The Roots of 'Spiritual But Not Religious' in Antiquity, uncovers the ancient origins of these modern beliefs and their profound influence on today's culture.
If you're curious about why so many people reject organized religion yet embrace spirituality or want to understand better the challenges this mindset poses to the Christian faith, this episode is for you. With insights from history, philosophy, and theology, discover how to navigate these conversations with clarity and compassion.
Listen in as Dr. Horton helps untangle the complex threads of modern spirituality and points us back to the enduring Truth of the Gospel.
If you have questions or want to engage a community around this topic, connect with Jonathan and the Candid community:
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What does it take to bring the Gospel to some of the hardest-to-reach places in the world? In this episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan Youssef sits down with longtime friend Maged Atalla, the International Director of Leading The Way, to explore that question. Maged shares his incredible journey of faith, from growing up in Egypt to playing a pivotal role in global Christian media. He recalls how a small radio project with Dr. Michael Youssef in Monte Carlo blossomed into an international ministry that now reaches millions across the Middle East and North Africa.
Maged offers inspiring insights into how the Gospel has transformed lives in Muslim-majority regions and reflects on how God led Dr. Youssef to create THE KINGDOM SAT and how this moment of obedience has led to the saving of many lives.
Tune in for an inspiring conversation filled with faith, perseverance, and the power of Godâs Word in the most unexpected places.
If you have questions or want to engage a community around this topic, connect with Jonathan and the Candid community:
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Discerning the Truth can be challenging in a world where definitions are shifting and confusion is common. We're facing intense cultural shifts, from new pronouns to attempts to redefine Christianity. But as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, âThere is nothing new under the sun.â The enemy uses old tricks. Thankfully, we have eternal Truth to guide us.
In todayâs episode of Candid, Jonathan Youssef shares four practical tips to help you navigate todayâs cultural landscape with clarity and conviction:
Be in the world, not of it.Look to the source of Truth.Beware of false teachers.Speak the Truth in love.Join Jonathan as he breaks down each point, offering Biblical insight and practical ways to stand firm in your faith while lovingly engaging the world around you. From understanding false ideologies like Progressive Christianity, Pluralism, and the Prosperity Gospel to being equipped with the unchanging Truth of Scripture, this episode will help you discern and live out the Gospel in todayâs culture.
If you have questions or want to engage a community around this topic, connect with Jonathan and the Candid community:
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Are you facing a mountain of challenges? Do you need help growing in the Christian faith? In this timely reflection, Jonathan reminds us of the power of community and the essential role of friendships in fulfilling Godâs calling in life by exploring the significance of the eight friends mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 4. These friends, each with unique qualities and roles, supported Paul in his ministry while imprisoned in Rome, and the same mix of qualities is essential for the godly friends we surround ourselves with today.
Drawing from Scripture and personal experience, Jonathan emphasizes that we are not meant to walk alone in our spiritual journey. Instead, we need companions to encourage, support, and challenge us on our faith journey.
Join Jonathan to learn from Paulâs friends and reflect on the questions: What role do you play in the Body of Christ, and who are the friends you need on your journey?
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In this special follow-up episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan Youssef welcomes Becket Cook, author of "A Change of Affection: A Gay Manâs Incredible Story of Redemption," back to the program for a compelling Q&A session. Becket returns to address listener questions and provide insight into his incredible transformation in Christ.
Listeners will hear Becketâs candid responses on topics such as navigating friendships and family dynamics after conversion, the churchâs role in addressing issues of sexuality with grace and Truth, and the challenges Christians face in todayâs culture. Becket also advises those struggling with identity and faith, offering guidance on supporting loved ones with compassion and unwavering Biblical conviction.
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In this profound episode of Candid Conversations, Jonathan Youssef sits down with Becket Cook, author of "A Change of Affection: A Gay Manâs Incredible Story of Redemption" and host of The Becket Cook Show. Becket shares his powerful testimony of living a homosexual lifestyle until a radical encounter with Jesus transformed his life. Raised in a conservative Christian family in Dallas, Texas, Becket navigated the complexities of his identity and faith, eventually finding his true calling in Christ.
Join us as Becket recounts his journey from Hollywood's elite circles to a devoted follower of Jesus. He offers insight into how the church can compassionately and truthfully engage with issues of sexuality. Becketâs story is a testament to the redemptive power of Godâs love and the importance of unwavering faith.
Don't miss this inspiring conversation, a story of transformation and a guide for churches and individuals to navigate conversations about sexuality with grace and truth.
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Transcript:
This transcript recounts Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef Episode 261: A Gay Man's Incredible Story of Redemption: Becket Cook
[00:02] JMY: Todayâs guest is a very special guest. It is Becket Cook. Becket has written a book called A Change of Affection: A Gay Manâs Incredible Story of Redemption. He is the host of The Becket Cook Show, which can be found on YouTube. Raised in Dallas, Texas, Becket attended a Jesuit college preparatory school, lived the homosexual lifestyle until the Lord radically called him and drew him to Himself. And now Becket is out to help churches have the conversation about sexuality and help the church navigate. Becket, thank you so much for taking the time to be on Candid Conversations.
[01:13] Becket: Thank you, Jonathan. Good to be here.
[01:17] JMY: Weâve got to start with your story. Itâs profound and amazing. All salvation stories are amazing; yours is unique. Iâd love it if youâd just give us a few minutes and navigate us through your testimony.
[01:39] Becket: Yeah, I mean, Iâm still in shock. Iâm still in shock that this is my story after fifteen years. So, when I was very young I started to notice that I was attracted to the same sex, which was very a disorienting thing, especially at that time when it was very much taboo in Dallas and in my family. My family were Christians and of course, all of my peers and my schoolmates unanimously believed that, I mean, we didnât even have to say it; it was known that homosexuality was just wrong or bad or weird or sinful. And so I had this kind of dark secret. But I was very social in school. I even went steady with girls in seventh and eighth grade, and in high school, I dated three girls, seriously dated them. But it was all the while I knew I wasnât attracted to the girls. It was just like a social thing for me. And so in my junior year at Jesuit, I met a sophomore, and he was dealing with the same thing. He was dealing with the same-sex attraction. So when that happened, the floodgates opened because we became friends, and then like three months or six months, I canât remember how long into our friendship, we basically came out to each other one night at this club.
And when that happened, we just started exploring gay life and gay culture in Dallas and going to gay bars. I was 15, he was 14. I donât know where my parents were, but by the time I was in high school, my parents were so checked out that I could be gone for three days, and they didnât even notice. God bless them, theyâre in heaven now.
So we were going to gay bars in Dallas, not sure how we got into these bars, but we did, and then we were going to this one nightclub called the Stark Club. I mention this because it was such a seminal moment in my life. The Starck Club was very famous in Dallas, and it was designed by Philippe Starck, the French designer, and it was beautiful. It was just so, for lack of a better word, it was very chic. And so we started going to the Starck Club, and the first time I walked in, it was just very grand. There was this grand staircase with a red carpet that went up to these giant doors, and you walked into this beautiful space. And I walked in, and there were gay people, straight people, artists, trans people, drag queensâitâs a whole mix of kind of the subculture, and the whole mix of artists.
And so I walked in and it was like, ah, these are my people!
[05:28] JMY: You felt like you belonged.
[05:29] Becket: Yeah, I belong here. And I started going. And we would go to Starck Clubâit was open Thursday through Sunday, and we would go every night, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night we would go. And sometimes I wouldnât get home until 5:00 in the morning. And one time my dad was up. My dad was a lawyer. He was up at 5:00 in the morning (he would always get up at 5:00), and I walked in the front door, and he walked past me and kind of looked at me, and I was like, âHi, Dad.â He didnât even say anything like âWhere have you been?â My childhood was very permissive, for better or worse.
So then, when I went away to college, the same thing happened. I met someone at college who was same sex attracted and then we eventually came out to each other and again I had a confidant, I had someone to talk to because I still wasnât out, but at this point in my life, I wouldnât have described myself as âgayâ because I just thought this was a phase. This was a phase that will probably go away and Iâll probably get married to a woman and have kids.
It wasnât really my identity for this whole time in high school and college until after college I moved to Tokyo with my best friend from college. And we moved to Tokyo because we didnât really know what we wanted to do with our lives. I was premed in college, and then I realized I didnât want to be a doctor, which was bad after four years of studying.
[07:23] JMY: A lot of investment.
[07:25] Becket: You know it was really upsetting. And so I applied to law school, and actually, then, as kind of a backup, I applied to dental school. And so I got into law school and dental school. I was kind of like, âI donât know if I want to do any of this.â So both of us moved to Tokyo to kind of have a gap year, basically, to figure out what we wanted to do. And it was when I was in Tokyo that his friend from Texas came to stay with us, weâll call him âAdam.â Adam was part of the Christo exhibition in Japan. Christo was a very famous artist who recently died, a French artist, but he and his wife used to do these dramatic art projects like covering the Reichstadt in fabric. And they did this thing in Japan where they lined parts of Japan with umbrellas, like yellow and blue umbrellas. They did it in California and Japan.
And so anyway, this guy Adam was part of that exhibition. So he stayed with us for like a week in Tokyo. And it was weird, because when I first met Adam, I had no interest and didnât think anything of it, but by the time he left, we had fallen in love, quote unquote. And so that was the first time Iâd experienced that rush of emotion, that romantic feeling. And then we got into a relationship, and it was my first real relationship with a guy.
And so that was a game-changer, too, because that's when it became my identity, homosexuality became my identity. And I was happy to be gay. I was like, âThis is who I am. This is immutable.â I was thrilled. And while I was in Japan, my sister wrote me a letter asking if I was gay because she had had her suspicions for a long time. And so I wrote her back and I said yes and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. By the way, p.s., donât tell Mom and Dad. Iâll tell them when I get back home. And, of course, she told them immediately when she got my letter, which I was happy about because she did all the heavy lifting for me.
[10:03] JMY: Softened the blow.
[10:04] Becket: Yeah. So by the time I got home, my whole family knew. My family is very conservative, all believers, and so they, especially my siblings, were not happy about this. And my parents werenât either, but my parentsâ reaction was so loving and gracious. My mother, whom I was very close to, of course, was quite surprised, gay son, close mother, surprise, surprise. My mother cried. I walked into the kitchen that first night after I got back from Tokyo, and my mother just started crying, and I knew why she was crying.
And I said, âMom, what's wrong?â And she said, âI heard youâre a homosexual.â
And that's when AIDS was still kind of a death sentence, and so she was terrified, I was terrified about it, and so I just tried to calm her down.
I said, âMom, this is not a big deal. Donât worry about me.â
The next day, my dad came up to me, and my dad is such a manâs man; it surprised him to respond. Because he came up to me and he said, âHey Beck, I heard youâre a homosexual, and you knowââ
[11:32] JMY: Like he read it in the newspaper or something.
[11:36] Becket: Yeah, and so he said, âIs there anything I did wrong as a father? Are you angry at me for this?â He listed three things, and it was basicallyâI canât remember what they wereâdid I not spend enough time with you? Did your brother beat you up or whatever, and I didnât intervene? Are you angry about that?
And I was like, âDad, no. This is not your fault. This is just who I am. Itâs not a big deal.â
And that was kind of the end of the conversation with my parents. They never brought it up again. And what they did was so genius. Because I moved to L.A. So, when I got back from Tokyo, I realized I was not going to grad school; I was moving to Los Angeles because a lot of my friends moved here, and I was like, âIâm going to pursue writing and acting. And so I moved to L.A. My dad was so confused when I told him. It was like a couple of weeks before law school. I was enrolled in law school, and I was like, âDad, Iâm moving to L.A. tomorrow.â
And he was like, âHuh?â He was so confused. And so I moved to L.A. and I had this group of friends that were brilliant in L.A. When I got here, I had this built-in group of friends because several of my friends from high school already lived here, and they all came from Brown and Princeton and moved with all their friends to the West Coast and to L.A. to work in Hollywood, in showbiz. My group of friends were so smart and funny and brilliant and ambitious. And they all were movers and shakers. All those people, guys, girls, straight, gay, the whole mix, the same people run this town now; they run Hollywood. So whatever youâre watching on Netflix or whateverâ
[13:51] JMY: Theyâre behind it.
[13:52] Becket: And in fact, the Jeffrey Epstein whatever, Filthy Rich, was produced by one of my dear friends from back in that time. Anyway, so I had this great group of friends, I was out, and we all wanted to make it in Hollywood, which they were allâmy friends were becoming huge stars or becoming huge directors or writers overnight. I mean, it was wild to see how quickly they became successful. Minnie Driver was a dear friend, and she did Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon. Suddenly, she was a movie star, and this was happening to all of my friends. Like Mariska Hargitay was Jayne Mansfieldâs daughter, but nobody really knew her, but then she gotâI drove her to her audition for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and sheâs still on the show twenty-three years later. Sheâs made a fortune on that show. Well, I wonât tell that part about Mariska, but weâre still friends.
But this was happening to all of my friends. We all wanted to make it in Hollywood; we all wanted to find true love, and I cycled through five serious, serious boyfriends over the years in L.A., live-in boyfriends. And then we all wanted to have extraordinary experiences, which we were doing in spades because my friends were all in the business. And the guy I just talked about was Diane Keatonâs producing partner. So we were always invited to everythingâthe Grammys the Oscars, the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the afterparties, to movie premiers every week. I was kind of in the mix.
I met everyone in this town, literally everyone. I mean, name the person. I had dinner with Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and many, many other people. Hung out at Drew Barrymoreâs, went to Princeâs house where he performed a concert in his backyard for three hours, hung out with Paris Hilton at her house, and went to her wedding engagement. For years, this was my life.
And then I was successful a little bit, and I acted. I was successful at commercial acting, and I did a couple of indie films, one was at Sundance, and that wasnât really taking off. The writing was difficult. I sold a couple of projects that didnât make it to series, so then I ended up becoming a production designer in the fashion world. I just fell into it with The New York Times Magazine because my friend was the editor for it. And so that became my career, doing fashion shoots, these super-high-end fashion shoots. And I did that for a very long time, probably twenty years, seventeen years, Iâm not sure.
And so after the years of all of this and years of going to all of these fun things and experiencing all these things, I just started to feel the law of diminishing returns and I just felt like, What is this all about? I canât keep going to these dinner parties and going to these events. And it all came to a head at Paris Fashion Week in March of 2009. I used to go to Fashion Week in New York and Paris and that particular week I had gone to a bunch of the runway shows and a lot of them had afterparties, and I was at this one afterparty in this club called Regine, in the middle of Paris, a legendary place. The owner just died recently. But I was there, and everyone from the fashion world was there.
I was sitting with Rachel Zoe, whoâs a fashion girl and has a TV show, and her husband, Roger, and I just remember drinking champagne and looking out over the crowd, and everyone was dancing and having the best time of their life, and I just felt such an overwhelming sense of emptiness. I was like, whoa, where did that come from? So, I ghosted the party and went back to the apartment Iâd rented in [unintelligible] and I was up all night in a panic about my future. I was like, what am I going to do for the rest of my life? This isnât satisfying me anymore. I canât just keep going to parties and fabulous things and traveling the world. Yeah, it was fun for a long time, but itâs not doing it for me anymore. And I knew that Christianity was not an option because I was gay, so I canât pursue that, so what am I going to do? So I was very, very troubled.
[20:07] JMY: Can I ask, did that thought enter your mind, the pursuit of faith? Was that a cognizant thought or was that just sort of part of the narrative? Did you sit there and take an account and think perhaps ...?
[20:26] Becket: Well, no. I knew that from my entire life.
[20:31] JMY: It was always there as a separation.
[20:33] Becket: Godâs not an option for me. And by that time in my life I was a practical atheist. All of my friends were atheists (they still are, most of them, my old friends). And I just, by that time in my life, I really just believed or felt like the Bible was an ancient myth, like any other ancient myth. God was not real. It was weird. It was a weird kind of disconnect because I believed my familyâs faith was real, which was interesting. So when I would go home to Dallas, it was weird. They would talk about their faith, they would pray, and I could sense that it was real, but I just felt like it could never be something for me becauseâ
[21:21 JMY: Itâs like a compartmentalization, right? This works for you; that wonât work for me. Interesting.
[21:28] Becket: And so six months later in L.A. I was at a coffee shop with my best friend, who still is gay, although weâre not nearly as close, in fact, we barely see each other, if ever, because of this. But I was with my best friend, and we were chatting, hanging out at our favorite coffee shop in Silverlake, and we looked over, and there was a group of young people with Bibles on the table. There were five physical Bibles on the table, which is a shocking sight to see in L.A. But not only L.A. but Silverlake, which is a super progressive part of L.A.
We were stunned because my friend was an atheist as well. He was culturally Jewish, a secular Jew from New York, and it was just like we were shocked. But I was intrigued because of that night in Paris six months before. I was kind of intrigued about what this Christian thing was, and I wanted to explore it.
So my friend said, âTalk to them. See what theyâre doing.â
And I was like, âNo, I donât want to talk to them!â
And anyway, I ended up turning to them, and I always say this, itâs like a Christianâs fantasy come true when a gay atheist turns to you and says, âTell me all about Christianity.â And so we got into this conversation for like an hour or two. It was a long conversation. And I said, âWhat is your faith? Like what do you believe? I donât remember. Just tell me what you believe.â
And they were very competent with the Scriptures, and they knew what the Gospel was and were very knowledgeable. And they said they went to a church in Hollywood called Reality L.A., an evangelical church. And with my friends back in the day, evangelicals were the enemy. They were somewhere to the right of Atilla the Hun. But it didnât bother me. So I, of course, get to the question and I ask them, âWhat does your church believe about homosexuality?â
And I kind of expected this answer, so it wasnât shocking. They said, âWell, we believe itâs a sin.â Of course, that was 2009. Now, who knows what people will say.
[24:27] JMY: Itâs a grab bag now.
[24:29] Becket: I wasnât surprised by their response, but I was surprised by mine because I just kind of accepted that, and I didnât protest. And itâs because of that night in Paris. I was open to hearing something different. I was just open at that point. God, obviously, was working with me.
So they invited me to their church the following Sunday and I said, âI donât know. Just give me the address and Iâll think about it.â
So I had a whole week to think about it. And it was kind of a big deal because if any of my other friends, all my other atheist, Hollywood friends, found out that Iâd gone to an evangelical church, it would have been super embarrassing, and they would have thought I was crazy. So I was debating all week: Should I do this? What if nothing happens? What if itâs just fake and what if itâs not real?
But that following Sunday I woke up and I just was like, Iâm going to do this. And I got in my car, drove to this high school auditorium where it meets on Sunset Boulevard, and I walked in. Before I walked in, I put the idea of homosexuality as my identity in this imaginary white box and put it on an imaginary shelf before I walked in. It was kind of weird. I donât know how that happened.
And then I heard the worship music, which kind of freaked me out a little bit a first because I was like, Oh my gosh, Christian music, because I just saw this True Blood episode where (it was an HBO show that was disgusting, but anyway they satirized evangelical Christian worship music. And so I was like, Oh, this is weird.
[26:38] JMY: That's not hard to do.
[26:39] Becket: Yeah, exactly. But then it was actually nice, the musicâs nice. And I sat down by myself, I found a seat by myself, and the pastor came out and started preaching on Romans chapter 7 for an hour, and that's when everything started happening. Everything he was saying, every word he was saying, every sentence he was saying was resonating as truth in my mind and my heart and I didnât know why. I was literally on the edge of my seat, totally riveted to the sermon and to him, his speaking. And I was just like, What? This is true. What is he saying? I remember thinking, âThis is the Gospel? This is good news!â
And then after the sermon there were people on the sides of the auditorium on the prayer ministry that you could go get prayed with, and after his sermon thereâs another thirty minutes of worship time. So I walked over to this guy, which I reluctantly walked over to this guy on the side because, again, I was embarrassed to do this because I knew the people who had invited me there were probably watching me. And so I walked over to this guy and I said, âHey, I donât know what I believe, but Iâm here.â And he said, âOkay, let me pray for you.â
And he prayed for me, and it was so loving and caring, and I was like, How does this random straight dude care about me so much?
[28:14] JMY: Right.
[28:16] Becket: Anyway, I went back to my seat and everyone else in the auditorium (there were a thousand people in the auditorium) everyone else was standing and singing and worshiping. And I sat down because I was just so overwhelmed by the sermon, by the music, by the prayer, and as soon as I sat down, the Holy Spirit just flooded me. I mean, it was like a Road to Damascus moment. God revealed Himself to me in the most powerful way. It was like God said, in my mind, God said, âIâm God. Jesus is my Son. Heaven is real, hell is real, the Bible is true. Welcome to my kingdom.â
And I just burst into tears. I was doubled over, heaving and crying and crying for twenty-five minutes. And it was the most cathartic cry Iâve ever had. Everything came out. I was crying over the conviction of sin, but also the joy of meeting the king of the universe, Jesus Christ. And then I got home after the service. I donât really know how I made it home because I was such a wreck, and I got into bed to take a nap. And again, God did it again. God was like, âHere, hereâs some more Bible.â
And I just, again, I just immediately, it was so real. It was like Godâs presence was rightâit was there. And I burst into tears again and I was bawling in my bedroom, jumped out of my bed and was like, âGod, you have my whole life, Iâm yours. Iâm done.â
In that moment I knew that homosexual behavior was a sin. I knew that it was wrong. I knew that dating guys was not my identity anymore and I knew that dating guys was not a part of my future. But I didnât care at all, because I had just met Jesus. And Iâm like, Iâm going with that guy, forget those guys.
And that was September 20, 2009, and Iâve never looked back. And Iâve never felt like life is unfair. Because Iâm single and chaste, and Iâve never felt like life is unfair for me or like Iâm being cheated out of something. I just feel like I canât believe that God had mercy on me and Iâm in the Kingdom of God. And I have, by the way, eternal life, which is cool to have. So yeah, that's the story.
[31:09] JMY: Oh, itâs such a wonderful story, just even the way you give us the snapshots of those moments of what you thought you knew what you wanted and you know now the Spirit was preparing you and doing the work of tilling the soil of your heart to culminate in that moment. But as we know, that's not the end of the story. Your story continues on. And so I wonder if we could just talk a little bit about your family, how your family interacted with you. So a number of our listeners will be people who have family members, friends who are near to them who are living this lifestyle and they donât know what to do, they donât know what to say. Do I say a lot? Do I say a little? Do I say nothing? Where do I go?
And I know some of that will be kind of case by case, but I think it will be helpful to hear what was it that the interactions of your friends and family who were believers? How did they sort of walk this out with you?
[32:35] Becket: Yeah. My family ... Well, first of all, you know, because I moved to L.A. I was very disconnected from my family. But my parents, I was very close with my mother. We talked on the phone all the time. She came out and visited many times. My family was just kind of very hands-off because there was really nothing they could do. I was an adult, I lived in L.A. What would they do, come hunt me down and drive me to church?
My parents were just brilliant. I just loved how they responded to and dealt with it. Because I did this episode on my show where I recently discovered a typed prayer that my mother did. My sister-in-law sent me a text, saying, âHey, I just found this prayer that your mother typed to God basically, and I found it in an old box from some of your motherâs things.â And she sent me this prayer. And that's what my parents did. They just loved me and prayed for me.
My mother and this prayer are amazing; itâs like twenty-four points. And the first point, because my mother knew, I guess, which was shocking to me, she just knew instinctively that she wasnât going to convince me not to be gay. So, she went straight to the throne room of the grace of God. She knew it was a spiritual battle. I wish I had the prayer with me right now. She said, âIn the all-powerful name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come against the enemy with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.â
And when I read this prayer recently when I got it, I was stunned because my mother was praying for me all this time, but she never told me. Because if she had told me, âHey Becket, Iâm praying for you,â it would have been a disaster because I would have been like, âWhy are you praying for me? I donât need prayer. This is who I am. Stop praying.â It would have upset me, so she never said that. My dad never said that.
My sister-in-law, who is in my book, Kim, the way she dealt with it was brilliant, too, because whenever I would go to Dallas for the holidays, she would call me. Sheâs an evangelical Christian, and I knew where she stood on this issue, too, but she would call me all the time, which I was kind of like, Why is Kim calling me? Why does she want to hang out with me? She knows Iâm gay and sheâs a super-conservative Christian. She would call me and invite me to coffee, and we would hang out. And I would talk about my boyfriends, she would talk about God and what was going on in her life, and she never once pulled out the Bible and said, âHey Becket, you know in Leviticus 18 âŠâ She never, ever once did that. She just loved me.
And then she prayed, unbeknownst to me, she was praying this verse over me for twenty years. In Acts 26:18, when Paul is in front of King Agrippa, and heâs talking about how God sent him to preach to the Gentiles, he says, âto open their eyes so that they may be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. That they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Me.â
So she was praying for me, my family members were praying for me, I get the impulse for parents, family members, friends, the immediate impulse is âI want to fix this. I want to fix the problem.â That rarely, if ever, works. However, there is an exception, a caveat Iâll get to. But the best thing you can do is just be diligent in prayer and go straight to God. Because it has to be a supernatural thing. The Holy Spirit has to convict a person. Thereâs no other way. Otherwise, itâs just behavior modification.
[37:31] JMY: Praise the Lord. Praise God that itâs His work and not ours because weâd screw it all up.
[37:37] Becket: Yeah, exactly. However, because of this new sort of generation of social contagion of LGBTQ+, you know, Brown University 40 percent of the student bodyâthis just makes me laughâ40 percent of the student body identifies as LGBTQ. I mean, that is laughable. When I was in college, it was about 1 percent.
[38:05] JMY: Now everyone is.
[38:06] Becket: Yeah, now itâs super popular. So I came out as gay at the wrong time, and now I came out as Christian at the wrong time. [unintelligible]. But anyway, so with that aspect of it, when youâre a teenager just suddenly claims, âIâm LGBTQ,â or âIâm pansexual,â or âIâm nonbinary,â âIâm queer,â I think in those cases there should be, there could be some pushback from the parents in terms of saying, âLook âŠâ Because this happened with me with a young woman, a teenage girl who came up to me at a conference and said, âIâm pansexual and nonbinary.â
And I said, âWhy? Why are you?â She didnât have an answer for me, and I said, âAre you that way because you want attention, popularity, street cred? Why do you think youâre... because when I was your age, there was no such thing, so why do you think youâre this way?â
And she just started welling up with tears, and she needed, I just sensed in that moment she needed to be pushed back on. And later that day she ended up breaking down, getting prayed for my somebody, and she came to Christ.
[39:39] JMY: It was a crisis moment for her, not a ⊠it had not become a true identity where she had been encapsulated in something. She seemed confused more than anything. I mean, obviously, you could make that argument for anyone.
[39:55] Becket: Yeah, this young teenage boy was like, âOh, and Iâm asexual.â And I was like, âYou havenât even gone through puberty yet.â
So yeah, I do think that when it is this kind of contagion aspect, Iâve done episodes on this, and I talk about this. You can trace exactly how we got to where we are in the culture from obviously from if youâve read Carl Truman, you can go back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but even going back to the sexual revolution in the Sixties or the gay movement that started in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, you can trace so clearly how weâve become indoctrinated into believing the lies of the world. And itâs just so obvious to me, and itâs like, just the TV shows, Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Brokeback Mountain and all these gay-themed shows and movies were so powerful in the culture, and it changed so many peopleâs minds on this issue.
Of course, I was thrilled at the time. When I was living that life, I was thrilled. I was friends with Sean Hayes on Will & Grace, and I was friends with many of the people who created these shows.
[41:33] JMY: They were changing the narrative.
[41:34] Becket: Yeah. And it was like Madsen and Kirk, the book After the Ball, they published. These two Harvard guys, graduates, published a book called After the Ball, and I wish I had it right here. Whereâs my copy? Anyway, the book was published in 1989, and basically, it was about how to normalize homosexuality in America. It was the subtitle of the book. And everything in that book has come true. Everything they said in that book has come true. Basically, it was like talking about homosexuality until it was thoroughly tiresome. That was one of their points. Another one of their points was to make heterosexuals feel like you are a victim, and theyâll come to your side and to your aid.
And so all these things have come to pass, and that's why, even in the church, people are falling for this and caving to it, caving to the culture and buying this lie. And again, I challenge people to, okay, would you be ⊠would you be thinking this way fifty years ago? Would you be thinking this way a hundred years ago? So obviously, the cultureâ
[43:16] JMY: Not critically thinking.
[43:117] Becket: Obviously, like the culture has influenced you. Because some of my friends, some of my high schoolâI say this all the timeâin my high school, everyone believed it was a sin, it was wrong, in the girlsâ school, in the boysâ school. Now some of those same people are like allies, LGBTQ allies, and itâs like, gee, I wonder what's happened over the last thirty years? Maybe itâs the power of persuasion from movies and TV, which I get. It is very powerful.
And so yeah, that's why I think with some cases, in some cases it is good to say, âHey, why donât we walk through the last fifty years and see how it has shaped what we believe?â And so that can be helpful, too.
[44:17] JMY: Youâre uniquely gifted, coming out of that world and into the Christian world, to have a voice to the church. We even laughed about the fact that some churches wouldnât even have you to come and speak because youâre kind of against them.
What are the things that youâre putting in front of churches and trying to coach them through or equip them with? How do we deal with the culture? How do we deal with our young people who are falling into it or our children who maybe are saying and asking these questions? It sounds like thereâs a level of asking good questions and pushing back, as youâve just given us examples. But what are some ways youâre helping the church navigate all this?
[45:27] Becket: There are so many different ways. But like Jesus was the master at balancing grace and truth publicly. I read through all four Gospels, not often, in one sitting, and I just watch what Jesus does and how He interacts with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. And at the woman at the well, first of all, Heâs talking to a Samaritan woman, which is crazy for a Jewish man to do, and Heâs so loving and kind to her. And she, you know, Heâs like, âOh, go get your husband.â And sheâs like, âOh, I donât have a husband.â And Heâs like, âYeah, you were married five times.â
[46:17] JMY: âThe one youâre with now isnât your husband.â
[46:19] Becket: âAnd the one youâre with now isnât your husband.â So Jesus doesnât compromise the truth, but He also is super gracious and grace-full. That's what I see in the church is I see this happen all the time where parents when their kids come out, they love their kidsâand I get itâlike they love their kids so much that they suddenly change their theology and become [Overlapping voices] in their theology. And itâs like, no, that's not the answer, because if my parents had affirmed and said, âOh, Becket, youâre fine,â I would not have respected them, number one.
And my family when I got saved, the first people I contacted were my family because they never lied to me. I talk about this in my book, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; they refused to compromise Godâs Word by one iota. And they knew that they were going to go into a fiery furnace. They were not willing to compromise Godâs Word. And so that's my main thrust to the church is donât ever give up your convictions on this issue, but love your neighbor, your child as generously as you can, love them, love them. And the real key is to pray for them.
The worst thing you can do is affirm them and say, âOh, I donât think itâs a sin anymore,â because that is leading them down a path of eternal destruction. That is the meanest, cruelest thing you can ever do to a child or anyone is say that to them. And so that's partly what I try to convey to churches. Also, I try to, sometimes, talk about what I go through; I spend a very long time going through every turning point in the history of the gay movement and how it has affected the culture and affected us.
[48:48] JMY: I mean, just quickly if youâve given that talk enough times, what kind of the high points of that? If you had to kind ofâmaybe you havenât prepped for that, but if you could just hit a couple of those high points for us.
[49:02] Becket: The first high point was the Stonewall Inn in 1969, when police raided it. Because it was illegal to be gay in 1969 in the country. And so police raided the Stonewall Inn, which was a gay bar in the West Village in New York, and then there were riots, like three nights after that there were three nights of riots. That was June 28th. That's why Pride Month is in June. It used to be just one day, but now itâs a whole month. Pretty soon itâll be all year, but that's a whole thing.
[49:39] JMY: Perpetuity.
[49:40] Becket: Yeah. And so that was a huge turning point because the year following, San Francisco, L.A., New York, I think Chicago had gay pride marches. That's when the pride marches started. They used to be called marches and now theyâre parades.
[49:59] JMY: Like a protest.
[50:00] Becket: Exactly, and that was a huge turning point of the gay movement. Then the AIDS crisis was a huge turning point because that's when the culture, right or wrong, the culture started to see gay men as victims, and so that was a huge, huge turning point. And there were so many movies, like Philadelphia, with Tom Hanks in that, and there were so many movies about that issue. And, interestingly, AIDS was something that propelled the gay movement forward. You would think it would do the reverse, but it propelled it forward. And so that was a big deal.
And then in the NinetiesâI mean, Iâm skipping ahead of a bunch of stuffâbut the Nineties, Will & Grace, Ellen, the sitcom with Ellen DeGeneres, she came out as a lesbian on the show, her character came out as a lesbian. And Will & Grace, itâs like these guys are hilarious. I mean, what could be wrong with this? Soâ
[51:22] JMY: Yeah, theyâre approachable,
[51:23] Becket: Theyâre cool. What could be wrong with this? And then a significant turning point wasâoh, and then Sex and the City was a big deal in the Nineties. There was a gay character on that show. And Sex and the City was created by Darren Starr. I know Darren. And a lot of the writers on the show, the showrunner, is gay. Anyway, so what was interesting about Sex and the City is there were a lot of gay male writers on that show, and they were turning these women into gay men. The way these women had one-night stands and all this stuff. My friends and I would joke about it, like these are gay guys but in womenâs bodies. This is crazy. Itâs hilarious. So that show was a big game-changer.
And then Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, that was major because that was the first timeâI remember when that came out in 2003, I think, and it was five gay guys giving clueless straight guys makeovers. And that's when not only women and gay guys were watching, but that's when straight guys started watching because their girlfriends were like, âOh my gosh, honey, youâve got to watch this show; itâs brilliant!â
I remember telling a good friend of mine at the time, âThis is going to change everything. This show is going to change everything.â And it did.
And then you can skip to the, I mean, there were a lot of things, but you can skip to the legalization of gay marriage in 2015.
[53:18] JMY: Yeah, Obergfell, sure.
[53:19] Becket: That, of course, that's where we are now. And then now, of course, every cityâ
So I lived right next to Beverly Hills, and Beverly Hills is very conservative because itâs mostly Persian Jews who live in Beverly Hills. Theyâre a very conservative group of people. They are very family oriented. And I was riding my bike the other day, and there was a pride flag painted on the sidewalk, in the middle of the street, an intersection, a pride, yeah, just like a pride thing. And I was shocked because I was like, wow, that's interesting that Beverly Hills would do this, because I know the mayor is conservative.
But what I subsequently found out is that just like corporations have these rating systems where you have to be [Overlapping voices] you supportâ
[54:24] JMY: Cities have them as well. Wow.
[54:25] Becket: They get rated by I think itâs the Human Rights Campaign, HRC. They get rated, so Beverly Hills doesnât want to lose tourism, so they will go along with it and put a pride flag on the street. And so now itâs so ubiquitous, and I donât even know it at this point. I donât even know at this point how an unbeliever, or even some believers, can even believe that homosexual behavior is still a sin after all that's going on in the culture now. Itâs a rare thing, even for Christians now, to believe that itâs still a sin.
[55:15] JMY: itâs almost like going back to first-century Christianity, where weâre just so countercultural and so bizarre. How could you think thereâs only one God in Rome? And itâs like we have all this plethora of gods? It is a sense of returning to thinking youâre so backward and all this sort of thing.
But the Lordâs in control, and He knows what Heâs doing, and Heâs raised individuals such as yourself, and as we mentioned before, Rosaria and others, who are helping the church think critically and think helpfully and equipping and weâre so grateful for the work that the Lordâs doing in you. And so I want to say, Becket Cook, Iâm so grateful for our time together and pray the Lord would bless your ministry.
[56:24] Becket: Thank you, Jonathan. I appreciate it. And Iâm really looking forward to coming to Atlanta and meeting you guys in person.
[56:33] JMY: Absolutely.
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In this thought-provoking episode of Candid Conversations, Dr. Jonathan Youssef explores the pervasive cultural narrative that prioritizes feelings, personal pleasure, and subjective truths above all else. Our malls display it, our shows advise it, our commercials glorify it, and our universities disseminate it. Every aspect of our culture proclaims that our feelings matter most in life. But how should Christians respond to this secular storm that seeks to silence the message of the Gospel?
Join Jonathan as he explores the growing pressures on Christianity in the Western world and reminds listeners of the global spread of the Christian faith that defies cultural trends.
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Jonathan sits down with renowned author and teacher Nancy Guthrie. Together, they explore the transformative benefits of studying Scripture through holistic Biblical theology, emphasizing the importance of focusing on God rather than ourselves to gain a deeper and more accurate understanding of the Bible.
Drawing from her rich personal experiences, including her publishing career and the heart-wrenching loss of two children, Nancy shares how these events deepened her love for God's Word. As a respected author, host of the Help Me Teach the Bible podcast at the Gospel Coalition, and a dedicated Bible teacher in her local Nashville church, Nancy leads her widely acclaimed Biblical Theology Workshop for Women at various conferences worldwide. Together with her husband, she founded Respite Retreats, providing solace and support to grieving couples.
In this compelling episode, we explore the diverse aspects of God's character and His steadfast love. Be inspired to shift your perspective from personal application of Scripture to discovering the profound Truth about who God is and what His attributes reveal about His essence.
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Raising children to know, love, and follow Christ in today's challenging culture is a daily endeavor. How can families stay committed to Christ and guide their children to become godly adults?
Join Jonathan in this episode of Candid Conversations, where he shares valuable insights into biblical parenting and discusses five essential Biblical principles for following Christ as a family.
Don't miss out on this meaningful episode. Listen, share, and help families deepen their relationship with our Lord and Savior.
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She faced false accusations, family betrayal, and deep loss, forcing her to abandon her entire life. Despite all this, she chose forgiveness and, through God's grace, experienced profound redemption in her darkest moments.
Jonathan's guest today had countless reasons to withhold forgiveness and remain bound by the trauma of severe abuse. Yet, she found that true freedom and forgiveness are inseparable.
In this episode, Jonathan Youssef interviews a remarkable woman who will remain anonymous to protect her identity. She bravely recounts her escape from a life of abuse and oppression in a third-world country to finding freedom in America. Through Christ, she discovered forgiveness for herself and others and God's plan for her future.
Don't miss this powerful testimony of God's relentless pursuit and redemptive power available to all believers in Christ!
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This week's engaging episode features a conversation with Os Guinness, a profound advocate for faith, freedom, truth, reason, and civility. Os is an esteemed author and social critic and the great-great-great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, the famous Dublin brewer. With a bibliography exceeding 30 books, he provides insightful perspectives on our cultural, political, and social environments.
Born in China during World War II to medical missionary parents, Os experienced the height of the Chinese revolution in 1949 and was expelled along with many foreigners in 1951. He later earned his undergraduate degree at the University of London and completed his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. He currently resides in the United States.
In this episode, Jonathan and Os delve into Scripture and discuss Os' latest book, The Magna Carta of Humanity. They explore global perspectives, including Os' views on America's polarization crisis, the recent changes in the UK with the new King, and the evolving role of the âDefender of the Faithâ in the monarchy. Os also shares fascinating stories about his remarkable family history, from Christian brewers to pastors to his journey as a Christian author.
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TRANSCRIPT:
The following is a transcript of Episode 256: Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom: Os Guinness (Reprise) for Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef.
[00:01] JONATHAN: Today it is my special privilege to have Os Guinness on the program with us. Os is an author and social critic. Heâs written untold amounts of books. Heâs just like Dad, and it seems you have a new book out every six months or so, Os. Is that sort of the pattern, you get two out a year?
[00:24] Os Guinness: Well, usually one a year, but COVID gave me the chance to write a lot more.
[00:28] JONATHAN: Oh, well, I love it. Many of our listeners will, of course, be familiar with you, but there may be a few out there who donât. We have somewhat of an international audience, and I know that you have a very international background, having been born in China and raised in China and educated in England. Thereâs a couple of things. Iâm sure people are seeing the name Guinness and wondering is there a connection with the brewery? And of course, there is. But I wonder if youâd tell us a little bit of your family history and then weâll get to your own personal story.
[01:00] Os Guinness: Well, youâre right. Iâm descended from Arthur Guinness, the brewer. My ancestor was his youngest son. He was an evangelical. He came to Christ, to faith, under the preaching of John Wesley in the revival that took place in the late 1730s, early 1740s. So he called himself born again back in those days and founded Irelandâs first Sunday school, which of course, in this days was a rather radical proposition, teaching people who couldnât go to ordinary schools. And from the very beginning, care for the poor, for the workers and things like that were built into the brewery and the whole family status in Dublin. So that was the ancestor, and Iâm descended from a branch of the family thatâs kept the faith ever since. My great-grandfather, Arthurâs grandson, at the age of 23, was the leading preacher in the Irish revival of 1859. And we have newspaper accounts of crowds of 25,000, 30,000, and of course no microphone. Heâd climb onto the back of a carriage and preach and the Spirit would fall. Ireland was not divided in those days, but in that part of the country, in the year after the revival, there was literally only one recorded crime.
[02:33] JONATHAN: Unbelievable.
[02:34] Os Guinness: This shows you how profound revival can be.
[02:37] JONATHAN: Isnât it?
[02:39] Os Guinness: His son, my grandfather, was one of the first Western doctors to go to China. He treated the Empress Dowager, the last Emperor, and my parents were born in China so I was born in China. So Iâm part of the family thatâs kept faith ever since the first Arthur.
[03:00] JONATHAN: You had mention that this is a branch of the family. Is there a branch of the family thatâs gone a different trajectory?
[03:08] Os Guinness: Well, for a long time the brewing family was strongly Christian, but then eventually, sadly, wealth probably undermined part of the faith. But as I said, my family has kept it. They often say there are brewing Guinnesses, banking Guinnesses, and then they call them the Guinnesses for God or the poor Guinnesses.
[03:36] JONATHAN: An amazing family lineage, and youâre thinking of just the covenantal family through that line. And so youâve got a book that came out this year, The Great Quest: Invitation to the Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning. And I know in the book you share a little bit of your own search for meaning and finding, because we all know that Christianity is really the only faith you cannot be born into in terms of you can be born into a covenant home and be taught the lessons of Christ and the church, but itâs really a faith that has to become your own. Itâs not the faith that is transferred to the child. So tell us a little bit about your own story and your own coming to faith in Christ.
[04:31] Os Guinness: Well, I was born in China, as I said, and my first 10 years were pretty rough with war, famine, revolution, all sorts of things. And I was there for two years under Maoâs reign of terror, and in â51, two years after the revolution, my parents were allowed to send me home to England and they were under house arrest for another two years. So I had most of my teenage years apart from my parents, and my own coming to faith was really a kind of partly the witness of a friend at school but partly an intellectual search. I was reading on the one hand atheists like Nietzsche and Sartre, and my own hero, Albert Camus. And on the other hand, Christians like Blaise Pascal and G. K. Chesterton, and of course, C. S. Lewis.
And at the end of that time, I was thoroughly convinced the Christian faith was true. And so I became a Christian before I went to university in London, and Iâm glad I did because the 60s was a crazy decadeâdrugs, sex, rock and roll, the counterculture. Everything had to be thought back to square one. You really needed to believe what you believed and why you believed what you believed, or the whole onslaught was against, which is a bracing decade to come to faith.
[05:57] JONATHAN: It really is. I wonder if you could walk me through that a little bit. Iâve read some of Camus and Sartre, and I mean, theyâre just such polar opposites about humanity and God. What were some of the things that helped you navigate through that terrain?
[06:17] Os Guinness: Well, I personally never liked Sartre. He was a dull fish. And even later, when I went to LâAbri with Francis Schaeffer, we met people who studied under Sartre and people who had known Camus. Camus was warm, passionate. There are stories, we donât know whether theyâre true or not or just a rumor, that he was actually baptized just before he died in a car crash in January 1960. I donât know if thatâs true or not, or if thatâs a kind of death-bed conversion, but certainly his philosophy is profoundly human, and thatâs what I loved about so much of it. But at the end of the day, not adequate.
You know his famous Myth of Sisyphus. He rolls the stone up the hill and it rolls down again. Rolls up, it rolls down again, and so on. A gigantic defiance against the absurdity of the universe, but with no real answers. And of course, thatâs what we have in the gospel.
[07:19] JONATHAN: Thatâs right, and itâs sort of the meaninglessness of life, and I know a lot of high school, college students even seminary students have been deeply affected by some of his writing and have certainly felt, I think, what youâre touching into there, which is that deeply personalâthereâs a lot of reflection in there that I think resounds with people. But as you said, it leaves you with nothing at the end of the day.
So youâve written quite a number of books across quite a range of topics. What is it that sort of stokes your fire, that kind of drives you? I know the Bible uses passion in a very negative, sinful sense, but itâs a word we use a lot today. What is the passion thatâs driving you in your writings and your speaking?
[08:12] Os Guinness: Well, you can never reduce it easily, but two things above all. One, making sense of the gospel for our crazy modern world. On the other hand, trying to understand the world so that responsible people can live in the world knowing where we are. Because in terms of the second, I think one of the things in the Scriptures as a whole which is much missing in the American church today is the biblical view of time. You take the idea of the signs of the times, Davidâs men or our Lordâs rebuked His generation. they could read the weather but they missed the signs of the times. So you get that incredible notion of Saint Paul talking about King David. He served Godâs purpose in his generation. Thatâs an incredible idea that you so understand your generation that in some small, inadequate way weâre each serving Godâs purpose of salt and light and so on in our generation.
But many Americans, and many people around the whole world, they donât have that sense of time that you see in Scripture. Iâm not quite sure why; maybe growing up in revolutionary China Iâve always had an incredible sense of time.
[09:36] JONATHAN: You know, I think thatâs encouraging to hear. In our society, we get so fixated and caught up on the issues but thereâs almost this moment of needing to pull back and observe things from a higher perspective. And I think you do such a fantastic job of that.
Letâs walk through some of your more recent books, and then maybe get a peek under the curtain of whatâs coming, because I think youâve got a couple of books that are on their way out. The Magna Carta of Humanity. This idea of Sinai and French Revolution as it sort of relates to the American Revolution. Tell us a little bit about the impetus for this and the thought process towards that.
[10:25] Os Guinness: Well, the American crisis at its deepest is the great polarization today. But many people, I think, donât go down to the why. They blame it on the social media, or our former president and his tweets, or the coastals against the heartlanders and so on. But I think the deepest things are those who understand America and freedom from the perspective of the American Revolution, which was largely, sadly not completely, Christian, because it went back to the Jewish Torah, and those who understand America from the perspective of ideas coming down from the French Revolutionâpostmodernism, radical multiculturalism, the cancel culture, critical theory, all these things, the sexual revolution. They come from the ideas descended from Paris, not from anything to do with the Bible, and weâve got to understand this.
Now, the more positive way of looking at that, many Americans have no idea how the American Revolution came from the Scriptures, how notions like covenant became consitution; the consent of the governed or the separation of powers, going down the line, you have a rich, deep understanding in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. and weâve got to understand if we know how to champion these things today.
But itâs not just a matter of nostalgia or defending the past. I personally am passionately convinced this is the secret to the human future. What are the deepest views of human dignity, or of words, or of truth, or of freedom, or of justice, peace and so on? They are in the Bible. And weâve got to explore them. So the idea from a gentleman not too far from you, Jonathan, who said weâve got to unhitch our faith from the Old Testament, thatâs absolute disaster. A dear guy, but dead wrong. Youâve got to explore the Old Testament as never before, and then, of course, we can understand why the new is so wonderful.
[12:46] JONATHAN: You know, Os, just going down that track a little bit, thatâs right; you canât have the New Testament without the Old Testament. The prophecies of Christ, the fulfillment, it all falls apart, the whole argumentation, everything almost becomes meaningless at that point. And I know the argument is that itâs about the event of the crucifixion and the resurrection, but you donât have those apart from Genesis 3, of course, Genesis 1, all the way through till the end of Malachi. You canât separate these two testamental periods. Itâs ludicrous, and it creates so much damage, as youâve said.
[13:36] Os Guinness: Well you know, take some of the myths that are around today. Theyâre very common even in evangelical circles. The Old Testament is about law; the New Testament is about love.
[13:48] JONATHAN: Right.
[13:49] Os Guinness: Thatâs not right. Thatâs a slander on the Jews. Read the beginning of Deuteronomy. The Jews, the nation, they are called to love the Lord with all their heart, soul and so on. Why did the Lord choose them? Because He loved them and set His affection on them. And you can see in Deuteronomy thereâs a link between liberty and loyalty and love. So right through the Scriptures, those who abandon the truth, apostasy, thatâs equivalent to adultery. Why? To love the Lord is to be loyal to the Lord and faithful to the Lord and so on. And weâve got to see thereâs a tremendous amount about love, loyalty connected with liberty.
I mean, a couple of weeks ago, a couple of professors writing in the New York Times said the Constitution is broken and it shouldnât be reclaimed. We need to move on, scrap it and rebuild our democracy. Now the trouble is constitutions became a matter of lawyers and law courts, the rule of law only in the Supreme Court. No, it comes from covenant. Covenant is all about freely chosen consent, a morally binding pledge. So the heart of freedom is the freedom of the heart, and weâve got to get backâthis is all there in the Old Testament.
Did the Jews fail? Of course. Thatâs why our Lord. but equally the church is failing today. So weâve got so much to learn from the best and the worst of the experience of the Jews in the Old Testament. But to ignore the Old is absolute folly.
[15:35] JONATHAN: Well, and thinking about the American Revolution and the impact of men, as youâve already cited with your own family history, of Wesley and the preaching of George Whitefield in the Americas, which would have had a profound effect on the American psyche, and I think would have contributed a great deal to a lot of the writing of law and constitutional ideology.
[16:02] Os Guinness: Well, the revival had a huge impact on all who created the Revolution. But some of the ideas go back, I think, to the Reformation. Not so much to Luther at this point, but to Calvin and Swingly. In Scotland, John Knox and in England Oliver Cromwell. You know, that whole notion of covenant. I mean, Cromwell said ... A lot of weird ideas came up in the 17th Century, but the 17th Century is called the Biblical Century. Why? Because through the Reformation they discovered, rediscovered, what was called the Hebrew republicâin other words, the constitution the Lord gave to the founding of His own people.
So even someone like Thomas Hobbes, who was an atheist, they are discussing the Hebrew republicâin other words, Exodus and Deuteronomy. It had a tremendous impact on the rise of modern notions of freedom, and weâve got to understand that.
So the Mayflower Compact is a covenant. John Winthrop on the Arbella is talking about covenant. When John Adams writes the first constitution, written one, in this country, which is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he calls it a covenant. And the American Constitution is essentially a national somewhat secularized form of covenant. And we who are heirs of that as followers of Jesus, weâve got to re-explore it and realize its richness today.
[17:44] JONATHAN: Turn on the news today and it feels like weâre quite a distance from that. Even thinking about using a word like justice, you know, all this now it seems, to your point, this ideology from the French Revolution has really come to the forefront, certainly in the 60s, but there seems to be a new revival of this. Whatâs contributing to that today in America?
[18:17] Os Guinness: Well, James Billington, the former librarian of Congress, and others, have looked at the French Revolution, and remember only lasted 10 years in France, then came dictator Napoleon. But it was like a gigantic volcanic explosion, and out of it came their main lava flows. The first one we often ignore, which is called revolutionary nationalism, in 19th-century France and so on. You can ignore that mostly except itâs very important behind the Chinese today.
But the second one is the one people are aware of. Revolutionary socialism, or in one word, communism. The Russian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution. Weâre actually experiencing the impact of the third lava flow, revolutionary liberationism, which is not classical Marxism, communism, but cultural Marxism or neo Marxism. And that goes back to a gentleman called Antonio Gramsci in the 1920s. Now you mentioned the 60s. it became very important in the 60s because Gramsciâs ideas were picked up by the Frankfurt School in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and the leading thinker in America in the 60s was Herbert Marcuso, who in many ways is the godfather of the new left in the 60s. I first came here in â68 as a tourist, six weeks. One hundred cities were burning, far worse than 1920, because of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Kennedy.
But hereâs the point: The radicals knew that for all the radicalism in the streets, anti-Vietnam protests and so on, they wouldnât win in the streets, so they had to do what they called, copying Mao Zedong, a long march through the institutionsâin other words, not the streets. Go slowly, gradually, win the colleges and universities. Win the press and media. Win what they call the culture industryâHollywood, entertainment. And then sweep around and win the whole culture.
Now here we are, more than 50 years later, they have done it. Now, in the early days, Iâm a European still, Iâm not American, people would never have believed that the radical left would influence what were called the fortresses of American conservatismâbusiness, finance, the militaryâbut all of those in the form of woke-ism have been profoundly affected. So Americaâs at an extraordinary point in terms of the radical left being more power even than the French Revolution.
[21:16] JONATHAN: Okay, so in thinking through that lines of reasoning, the people who are caught up in that today, the radicalism, is this just indoctrination? I guess what my point is, is it all intentional? Is it like Marcusoâs intentionality of going through the halls of academia? Or rather is it that theyâve just been raised to think that this is just the way ... that itâs the most opportune way to get your ideology out there?
[21:56] Os Guinness: No, itâs thoroughly intention. But of course, always thereâs a creative minority who eventually win over the majority who are hardly aware of it. You mentioned justice. I was on calls for a California pastor last year and I said to them, âYou brothers have drunk the Kool-Aid.â They didn't realize how much of their understanding of justice owed everything to the radical left and nothing to the Hebrew prophets.
So you know how the left operate. It analyzes discourage. How do ordinary people speak? And so you look for the majority/minority, the oppressors/the victims. When youâve found the victim, which is a group, not an individual, you weaponize them and set up a constant conflict of powers in order to subvert the status quo.
But as the Romans point out, if you only have power, no truthâand remember in the postmodern world God is dead for them, truth is completely dead following Nietzsche, so all thatâs left is power. And the only possible outcome, if you think it through logically (which they donât) is what the Romans call the peace of despotismâin other words, you have a power so unrivaled since youâve put down every other power, you have peace. But itâs authoritarian. Thatâs where weâre going increasingly today. You take the high-tech media and so on, a very dangerous moment for freedom of conscience, for freedom of speech, and for freedom of assembly. America is really fighting for its life. But sadly itâs not. Most people are asleep.
[23:43] JONATHAN: Well, and thatâs right. Thatâs sort of the hinge point, isnât it? So letâs talk just briefly about the education system. Weâre thinking sort of elementary, middle school, high school education system. So here in Atlanta there are sort of options that are presented to parents, right? Thereâs the public school system; thereâs the private, often Christian, private school system; and then thereâs a home school option. And parents are all trying to navigate this. Now Iâm sure youâve heard arguments that you can send your kids to the public school because if Christians abandon the public school, then where is the witness, where es the influence with the greater population who are just asleep or whatever it is? If you send them out to the private school, your children will be protected, but how much exposure are they getting to thoughts and philosophies that if you sort of rein them inâ
And I guess this is really more to the home school spectrum, which is almost like an over-protection. These kids go to university and itâs the first exposure theyâve had to some of these thoughts, and professors are going out of their way to convince these students that the way that they were raised was very fallen, broken; their parents were brainwashing them, etc. Just thinking about some of those differing options and thought process, how do you think through that as a thinker, as a social critic, as a Christian? How do you weigh into that?
[25:17] Os Guinness: Well, you try and sort of isolate some of the different factors. So youâve been talking rightly about the personal and the family concerns, which are fundamental absolutely. And I think that very much varies with the child. But with all of the words, home schooling, whatever, you want to keep them ahead of the game so they know whatâs coming. Francis Schaeffer often used to stress that. So people go to the secular university. Keep them ahead of the game so that they know whatâs coming and they know some preliminary apologetics so they know how to make a good stand and be faithful without being washed away.
Youâve alsoâin other words, what you said is fundamental, I agree with that, but thereâs also a national dimension. So the public schools, and Iâm not arguing that everyone has to go to them, but they were very, very important because they were the center of passing on the unum of the e pluribus unum, out of man, one. Put it this way. As the Jews put it, if any project lasts longer than a single generation, you need families, you need schools, you need history. It doesnât get passed on.
So when Moses talked about the night before Passover, he never mentioned freedom, he never mentioned the Promised Land of milk and honey. He told them how to tell their story to children so that freedom could last. Now, the public schools used to do that, so you have people from Ireland or Italy or China or Mexico, it didn't matter because the public schools gave them civic education, the unum. That was thrown out at the end of the 60s. In came Howard Zinn and his alternative views, and more recently the 1619 project. So the public school, as a way of americanizing and integrating, collapsed. And thatâs a disaster for the republic.
Now, take the added one that President Biden has added, immigration. As scholars put it, itâs still relatively easy to become an American: get your papers, your ID and so on. Itâs almost impossible now to know what it is to be American, and particularly you say the 4 million who have come in in the Biden years, theyâre not going to be inducted into American citizenship, so the notion of citizenship collapses through the public schools and through an open border. Itâs just a folly beyond any words. It is historic, unprecedented folly, an absolute disaster.
Of course, weâve got to say, back to your original question, the same is true not only of freedom but of faith. So parents handing on, transmitting to their kids, very, very important.
I would add one more thing, Jonathan. Itâs very much different children. My own son, whom I adore, is a little bit of a contrarian. If heâd gone to a Christian college, he might have become a rebel in some of the poorer things of some of them. He went to a big, public university, University of Virginia, and it cemented and deepened his faith because he stood against the tide and he came out with a much stronger faith than when he went in.
[28:59] JONATHAN: I love that. I think youâre right on with that. And I think itâs good for people to hear and know the history and have awareness of this. Now I want to make a very subtle and gentle shift, and if you donât want to talk about it, thatâs fine. But you are a British citizen. Am I correct on that?
[29:18] Os Guinness: I am.
[29:21] JONATHAN: Queen Elizabeth has passed and now itâs King Charles III and thereâs much talk about comments heâs made in the past in terms of the Defender of the Faith. I read a quote from Ian Bradley, who is a professor at the University of Saint Andrews, he says, âCharlesâs faith is more spiritual and intellectual. Heâs more of a spiritual seeker.â
Is this sort of a microcosm of whatâs happening in the UK, this sort of shift from the queen, who very much had a very Christo-centric faith, to Charles and sort of emphasis on global warming and different issues of the day? Is this sort of a microcosm of what weâre seeing?
[30:22] Os Guinness: Well, the queen had a faith that was very real and very deep, and she was enormously helped by people like Billy GrahamâŠ
[30:29] JONATHAN: John Stott.
[30:30] Os Guinness: --John Stott and so on. So her faith was very, very genuine. His? Heâs probably got more of an appreciation for the Christian faith than many European leaders today. So the Christian faith made Western civilization, and yet most of the intelligentsia in Europe have abandoned the faith that made it. So Prince Charles, as you say, a rather New Age spirituality, and heâs extraordinarily open to Islam through money from Saudi Arabia. I donât have the highest hopes for him, although I must say the challenge of being king will remind him of the best of his mother. Even when the archbishop said in the sermon that he wanted people to know that Prince Charles had a Christian faith, I felt it was a glimmer of the fact he realizes, you know, his motherâs position was wonderful, so itâs very much open.
Now I am an Anglican, as you are. Back in 1937, the greatest of all the Catholic historians on Western civilization predictedâthis is 1937, almost a century agoâthat the day would come in some future coronation when people would raise the questions, âWas it all a gigantic bluff? Because the power of the monarchy, and more importantly, the credibility of the faith, had both undermined themselves to such an extent it didn't mean anything.â
I think weâre incredibly close to that with King Charles. I also think, sadly, that the Archbishop of Canterbury, who preached wonderfully well yesterday, has done a good job in the celebrations and so on, the pageantry, but does a rotten job in leading the church as the church. And so the Church of England is in deep trouble in terms of its abandoning orthodoxy. Itâs a very critical moment. Will Charles go deeper or revert to the way heâs been for the last few decades? I donât know. Iâm watching.
[33:02] JONATHAN: And then sort of just transitioning from there to what you see as faith in the United States. I think you have a new book coming out, Zero Hour America: Historyâs Ultimatum Over Freedom and the Answer We Must Give. Letâs bridge that gap between trajectory in the UK and now in the United States. What similarities and differences are you seeing?
[33:26] Os Guinness: Well, in Europe the great rival to the Christian faith was in the 18th century, the Enlightenment. And itâs almost completely swept the intelligentsia of Europe. Until recently, America was not fully going that way, and in the last decade or so it has. The rise of the religious nones, etc. etc. So in most areas that are intellectual, America too has abandoned the faith that made it. Of course, part of the American tragedy is the intelligentsia have not only abandoned the faith that made America; theyâve abandoned the Revolution that made America. So you have a double crisis here.
Now, I am, like you, a follower of Jesus. Iâm absolutely undaunted. The Christian faith, if itâs true, would be true if no one believed it. So the lies of the nones or whatever just means a lot of people didn't realize in one sense that theyâre just spineless. If itâs true, itâs not a matter of popularity or polls. I like the old saying, âDamn the polls and think for yourself.â And Americans are far too other-directed. The polls are often badly formulated in terms of their questions. The question is, is the faith true and what are the answers it gives us to lead our lives well? And I have no question itâs not only good news, it is the best news ever in terms of where humanity is today. So this is an extraordinary moment to be a follower of Jesus. We have the guardianship and the championship of the greatest news ever.
[35:14] JONATHAN: Amen. Well, and letâs make one final link there, which is we talked a lot about Western countries, the UK, the US, but you were born and spent quite a lot of time in China. Letâs think about not necessarily specifically China, but non-Western countries. You travel quite frequently. What are you seeing in those non-Western countries that perhaps is giving you hope or positivity?
[35:47] Os Guinness: God promised to Abraham in him all the families of the Earth will be blessed. DNA is in the heart of the Scriptures, and of course our Lordâs Great Commission. But as we look around the world today, thank God Christian faith is the most populace faith on the Earth. So the one place itâs not doing well is the highly modernized West. It is flourishing in sub-Sahara Africa. Or in Asia, where I happen to be born, in Chinaânothing to do with meâwas the most rapid growth, exponential growth, of the church in 2,000 years. So I have no fear for the faith at all. And of course we believe itâs true.
But the question, Will the West return to the faith that made it? I hope that our sisters and brothers in the global south will help us come back just as we took the faith to them. And I know many African brothers and sisters and many Korean brothers and sisters, Chinese too, thatâs their passion. And we must welcome it. I know so many Koreans, what incredible people of prayer. Up at 5:00, thousands of them praying together. When I was a boy in England, prayer meetings were strong in churches. Theyâre not strong in most American churches today. Weâve become highly secularized, so weâve got a huge amount to learn from the Scriptures, of course, above all, but from our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world reminding us of what we used to believe and weâve lost.
[37:33] JONATHAN: What a great reminder. Well, Os Guinness, I know youâve got a busy schedule and weâre so grateful that youâve taken the time to be on Candid Conversations. Weâve talked about quite a lot. Weâre going to put a link to your website in our show notes, and all fantastic books that youâve put out and new ones coming out, and we look forward to hopefully having you on again in the future.
[38:00] Os Guinness: Well, thank you. Real privilege to be on with you.
[38:02] JONATHAN: God bless you. Thank you.
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