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1:18
All right, guys, we've made it to the end of 2024, and as with the end of all the years
1:29
that we've done, at least over the last few years, we always do the same run of episodes.
1:33
So I'm going to be giving you all the best books of 2024, the best podcasts of 2024,
1:39
and then my year in review, my wrap-up of 2024.
1:42
Here we are at the best books of 2024, but we would not have even got to this point, guys.
1:46
We're closing it on 700 episodes.
1:48
It's still kind of crazy for me to think about, especially since this started in a closet when
1:52
I was recording into a $50 microphone, and I was like, "It sounds great."
1:55
It's like, "Well, because I was surrounded by clothing."
1:57
So I guess it absorbed all the sound, but we would not have been able to get here without
2:00
our donors.
2:01
I've told you guys a hundred times, and I'll keep telling you, because I'm so thankful
2:05
to the guys that donate, because we're getting this out to people all over the globe.
2:09
This is the number one podcast for Christian Men in the world.
2:12
And from where it started to where it is now, if we didn't have donors, I'm not sure we
2:15
would still be doing this.
2:16
It may have some different iterations.
2:18
We probably wouldn't have the forging table or anything like that.
2:20
So I'm so, so very thankful to have guys like you to partner with us on a month in a month
2:24
out basis.
2:25
Go to undaunted.life/donate or just go to the show notes so you can check that out to see
2:30
how you can hop on board and be a donor.
2:31
Now, today we're going to be breaking down the best books of 2024, but as we've kind
2:36
of evolved over the last few years, I like to remind you guys kind of where I'm at, because
2:41
in 2020, what would it have been, it would have been 2022, actually, that's wrong on
2:46
my notes.
2:47
I'm going to change that real quick.
2:48
So I'm going to mess it up next year.
2:49
But in 2022, I read 54 books in 11 months.
2:53
It was insane, like absolutely insane.
2:56
And they were all podcasts related for the most part.
2:59
There was maybe a handful that weren't related to a podcast interview or some sort of podcast
3:03
subject.
3:04
And at the end of 2022, that's when the idea for the forging table went from idea to being
3:08
a fully fledged thing that we were going to do because I was like, Oh crap, I've done
3:13
all this reading for the podcast, but I've done no reading of the Bible for myself, which
3:18
also has an effect on the podcast.
3:20
So last year I read 37 books.
3:22
I went from 54 books to 37 books, still a good amount.
3:25
This year I'm at 23 books, okay?
3:27
So I'm being much more exclusive in the books that I'm reading.
3:31
And as I'm kind of looking, even at the first quarter of next year, because we've already
3:34
got interviews booked out until about April, I'm kind of looking at the books that are
3:38
there.
3:39
I'm just being much more selective and much more exclusive on the books that I'm reading.
3:43
And I'm also getting pitched interviews that are not just from publishers or, you know,
3:46
different publishing houses or things like that.
3:48
So I'm getting, you know, documentaries and I'm getting just random people that I kind
3:54
of know their personality and kind of know what they offer to the marketplace of ideas.
3:57
I don't necessarily need to read their latest book.
3:58
I mean, I have a latest book.
4:00
So that's kind of how I've been doing things.
4:02
And so I slowed things down this year with, so I could do prep for the forging table, but
4:07
also the launching of Dominion, the Dominion program guys, if you don't know what I'm talking
4:10
about, undaunted life slash Dominion, undaunted life slash Dominion.
4:14
And in the next year, Dominion will be expanding and we got a bunch of great things that we're
4:18
going to be announcing there throughout the year.
4:19
So we'll see how it goes.
4:21
In terms of how I read, I'm kind of dumb.
4:23
I can't read fast and I can't speed read.
4:25
And so for me, the reason I'm reading the books, especially if an author is going to
4:29
be coming on the show, I want to be able to engage with the content so I can ask better
4:33
questions, right?
4:34
One of the best compliments that I get and a compliment I actually get often are from
4:38
the people that write these books after the interviews over there like, Hey, man, you
4:41
really like, I can tell you read the book like your questions were, were deep and they
4:45
weren't just surface level.
4:46
I feel like I've been asked a bunch of surface level things and I say this all the time,
4:50
but we'll get books in the mail, right, just random books.
4:53
And then the publisher will just include this little like insert with, it's got some bio
4:57
information, but it has questions on here and the questions on here for crappy podcasters,
5:02
right?
5:03
And are lazy that don't actually want to do the work of reading the frickin book.
5:06
It's just like they put that in there for them.
5:08
But for me, it's incumbent upon me to engage with your content.
5:11
If you're going to be giving your time to my audience for free and so that's why we get
5:15
after it in that way.
5:16
And I just have a quick message for those of you that are not readers.
5:20
You've come up with some sort of a philosophy as to why reading is dumb, why, you know, you
5:25
don't need to read after you graduate high school and things like that.
5:28
But as my buddy Matt said years ago, Matt Hankinson, he's like, there are two types of
5:31
people in this world.
5:33
There are people that read and then there are morons and I agree with that.
5:36
So guys in my audience, reading one book a month is not going to kill you.
5:41
It's not going to hurt you.
5:42
And we have a book list on our website, the 100 books that every modern Christian man
5:45
should read list.
5:46
It is 100 books in a multitude of different categories that has been like made and remade
5:50
and adjusted over the years.
5:52
It's a great resource for you.
5:53
Another link on don't to not life slash book lists on don't to not life slash book list.
5:58
But how I've done this show in years past is, you know, I've given different category
6:03
awards and different things like that.
6:05
But last year, I did something where I did a top 10 list, but I also did a top 10 list
6:10
of like stuff that I read in that year and stuff that I didn't read in that year.
6:13
But this year, I only had two books that I that weren't from this year that I read.
6:17
So I won't be doing that.
6:18
But a lot of you look forward to this list because I give you my worst books of the year
6:21
or my worst book rather of the year.
6:24
And so I am going to be giving you the worst book again, but I'm just giving you a top 10
6:28
list today.
6:29
Okay.
6:30
So this is just my top 10 list of books that I read in this year and I'm going to go from
6:34
10 all the way down to my number one book of 2024.
6:37
But I do have two honorable mentions before we get into it because there are two books
6:41
that I consume this year that were not from this year that were absolutely fantastic.
6:45
The first one is called blood and thunder.
6:47
The epic story of Kit Carson and the conquest of the American West by Hampton sides.
6:52
From 2007 and so kind of the subtitle of that really gets into it, but it's like, you know,
6:56
the Navajo Indian tribes and a bunch of other Indian tribes and Kit Carson and kind of,
7:00
you know, the expansion westward is what that book is.
7:02
I listened to that a lot during hunting season.
7:04
So that was awesome.
7:05
But one of the best books of this year by far that I consumed was actually a book from
7:09
2022 called defenders of the west.
7:11
The Christian heroes who stood against Islam by Raymond Ibrahim and so Raymond was back on
7:16
episode 572 of this podcast again, 572 with Raymond Ibrahim, very, very interesting interview,
7:23
but just an incredibly interesting book looking at just these giants of the Christian faith
7:28
and what they did to push back the predations of, you know, fundamentalist Islam.
7:32
So those are two great books, blood and thunder and defenders of the west.
7:35
Now we're going to get into my top 10 books of 2024 right here and I'm going to go decently
7:39
faster these because I want you guys to actually engage with that content.
7:43
I want you to, if one of these books sounds interesting to you, I want you to immediately
7:46
get off here.
7:47
If you're in a safe place and buy this book, you know, get it on Audible or however you
7:50
consume books.
7:51
Okay.
7:52
So here we go.
7:53
The number 10 book of 2024 is the truth in true crime.
7:56
What investigating death touch or teaches us about the meaning of life by Jay Warner Wall.
8:01
So Jay Warner Wall is one of our favorite guys that comes on the show.
8:04
He came on episode 623 to talk about this book.
8:07
This book is a little bit different than some of his other books.
8:09
So some of his other books are a little bit more, they're all interesting because he's
8:14
coming at it from a crime point of view and a law enforcement point of view.
8:18
But this book does have a lot more life lesson stuff while it still has some of the, I'm
8:24
trying to think the best way to say it's some of the Christian biblical exposition of certain
8:28
texts and argumentation and things like that.
8:31
And so, you know, because he is an apologist, a Christian apologist as it were.
8:34
So there is an element of that, but it is a little bit more life lessening, but still
8:38
a tremendous book, the truth in true crime by Jay Warner Wallis and the number 10 book
8:42
of 2024.
8:43
Now, the number nine book of 2024 is a mission without borders, why a father and son risked
8:49
it all for the people of Ukraine.
8:51
And that's by Chad Robishow.
8:52
And so we had Chad on this show on episode 634.
8:55
And then I think his son was on here 635, if I remember correctly.
9:00
And so they talked about the mission in Ukraine.
9:03
And I know there's a lot of consternation around what's been happening in Ukraine and
9:06
the funding and believe me, I have a lot of issues and I brought that up at the beginning
9:09
of the interview again, episode 634 with Chad.
9:12
But the reality on the ground is that Chad Robishow and his team, they were trying to
9:15
help out the least of these in Ukraine.
9:17
They were trying to help out individual guys, pastors that are behind enemy lines like gangster
9:22
pastors and what they were doing to help those guys.
9:24
And so it was a very unique book, especially since we got to see it from Chad's perspective
9:28
and his son hunters.
9:29
So the number nine book of 2024, a mission without borders by Chad Robishow.
9:34
Now the number eight book of 2024, this is actually a Jack Carr book, but it is not a
9:38
fiction book.
9:39
So this is targeted Beirut, the 1983 Marine barracks bombing and the untold origin story
9:44
of the war on terror.
9:46
That was episode 654.
9:48
This podcast Jack came on the show and so, you know, every fall or every spring rather,
9:52
he comes on to talk about his latest James Reese novel.
9:55
Now that's going to change a little bit with some of the announcements he made on the fiction
9:58
side.
9:59
But this was his first foray into nonfiction and one of the best things about this book
10:03
or why it made it in my top 10 is because it's a book that he wrote with a bonafide
10:08
historian.
10:09
I can't remember the guy's name off top.
10:10
I apologize, but he wrote the book with a bonafide historian, but it still reads somewhat
10:16
like Jack Carr's fiction because there were different points where they're not just going
10:20
over and then this guy did this thing and then the Pentagon said that and then one of
10:22
the generals said this thing.
10:24
It was literally a narrative and it was like bringing you into the lives of some of these
10:28
people that were killed back in 1983 during the Marine barracks bombings and everything
10:33
else that was going on in Lebanon.
10:35
And so just an absolutely fantastic book.
10:37
If you're a history buff or if you really kind of like GWOT or war on terror stuff at
10:41
all, it's a tremendous book.
10:42
The number eight book of 2024 targeted Beirut by Jack Carr.
10:47
Now the number seven book of 2024 is we who wrestle with God perceptions of the divine by
10:52
Jordan Peterson.
10:53
Now, I'm going to come right out and say this, I've not finished this book.
10:57
And for any of you that have started reading this book, I think you know why, because this
11:01
book did not come out long ago, like I'm recording this, you know, middle of December and as
11:05
of right now, this book is on the New York Times bestseller list and I think it's still
11:08
the number one book on all of Amazon, okay?
11:11
But this book is tough like man.
11:14
So 12 rules for life can be tough at times, but still very accessible.
11:18
Beyond order is a little bit difficult.
11:20
And then you have his first book, maps of meaning.
11:23
And Jordan thinks that this book is in between beyond order and maps of meaning.
11:26
And I would say that's probably about right.
11:28
Because there are certain sections of this book where I'm like, okay, okay.
11:33
Because again, Jordan Peterson is a secular, the clinical psychologist.
11:38
He is not a Christian theologian by any stretch of the imagination, but he has read more Bible
11:43
and studied more theology than most of the Christians that I know.
11:46
And this is the first, I believe, of three books that he's going to be releasing.
11:50
And so I'm still in some of the core Old Testament stories right now, Adam and Eve can't enable
11:54
the flood, the Tower of Babel in terms of that book.
11:57
But it's still here on my list because I would assume by the time I'm done with it, it would
12:02
be one of my top books of 2024.
12:04
But I just flat out with, you know, the public launch of dominion and everything else at
12:08
the end of the year that we got going on didn't have a chance to finish it.
12:11
But I think it is well worth your time.
12:12
The number seven book of 2024, we who wrestle with God by Jordan Peterson.
12:16
Now the number six book of 2024 is comfort and darkness, the invisible power of jujitsu
12:21
by Hicks and Gracie.
12:22
So the Great Hicks and Gracie came on Episode 675 of this podcast.
12:26
It was a second appearance on this podcast and I just got to be honest with you.
12:28
His first book was called Breathe.
12:30
That was his biography or autobiography.
12:32
And it was very interesting, like incredibly interesting because I remember hearing all
12:36
these jujitsu and early valetuto and MMA stories.
12:40
And that book kind of got into detail and elucidate a lot of the detail on some of those
12:44
more interesting stories.
12:45
And so with this book, I was like, okay, it's just going to be kind of a rehashing of that.
12:49
But no, this gets like, if you're a jujitsu or MMA like nerd, you kind of like, you know,
12:54
the impetus behind it.
12:55
And I'm certainly one of those guys, the number of guys that I've gotten into jujitsu just
12:58
by talking about it openly on the show and just promising them, it's going to change
13:02
the way their mind works and all that kind of stuff.
13:04
It's legitimate.
13:05
And this book kind of delves a little bit further into some of those topics.
13:08
He kind of gets into his overall philosophy because, you know, he's later in life now.
13:12
He's in his 60s.
13:13
He has Parkinson's disease.
13:15
He's no longer training, you know, killers to do jujitsu.
13:17
He's training just like regular old folks, where jujitsu can kind of really help them
13:21
in their life.
13:22
And he also still has some of those amazing stories that only a guy that's experienced
13:25
them would be able to tell us.
13:26
So the number six book of 2024, well worth your time, comfort and darkness by the great
13:30
Hicks and Gracie.
13:31
Hey, guys, real quick, do you remember during the pandemic when you basically couldn't get
13:35
anything shipped to your house?
13:37
All this manufacturing that was supposed to be taking place in America had been shipped
13:40
overseas and you just didn't notice it.
13:42
And I remember a bunch of companies saying we're going to do everything we can to make
13:45
sure that we bring manufacturing back to America and almost none of them followed through on
13:49
that promise.
13:50
But for me and for all of us here at Undaunted Life, I wanted to make sure that I partnered
13:54
with an American company that actually did want to prioritize American workers, their
13:58
families, their communities and a company that would keep their word.
14:02
And that's why I want to remind you that we are partnered with Origin.
14:05
Origin is an apparel company based in Maine.
14:07
And what do they make?
14:08
They make the best jujitsu geese on the planet and the only jujitsu geese that are made completely
14:13
in America.
14:14
They also make jeans.
14:15
Yes, they have stretchy jeans.
14:17
They also have work jeans and boot cut jeans for you guys as well.
14:19
They make amazing hunting gear and here's the thing, I know you guys like some other
14:23
hunting brands, but those companies are American companies that use overseas labor to increase
14:28
their profit margins on their gear, not to help you or Americans out.
14:33
They also offer handmade leather boots.
14:35
That does include steel toe boots and mock toe boots.
14:38
And they also make workout clothes and everyday pants and shirts and almost indestructible
14:42
hoodies and they're launching new apparel all the time.
14:44
Guys, if you haven't already tried Origin stuff, you need to check them out and support
14:49
a company that supports Americans.
14:51
Try Origin out today by going to www.originusa.com.
14:55
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14:58
Use the promo code undaunted to get 10% off your order.
15:01
Again, that's originusa.com.
15:03
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15:12
Now, the number five book of 2024 is the Overcomers.
15:17
God's vision for you to thrive in an age of anxiety and outrage and that's by Matt Chandler.
15:22
And so Matt Chandler has actually been on our show a lot this year, but the first two times
15:27
he came on the show is whenever I actually interviewed him in his office and that was
15:31
neck of the woods right there in his office.
15:34
And so the thing about that interview is we kind of weave in and out of some topics and
15:38
some things that he's experienced.
15:40
But a lot of it came back to the book The Overcomers because this is a book that he wrote about
15:44
the book of Revelation.
15:45
And so what he set out to do is to write a very accessible book about a book that Christians
15:49
basically stay away from.
15:51
And I'm pretty sure it's an inside joke.
15:52
I don't know if I've said it publicly, but I've told the forging table guys, I'm like,
15:55
guys, we will do every book of the Bible except for Revelation.
15:59
And you know, maybe I'll soften on that, maybe I won't.
16:01
But the reason is it's just because there's been so much ink spilled and thought pieces
16:06
and theologians have been wrestling with what exactly is happening in Revelation, how literal
16:10
is this, how figurative is this.
16:12
But I believe that Matt Chandler's approach to the book of Revelation and making it to
16:16
where it's it's immediately accessible for the reader, I thought was was really, really
16:21
well done because it's heady enough to not like put you to sleep if you're like an academician.
16:26
But at the same time, if you're someone who's not like, you know, super high power intellectual
16:31
person, it was still very accessible.
16:32
So thought it was a great book.
16:34
The number five book of 2024, the Overcomers by Matt Chandler.
16:37
So now we're getting into it.
16:38
All right, we're getting into our top four.
16:40
And then when we get into our top three, we'll spend a little bit more time with those.
16:43
But the number four, but to be honest with you, like trying to rank these top four was
16:47
really not not that easy.
16:49
So all right.
16:50
The number four book of 2024, Religionless Christianity, God's answer to evil by Eric
16:56
Metaxas.
16:57
And he was on episode 658 of this podcast to discuss that book.
17:02
This is a furtherance of letters to the American church.
17:05
And as I suggested on the podcast, I think it would be beneficial for everyone in my
17:10
audience.
17:11
And so if you're thinking I wasn't talking about you, yes, I was talking about you and
17:14
I am talking about you right now.
17:16
If you haven't read letters to the American church or letter to the American church, rather
17:19
letter to the American church by Eric Metaxas, read that and then don't have anything in
17:24
between it and go right into religionless Christianity because it has a lot of the same
17:29
thematic elements when it talks about the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, what was going
17:33
on in the churches and the different factions of the churches in Germany during the rise
17:38
of Hitler's Third Reich.
17:40
And it's just a fantastic take not only on the continuance of, you know, Eric Metaxas
17:45
who wrote the seminal work on Bonhoeffer's life with his biography.
17:49
But this is again, practical stuff that can be used for everyday Christians.
17:52
So well worth your time.
17:53
I guess I'm just going to say about all these books.
17:54
It's well worth your time.
17:55
There's your drinking game for this podcast.
17:56
So I'll try not to say that again.
17:58
But the number four book of 2024, religionless Christianity by Eric Metaxas.
18:02
All right, guys, top three.
18:04
So need to take a big sip of water.
18:09
As you can tell, the voice is strong.
18:10
I'm recording this real late, but it is what it is.
18:12
We got to get it in.
18:14
The number three book of 2024, run over by the grace train, how the unstoppable love
18:19
of God transforms everything by Jobe Martin and Charles Martin.
18:23
So obviously, Jobe is a great friend of mine, mentor of mine, great friend of the show.
18:28
The number of people that if they tell me anything in terms of what they like about the
18:32
show, it's always either ask a pastor or the forging table.
18:35
Now people like all kinds of our, our different, you know, episode, opera offerings and things
18:39
like that.
18:40
So obviously, you know, Jobe and I's relationship and how that comes across on video and also
18:44
on the audio is really, really beneficial.
18:46
But Jobe and I really dug in to run over by the grace train on episode 647 on this podcast,
18:51
episode 647, this podcast.
18:53
So go back and listen to that because I got an advanced copy of that like way before
18:57
his release.
18:58
I knew about the release before a lot of people did.
19:00
And so I've been kind of like chewing on that particular content for a while, but I want
19:04
to read some of my favorite quotes from this book.
19:06
So these are obviously quotes taken from a chapter, taken out of context, but I think
19:10
they all stand alone.
19:11
So here's some quotes.
19:12
Here's one.
19:13
There are no good people.
19:14
We're all bad.
19:15
Paul is about to explain this.
19:17
And because we're all dead, the gospel is about dead people coming to life.
19:21
He says you were dead.
19:22
He doesn't say you were bad.
19:24
Sin doesn't make you bad.
19:26
Sin makes you dead.
19:27
Love that quote.
19:28
Here's another one.
19:29
Paul wants us to know this reality.
19:30
You are a sinner.
19:31
Again, I know some of you will be offended by that.
19:34
That's okay.
19:35
That's part of my job.
19:36
My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
19:39
I just love that a pastor says that.
19:41
That's like so awesome.
19:42
All right.
19:43
Another quote here.
19:44
One of the things we thought about is how will our kids ever understand the love of
19:46
God if all they ever see from their earthly dad is anger and like, oh, like, oh, that's
19:52
such a gut punch.
19:53
I remember reading that and just being like, oof.
19:55
Okay.
19:56
Yeah.
19:57
Point taken.
19:58
A couple more quotes I want to share.
19:59
There is more grace in Jesus than sin in you.
20:02
And so that's kind of like a center point of the grace train.
20:04
And then the last quote I will share from that book is perhaps my favorite one liner
20:10
from any book that I read in 2024.
20:12
And it's this, think about this.
20:14
I wonder if she heard the rocks fall.
20:17
And that's where he's talking about the woman who was caught in adultery.
20:20
And you know, they were trying to trap Jesus and Jesus basically said, you know, he who's
20:23
without sin cast the first stone.
20:25
And then just to think about that, I wonder if she heard the rocks fall because this woman
20:29
is very likely, I mean, she's naked.
20:31
She's there on the ground.
20:32
She's covering up, probably just waiting for the rocks to start hitting her and instead
20:36
they start hitting the sand just an absolutely powerful image.
20:40
And I've talked to Joe B. Martin and Charles Martin and neither one of them can figure
20:44
out who's the one that came up with that line.
20:46
So they both get the credit.
20:47
So again, guys, absolutely fantastic book.
20:49
The number three book of 2024 run over by the grace train by Joe B. Martin and Charles
20:54
Martin.
20:55
All right.
20:56
Now the number two book of 2024 shepherds for sale, how evangelical leaders traded the
21:00
truth for a leftist agenda by Megan Basham.
21:03
So this is from episode 640.
21:04
If you don't know what I'm talking about, let me read the description of the book and
21:07
shepherds for sale, Megan Basham of the daily wire documents how progressive power brokers
21:12
from George Soros to the founder of eBay to former members of the Obama administration
21:16
set out to change the American church.
21:18
Their goal to co-opt evangelicals for political purposes.
21:22
She exposes the left wing billionaires, foundations and think tanks that deliberately target Christian
21:26
media, universities, mega churches, nonprofits, and even entire denominations.
21:31
The celebrity mega church pastor who secretly encouraged a group of pastors to change their
21:36
views on sexuality.
21:38
The revered Presbyterian theologian who backed a congregation rebelling against its own denomination.
21:43
These are just a glimpse into the compromises and astroturf campaigns Basham uncovers.
21:48
Many evangelical leaders are pushing their members to whisper about sexual sins, reconsider
21:52
the importance of abortion, lament the effects of climate change, and repent of perpetuating
21:56
systemic racism.
21:58
And in exchange for towing the left wing line, many of those church leaders and institutions
22:02
have received cash, career jumps, prestige and praise, Basham brings the receipts and
22:07
names names.
22:08
A rigorously reported expose, shepherds for sale is a warning of what happens when the
22:13
church trusts the world's wisdom instead of scripture.
22:17
So here's the thing about this book.
22:18
This book, no one was neutral about this book.
22:21
And also no one was in the middle about this book.
22:24
People either love this book or they hated it.
22:26
They thought it was direct.
22:27
I thought it was fantastic because the thing about Megan Basham is she provides the receipts
22:32
on just about everything that she says.
22:35
Now there were certain times and I brought this up to her, there were certain times where
22:38
she would go in the same area, she would go from journalism to editorializing in kind
22:43
of the same area.
22:44
And it's like, okay, well, it would have been easier in some areas to kind of keep some
22:47
of that separate.
22:48
But the problem is some of the people that got their hackles up about this book that
22:53
just didn't like it, they didn't like the tone of it because it was negative.
22:56
The problem was, and I remember she talked about J.D. Greer quite a bit in this book,
23:00
J.D.
23:01
Greer responded to Megan Basham's reporting in the book, but he didn't refute the truth
23:07
or falsehood of her major claims about what J.D. Greer has said and done.
23:11
He basically just complained about how he thought she was wrong.
23:15
And then I got some DMs from some pastors whose names you would know, not Jobe, not Matt Chandler,
23:20
but some some guys that you would know, they're just like, Hey man, that book's not any good.
23:25
Like you got to stay away from it.
23:26
Like we can't have, you know, this, you disputatious attitude.
23:29
We can't have the schism.
23:30
And I just asked these guys, did you read the book?
23:33
What do you guess they said?
23:35
Not a single one of them read the book.
23:37
And so it's like, what precisely are you critiquing?
23:41
Are you critiquing somebody complaining that this book exists?
23:45
Are you critiquing that somebody did a lot of research connecting the dots between some
23:49
of these problematic people within Christendom that have said some pretty horrific things
23:53
and then weren't challenged on it?
23:55
Well, Megan Basham's challenging these guys on it.
23:58
And so whether you like the conclusion she comes to at the end, that's up for discussion.
24:03
But most of the things in the book, she's just stating this is what's true.
24:07
Now we can get into motivations and what we think somebody's trying to accomplish by
24:11
the things that they're doing.
24:12
But in a lot of the places, she's just reporting what they're doing.
24:15
So here are some of my favorite quotes from the book.
24:18
It came as something of a shock then when many of the big name evangelical leaders who
24:22
were supposed to represent pro life activists, like her sounded distinctly less than celebratory,
24:28
instead a number of them used the fall of row as an opportunity to argue for bigger
24:32
government and to bolster the pro abortion narrative that Christians only care about
24:36
babies before they're born.
24:38
And so obviously she was talking about these supposedly pro life pastors that came out
24:42
afterwards and were like, Oh, well, let's not spike the football.
24:44
It's like, no, let's spike the football, re inflate and then spike it again.
24:47
Here's another quote from the book.
24:48
The Bible instructs us to proclaim truth, not to hold centers.
24:52
And anyway, the center is far too liberal a place for biblical orthodoxy.
24:57
Another quote here, where shepherds and teachers are compromising the word for the sake of
25:01
worldly approval, where they are belittling their sheep and defaming the church for the
25:05
applause of the important and influential.
25:08
We should not reward them by remaining in their churches or buying their books.
25:13
And last quote I'll share with you is they are in fact, starving the sheep to appease
25:18
the goats.
25:19
So I absolutely enjoyed this book.
25:21
It is a very interesting read.
25:22
And again, even if you're an anti skis in person or any of that kind of gives you heartburn.
25:27
I think you should take a look at this book, Shepherds for sale by Megan Basham.
25:31
Obviously having a little bit of voice problems here, so hang on, come on, God, let's get
25:37
it.
25:38
We only got about five more minutes before we get to my number one book of 2024.
25:42
I do need to give my worst book of 2024 and my worst book of 2024 makes me a little bit
25:48
sad because I do like this guy.
25:51
It's similar to last year's worst book where I like the person, but I didn't like the book
25:56
at all.
25:57
And so the worst book that I read in 2024 is the sex talk you never got by Sam Joelman.
26:02
So obviously go back to episode six, 76 of this podcast.
26:05
I kind of explained how I thought this was going to be kind of a Crispin Mayfield situation.
26:10
And you didn't turn out that way and Sam and I have had some great interactions after this
26:14
interview.
26:15
He was so thankful that I engaged with this content that I actually read the book that
26:19
actually challenged him where I challenged him and all those types of things.
26:22
But at the end of the day, I do have to call balls and strikes and I do not recommend that
26:27
anybody in my audience read this book.
26:30
I do not think that a lot of the things inside of it are helpful, especially for men.
26:35
I think that Sam is completely missing the boat on how lust manifests in most men because
26:41
he's really wanting us to be encapsulated by the beauty of the Capitol F feminine without
26:47
really realizing that most guys whenever they get too close to that fire, they use it later
26:52
for their own sexual pleasure.
26:53
And so he and I went back and forth and again, episode six, 76 of this podcast was Sam Joelman.
26:59
I really think that you should invest your time and watch that one if you if you're coming
27:02
to the show a little bit later, go back and listen to that one.
27:05
But you know, I had to pick a worst and there was none that was even close to that in terms
27:09
of how bad it was in my personal opinion.
27:12
If you're a little bit more poetic in your personality, perhaps you will come to a different
27:15
conclusion.
27:16
But the worst book that I read in 2024, the sex talk you never got by Sam Joelman.
27:20
And now we're at the number one book of 2024.
27:22
And here's the thing about the number one book of 2024.
27:25
The moment I was done reading it, actually, you know, I would say about halfway, about
27:31
halfway through reading this, I knew this was going to be the book here.
27:34
I was like, I, I just can't imagine there being a book that can surpass this one.
27:39
And by the time I got to the end, I was like, man, it's going to be a monumental task.
27:42
And none of the books were up to it in my personal and humble opinion.
27:46
But the number one book of 2024, it's not like being black, how sexual activists hijack
27:50
the civil rights movement by Vodie Bockam.
27:52
So Vodie Bockam came back on the show, episode 604.
27:55
So you know, earlier this year, 604, let me give you the description of the book here.
28:00
It's time for the church to stand up and fight back against sexual identity, ideal, ideologues
28:04
and their unholy annexation of the civil rights movement.
28:07
We are living in crazy times, biological men are competing and winning against biological
28:11
women in sports.
28:12
The newest Supreme Court Justice declined to answer a simple question.
28:15
What is a woman?
28:16
Record numbers of young Americans now identify as transgender, sexually explicit materials
28:20
permeate schools, pedophiles have rebranded as minor attracted persons, and now sexual
28:26
identity and gender ideology advocates have hijacked the civil rights movement, co-opting
28:30
its success for their own insidious purposes.
28:32
They have sold a lie that sexual identities are equivalent to race and that the fight
28:37
for the rights of sexual minorities is the final frontier in the struggle for civil rights.
28:42
To make matters even worse, many evangelical leaders eager to appease the culture have
28:46
gone along to get along, even excusing and redefining sinful behavior as mere sexual
28:51
identity.
28:52
In "It's Not Like Being Black", pastor and best-selling author Vodie T. Bockam, junior
28:56
equips Christians to fight back against the pervasive sexual identity ideology and stand
29:01
firm in biblical truths, giving them the courage to remain vigilant and protect their children
29:05
from the onslaught of their insidious ideology, contend for biblical truth in the marketplace
29:10
of ideas, boldly celebrate, cherish and defend true marriage, willingly suffer as strangers
29:15
and aliens for holding fast to what the Bible actually says, now is the time for the church
29:19
to act.
29:20
Christians cannot contradict scripture, discard thousands of years of tradition, subvert the
29:24
English language, and deny fundamental reality without paying a heavy price.
29:29
So I'll give you my three favorite quotes from this, I could have done way more, but
29:32
I narrowed it to three, my favorite quotes from this book.
29:35
I can already hear the objections to this comparison, but being black is based on genetics.
29:40
Right, and so is being male or female, but that hasn't stopped us from declaring lately
29:44
that trans women are women.
29:46
We allow transsexuals to use bathrooms and even compete in the Olympics based on their
29:50
biological contradicting self-declarations, and we declare homosexuality to be as innate
29:55
and immutable as ethnicity despite a complete absence of any biological evidence for that
30:00
belief.
30:01
This is all because we are dealing not with facts, but with propaganda, another quote
30:06
from the book here, "The day will come when the full weight of the law will be brought
30:10
to bear on churches that hold to a biblical view of marriage to obey man's law rather
30:15
than God's law."
30:16
And the last quote here I'll share with you is for too long, "Christians have swallowed
30:20
the poison pill of trying to make secular arguments for our theological convictions.
30:24
Unfortunately, some of the hardest people to convince of the rightness of arguing from
30:28
biblical authority are Christians."
30:30
Guys, you obviously know if you listen to this show for any length of time, I am a huge
30:34
Vodie Bockam fan and "Fault Lines" it was such a fantastic book and did some amazing
30:39
things for people to understand really some of the pervasiveness of the, I guess, weaponizing
30:44
of race and things like that, specifically in the West and even more specifically in America.
30:49
But I in a lot of ways think this book might just be better.
30:52
And so both "Fault Lines" and it's not like being black are now on the 100 books that every
30:56
modern Christian man should read list and of all the books that are on this list, some of
31:00
them have had to have like at least piqued your interest and your curiosity.
31:05
Don't let that feeling go, okay?
31:07
I think all of you, regardless of whether it's even sounded interesting, should read
31:10
it's not like being black by Vodie Bockam, the show notes will have links to every single
31:15
one of these books.
31:17
So there's no excuses, guys.
31:19
Buy three of these.
31:20
I gave you 10, right?
31:22
Buy three of them and that's your book that you're going to read in January, February,
31:25
March, if you don't already have something in the queue.
31:27
So go the show notes.
31:28
I made it as simple as I possibly could for all of you guys.
31:32
And so I just appreciate you being here with me and we'll read more in 2025.
31:35
Come back and we'll keep talking about it.
31:38
Thank you for listening to this podcast.
31:39
Wherever you're listening to this, please subscribe, rate, and leave us a positive five-star
31:42
review.
31:43
If you want me to come speak live at your event or on your podcast, just shoot me an email
31:46
to info@undonton.life.
31:49
That's I-N-F-O @undonton.life.
31:51
Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook and check out our website for everything else,
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including how to donate to keep more content like this coming your way.
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Just go to www.undonton.life and as always, we want to thank the band Holy Name for allowing
32:02
us to use their music for our content.
32:04
The music on this podcast is our song Perpetua, which is off their self-titled debut album
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on Face Down Records.
32:09
The links are in the description.
32:11
I'm your host, Kyle Thompson.
32:13
Remember, keep pushing back darkness, keep forging spiritual, mental, and physical resilience.
32:20
I'm seeking the Lion of Judah.
32:50
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