CrossPolitic Show

Washington State isn't a lost cause. Christians have just never taken the field. 🔥   On CrossPolitic 101 with the Waterboy, Gabe Rench sits down with Pastor Adam James, executive pastor of Grace City Church in Wenatchee, who recently ran for State Representative in Washington's 12th Legislative District and leads the Washington chapter of For Liberty and Justice. In 10 Washington legislative districts, conservatives lost their last competitive races by less than 4%, while more than a million self-identified Christians in the state didn't vote. Adam and Gabe talk about the church's responsibility for the decline of the culture, men's ministry and Stronger Man Nation, what For Liberty and Justice is doing to raise up godly candidates, and the big ballot issues this November: Idaho's Proposition 1, Washington's three citizen initiatives, and five Washington Supreme Court seats.   In this episode 00:00 Fight Laugh Feast Canada and the Businessmakers Conference 02:03 Welcome, Adam James 03:49 Why Adam ran for office 07:03 41,000 votes from a majority in Washington 10:31 The three problems: progressive policy, the GOP establishment, and the church 14:57 Stronger Man Nation and raising up godly men 20:47 What is For Liberty and Justice? 27:59 "Success is obedience, not victory": record-breaking fundraising 28:46 Idaho's Proposition 1 and binding the conscience 32:12 Washington's initiatives and its 1970 abortion vote 33:41 Five Washington Supreme Court seats on the ballot 35:29 How to get involved, plus the Olympia rally   About our guest Pastor Adam James is a co-founder and executive pastor of Grace City Church in Wenatchee, Washington, and the Washington State director of For Liberty and Justice. A North Central Washington native, he and his wife, Erin, have raised four children. In 2026 he ran for State Representative in Legislative District 12, Position 2, and his campaign set state records for contributions raised in 24 hours. For Liberty and Justice: https://forlibertyandjustice.us | https://fljwashington.com Campaign: https://www.james4wa.com   Events Rally at the Washington State Capitol, Olympia: Saturday, October 24, 1-3 PM. Worship and prayer in the Rotunda, then speakers on the Capitol steps. Fight Laugh Feast Canada, April 29-May 1, London, Ontario: https://fightlaughfeast.com Businessmakers Conference, late May, Nashville, TN: https://businessmakers.network Idaho voter guide: https://patriotsforidaho.com Election Day is November 3. Know your ballot and vote.   Watch, listen and support YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CROSSPOLITIC Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1LNAL9P0bqodNbw987S3Jp Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crosspolitic-show/id1523382406 CrossPolitic: https://crosspolitic.com Fight Laugh Feast: https://fightlaughfeast.com   #CrossPolitic, #FightLaughFeast, #ChristianNews, #Politics, #WashingtonState, #ForLibertyAndJustice, #Election2026, #VoteNoOnProp1, #Idaho, #ChristianVoters, #ChurchMilitant, #WASupremeCourt, #ProLife

How do you take a dying church with women elders and lead it into a confessional, Reformed denomination without losing the people? 🔥 On CrossPolitic One-on-One with the Waterboy, Gabe Rench sits down with Pastor Scott Pettus, head pastor of First Church Artesia in Artesia, New Mexico. Scott grew up in Artesia, served 25 years in the Marine Corps, came into the Reformed faith in 2017, and took the pulpit of a small Presbyterian church in 2021. The church was down to three families and eight people, with two women elders who hired him knowing where he stood. Four years later it is seated as a church in the CREC, and nobody left. Scott shares how patience, teaching and love got them there, what ministry looks like in a small town full of nominal Christianity, and his advice for anyone in a less-than-ideal church. In this episode00:00 Fight Laugh Feast recap and the new Fight Laugh Feast Canada conference in London, Ontario02:28 Meet Pastor Scott Pettus: First Church Artesia, founded 1903 as First Presbyterian03:52 Growing up in Artesia, 25 years in the Marines, and coming home05:23 Baptized Southern Baptist, then into the Reformed faith in 201707:01 Seminary at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary while still in uniform08:25 Back in Artesia: ministering to federal law enforcement trainees, then called to First Church10:12 Hired by a church with women elders, knowing his biblical stance11:52 From women elders to the CREC in four years without shutting the church down14:36 Ministering in a small town: everybody has a church, nobody goes18:47 Getting out into the town: talk radio, the county fair and living out Christ20:05 Advice for reforming a church: patience, a battle plan, and don't leave the platoon behind22:57 Where to find Pastor Scott and First Church Artesia About our guestPastor Scott Pettus is head pastor of First Church Artesia in Artesia, New Mexico, a Westminster Confession church that grew out of First Presbyterian Church, chartered in 1903. A retired U.S. Marine, he returned to his hometown with his wife, Marty, and has been the church's pastor since June 2021. He holds a master's degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, hosts a local talk radio show, and blogs as a "church militant" man at Militant Ministry.Church: https://artesiareformed.comBlog: https://militantministry.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstChurchArtesiaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstchurchartesia Fight Laugh Feast Canada is coming in May. Tell your Canadian friends and sign up at https://fightlaughfeast.com Watch, listen and supportYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CROSSPOLITICSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1LNAL9P0bqodNbw987S3JpApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crosspolitic-show/id1523382406CrossPolitic: https://crosspolitic.comFight Laugh Feast: https://fightlaughfeast.com #CrossPolitic, #FightLaughFeast, #CREC, #ReformedChurch, #Presbyterian, #ChurchReformation, #WomenElders, #ChurchMilitant, #NewMexico, #Pastor, #ChristianPodcast, #Reformed

Propaganda isn't coming for your mind someday. It's already at the door. 🔥   Live from the Fight Laugh Feast Conference 2026 in Nashville, Gabe "Waterboy" Rench sits down with Pastor Toby Sumpter, Choc Knox, Bubu Jarmulak and Doug TenNapel to talk about the holy war over what you believe. Where the word "propaganda" came from and why Christians shouldn't surrender the tool, what COVID revealed about the church, why real church beats online content, and why the real fight has always been over your children. Plus live audience Q&A on revivalism, multitasking, discernment for kids and whether Christians should be creating content.   In this episode: 18:54 Where "propaganda" came from and why Christians should take it back 27:20 COVID: the Christians who refused to fold 29:06 "Caesar is Lord," 1984 and the faithful who stand 40:17 Confront people, not just content: why the church gathered matters 43:32 Movie theaters, church and the most uninterrupted hour in America 52:52 When singing praise became "dangerous" 57:43 The fight is over your children (and it always has been) 62:01 Audience Q&A: the anxious bench, multitasking, discernment for kids and creating content   Panel: Gabe "Waterboy" Rench, host of CrossPolitic Pastor Toby Sumpter Choc Knox Bubu Jarmulak Doug TenNapel   Subscribe and support: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CROSSPOLITIC Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1LNAL9P0bqodNbw987S3Jp Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crosspolitic-show/id1523382406 Website: https://crosspolitic.com Fight Laugh Feast: https://fightlaughfeast.com   #CrossPolitic, #FightLaughFeast, #FLF2026, #Propaganda, #ChristianWorldview, #Church, #COVID, #Family, #Parenting, #Christendom, #Culture, #Politics

AJ Hurley, National Outreach Director for White Rose Resistance and a seasoned pro-life organizer, joins the conversation on Idaho’s abortion ballot initiative. They examine ballot petitions, viability language, privacy rights, parental consent, and claims about Idaho physicians. The discussion turns to church mobilization, door knocking, voter strategy, and Christian responsibility in defending unborn life.

A searching discussion of the Lindsay Clancy case, psychiatric medication, premeditation, and moral responsibility. The conversation examines toxic empathy, emotional justice, Massachusetts’ abolition of the death penalty, and the church’s struggle to teach sin, holiness, and accountability. It closes with a challenge to fathers, pastors, and husbands to reclaim sacrificial leadership and defend life.

Pharmakeia — Show Notes: Fight Laugh Feast Documentary In this Fight Laugh Feast documentary, CrossPolitic traces a single Greek word — pharmakeia — from Homer's Odyssey through the book of Revelation to argue that the ancient world never separated medicine from sorcery, and that the modern West's attempt to draw that line may be its most consequential mistake. The film follows materialism's promise from the Big Bang to the therapy couch, tracks the ladder from prescription pharmaceuticals to ayahuasca retreats in Peru, and asks why the men who most loudly deny the existence of demons are increasingly found in dark rooms communing with named spirit entities. Along the way it draws on C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, Peter Hitchens, and the testimony of a man who sat in fifteen ayahuasca ceremonies — and what finally set him free. The answer is not another ceremony. It is guilt, repentance, and the One who drank the cup fully awake so we wouldn't have to.   Timestamps 0:24 — What is a woman? What is a human being? — and why getting the answer wrong collapses everything 1:04 — The materialist answer: evolved apes, accidental universe, cosmic soup — and why it can't hold 2:06 — Materialism as a religion — no God, no soul, just chemicals and atoms colliding 2:39 — The swept house: materialism cleared out demons and filled the room with diagnoses and serotonin levels 3:36 — Ayahuasca retreats, psilocybin therapy, and $7,000–$20,000 luxury ceremonies in Jamaica and Peru 4:00 — Pharmakeia — one Greek word from Homer to Revelation meaning both medicine and sorcery 4:40 — The ladder: prescription → marijuana → ecstasy → mushrooms → the dark room in Peru 7:52 — Huxley's 1962 Berkeley lecture: the controlling oligarchy will get people to love their servitude 8:43 — Peter Hitchens and the Uvalde shooter — the marijuana detail that disappeared from the New York Times 11:12 — Attacker Smoked Cannabis — the man with a laptop building the file the national press unpublished 12:08 — Orwell's jack boots vs. Huxley's chains — drugs and sex as the state's soft bribe 13:20 — Dominion Wealth Strategies — sponsor read 14:41 — CS Lewis: the materialist magician — science and magic as twins, one that worked better 16:39 — Lewis's nightmare: magic returning in a lab coat, using the language of forces and energies 17:31 — The swept house revisited — Jesus's words and the seven demons worse than the first 18:06 — Henry's Demons — marijuana at 11, madness at 14, and the father who named it correctly 20:26 — Pharmakeia in Homer, Exodus, Galatians, and Revelation — nations deceived by one word 22:38 — The seam we drew — medicine on one side, sorcery on the other, and the line beginning to blur 24:00 — PhDs communing with Mama Ayahuasca — named entities, published journals, and credit cards accepted 25:57 — Demons allowed in as aliens — keeping God out while keeping the master narrative intact 27:29 — Lewis in Screwtape: the greatest evil is conceived in carpeted offices by quiet men with smooth cheeks 28:51 — Deuteronomy 18 — the law against consulters with familiar spirits, and the modern retreat that crosses every line 29:38 — King Saul, the demonized boy, and Legion — the man in the tombs clothed and in his right mind 31:04 — 2020: churches closed, pot shops open, abortion clinics essential — and how few said no 33:03 — Nepho — morally alert: Peter's word before warning that the devil prowls looking for someone to devour 34:29 — Red Balloon Recruiter — sponsor read 35:09 — Thomas Szasz and therapy culture — the inversion of personal responsibility 36:13 — Trauma culture in the church — the failure of biblical counseling and the endless loop of buried pain 37:47 — The man who sat in fifteen ceremonies: what finally changed him was guilt 38:25 — You are not evolved slime — made in the image of God, body and soul, homesick and lost 39:34 — Circe's cup and Odysseus's men — forgetting home, waiting to be turned into pigs 40:09 — The trade runs backwards: when Jesus showed up, the demons went into the swine 40:32 — One more cup — Christ at Golgotha refusing the narcotic, drinking the wrath fully awake 42:02 — The cure: a renewed mind, a household, a book, the discovery that responsibility is the greatest pleasure 43:39 — The real hero's journey — available for free, already paid for by another   Fight Laugh Feast 2026: Holy Wars Join us October 1–3 in Franklin, Tennessee at The Factory in Franklin for the Fight Laugh Feast Conference. This year's theme is Holy Wars — Just War, the Crusades, and the Christian Life. Featuring Doug Wilson, Joe Boot, George Grant, Jared Longshore, Joe Rigney, Ben Merkel, and the CrossPolitic crew. Early Bird pricing ends July 1st — nearly halfway sold out. Tickets: https://tickets.flfnetwork.com/holy-wars-conference   This Episode's Sponsors Dominion Wealth Strategies How you handle your money is not a neutral act — it is not separate from your walk with Christ. Dominion Wealth Strategies helps families think biblically and act wisely about what God has entrusted to them: budgeting, saving, debt management, life insurance, estate planning, and multigenerational financial vision. Not about chasing wealth. About faithfulness. Schedule a complimentary consultation today. Website: reform.money   Red Balloon Recruiter An engaged, aware employee can grow your company's performance by 5, 10, or even 25%. Red Balloon's personalized source-and-screen process connects you with top talent — people who show up sober, think in straight lines, and take responsibility before anyone asks. Revenue up, costs down. Website: redballoon.work   About CrossPolitic CrossPolitic exists to put Jesus over Politics and reclaim the public square through bold, joyful, biblically grounded media. We confront the chaos discipling America and build the next generation of Christian media infrastructure. Our mission is simple: all of Christ for all of media for all of America.   Mainstream media is collapsing. Eighty-seven percent of journalists identify as progressive, and even many conservative outlets prioritize profit over principle. Meanwhile, billions of hours of digital content are discipling the world every day. CrossPolitic stands in that gap, producing courageous, entertaining, truth-filled media for households, churches, and leaders across the nation.   Become a CrossPolitic Club Member Support the mission and unlock exclusive content, behind-the-scenes shows, and theology series. https://pubtv.flfnetwork.com/menu/checkout   Subscribe & Share! Every like, comment, and share helps push Christian media back into the algorithm where it belongs.   Follow CrossPolitic YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CROSSPOLITIC X: https://x.com/CrossPolitic Facebook: https://facebook.com/crosspolitic Instagram: https://instagram.com/crosspolitic Join our Email List: https://crosspolitic.com/   Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NRBTV, DirecTV, Dish, and everywhere podcasts are found.   #CrossPolitic #Pharmakeia #FightLaughFeast #Drugs #Ayahuasca #CSLewis #ChristianMedia #Materialism