Ep 221 | Willie Robertson's Wild Ride from Worm Farms to 'Duck Dynasty' Fame | The Glenn Beck Podcast

This episode explores Willie Robertson's journey from humble beginnings to fame as the CEO of Duck Commander and star of 'Duck Dynasty', highlighting his business acumen and personal life philosophies.

1. The impact of early childhood experiences on later success.
2. The importance of family support and guidance in achieving personal and professional goals.
3. The role of faith in overcoming personal and professional challenges.
4. Insights into the realities of reality TV and its impact on personal life.
5. Willie's commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation from a young age.

1: Introduction

Overview of Willie Robertson’s background and his rise to fame. Glenn Beck: "The beard and the bandana are more than an accessory."

2: Early Life and Business Ventures

Discussion of Willie's early entrepreneurial activities and lessons from his childhood. Willie Robertson: "Fifth grade changed my life... it's why I got the job as CEO of Duck Commander."

3: Family and Faith

Exploration of the role of family and faith in Willie’s life. Willie Robertson: "Corey and I... a perfect combination, man, because they took big business knowledge and applied it at Duck Commander."

4: The Impact of 'Duck Dynasty'

Details on the success and challenges brought by the 'Duck Dynasty' show. Willie Robertson: "It was Duck Dynasty and both of us... selling against yourself in the market."

5: Reflections and Future Plans

Willie reflects on his journey and discusses future plans and lessons learned. Willie Robertson: "Sometimes you may have a diamond in your company, you’ve just got them in the wrong spot."

• Embrace early experiences: Leverage childhood lessons in entrepreneurship and innovation in adult business ventures.
• Cultivate strong family relationships: Foster supportive and collaborative relationships within the family to thrive in both personal and professional areas.
• Maintain resilience: Persist through challenges in business and public life, using personal faith as a guide.
• Value authenticity: Stay true to personal and family values even in the public eye.
• Continuously innovate: Always look for new opportunities and ways to improve and expand business operations.

Willie Robertson, star of "Duck Dynasty," reflects on his journey from Italy to running Duck Commander. In Florence, he gained an appreciation for art and culture, but you'll never believe what his actual college degree was. His entrepreneurial spirit began early with Willie’s Worms. Influenced by his father, Phil, and supported by his wife, Korie, he embraced the idea of a reality show to spread the gospel. Discussing his new book, "Gospeler," Willie emphasizes the importance of active discipleship and connecting with others to spread faith, showcasing a story of hope, faith, and authenticity. In this episode, Willie shares the lessons he learned about business, the impact of family, and the importance of stepping out of comfort zones to make lasting connections. His journey from early entrepreneurial ventures to leading a multimillion-dollar hunting and outdoor business highlights the significance of resilience and vision. He discusses how his family’s authenticity, faith, and humor made "Duck Dynasty" a hit and stresses the need for believers to actively engage and share their faith with others. He also discusses the real-life situations that led to the hit movie “The Blind,” a biopic of patriarch Phil Robertson.

People

Willie Robertson, Corey Robertson, Phil Robertson

Companies

Duck Commander

Books

"Godspeller" by Willie Robertson

Guest Name(s):

Willie Robertson

Content Warnings:

None

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Blaze Media
And now a Blaze media podcast.

Glenn Beck
The beard and the bandana are a little more than an accessory.

A symbol of the man whose name is synonymous with family and faith and the great outdoors. He is the CEO of Duck Commander. He is the face of one of the most watched reality tv shows of all time.

He's one of the biggest shows here on the blaze. He is a true embodiment of the american spirit.

I can't wait to talk to him because his stories from early age, he not only developed a deep appreciation for the outdoor way of life, but also there's a reason why he's the CEO and Duck dynasty. And all of it happened thanks to his father. Also, who hasn't been without serious trials and tribulations of his own.

He found redemption, and they share it all the time. But this man's story is more than duck calls in hunting gear. It's about resilience, entrepreneurship like crazy, and the power of faith to overcome life's challenges. He has captivated audiences all around the world. He is charming. He is friendly. He is fun. I love him.

And somehow or another, he and his family have survived reality tv beyond the cameras and the fame. He is a devoted husband to his wife and a loving father to their six children. He's a best selling author now. Sought after speaker, philanthropist with a heart as big as Louisiana sky. Author of a new book called Godspeller.

If you stay until the end, you will learn the secret behind the man that took a simple duck call business and turned it into a multimillion dollar enterprise. And you're also going to have a lot of laughs today. Welcome to the program.

Willie Robertson.

Shopify
This episode is brought to you by Shopify.

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Go to shopify.com system, all lowercase to take your retail business to the next level. Today, that's Shopify.com system.

Glenn Beck
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Willie.

We've been sitting here as they were trying to fix a light.

Blaze Media
Yeah.

Glenn Beck
And for a while and we, and you started talking about Florence, Italy. You're going to Florence, Italy?

Blaze Media
I am.

Glenn Beck
And I love it. Is just history there. And the art there is amazing. And you're going back, you studied there, right?

Blaze Media
I lived there. My wife and I lived there. We did a college program and I lived there for like four months.

Glenn Beck
Imagine you stick.

Blaze Media
That's how I'm so cultured. No, well, back then, see, we had a little thing called the old bait and switch. So when I married Corey, my hair was really short, no beard, very preppy.

And then.

Glenn Beck
Preppy.

Blaze Media
Oh, yeah, I would. Oh, yeah. And then over the years, I just slowly she got the real package.

I looked at my dad and I looked at me, I was like, oh, no, that's what you, you ended up.

Glenn Beck
Getting that you went to Florence, which is studied there.

Blaze Media
Yeah.

Glenn Beck
One of the great. And you studied.

Blaze Media
Well, art where we took. Well, yeah, we had to. That's where we got our credit for art appreciation, music appreciation, foreign languages. We had to take them there. And I don't know that I would have passed any of those classes had I not been there.

Glenn Beck
Yeah. Yeah.

Blaze Media
Cause you had to. They were.

Glenn Beck
You lock in, you have to go.

Blaze Media
Order your own coffee. You have to go. And so I had to learn.

Glenn Beck
You go in on art, you know, I was like, there's the fake statue in the square of the David.

Blaze Media
Right?

Glenn Beck
And you're like, okay, I've seen it. And I've seen it a million times. And you know, somebody I know in the family probably has one, you know, sitting on a shelf, and then you walk in and see the real David.

Blaze Media
Yeah.

Glenn Beck
And it is completely. I don't even know how to describe what the difference is.

Blaze Media
It's. Yeah, there's. I mean, there's a lot of art there. Yeah. And sadly, when I was there, I was so sick of art. Cause we've been doing it all, like, for college, like, all the way from Amsterdam to Paris, like, we've been. And I didn't have the.

Which is ironic. The class was called art appreciation, and I didn't have the art appreciation like I would now.

Glenn Beck
So what did you get your degree in?

Blaze Media
Okay, you got to stay with this one. Cause it's not gonna make a lot of sense, but I'll explain it. I have a non certified to teach PE degree.

Glenn Beck
You can teach pe?

Blaze Media
No, I can't teach.

Glenn Beck
No, you can't. Cause you're not certified.

Blaze Media
No, I do. I spent, like, six years getting a degree that every time I just tell people the name of it, they start laughing.

Here comes the.

I can't legally teach Penny, which is PE is essentially rolling some balls out in the gym going, all right, kids, get after it. I can't teach that.

Glenn Beck
Wait.

Blaze Media
And that's not a lot, but wait.

Glenn Beck
What was that degree supposed to give you?

Blaze Media
Okay, okay. So here's.

Here's how we explained it. If you wanted. If you wanted to learn about, like, so you weren't gonna be a teacher, but let's say you were gonna run a health club, so you needed to know some business. So we. Instead of the education classes, we took business classes. So it was like a business side of physical education. Okay. And I did ask the school I went to, I said, do y'all still have that degree? And he said, no, no, that one's been gone.

Glenn Beck
He was like, no, that's a shit.

Blaze Media
That was created for you and all the football players who needed to really get through school.

Glenn Beck
You, though, are like, you are a fascinating guy when it comes to business.

You were.

Tell the story about you selling candy on the bus. Oh, yeah. Candy in elementary school.

Blaze Media
Fifth grade, yeah.

Glenn Beck
Yeah.

Blaze Media
Big year. Fifth grade.

Glenn Beck
Big year.

Blaze Media
Big year.

Glenn Beck
I don't even remember my fifth grade.

Blaze Media
Fifth grade. Fifth grade changed my life. Fifth grade was the reason.

I mean, 100% why I got the job as CEO of duck commander because of fifth grade. When my dad.

My dad said.

I said, dad, I think I can turn this company around. I think I can take us to the next level. He goes, yeah. In fifth grade, you did shut that concession statement he referenced. He didn't read a resume. He didn't ask about the degree that I had.

Glenn Beck
Well, that would have convinced him no.

Blaze Media
We had a guy give. So a guy came down.

So where we live is like, the end of dad still lives there. It's a dead end road. And people would come down there and looking for duck calls, and they would. And we'd just fill. Just sell them to them right there. So we had this dude come down. He wanted a duck call.

They're chit chatting, and he said he was a candy distributor. And I just happen to be standing out there. So, like, you're how old? I'm in fifth grade. That's 810.

And I'm just standing there. And so he starts explaining what he did. He said, I'm the distributor of candy. And I didn't understand how distribution worked. And he was like, you know, like, when you go in a gas station, you buy this candy. Well, I'm the one that sells it to them, and then they sell it to you. They're the retailer. And I was like, oh, that's brilliant. And then he handed. He had a box of hubba bubble bubblegum, and he just handed it to Phil.

And I'm standing right there, right place, right time, and Phil just leans over and said, here you go. And he said, that's for the boys. Which I'm like, no, these were me.

So I took that gum, and I went to. I just laid there. I just remember I sit on the bed, and I was just like, God, do I just eat? You know, like, just all of it. Like, it just back to back to back to back, you know, because we were so poor, we didn't have any money. And I was like. And I thought, no, I'm gonna sell this. I'm gonna sell this gum. I'm gonna be the retailer, and I've got this. I got no money in it. So this will be my, you know, my circle.

Glenn Beck
Yeah.

Blaze Media
My seed money. So I get on the bus, man, start selling. They're. You don't talk about a hot market. I mean, because the school didn't sell gum.

Glenn Beck
Ten.

Blaze Media
They didn't sell gum. And I'm like, that's a miss. And so I sell all that out. Then I go to mom, and I said, mom, I need more candy. And I had this cash, you know, and so she took me to, like, what they called cash and carry, where you could buy a box, which I Costco.

Glenn Beck
Sam's club.

Blaze Media
Yeah. So I go up there, and I buy me some boxes of candy. So I just looked at what the concession stand had, and I just ordered the opposite. Cause their selection was crappy anyway.

So I just start shoving all this. I got a big coat on. I'm wearing this stuff. So in my locker, I put shelving, and I had all my candies, my gum and stuff. I had a lock on it. So I would just go. And I'm dealing. I was like a drug dealer. But it was candy.

Because here's the flaws of the concessions down. The selection was crappy. They didn't open till 245. So it was the last 15 minutes of school is when you could buy by 245. I've got everybody's money in the whole school. They're out.

Glenn Beck
Oh, my God.

Blaze Media
And they're chewing gum, and they're. And so how.

Glenn Beck
How much. Do you remember how much you made?

Blaze Media
Hundreds of. I mean, hundreds and hundreds of dollars, man. I was like, mom's, like, bumming money off of her, you know, a little roll of cash in, like a rubber band. Then they started, like, popping up like competitors. The yaunt boys up the road started their little kid. And I'm like, ah, this is getting out of control, you know? And so everybody. You know. And then the principal called me in his office, shuts me down.

Glenn Beck
Why?

Blaze Media
Well, he said. Because he said he met with a concession stand, and he said their sales were down. I mean, that's literally what he told me. I'm sitting there as a fifth grader, and I'm like, well, I can tell you why. You know, like, they have. They need a better. And he goes, I'm banning you. You can't sell anything. I always say. It was my first run in with the government. So, yeah, you ain't kidding me. Shut me down.

Glenn Beck
So what did you do?

I mean, you obviously knew you were an entrepreneur.

Blaze Media
Well, I knew that. Well, I had a worm farm.

Probably out the year before I was a worm farmer. And so I had.

That's probably where I knew, like, that's where I really built a business, like, from the ground.

Glenn Beck
Fourth grade.

Blaze Media
Fourth grade. So I had this boat. So dad had this old boat. It was kind of sunk in a little bit in the creek. Cause dad was fishing pretty much like duck. Commander was small, but mostly we got our money from fishing, commercial fishing nets. So he had this boat, and I said, dad, can I have that? Can I use that boat? It doesn't work for a boat anymore. And he said, yeah. So I drugged that thing. I don't know. Cause we had no equipment. I still don't know how I got that thing on these sawhorses. Cause we had no tractor, we had nothing. But I put this boat up on two sawhorses, and dad said, worms love manure. So old man Lee, about a mile up the road, had all these cows. And so I took a wheelbarrow, walked 1 mile.

Glenn Beck
Oh, my gosh.

Blaze Media
Barrel by barrel, and filled this thing up with cow manure and dirt. And then I just went out and found all the worms that I could. So I knew all the spots where the worms were.

Glenn Beck
You went out and found all the worms?

Blaze Media
Yeah, the free. I know without it, you gotta find the right. So it's the right moisture content with the leave content. There were other ways. Like, you could take two sticks and, like, you could kind of agitate them up. But I knew where to find them. I was finding earthworms last week. Like, I still do it.

Glenn Beck
Do you still sell them?

Blaze Media
No, I don't sell them now. But I have a bucket at home. And now I've had to text people, like, make sure you water my worms. And so I had all these worms in there, and I put. Dad said they like cornmeal. So I sprayed a little corn mill, had them covered up. I'd water them every day. And then we lived on a boat dock. And so we lived right at the, where the creek comes off the river. And so Granny, Granny had the big business. She had the boat dock. So she had put the landing in, and she had a mailbox, and it said a dollar for a deal, and they'd stick a dollar in there, and I could take two stick. I would fish some dollar.

But then I set up on her boat dock, and it said, Willie's worms. And then I would, I'd count them all out and I put them in old can. So all the cans, like, was. We saved every can that would spit most of them. But it was like all the corn cans and all that side cans. And I'd have, like, we'd count them out. And so I'd sell the fishermen the worms. We had to get up at, like, daylight. So that was my first business. But that was, you know, it was only Saturday. It was hard work. They were nickel a piece.

And I knew I was destined for something bigger than this. And then the candy thing happened, and I'm like, oh, yeah.

Glenn Beck
So where did that, was that you think that started because of necessity or because that's who you are?

Blaze Media
I think it was necessity, creativity.

Just a willing to work.

Glenn Beck
I wasn't that's a big one now.

Blaze Media
Yeah. Oh, yeah. No tv now. We had a tv with three channels, and they were only watching whatever dad watched. We could watch Dukes of Hazzard had to work. We had to fold boxes while we did it so we couldn't. But we did all the jobs of duck commander. Like, we dipped all the calls. I mean, there was no employees. It was when it first started, it was us, you know, answered the phone. Customer service. I'd pick up the phone. It took me a decade to stop saying duck commander when I answered my phone. Duck commander, how can I help you? You know, and then we're like ten. Like, we're writing down orders, you know, and we would ship them. Mom would ship them out. We'd put the orders up, and so.

But then we would sell fish. So I probably learned more about selling from selling. Well, I sold the gum, but that was a great. But when you can sell fish, like, they weren't cleaned, you know, I'm saying. So we'd go to the fish market and they would take them. If the fish market didn't take them, we'd go to the street corner. Fresh fish. Like super fresh. Like, you got to clean them fresh.

So buffalo, catfish. But the catfish, usually the catfish was the, that was the king. So they got, you got like seventy cents a pound for those. The buffalo was like thirty cents a pound. Then you have the trashy fish, you know, the goo and the guard. We'd try to sell them all, man, but you had to. But I would watch. Dad was such a good salesman. Like, dad could sell anything. He was just a, you know, I think now people see him cause he's gotten older and, you know, he's. But back in the day, man, that dude could. He could sell, man. He was like, he would. We, he had these. So we'd catch german carp. Well, they're yellow and they taste horrible. And Dad, I remember dad was all these guys, you know what that fish is? That's a golden buffalo. He just changed the name of it. And that sounds way better.

Like german carp. Ain't nobody want to eat a german carp. Golden buffalo. I'll try it.

Glenn Beck
So.

Blaze Media
So I had a knack for it.

And then. But you know, Glenn, I was always like, I'm out of here, man. I'm getting out of here. I'm never gonna work for this business.

And then, and then it was so crucial who I married. So I married Corey. Her family were big. They were big business people.

They had bought, like, chains of restaurants. I mean, chains of retail stores. And so it was just a. It was just a perfect combination, man, because they took.

Glenn Beck
She understood it, too.

Blaze Media
Mm hmm. Really smart. So she's smart. Her degree is not to not be.

Glenn Beck
Able to teach pe.

Blaze Media
She actually has an art education degree, which is hilarious that she got that degree. But Corey's really smart. And so, yeah, you just had a great combination, man.

She's more the detail. Like, she reads like the papers. And so I went to college. So here's what's even more stupid.

And Cory's like, Willie, for some reason, you got this dumb degree, but you feel like you're so smart because you. Like, I feel like I pulled one up. I was like, how about that? Like, how smart?

No, by the nature of your degree is saying you're not. But I feel like I'm. Like I pulled something off.

Glenn Beck
You know what degrees I think are worthless.

Blaze Media
I mean, according to what you're getting it in, I guess you're gonna be a doctor. Well, yeah, so Corey and I went to college at the same time, which was. That was clutch. I mean, you had. We did all this so she would take all the notes and, like, it was very helpful, you know? Cause she would do all the details. But then, as our jobs ended up, everything we've done in life, it's been the same way because we work together.

But I learned a lot from her family, a lot from just about general business and how to do stuff. And, yeah, that's where it kind of. But when I. True story. When I went to dad at 30, I said, dad, I think. Because I went away and then I worked for her family. And then I came back to dad, and I said, dad, I think I can. I think I got what it takes, you know? Cause I saw something. I was like, something's here. I could see how people reacted to Phil, and I just. I knew. And he had done all the heavy lifting, but they were kind of tired and were like, I think we sold all the duck calls we're going to ever sell.

And I came in and told him that, and he said, you did shut that concession down in fifth grade. I said, I did. And he goes, this is Phil and I's contract. Phil goes, you're the man. I said, okay, I'm in charge. And that's how I. I got to tell you. That's how I got in charge.

Glenn Beck
I remember at the height of it, I was driving across the country, and every truck stop, every 711, everything had tons of duck dynasty merchandise. And I just. I like the fifth place. I stopped for gas.

I just thought, who is running this? This is genius. And that's all you.

Blaze Media
No anomaly. I mean, there was a lot of.

Glenn Beck
You were the CEO.

Blaze Media
Well, yeah, but I mean, I was, you know, the tv show definitely helped, you know.

Glenn Beck
Oh, no, no, no. I know that. But I mean, the merchandising.

Blaze Media
Well, it was both. It was Duck dynasty and it was both of us. So I didn't own Duck dynasty. That was. That's a and e's mark. And so our mark is Duck commander, which was even more challenging selling against yourself in the market.

Glenn Beck
Wow.

Blaze Media
Because they had the rights to my face just like I did. They had the rights to feels, you know, our likenesses, the things we said. And so.

But, yeah, but I mean, I played my part, but even with the company, I played a part. I mean, it wasn't the. You know, I think I've made more mist. Like, I've done more stupid stuff than I have smart stuff. But if you get one that works, only takes one. But see, when I went into dad. So when I took the company over, and so dad's like, all right, you know, you're the guy. You're taking over. And I said, all right. And so I just had some things happen, right. You know, I got somebody to pay us to use their products, like an endorsement.

We didn't have that, and so that was key. And so I had, like, a camouflage company and then a shell company, and, well, dad's like, this cat's on fire. I'm like, hey, I just made this money to the bottom line, and you get. And you get free stuff. So it was like, they were like, this is cool. And so we started moving towards this, you know, because dad had done. Nobody really knew who Phil was. Like, he was this mysterious bearded dude at the end of the river, and they knew he was kind of like a preacher, but he just. He didn't go network at the show, the hunting shows, right. And so I was able to get in there, do more of that. And then television was interesting because so, Corey, my wife, says she watched reality tv, and she's like, willie, y'all should have a reality tv show. And I'm like, I don't think. I said, cory, we're just normal people.

And Cory said, willie, y'all ain't normal.

I said, you think? She was like, I'm telling you, I think y'all could do a. You know, she was like, your family's just. So.

Glenn Beck
Were you ever concerned that that would destroy your family? Cause those family. Relate those family.

Blaze Media
Well, people warned, like, a lot of christians told us, like, oh, you can't do this. You're gonna destroy your family.

But I was like, if not us, then who, like, who's gonna have the slot if we're not in it, you know? I mean, I was looking at people who do tv, and I said, it seems like there's not a lot of bright lights on the tv, you know, and I said, maybe we should. But no, I mean, I felt firm in our faith and who we were and, you know, like. And, you know, I think you get a chance. And I felt like I'm, like, maybe God led us to this and said, hey, here's your opportunity, and here's something to do.

Glenn Beck
The movie. The movie the blind.

You know, it's one thing because I'm a. I was a raging alcoholic and did I need redemption?

But it's one thing to talk about it.

It's another to see it acted out on the screen.

Blaze Media
It is.

Glenn Beck
How. How was that.

How did that impact you guys?

Blaze Media
It was difficult on every level.

We made the movie, and I say we.

Corey and I and my cousin Zach Dasher, my first cousin who his mom is, Aunt Jan, she's the one who got the preacher to go talk to Phil. So he was making it, you know, just as crucial as in his mom's honor. You know, she passed away, and so, sadly, she didn't even get to see the movie. But.

But we made the movie. It was our first movie to make. So we had these meetings. We're like, we started a production company after Duck Dynasty because we knew. We said, man, we got a. There needs to be more shows, you know, positive, because we heard the people going, we want more tv and movies like this. And so didn't necessarily. I mean, we knew tv. I knew. I knew how to make that.

Glenn Beck
But film is completely different.

Blaze Media
Movies different. Yeah. And so we. We jumped in and we had all these ideas, and one of the ideas was actually Phil and Kay's story, you know? And I was like, well, dad, gun. Do we want to start out with more of our family? Because the idea was going to be like, we need to tell other people's stories, not just ours, but it was just so. Such an incredible story. And so we go to Phil, we say, he actually said the same thing to me with the tv show. I went to dad. So when Corey said, hey, y'all should do a tv show. And then somebody wanted to do, once I went to dad and I said, dad, they want us to do a tv show, Phil's like, that'll never work. And I said, well, it could help business.

It could help us get the gospel to more people.

And he looks up, and then again, Phil gives me the, hey, if it'll get the gospel out.

Glenn Beck
I tell you. That is why.

Blaze Media
And the movie was same way.

Glenn Beck
That is. That was what attracted me. I heard people talk about you guys. He said, there's this show and they pray at the end. They sit at the table and they pray in the end. Yeah, that's what attracted me.

Blaze Media
Yeah.

Glenn Beck
You know, and I don't know.

I don't know how you pulled that off with, you know, television a and e and all of that stuff.

Blaze Media
It wasn't as bad as what you think, really.

Like, it was like the idea we just. Because we were sitting with the production company and you're right. Now, these people are obviously christians. I mean, some maybe, I don't know, not overtly, but we just thought it'd be a good idea. And, and they were like, yeah, so it wasn't as combative as what you may think.

They, I guess, is what people may, would think it is now. They did, they would edit out in Jesus name, which.

And they stopped doing that. They finally quit doing that, feeling so bad.

So they would do that, you know, so that kind of bothered us. But, yeah, they, you know, I mean, if once it started working, a lot of people got out of the way and said, okay, that's what they. But I think they always struggle with what made it work. You know, like, what exactly made that work.

So I guess, for instance, they would put shows behind it that were, you know, I won't say anti faith, but definitely, you know, super worldly and they wouldn't work. They would flop. You know, they were like, your viewer would literally turn the channel. Cause they knew, like, bang, go to another one. So, yeah, they struggle with knowing. I think especially, I think the faith part and the prayer, you know, how much that played into it.

But it wasn't a religious show. No, Phil always the, Phil wanted it more religious. Phil was like, Willie, we need more preaching on here. I said, dad, there's another Robertson family that has a tv show that preaches. That's the 700 club. Let them, like, if they want to know more, let them come. But let's just laugh. Like, I think we have a gift and a talent of being able to do television like this because, I mean, to be honest, no one had ever done a show quite like that because Doug Dynasty was a sitcom. It wasn't a reality. It was a sitcom, but we weren't actors. We were real people. But it played. So it was filmed like a sitcom.

Like, I would walk in the door, walk in the duck car room. That's what Seinfeld does.

So you would enter the room. So we filmed it just like a sitcom. And so.

But it was hard to, you know, it was hard to keep doing that because our lives started changing. Like, when you're driving around seeing us and all the truck stops.

Like, it was just weird that we didn't know. Cause we. They wanted to. It was like we were in a bubble, right? But it was strange. Like, like we'd be shooting a thing at the grocery store and it'd be.

Glenn Beck
Like, no big deal.

Blaze Media
I've run out of gas. And like, how do. What do I do? But I'm like, I could see myself on people magazine.

It was just kind of weird, you know, to stay. What was real? What was kind of. I think that's call it guided reality. Cause it was like, it's real. I mean, and so I think other people doing reality shows would probably have a hard time shooting it like that. And so.

But it worked. You know, the combination worked.

Glenn Beck
And so what was.

Blaze Media
You just had some real.

Glenn Beck
What was, if you could boil it down in a sentence, what was the secret of the show? Why did it work?

Blaze Media
I think it was a combination of authenticity, authenticity, faith, and funny.

Glenn Beck
That's a hard combination. That's a hard combination.

Blaze Media
Especially funny. Funny is hard, man. Funny is really hard.

And the way they edited was really funny.

The guys out there in LA, they edited that stuff. They did these pauses, these long, you know, more kind of uncomfortable.

And then Si's super funny. And especially Sy edited's funny. I mean. Cause you could just like. But Si uncle Si. Like, you could plug in anything you wanted into that, man. And now this is a guy who spent 25 years in the military, in the army, graduated from high school, only worked at a golf course. And then dad ends up hiring him to build reeds for us. You know, he's retired. Life's over. You know, he's 63 years old. I think when the show started, and then this guy. And then the first thing I wanted to do. You're talking about how smart I was at business. The first thing I wanted to do was fireside. So I come in, I'm the new CEO. I'm looking at. Here's our payroll expense. We have four employees. One of them lays on the couch every day, sleeps, farts, belches, and I'm like, dad, we need to let your brother go. You know, we just need to trim it up. And he wouldn't let me fire him.

Glenn Beck
And I was like, my wife won't let me fire my son either.

And he does the same thing.

Blaze Media
Well, so here's the deal. So dad said no. So then Doug dynasty comes along.

Si is gold. I mean, just tv gold. And I'm thinking, I almost fired him.

So here's the lesson for that. Sometimes you may have a diamond in your company. You've got them in the wrong spot. Yeah, you got so Si when he came there. But when we filmed. Man, when we filmed that show. And these are long days, you know? Cause, I mean, it was long. This stuff took a long. Cause it was more like a tv show. Like a long tv show.

But, like, most of the stuff si would say about me, like, being fat and all that, most of it was my. Like, I would tell him. I'd be like, sa say. And I would just come up with these zingers. And then the hardest part was just not to laugh at him the whole time. Cause it was so funny, you know? Like, we were filming this part. We were in Nashville filming this thing. We were at this studio, and Si was. He was gonna sing this song. And so I got with him in the Bryson side.

When you start singing the song, just start talking. Like, talk through one of your poker hands and act like that's a song, you know? And Si was like, all right, so we go there. Si goes. So we were playing poker in a Delta card, and I'm looking at a.

And then. So I'm sitting there now, so I'm straight facing the thing. I'm going, si, you're just talking about it. You're talking about a hand. You're not even singing a song. No, hey, Jack, I'm singing a song. And so the hardest part was to keep it straight and let him just do his thing. And he could. He was brilliant, man. The way he could do that with a full time army guy who worked at. You know, and who would have known he was gonna have this new lease on life. And just.

He was awesome. It was unbelievable. But you just had such a combination of, like, Phil being this, like. Like, I think that's what people saw themselves. Like, they weren't like us, but it was like, ah, see, that's. That's like my dad. You know, that's like my grandpa. You know? He is just the same way, like, says stuff that's, you know, sometimes totally inappropriate.

Glenn Beck
I'm like, oh, I just hit 60, and I decided I'm gonna say, whatever.

Blaze Media
You're getting there, right? You're getting there. That's the way Phil is. It's like, well, can you get your dad to not say that? I'm like, no, that's pretty much the package.

Whatever you love about him, he's gonna say something like, no matter what. Like, and here's the deal. I can't understand this about Phil.

Phil lives at the end of a dead end street, in the street road.

It used to. It was dirt up until, like.

Until duck dice the avenue. I think they finally paved our road.

He's down there. He has no cell phone. He's never owned a cell phone.

Glenn Beck
Good for him.

Blaze Media
He has no computer.

Glenn Beck
Wow.

Blaze Media
He has a landline that I think they just got back because it got destroyed by something. So he didn't have a landline. And for some reason, Phil can get his message out all over the world. And I'm like, how does. Like, I'll hear about somebody, like, how does Phil Robinson keep getting these messages out? He has no cell phone, computer, and lives on daddy's tree. And next thing I know, I'm reading something in the. In the. You know, online. I'm going, oh, boy. What Phil said.

Yeah, I just. You never know what's gonna. But it's. You know, I think he's.

He's earned it, and that's. He says what he is, and he's. But he's authentic, you know?

Glenn Beck
Whether you agree reminds me a little bit of Billy Graham in the way I became friends with Billy Graham the last five years of his life, and what a great guy. And he told me, we were talking about him being on Carson and everything else, and he said it made him all uncomfortable, but the first thing I talked about was Jesus Christ, he said, because that may be the only question I get. So no matter what they ask, it's about Jesus Christ.

Blaze Media
Interesting. Yeah, I got to meet him as well, right before he passed. It was amazing. Yeah. I was so honored, in fact, when I met him, and his daughter had set it up, so right there in his little house, you know, in North Carolina, and she says, daddy, this guy's from Duck dynasty.

He came all the way from Louisiana to see you.

And Billy Graham looks up and goes, came to see me? Why would you see me? I'm a nobody. And I thought, wow, that's the right attitude. That's the right attitude.

Glenn Beck
He was really. He was the real deal. Yeah, he was absolutely the real deal.

Blaze Media
Fascinating what he did. And so.

And he even said, like, it's, like, it's gonna change. I think the way to get the message of Jesus out would change. He even talked about the workplace. And so, yeah, I think we all play our parts on getting this out, but Doug Dynasty was a way, which is what I told Phil. I said, it's a way to get the gospel out. And you don't have to read Bible scriptures. You can do it in a fun way, bring people to the table. But even just giving people just a form of entertainment, you know, that you can laugh at, you can watch together. You don't have to worry about it.

It's really funny. I spoke the other night recently at a place, and they had a house for me and someone's house they'd let me stay in. And there's a duck dynasty channel where you can. Apparently, you just watch it all the time. And they had that on when I got there, and they thought it was so funny, you know? So I walk in there, and I'm at this house, and I can hear my. I walk in, I hear myself talking. I'm like, what in the world? And so I sit there, and I'm speaking, like, the next morning, and it's probably 11:00 at night, I got sucked into the duck dynasty vortex. I'm like, five episodes. I'm like, I've got to go to bed. And I got up at this speech, and I said, guys, let me tell you what. I sat up and watched that Doug die suit for five episodes. Everybody's laughing. And I said, you know what I learned about that show?

It's a really good show. It's a funny show. I watched it in so long, but it was, it was funny and just, you know, man, I've talked to more people who were just like, my mom passed away.

We watched that together. I mean, I hear it almost every week.

Glenn Beck
Just like, I hear that, too. My dad was a big fan, and we would watch it together, and he. He's passed away. And it's.

Blaze Media
I mean, it's like he was in the hospital, and he wanted to watch that duck nasty. I get. Cause I get flagged whenever the name pops up. And so interesting. I get a lot of obituaries, like, that's in some paper, like in Richmond, Virginia, and they'll say, you know, Betsy Connor, she loved her Nita work watching duck die. Like, it showed up in no bitchware, so pretty cool stuff.

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so, godspeller, you this book is, in a way, kind of anti Phil, because Phil will go scriptures full on scriptures, and this is live it, share it, bring it into the culture. This is kind of like the anti.

It's the. I hate to say this, but, you know, like the.

What's his name? Kendi, that, you know, you have to be anti racist. You can't just not be racist. You have to be anti racist.

And all of that woke crap. And this feels like the antidote.

Blaze Media
Wow.

Glenn Beck
You didn't feel that way?

Blaze Media
You still know that? Well, maybe that's the secret. Maybe that's the becoming all things to all men to try to snatch some from the fire.

It was just like, I still think the scriptures are there. Well, I tell you this, I actually printed it out for Phil, for. It even came in book form because I wanted. Wanted him to read it. And Phil read it, and I didn't know what he was going to say. Phil said, that's the best explanation of how to share the gospel I've ever read in my life. And I was like, wow. And this is so knowing Phil, this is so funny to me. He goes, and you were so nice about it, which I knew that's what he struggles, because he'll get into that light. And I was like, we don't have to, you know, you don't have to necessarily do that. And so, yeah, I think people, they have a hard time talking about it. And so I taught this class on it.

Glenn Beck
It was right after Covid, but it wasn't pe.

Blaze Media
No, it wasn't pe. No, there's a Bible. I was actually teaching people how to share their faith because Covid had happened, and so I wasn't speaking. And these guys at church asked me about sharing your faith, and they said, can you teach a class? I said, yeah, I'll teach one. So I started gathering other stuff where I was talking to people, like, what holds you back? You know? And it was. It was almost the same answers. It was like, I don't know the Bible well enough.

I don't know where to start. And they had the desire. They were just like, and no one's ever taught me how to do, like, how do you do this? I thought we were supposed to keep it to ourselves. We do this a lot of stuff to disqualify ourselves from even talking about it, you know, and what a beautiful.

Glenn Beck
And I don't want to feel like the weirdo. That's.

Blaze Media
Yeah, you don't want to be weird. And that's why I was like, you know, I mean, I may be the weirdo, and a lot of people are like, when they come to the Lord, no one ever tells them that. That's part of the deal. Like, hey, you need to go share this. So if you think about in the Bible, like, when Jesus calls Peter, he just says, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men, you know? And he follows him. So obviously he knew that was going to be part of the deal. And so what I wanted to try to do, as I was writing was like, how can I break down these things and make the argument, one, should we do this? And so from the great commission.

So, like, Jesus was living his life. Once he died, he came back from the dead. I was really interested what happened then? What happens? What were they talking about then?

Jesus was here for a little while, and he says, in the great commission, go make disciples of all nations. Baptize people, teach people three things, which is a mission. That's a mission. Well, a lot of people I knew, they're nowhere near those three things. They're not doing any of those any of them. So the question is, was that just for them or is that for us today? Well, then I was like, well, then I think. We think, like the people in the Bible, like those fishermen, those people he was talking to were like some kind of super duper. We think of them as, like, religious, like the highest you could get. When acts, chapter four, those two of those same guys was talking and said their peers, here's how they saw them, as regular, unschooled, ordinary men. So they didn't more of a non certified to teach.

That's the way they saw them, right? It wasn't like they were like some, you know, knew all this. So. And he's telling these guys, and he goes, this is the mission. And then we see them start living that out. So all of. Especially in the book of acts, I wanted to see what these conversations were like, because we really don't have that. We have conversations with Jesus and the gospels. We have the book of acts. Then we have letters. So these are letters to churches with problems. And so we can gather them. But I wanted to see that, like, what's that, like, conversation look like? And acts chapter two is one of the first ones. You get that, and then they just start going through. And I want to know, what did they say to people?

What was the reaction? What were the questions they asked? And so. And then when to put that into a modern day and say, okay, what would this look like to have these conversations? And what would it. What do you ask me? Where do you start? Where do you start? Where would you start with someone?

John, chapter four is a great one. Jesus is talking to a woman at a. Well, she's from a different area. He probably shouldn't be talking to her. I know that because when this dude showed up and they were like, what are you doing talking to her? You know? But just by talking to her, he showed that he cared about her. The big question he asked her is like, well, how do I start this thing? Jesus said, can I get a drink of water?

That's where it started.

Glenn Beck
Yeah.

Blaze Media
So that's where it can start. It ended with the whole village, her whole village, knowing Jesus. They all came down because she went and said, y'all gotta go meet this guy, man.

He got her story, which is usually how I do it. I just ask people their story. Most people love telling you their story, you know, so I'm like, hey, you got a relationship with Jesus? Or wherever, that we're just art, you know? Well, seven years old. Well, how's it been since then.

And then we start going through the story. He goes through her story, hey, go get your husband. I don't have a husband.

But he pushed in.

He pushed in and said, oh, is that true? And I always ask myself, why did he push in? Why would he want to know more? Cause it's kind of embarrassing. Cause I think Jesus knew if you don't deal with this story, you're never gonna understand. You're never gonna get past it. And so for a lot of us, we have to get past this thing of where we're at that'll hold us back from telling someone else, because we're like, oh, I'm so screwed up. I'm the last person to be talking to anybody else. And that's why even in this book, I wanted to tell, hey, this is my story. This is where it's at. This is what can happen.

I really want to connect you to the Bible.

I don't want to just tell you my opinion. I just want to connect you to that. Like, you can read it. You can decide if I never see you again. You've got the New Testament. You maybe know some start and pass and go. I'm not the judge. I don't know who you are. I don't know if you're going to heaven. I have no idea. That's you between.

Glenn Beck
Even if I do know you.

Blaze Media
I will tell you, though. I will show you some scriptures, though, that say, this is where they started. This is what they said. Peter said in acts two. He says, repent and be baptized. I can explain those two terms to you. I can explain what he meant from other sections of the Bible, because a lot of people, I feel like they raise a hand somewhere and they're like, hey, I'm in. But they don't know. They walk out of the building, they're like, what just happened? I don't know.

Glenn Beck
I know. I know.

Blaze Media
And they don't know their mission. They think the mission is, you know how many people I run to? They think the mission is life as a believer, is to try to go to church as much as they can and try to be a good person.

That's not the mission. That's not like, that was never. I never read that. I never read. They don't even talk about going to church. I don't even know what going to church means anyway. Like, we are the church.

Glenn Beck
Yeah, church is going.

Blaze Media
Because if I feel like I'm going, then I'm leaving, right? Then I'm. Well, then I may act one way there and I may act a different way. I don't even like the terminology.

Glenn Beck
I always think churches, in my mind, it's like a hospital or a clinic that I have to go to once a week because I'm just beaten down by the world and it recharges me.

Blaze Media
And I go, it's just a. Yeah.

What's like a fellowship, right? It's just like where you get. But it's not the end. It's just one.

Glenn Beck
It's supposed to charge you for the.

Blaze Media
We can, it can charge. It can be. Yeah. There's a lot of. But the church moves around. The church is happening everywhere, you know, all over the globe. The church is. The church is happening on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Fridays. This book is for people. This book is actually not necessarily for Sunday morning. This book is for, like, Saturday morning in the deer stand, for Friday night at the football game, for Thursday morning at work. And, you know, when your friend comes in, they're bawling and crying. They're going, oh, what's the problem? I've got, you know, my uncle just got hit by a car, and now you may want to know some answers to share with them. The Bible says, always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. Always be prepared. So there's a certain amount of preparation that we make to be able to talk to people. Because if I don't know a lot about something, I'm not going to talk about it. If you start talking about mountain biking, I'm like, I don't know. I have no idea. I can't even talk about that.

But when I get into people's stories and their lives, I start becoming, I think we're ambassadors for Jesus, right? We're ambassadors, so we're representing him. We're on this earth. So then we become maybe like the counselor, you know? So sometimes when I'm talking to people, I feel like a counselor, you know, I'm trying to walk them through, you know, sometimes maybe like a great physician. Like, you're like, like a physician where you're like, okay, let's talk about. I mean, at the end of the day, the physician just goes, I know a lot about this, but here's the diagnosis. Here's what we're going to try to do. You want to do it or not?

Glenn Beck
Yep.

Blaze Media
You know.

Glenn Beck
Yep.

Blaze Media
I can give you the medical terms now. One year after that, you'll know more about that. Whatever you know, you'll know more about it than anybody because that's what you got. You're going to read other people's stories. You're going to watch videos.

I feel like that's kind of like Christianity at the beginning. You may not know a lot, but you're like, I know what I've been doing ain't working. And so we're gonna try something different, which is where Phil was, and that's where I started the book, which is Phil's story.

And I was so blown away by Phil's, like, it really hit me, Glenn, even in making the movie and watching the movie, it was even hard to watch. Really hard to keep less than rated r. Cause his life was not. You know, his life was like that.

Glenn Beck
Wait, can we stop on?

It was hard to watch it.

I asked you that before.

Were you reliving it? Was it. I mean, I can't imagine Phil watching it.

Blaze Media
I think it was hard for. Really hard for him.

Glenn Beck
I bet it was.

Blaze Media
We watched it together, and then, you know, the movies got. They were like, hey, we've got another one set up. Phil said, I've seen it. I'm good.

One's enough.

Because it's so against everything in life.

Like, think about Christianity. Your past is behind you. We're looking for it. But I even think not even Christianity in general in life. Like, we can't dwell on the past.

Glenn Beck
Yesterday's gone.

Blaze Media
Yeah, it's gone. Like, you know, I think that's a great thing. Unless they make a movie about it where we just live in it.

Glenn Beck
Right?

Blaze Media
We just live there. Now, in the worst part of your life, we're going to make a whole movie that looks really realistic. And you just got to remember that. So. Man, you're ripping off scars there that were just rough. So it was hard for him. But again, he said, if it helps people see, then I'm willing to. Y'all can put it up on them, I think. But that's got to be hard. He was so embarrassed. He was like. Because the person. He was so mean to waste my mom, you know, and us. It was just like. Yeah, so it was just. It was hard to. Yeah, I cried every time I watched it. And, you know, at different parts, too. It was like. It was weird. By the end, I was crying it, like, when he came up with the duck call, because I thought, wow, that was such a. You know, had that not happened, so just very hard. And then. And then to my other point, I was saying was like, what if that hadn't happened? What if Phil doesn't come to the Lord?

Glenn Beck
Right?

Blaze Media
My whole life is completely different. Yeah, we're not talking. I'm not here.

Glenn Beck
Right?

Blaze Media
I don't. There's no duck commander. There's no duck dynasty. There's no tv show. There's no. You know.

Glenn Beck
Do you think you would have found the Lord without his redemption the way you have?

Blaze Media
Well, I guess I would say this. It would be impossible for me to know, but I would say probably not, because I felt like a lot of people, let's say most people don't, right? So just by the numbers, you know, because how many people coming out of broken homes, coming out of trauma and all this stuff.

Dad was gonna go to jail. I mean, for sure he was wanted by the law. I mean, what the numbers are people that come out of there who have great success in christian life.

Slim. Right? I mean, probably not. So I would try to say no.

Glenn Beck
I always wrestle with, you know, there's no waste with God. You know, you're in his carpenter shop. There's no sawdust on the floor. He uses all of it.

All the wrong cuts.

He was like, oh, no, no, that works. And it's more beautiful. And I don't know if my relationship with him would be as deep as it is if I hadn't so desperately needed him. You know what I mean? And it wasn't like, hey, please heal, or it was. I was done. I was done as a human being. And when you're truly broken, I kind of feel bad for people who haven't been truly, truly broken, because I just have this different.

Blaze Media
It's a core understanding of.

Glenn Beck
It's gone.

Blaze Media
Right.

But you can. I'm not that anymore, but you can still have that. Like, that's so interesting you say that. Because I always thought, like, what? Phil's. Like, my story's not as cool as Phil's. You know, he took it to the end, and then he's like, this almost.

Glenn Beck
But you have changed because you witnessed it.

Blaze Media
That's why I was saying, you don't have to be broken.

Cause I think we're like, ah. But because you may not come back, right? You may not find it in your brokenness. You. Phil could have ended up dead for sure. Killed in jail. Like, if mom doesn't forgive him, Phil could have said, okay, I'm ready. And mom said, double middle fingers him going, I'm out. Like, I'm sick of the way. And so, man, it was so crucial. Like, the movie was just my mom story. Like, how she forgave and stuck with this guy, saw some vision of something in the future. But I think you can I don't know. I think about, you know, probably the workers and the wages, you know, I think when you were saying that was like, you don't have to, you know, but there may be something in your life where you find it may be something else that you pull from where you're saying the brokenness, but that it's either pull from appreciation or pull from something else. Cause you can have a great relationship with not screwing up your whole life.

Glenn Beck
No, I know. And I know a lot of people who are like that.

Blaze Media
Yeah. I mean, it's like, you know, hey, my wife and I, we both had affairs on each other. Now we're just closed. You don't have to do that to find that place.

Glenn Beck
I know I struggled with this with my kids because I wanted them to know my story, but I'm like, but don't do that.

Blaze Media
Yeah, right.

Glenn Beck
It's not. Find God.

Blaze Media
Yeah. Don't do the things that. Yeah.

Glenn Beck
And so, so when I, when I think of. And again, this goes back to the book, I think Mars Hill is.

Is, at least it was for me, so impactful, if you understand.

He didn't come to Mars Hill and say, as it's written, you're too religious.

He came and said, you're so religious.

He said, I know your poetry. I know. He got to know them and love them in their own way.

Before he started talking, he found the way in, but it wasn't scheming. And sometimes I think people don't share the gospel. Or maybe more likely, at least I've seen they share the gospel. And it's like, I want to help him get redeemed and I want him to get baptized. And if he's not going to, I'm not really his friend. You know what I mean?

Blaze Media
Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Glenn Beck
Yeah.

Blaze Media
Probably been guilty of it, right? And it's in my past, you know, I've probably been guilty of that where it's like. Cause I'm so like. Cause I wanna tell that story and I wanna tell that story and I wanna say, like, oh, this person here. And like, sometimes there's people I work with all the time that I'm just like, ah. Sometimes these conversations are 20 minutes, sometimes they're two days, sometimes they're 2 hours, sometimes they're 20 years.

There's people I've been sharing with that long. I'm still here. I'm still here. I'm still texting, I'm still talking. I'm still being kind and friendly to people, and I'm still coming at maybe a different way.

Like the apostle Paul said he was praying, or he said, pray for me. That the mystery of the gospel can come out of my mouth more clearly.

What is that?

Pray that the mystery. Nobody knew the gospel better than Paul.

So how is it not coming out? Cause I think it's more like art and less like science.

Glenn Beck
Oh, yeah.

Blaze Media
So science is like, glenn, here's the deal. But I can tell Glenn that, and Glenn can say, I desperately need you. I can tell Johnny that, and he can say the complete opposite thing. So it's like, hmm, there's a story in my book about Bill and Bill. I kept, I kept talking. I kept wanting to preach the gospel to this guy, and he would say the same thing every day. He who hath not sinned cast the first time. Every time I brought it up, and I'm like, dad, come, man. So I'd say, hey, Bill, you know, you're talking about going to get surgery. You know, I was just going to talk to you about your relationship. He who had not said every time, and it wasn't until we were in New York City, we just had the.

Glenn Beck
Big meeting that would bring a lot of people to their niece, by the.

Blaze Media
Way, just being in New York with some business people. We're talking about business. We're talking about money. And he was so excited. We're in a car. I finally got this guy, like, to himself, and I just said, bit. And he was smoking. I mean, smoking like a burger.

He said, bill, how old are you? And he told me he's age, like 58. And I said, I think you're going to be dead 14 years. You're gonna be dead.

He just looks at me, his eyes are big, and he's like, what?

I said, I don't know. I'm just spitballing here, but I think you're gonna be dead.

Why would you say that? And I said, he goes, I've never thought about that.

And I said, well, maybe you should start thinking about it, you know, the way you're living, the way, you know. So he pull up to the hotel, we're in this nice hotel, and he said, will you come tell me more about that? I said, I will, so go get my Bible, you know. He didn't say, he who had not sinned cast first on. I tried a bunch of times, but finally picked another way that made him think about it. So it could be physical death.

That could be work for somebody else. Some people wouldn't.

We both know Marcus trail. I remember talking to Marcus about physical death whole different. Never even heard, you know? Imagine his take on that.

Glenn Beck
I know.

Blaze Media
You know? And so what works for some people doesn't work for others. I could say, glenn, you could be part of a church, a group, and you could have friends, and you could all. And you could say, yes, that's what I've been looking for. And then I tell somebody else, and they go, I will never step foot in there. When I was a child, I was, mm. So that doesn't work. So it's like, ah, not that way. And these are the way. These conversations, the subtitles, turning darkness into light one conversation at a time. So as we have these conversations, I just, you know, I think I've got the holy spirit living in me. So that's gonna guide me. It's probably what guided me to tell Bill. He's gonna, I think you'll be dead in 14 years, you know?

Glenn Beck
Cause that wasn't something you planned. The way you just said it a minute ago, like, I tried a different angle.

Blaze Media
I'm just trying to get in to have a conversation, and then if they don't want to know, like, I think you have to be authentic, but you also have to be looking, looking for change. When Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus's house, it's a bold move. Right now, everybody hates Zacchaeus. They're like, we hate this guy. And everybody's like, he's hanging out with this cat, you know? Jesus walks in, he's looking for change. Zacchaeus, I don't know what exactly he said to the man, but he's like, okay, new rules. I'm giving them back. I'm paying back money, which is repentance. Right? He's like, saying, I'm going to repent. Jesus says, this is why I came, to seek and save what was lost for these kind of people.

Glenn Beck
I know.

Blaze Media
Cause I think that was such a message for everybody sitting there going, we hate this guy. So, Glenn, I think it starts, you have to start with caring about people.

Glenn Beck
Yes.

Blaze Media
Because what I see in this country, more than ever, we just don't care about each other. How many videos am I gonna have to see if somebody walking down the street step over somebody who's dying or just got mugged, they don't care.

Okay. I just. I just got back from downtown Seattle.

Glenn Beck
Ooh.

Blaze Media
There's not a lot of people caring about other people there. You know, like, it's just. And I'm standing there going, how would I, you know, oh, what a mess, you know? And so we have to care about people, because is it really attractive to you to get into other people's problems, too, especially when you're like, that's hard. It's, that's a. I think this book would be hard for people because I've read some books where I'm kind of uncomfortable because I'm like, shoot, I feel like I need to do that, be better at that. And so I read some that I'm like, oh, man, this is a different level because a lot of people kind of got it where they, well, nah, try to go to church. I live a good life, you know, I love Jesus and cuss a little tooth, you know, whatever, whatever the t shirt says.

I don't know. You know, the way I see this country going in our world, it's just chaos and just darkness. And, man, we got to have, you know, all the people who were out sharing their faith in the New Testament got killed.

So I'm real careful about when I say, you know, if you do this, man, he's going to take care of that little thing for you. And this is, your life's going to be a little bit better unless you're in North Korea, unless you're in China. You know, we got all possibly what's coming here. Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, this could be.

So I think the timing's right, but I'm just trying to figure out, you know, how the message is the same, the methods can be different.

Glenn Beck
Yeah. So the method has to be different now. I mean, at least it can be.

Blaze Media
Different for different people. Right, right.

Glenn Beck
But I mean, generally speaking, I think the churches had just gone silent.

They're just, they're just rot. They always, this always happens when there's, you know, a reformation and it, it's just rotted from the inside, and it's the church outside that matters, and the church outside has to lead the way.

Blaze Media
It can be, I mean, yeah, I mean, it can be both. I think there's some church, I think they just, what happens is you get off the path and you get into these, you know, all kind of different things and different. You start meeting. All your meetings are about not the things that you need to be meeting about. People aren't preaching the gospel anymore.

Here's the biggest thing. Being a gospeller is about being outward. And what I see is, I think, a big struggle right now. People go to church, everybody's looking inward.

Tell me something to help myself so I can. It's like a cell phone.

Glenn Beck
You remember just a minute ago you said, somebody will say something and you're like, oh, geez, I just told you about church being a hospital for me.

I'm having one of those moments, like, ooh.

Blaze Media
So, well, that's why.

Well, I'm trying to, like, no, it's good. I go to a hospital, but I don't go to one every week.

Glenn Beck
Yeah.

Blaze Media
I don't even want to go to one every week, you know?

Glenn Beck
I know. I just feel so beaten down by the world at times that you just, like, I just want to go and just.

Nothing is sacred in the world. Nothing is.

Nothing is above man in the world. You know, it's until, you know, maybe because where you live.

But, like, you don't see all the stars and everything here in Dallas. You certainly don't see it in New York City. And I go to my ranch, and I see it's completely dark, and you can see the stars everywhere. And it just.

It's like the campfires. We don't have campfires anymore where you can sit around, look up and go, why am I here? What is all of this?

Blaze Media
But, but, but, okay, you need the chapter called Hope Yeller.

I know that there's a bunch of bad. I feel like, here's what. Here's the problem with christians. To me, we're all just screaming about how bad everything is. Where's the good? We're supposed to be teaching people good news.

Where's the hope? Where's the. And so I feel like, like this.

Glenn Beck
Is the second time now I'm going.

Blaze Media
So we're just. So what it is you're looking at? Cause if you say you can't see the stars in Dallas, but there's somebody in probably in some part of California or New Jersey going, Dallas is like heaven. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Idaho is like, no, no, but I might. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. If those are the worldly parts, can you imagine somebody in Yemen, like, some believer that's like, you know, and so a lot of this will pay off in the beyond.

This thing we're in lasts like that.

Glenn Beck
I know.

Blaze Media
I mean, we're getting older. I mean, it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm trying to pump the brakes. This thing, it's. Life is so fast while we're here on this earth. Like, we're only here for just a little more time, and then we're going to be able to do all kind of things. That's what we live for. That's why it's a desperate measure to get the good news out while we're still here on this earth.

Cause if we're just running around on Earth trying to get the net, you know, I'm just trying to stay, you know, once you go on mission, man, once you turn around. We mentioned Billy Graham. Think about that mission. Look at what, you know. Look at him. He was like, there's millions of people all over this planet that would not know the gospel had it not been for that dude.

Glenn Beck
I know.

Blaze Media
Just saying, let's go and see one.

Glenn Beck
Of the last things he.

Blaze Media
So we gotta yield hope. We gotta yield hope and positivity and good, not just the bad. I get it. Like this world, this whole world's going to hell in a handbasket. Okay, what are we going to do about it? What are we going to say about it? What did Jesus do about that? You know, it's not, you know, have.

Glenn Beck
You found though, that when you say that to people, because I've been saying for the last maybe two years now, we've passed all the exits. We've passed all the, all the rational exits politically and socially and everything else. We're now we're almost at the gates of hell.

And the only thing that will save us now is Christ. That's it.

Us returning to God, asking, recognizing what we've done and truly changing our life.

And it has happened before to societies.

Blaze Media
It just, well, it may have to get bad before it gets good.

People's lives starting to look like that may have to get bad before it gets, you know.

Glenn Beck
Yeah.

Blaze Media
Before it can get better, it may have to get way worse.

Glenn Beck
I know as an alcoholic, I worry about that. What's your bottom?

Blaze Media
Right? And so in this country, yeah, it may have to be very uncomfortable, which would, I would, which would lead people to something, you know, it usually does. I mean, 911 next week, more people were in church. I think in a long time, right? There was a coming together. When you get scared, when there's fear and there's true fear, and that may be what has to happen to get a lot of people. And if that's what you will have a humble people in the eternal sense, that's what has to happen. So I mean, to understand eternity, and I think I put this story in the book. My daughter was in fifth grade.

She actually just graduated from college a couple of weekends ago and she was in fifth grade. Corey's like, willie, go help her with that assignment. Which is very unusual. I wasn't normally that guy to go. So I go in there and I'm like, here, give me this thing. And I'm fifth grade. And I'm like, I ain't got a clue. I mean, I literally. I don't have a clue how to answer this question.

I laid down. I said, bella, here's the deal.

This test doesn't matter. She's crying. I said, this doesn't matter. In fact, fifth grade doesn't matter. You know, who cares about, you know.

Glenn Beck
Unless you're selling gum, unless you got.

Blaze Media
A. Yeah, I definitely, you know, unless it's a mode of, like, business.

So I'm like, you got it? She's like, yes, sir, I got it. So I go back there and watch tv. My wife comes in, like, what did you just tell our daughter? And I said, what do you mean? She goes, she said, you just said her test didn't matter, and her whole grade doesn't matter. I said, yep, I'm sticking with that, too.

Now I think she knows she just graduated college. I think she understands what I was saying. To think back to fifth grade. So I think once we live with the eternal mindset, we have that heavenly mindset, man. This is like a. Yeah.

Glenn Beck
And it also, he doesn't waste anything. I mean, so something screws up and goes wrong.

Blaze Media
Jambalaya. Throw everything in there. Like, I'm using stuff from. I've told you stories about fourth grade, fifth grade. Like, who would have thought I would have even. But now they're, you know, now they're like, oh, I can use this. You know. Yeah, I think he uses. That's the beauty of Christianity, is that you can use even the bad. Even the. Oh, this is bad, right? It's like when we used to like reality tv, it reminds me of that when the thing happens that's gonna shut down the thing. And I always say, but you never can see it. And I would say, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is what. This is what. This is the show. This is the show, right? You're like, no, no, we can't film the show because this happened. I'm like, that is the show. That's the show.

Glenn Beck
You're right.

Blaze Media
The first time I ever did reality tv, my phone froze up. I missed my alarm. I was supposed to be down there duck hunting, feeling them slept in.

And they're down there. Phil and them are getting all ready, and the director's looking around, goes, okay. He goes, oh, where's Willie?

And Phil does not miss a beat. Phil's like, oh, I imagine he's still asleep.

And they're like, we can't film this show. And they're like, well, we're going hunting. If y'all want to not film, don't film. And the guy's like, willy, screw this whole thing. I wake up, like, at 09:00 I'm like, oh, no, the conchaves. I'm like, I gotta get out there. I need a p row, which is a small boat. I go to get a small boat. There's a boat.

It's the size of this tape, like, but it's this big. And I'm like, how they riding this thing? I come to find out later it's a serving tray for crawfish. It's not meant to. So I get in this thing, like, it's like, literally the size of my hips. And I get in there, and I'm like, okay. And as soon as I did like this, it was just. And I paddled that thing out there. And you see me shoot out of the woods and hear and feel like, what's he riding? Jay says, I see nothing but his body. We don't even know what seat. So when I pulled up to the deal, that was the story.

Glenn Beck
That was a show.

Blaze Media
None of that was scripted, but that. So sometimes it's like, that's the thing that you're looking for.

Glenn Beck
Would you close in prayer?

Blaze Media
I will.

Father, we're so grateful to be in your presence.

I pray for Glenn. I pray for just the audience. He has all the.

Everything he's built, father, just in this world and all the people he has around him. And, father, I just pray that you always give him hope. Always give him the insight, father, to make things clear to people. And I know he gets beat down, father, and I just pray that you be with that. Give him hope, positivity, renewed energy.

And, father, just give us all that. Give us all the vision to see things and see the future. See being with you, see eternity, and seeing something beyond this earth that we know is hard to see.

Be with our faith.

I pray that we all become better gospellers. We just have the gospel on our lips all the time. I pray for all those around the world who are sharing their faith, even at the possibility of peril. And, father, I pray for them. And I just pray for. Give us strength. Be with this country. Father, we know that it's so screwed up in so many ways, but, father, help us to be voices. Help us to be voices is to try to make that change, even if not for us, for our kids and our grandkids. And, father, I just pray that you be with us in this year. What a nutty year. Father, we just pray that you give us wisdom and understanding. I pray for all the leaders, and we know that you're in charge, and we put these people in and move them out.

Thank you for this show. Thank you for this time, this conversation, Father and I just pray that we always have an answer for the hope that we have, and that's you. And we give you all the praise through Jesus. Amen.

Glenn Beck
Amen.

I love you, brother.

Blaze Media
Awesome, buddy. Love you. Thank you.

Glenn Beck
Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to a friend so it can be discovered by other people.