Pray for the country. Then do your part.



A friend from an Amish and Mennonite background who lives among those communities in Ohio told me she is frustrated by the reluctance of some people she knows to vote. When she asks why, she hears a familiar answer: “If it’s God’s will ...”

Meaning: God will determine the outcome. Apparently, that settles their part.

If we are tired of politics, let’s say so. But invoking God’s sovereignty to excuse our own passivity drags His name into a decision we made.

The reluctance she described reaches well beyond Amish and Mennonite communities. Too many Christians sit out elections while maintaining a vigorous schedule of complaining about the results.

But the “God will handle it” explanation puzzles me because we do not apply that reasoning to the rest of life. Gracie would have a few questions.

I pray for Gracie before every operation. I still drive her to the hospital. After 40 years of caregiving, I have had plenty of occasions to trust God with things I could not control. I have also filled prescriptions, asked uncomfortable questions, and challenged decisions. In all of Gracie’s 98 operations, not one surgeon has said, “You prayed for God’s will? Good. I won’t need to scrub in.”

We understand responsibility quite well when something matters to us. Why does it become so mysterious when the subject is voting?

If you have a biblical conviction against casting a particular vote, that deserves a hearing. But “God will determine the outcome” explains why we can trust Him. It does not explain why we can excuse ourselves.

Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those neighbors live under the officials we choose. Sheriffs, school boards, county commissioners, and legislators make decisions that reach into their homes and wallets. A widow reporting fraud needs officials who take her seriously. A family caring for a disabled child needs more than a sympathetic nod.

We can argue about which candidates will serve them best. But God’s sovereignty does not explain why loving our neighbor requires nothing from us.

Jeremiah 29:7 gives us an even less comfortable instruction. God told His people to seek the welfare of the city where He had sent them into exile and to pray for it.

The city was Babylon.

They had been carried away from home. If anyone had grounds to say, “This government is somebody else’s problem,” they did. God still assigned them work where they lived: Pray for the city. Seek its welfare.

We live here. Our children are growing up here. And unlike the exiles in Babylon, we have a voice in choosing our leaders. What exactly is our excuse?

Galatians 6:10 tells us, “as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.” Voting gives us an opportunity to influence who exercises power over our neighbors. That makes a ballot something to use thoughtfully, not something to dismiss with a religious phrase.

Scripture does not contain instructions for an American polling place. It does contain instructions for people who have neighbors and opportunities.

RELATED: Billy Crystal no longer trusts God. Christians should listen.

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

No candidate is going to usher in the kingdom of God. I would settle for one who understands the job, tells the truth, and remembers whose money he is spending. Expecting perfection is another convenient way to avoid making a choice.

Think about our brothers and sisters in countries where free elections are restricted or denied. Then imagine explaining to them that we leave our ballots unused because we trust God.

Passive citizens are ripe to become captive citizens.

Officials do not lose their authority because we lose interest. They continue making decisions, spending money, and exercising power. Our absence simply leaves the choosing to somebody else.

We are free to stay home. We should at least be honest about why. If we are indifferent, let’s call it indifference. If we are tired of politics, let’s say so. But invoking God’s sovereignty to excuse our own passivity drags His name into a decision we made.

I pray for Gracie. I still drive her to the hospital.

Pray for your country. Then do your part.

'Deleted from society': Tommy Robinson sounds alarm on UK free speech crackdown as Keir Starmer escalates surveillance push



As Britain cracks down on free speech and heightens surveillance measures, it’s becoming a cautionary tale for the rest of the Western world — one that Tommy Robinson has experienced firsthand.

“They wanted us isolated, they wanted us alone, wanted total control, which they had. Total control. I was invisible,” Robinson tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, explaining that the media in the U.K. has branded him as one of the “far-right, racist, extremist agitators who are intent on violence.”

“You couldn’t even mention my name ... deleted from society for daring to show — and what was I showing? The problems of mass open-border immigration,” Robinson says.

“Why do they want to hide it?” he asks. “Because it lays at their feet.”


And U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s latest ad is only proving Robinson right.

“This is our country with a majority who share those values. A majority who may not always be as loud but must always define who we are. So my government will not stand in the way of peaceful protest,” Starmer said, adding, “But we will act decisively against hatred.”

“We will use the full force of the law when that hatred manifests as violence. And we will ban those coming into the U.K. who seek to stir it up as we have done already because this country belong to all of us, and I will not tolerate anyone who seeks to stand in the way of that,” Starmer finished.

Robinson notes that Starmer has already made his last few points in the video crystal clear.

“After the 2024 riots ... he politicized the judiciary, weaponized the media, and he sent mothers to jail for 31 months for tweets. He sent Peter Lynch, a grandfather, to jail, who has died in jail. He sent innocent people to jail,” he explained, noting that Starmer did it to “instill fear in the British public.”

“The problem he’s got is he didn’t instill fear. It lit a fire in the heart of us. ... This is a battle for the soul of this nation, and it’s a battle he’s going to lose. He’s losing,” he continues, adding, “They’re losing. We’re winning the hearts and minds of the public whether he likes it or not.”

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The most dangerous country to be a Christian will shock you — here's what's happening



Christians face persecution across the globe — but one country has made it almost impossible for them to practice their faith, threatening torture, imprisonment, and execution simply because they believe in Jesus Christ.

That country is North Korea.

“If you’re even found to be in possession of a Bible, you and your entire family are likely going to be thrown into a concentration camp — a work camp — for the rest of your days, never to be heard of, never to be seen again,” CEO of Open Doors Ryan Brown tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey.

“To be identified as a Christian — to be found as a Christian — is the equivalent of a death sentence,” he says, pointing out that in North Korea, the highest authority isn’t God, but the state.


“And so, for Christians, who have a higher authority than the state — Christians are immediately seen as enemies of the state. They’re assumed to be enemies of the state or, in some cases, assumed to be allies of the West,” he explains.

There are also public executions of Christians.

“In many cases, if they feel like, OK, it’s been a little too long; we need to remind people that we’re in charge; we need to remind people what the consequences are,” he says.

However, despite the threat Christians face in North Korea, they refuse to give up.

“There are about 400,000 Christians in North Korea … and it is growing,” Brown says, explaining that Open Doors has set up safe houses across the border where “individuals are able to come be nursed back to physical health.”

“It … humbles me to see that there are men and women that have, in essence, escaped from North Korea, come to these safe houses, been nursed back to health, and their goal and their intent and what they have done is to go back to North Korea so they can continue to minister,” he explains.

“They’ve … taken a posture of ‘How can I be equipped so that I can go back and continue to share the gospel with my friends and neighbors?'" he adds.

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'Baby, It's Cold Outside': The perfect song to drown out 2025's pop dreck



The top songs this Christmas should certainly offend anyone who thought "Baby, It's Cold Outside" was worthy of outrage.

At the height of the woke era, media outlets argued over whether the 1944 Frank Loesser classic should be banned, as radio stations pulled the song because its lyrics allegedly alluded to "date rape."

'Baby, I'm a dog, I'm a mutt.'

The media apparatus sprung into action with parody after cross-dressing parody. Few defended the song — surprisingly, Variety was one of the biggest outliers — and the "Me Too" mantra carried on looking for more scalps to take.

Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" soon received similar treatment, despite garnering almost a billion views on YouTube. With featured artist Pharrell saying the song he profited off of was evidence of a prominent "chauvinist culture," that art was not allowed to exist as art.

While offense can be taken in any generation's music, it seems appropriate to note that it seemingly goes one direction, and progressive cookie-cutter sexual content cannot be questioned.

This has not changed in 2025, as slop tops the charts with stereotypical soft-core imagery.

Sombr, 'Back to Friends'

Topping the Billboard charts in the rock and alternative category as of Dec. 17 is "Back to Friends" by Sombr. In this song by New Yorker Shane Michael Boose, he talks about the difficulty of returning to a normal friendship with some one he has slept with.

The song about being forgotten by a presumed love one remains fairly generic until the music video is taken into account, which features multiple gay make-out scenes juxtaposed with explosions of lava.

RELATED: Taylor Swift isn’t a role model — and it’s time for moms to stop pretending she is

Leon Thomas, 'Mutt'

The R&B and hip-hop category is led by Leon Thomas' "Mutt."

Although the song came out in 2024, it is hitting new highs for the 2025 Christmas season, with lyrics about Thomas convincing a woman that there is no need for them to wait to have sex, because, "Baby, I'm a dog, I'm a mutt."

Thomas notes that he wishes for him and his new lady to "break in" his new apartment, while adding that he believes in the Second Amendment, with the lyrics: "Thirty-two, like my pants size 'cause a n***a tried breaking in."

The song is really not offensive, but neither are lyrics from the 1940s saying, "My mother will start to worry."

RELATED: The viral country anthem that has girlboss Twitter melting down and trad women cheering

Kehlani, 'Folded'

Not to be forgotten at No. 2 on the R&B list is Kehlani's "Folded."

Kehlani Ashley Parrish, an Oakland-born singer who once aspired to be a Juilliard-trained dancer, shows off her moves in the video, where she sports a completely see-through dress and essentially dances naked alongside women in their underwear.

Again, while this is not a new phenomenon for a music video, it seems extremely egregious when placed next to the 1949 film "Neptune's Daughter" that popularized "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

While Kehlani carries laundry and talks about folding clothes in her music video, the obvious inference is that she is talking about her preferred sexual position.

The lyrics website Genius states, "Here, Kehlani seems to be implying she can 'fold' her body for her lover if they decide they want to become romantic again."

Taylor Swift, 'The Fate of Ophelia'

It comes as no surprise that Taylor Swift is topping the pop charts with "The Fate of Ophelia," even though the music video came out in October. Swift obviously sexualizes herself — maybe Dean Martin did too? — as a 1950s showgirl, but the song centers on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and has Swift nearly dying from heartbreak in the lyrics.

Some lyrics are almost direct lifts from "Hamlet," but the song as a whole is light-years away in terms of degeneracy in comparison to the other items on this list.

However, it is hard to imagine how it is conceivable that Swift dancing in lingerie and being groped on a pirate ship is less controversial than, "My sister will be suspicious (Gosh, your lips look delicious)."

While music lovers may notice that wild offense-taking now skips the industry unless it serves a political purpose, that equilibrium rarely holds forever. Cultural pendulums do swing.

When they do, the correction sometimes arrives loudly — through provocation, politics, or spectacle. But just as often, it comes quietly, in the form of art that refuses to scandalize at all.

Ella Langley, 'Choosin' Texas'

Which brings us to Ella Langley. Topping the country charts this Christmas with "Choosin' Texas," the Alabama native commits a far subtler transgression: She sings plainly about heartbreak, drinking alone, and the ache of love gone wrong — without sexual exhibitionism, ideological signaling, or manufactured outrage. She even manages to say a few positive things about Texas and Tennessee. In 2025, that kind of restraint may be the most disruptive posture left.

Charity, miracles, and high tech — here's how these monks built a massive Gothic monastery



Tiny everyday miracles: This is the short answer for how a group of monks in Wyoming built a sprawling monastery worthy of awe.

For more than a decade, the Carmelite monks have been hard at work building a 145,000-square-foot French Gothic-style monastery, set on a 2,500-acre cattle ranch.

As images and video of the work had already captivated the faithful online, Return reached out to the group to find out exactly how such a work of art, typically seen at historical sites, is physically possible.

'The decision immediately was to build this monastery to last for centuries ...'

During the initial design phase, it became painfully obvious to the monks that if they took the path of least resistance by acquiring the services of an architect, there would never be any monastery to speak of.

"A number of national contractors presented their bids to build the monastery, and we realized that if we went that route, we would never be able to raise the astronomical funds needed," Brother Isidore Mary told Return. "Rather than quit, or dumb down the vision, we adapted."

Spotting that the stonework was by far the largest cost in the build, peak male curiosity took over: "How hard can it be to cut stone?" they asked.

Without any background in fields like computer design or stone carving, the monks went to work applying themselves to each trade.

'God's grace has not failed us.'

Brother Isidore cited "a series of millions of little, tiny everyday miracles" that manifested through the acquisition of skills while already "on the job."

This meant learning software programs to design buildings, digital sculpting, and CNC machine programming; all were self-taught. The monks learned from local subcontractors and professional masons, taking in everything they could as a concrete block core was built in order to secure the structure from seismic activity that comes from being so close to Yellowstone.

The monk explained, "These skills have certainly taken years to acquire, and we are still learning every day. We started construction in 2014 with the simplest buildings, such as the hermitages where the monks live, and as our skills developed, so did the complexity of each building we undertook, until finally we have now set to work on the most challenging part and crown jewel: the chapel itself, the throne room of God."

RELATED: Wyoming monks use cutting-edge tech to carve epic stone monastery 20 years in the making

Your browser does not support the video tag. Video courtesy Carmelite Gothic

Brother Isidore revealed that the project was completed in poverty, which he even admitted may be surprising to hear given the beauty of the structure. He claimed every dollar was stretched as far as it could go, and the team took extra time and invested in more durable materials to ensure a long-lasting architecture.

"The decision immediately was to build this monastery to last for centuries rather than something to fall apart in 20 years, leaving a problem the next generation of monks would have to face."

3D monks

The images of monks using 3D design programs and engaging in complex stone-carving techniques has certainly raised questions as to whether or not the use of such advanced machinery is becoming of such religious servants. Brother Isidore said the monks encounter this idea regularly, but it is not consistent with the truth.

"I think it stems from the notion that something traditional must be archaic. The monastery certainly reminds one of something medieval, from the architecture and stonework, to the Latin and Gregorian chant, to the very robes the monks wear," he explained.

The use of technology is not at odds with monastic life, he went on. "In fact, monks have frequently been pioneers in many of the trades and sciences, in fields as varied as metallurgy and genetics. We find the use of CNC technology and these sophisticated stone-cutting machines quite in keeping with this tradition of innovation and our monastic way of life."

RELATED: The Land of the Gods

Photo by Carmelite Gothic

Cult of ugliness

The monastery's construction is mainly funded by donations, domestic and abroad, the monk explained. These, coupled with the monks' coffee roasting business, have helped fund their modest lifestyle as well.

Mystic Monk Coffee, started in 2007, has a "loyal following [of] coffee drinkers" who have helped contribute to construction costs, but purchases primarily cover daily expenses at the monastery. The business funds food, utilities, medical bills, and education on-site.

Any gaps that are inherent in such a modest income have been overcome by the group's desire to create an expression of their faith. In line with this, Brother Isidore described a want to battle the apparent "cult of ugliness" that pervades modern culture.

"We have lost the understanding that humans are composite beings, made body and soul in God's likeness, and that the natural world around us does influence our soul. Beauty is an attribute of God and reflects Him. So shouldn't the churches we build for Him be beautiful?"

The monks took design elements from Gothic structures across the world, particularly from Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. At the same time, the window tracery was described as Bohemian Gothic, the vaulting is English Gothic, and the spires are inspired by German architecture.

Photo by Carmelite Gothic

When asked about the positives of living and working in such a remote area in Wyoming — about seven miles from the nearest neighbor — Brother Isidore described the architecture and wilderness of God's creation as the perfect backdrop for the monks' primary work: a continual act of worship and praising God.

At the same time, though, the mountains of Wyoming "aren't exactly gentle, and the remoteness and weather certainly introduce many challenges in the construction of the monastery."

While not many were familiar with Catholic monks, any initial concerns the locals had (reported previously as possible environmental disturbances) have since faded away, the representative said.

Still, other than Wyoming weather, it seems the monks don't have much, if any, outside interference in their mission.

"The locals saw there was nothing to worry about. I think many don't even realize this monastery exists."

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Pete Hegseth charts a course to reclaim military strength and purpose



In a striking speech this week, Secretary Pete Hegseth — now head of the newly renamed Department of War — addressed a rare gathering of top military officials in Quantico, Virginia. He laid out his vision for reform and announced directives aimed at restoring the fighting spirit of the U.S. armed forces.

Hegseth began by explaining why the Department of Defense has once again become the Department of War. “To ensure peace, we must prepare for war,” he said, reviving the older and more honest title abandoned in 1948.

Circumstances change, and tactics must adapt. But adaptation should always sharpen lethality, not serve social experiments.

That explanation drew from the Roman writer Vegetius, who coined the maxim si vis pacem, para bellum — if you want peace, prepare for war. But Hegseth’s reasoning also echoes St. Augustine, the Christian bishop whose writings helped shape just war theory.

In a letter written in 418 A.D. to the Roman general Boniface, Augustine commended the nobility of military service. He reminded him — and us — that the proper object of war is peace.

“Peace should be the object of your desire,” Augustine wrote. “War should be waged only as a necessity, and waged only that God may by it deliver men from the necessity and preserve them in peace. For peace is not sought in order to the kindling of war, but war is waged in order that peace may be obtained.”

He concluded with a hard truth for every soldier: “Let necessity, therefore, and not your will, slay the enemy who fights against you.”

Peace through strength

Though peace may be war’s ultimate goal, necessity requires militaries to pursue their purpose without hesitation: engage and destroy the enemy. Only with that assurance can a nation’s people live free and fully.

That is the mission Hegseth intends to restore. “From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war, and preparing to win,” he said Tuesday.

In practice, that means reversing the U.S. military’s long drift toward an agenda of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” This ideology, a hybrid of HR jargon and academic postmodernism, demands that “marginalized” groups be elevated into power regardless of merit.

Corporate America and universities may tolerate such illusions. The military cannot. A fighting force depends on unity and unflinching standards, not favoritism. When leaders promote based on identity instead of ability, when they lower fitness thresholds or soften training to accommodate politics, they weaken the institution tasked with defending the nation.

Even basic training, once the crucible that broke down civilians and forged soldiers, has been watered down. Risk aversion replaces rigor. Cosmetic rules are relaxed. Officers signal more concern with optics than with readiness. None of this produces warriors.

If the United States wants to remain the premier fighting force in the world, those trends must end. The alternative is a military built for press releases and photo ops, not for victory.

Two north stars

To begin reversing these trends, Hegseth offered two simple tests for every new policy: the “1990 test” and the “E-6 test.”

The 1990 test asks: What were the military standards in 1990, and if they changed, why? That baseline matters. Since then — arguably even earlier — political agendas crept in and steadily displaced common-sense practices. Policies that once kept the force lethal and focused have been diluted or discarded.

Hegseth acknowledged that modern battlefields evolve. Circumstances change, and tactics must adapt. But adaptation should always sharpen lethality, not serve social experiments. Policies that weaken cohesion or cater to fashionable causes betray the mission.

By holding today’s standards up against those of 1990, the military can begin identifying what was lost — and whether those losses made the force deadlier or merely more compliant with political fashions. The answer, in most cases, is obvious.

RELATED: Hegseth declares war on woke military policies: ‘We are done with that s**t’

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Image

The E-6 test asks a blunt question: Will this policy make the job of an E-6 easier or harder?

In the Army, an E-6 is a staff sergeant. In the infantry, that usually means a squad leader. A squad is the smallest real tactical unit — second only to the four-man fire team. It’s the squad leader who carries the burden of leadership where it matters most: training, maintenance, discipline, and, in combat, life-or-death decisions under fire.

So the E-6 test forces policymakers to think from the ground up. Will a new directive help the staff sergeant lead his squad more effectively, hold his soldiers accountable, and keep them lethal? Or will it mire him in distractions, paperwork, and politically driven nonsense?

In other words, the test measures policy by its effect on the sharp end of the spear. If it makes the staff sergeant’s mission harder, the policy has failed before it begins.

Long-overdue change

For too long, Washington has imposed policies without regard for the men who actually lead soldiers in the field. Often those policies made their jobs harder, not easier. The simple discipline of asking whether a change helps or hinders an E-6 restores the right focus: The military exists to fight and win wars. Nothing else.

War will never be pleasant, but it remains necessary. Peace and human flourishing require strength — an armed force capable of deterring aggressors and defeating enemies who would sow chaos and fear. That is the first duty of government: to ensure the military is as lethal and effective as possible in defense of the people.

Hegseth understands this. His reforms strip away the distractions of ideology and return attention to standards, readiness, and the hard truths of combat. As he reminded his audience, paraphrasing G.K. Chesterton, true soldiers fight not because they hate what is in front of them, but because they love what’s behind them.

That truth, often forgotten in recent decades, is the cornerstone of a warrior ethos worth rebuilding — an ethos that can win wars, safeguard peace, and keep the republic secure.

Gospel singer Dennis Quaid details his journey from drugs to Jesus: 'I lean on God'



Dennis Quaid has long been a familiar face in Hollywood, starring in hits and cult classics such as "Traffic," "Parent Trap," and "Innerspace." While he continues to appear on celluloid, lately he has also been mounting stages to sing God's praises.

Shortly after releasing his gospel record "Fallen" in June 2023 — which landed in the top 15 on Billboard's Top 200 Christian/Gospel chart — Quaid provided BlazeTV's "Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey" incredible insights into his renewal of faith and road back to an intimate relationship with God.

Quaid, a 69-year-old Houston native, recently expounded on some details of his spiritual revival while promoting a new television special, telling the Christian Post how after a period of disillusionment with his inherited Baptist faith, he "started asking questions that didn't have answers."

The Emmy Award-winning actor apparently looked to the Orient in search of understanding, consulting the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Bhagavad Gita, as well as the Quran. Evidently, he was left unsatisfied.

Quaid revisited the Bible, but he remained spiritually obstinate.

"I read the Bible cover to cover as well, back then, and I got hung up in the Old Testament, how violent it was. God seemed like a punishing God back then to me," Quaid told the Post. "A lot of it just didn't make sense."

Rather than embrace what then appeared to be an omniscient disciplinarian, the actor apparently turned to pleasure and lawlessness, experimenting with drugs. The road well traveled left Quaid addicted to cocaine.

In 2002, the New York Times characterized this period of Quaid's life as his "decade in the Hollywood wilderness."

Quaid hinted at the seed of a return to faith at the time, telling the paper, "Mostly, I was mad at God, you know? Why was I in this predicament? I knew it was all my own fault, but at the same time I wasn't thinking straight. I was caught in a place, living a life that I didn't want to live but couldn't escape."

When speaking last year to Allie Beth Stuckey, Quaid recalled his realization at the time: "I saw myself as either dead or in jail or losing everything I had ... so, I did get myself straight with that, but that still didn't fill the hole that was there — in fact, it was a very deep hole after that."

The actor recently underscored to ChristianHeadlines that to get out of this hole, he had to once again crack open the Bible.

"I got clean in 1990 of cocaine, and I read the Bible again. I'd read it as a kid, and I read it again. And this time, I was really struck by the red words of Jesus," said the actor. "And that's really what started, I think, what I've been looking for all along — and which, you know, my mother told me and other people [told me], but I never really understood, which is having a personal relationship with Jesus. And, of course, that has grown over the years. But I never really understood it until then."

"I lean on God. I talk to Him every day," added Quaid. "I talk to God about problems. ... And gratitude for the blessings that I have."

Quaid made expressly clear that drugs could never satisfy and comfort the way that faith does.

"Everybody has that [void] — they try to fill that with relationships or with drugs or with money or with whatever it is, you know, our heart's desire," said Quaid. "What we're really looking for is to fill that ... God-sized hole."

Quaid told the Post that after reading the Bible through multiple times, he is now particularly fond of the book of Ecclesiastes for its insights into life and morality. The Gospel of John, however, appears to be the actor's favorite biblical text, not least because it underscores Christ is the Logos.

"I think John brings together physics and the Spirit and explains it in a timeless way," said Quaid. "He points to a bigger truth that we have no words for."

Extra to the DVD special for his gospel album, the prayerful actor is set to appear in "Reagan," a feature film about the 40th U.S. president, which will reportedly hit theaters in late August.

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Toby Keith shares update on his battle with stomach cancer, revealing what's kept him going: 'He's been riding shotgun with me'



Country music legend Toby Keith announced in June 2022 that he was battling stomach cancer and had been undergoing chemotherapy for several months.

"So far, so good," he reassured fans, noting that he needed time "to breathe."

Ahead of receiving the Country Icon Award at the inaugural People's Choice Country Awards on Thursday, the 62-year-old Oklahoma native indicated how he purposed some of those precious breaths.

"I lean on my faith, and I just pray," he told Fox News Digital. "You gotta do what you gotta do, and I don't know how people do it without faith. ... That's that what I did."

Keith emphasized that throughout his battle, faith "was [his] rock."

Upon being presented the award Thursday night by fellow country star and Christian Blake Shelton, Keith joked, "I bet y'all never thought you would see me in skinny jeans."

While he made sure to thank his family, fans, and collaborators, he singled out his creator, saying, "I want to thank the Almighty for allowing me to be here tonight. He's been riding shotgun with me for a little while."

the man, the myth, the LEGEND. @tobykeith is your 2023 @peopleschoice country icon! \ud83e\udd29 watch the #PCCAs now on NBC and @peacock.
— NBC Entertainment (@NBC Entertainment) 1695949842

He appears to have an edge in his battle with cancer, telling E! News, "I feel pretty good. ... It's a little bit of a roller coaster. You get good days and, you know, you're up and down, up and gown [sic]. It's always zero to 60 and 60 to zero but I feel good today."

In June, the musician revealed to the Oklahoman that his tumor had shrunk by a third and that everything was "in a real positive trend."

At the award show, Keith played "Don't Let the Old Man In" from Clint Eastwood's 2018 film "The Mule" before an audience of misty eyes.

Concerning his choice of song, Keith told NBC, "Coming back on TV for the first time and performing live in front of a live audience, I thought it was fitting."

Keith sings in the song, "When he rides up on his horse,/ And you feel that cold, bitter wind, / Look out your window and smile. / Don't let the old man in."

Keith noted he looks forward to return to performing in the fall if "everything goes good."

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Oliver Anthony blows Joe Rogan away with the profundity of Scripture, explains how centering his life on God changed his life for the better



Breakout country music star Oliver Anthony blew Joe Rogan away this week with the profundity of scriptural insights several millennia old while detailing how centering his existence on God changed his life for the better.

Anthony, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, went viral with not one but several songs earlier this month, skyrocketing from obscurity to the top of various music charts internationally. His hit "Rich Men North of Richmond" remains in the top ten for various Apple Music categories, including "Top Songs" and "Top 100: Global," and continues to hold the top position both on the iTunes chart and the Billboard Hot 100.

In an Aug. 17 Facebook post, Anthony indicated he had dropped out of high school at age 17 and worked "multiple plant jobs in Western NC, [his] last being at the paper mill in McDowell county" where he "worked 3rd shift, 6 days a week for $14.50 an hour in a living hell."

The 31-year-old recalled fracturing his skull in a "bad fall at work," which forced him to return home to Virginia.

After rehabilitating, he spent years working various blue-collar jobs in the Carolinas and Virginia, ultimately acquiring some land and moving into a 27' camper he reported purchasing for $750 on Craigslist.

The overnight country star, whose first paid gig happened to be his show just weeks ago at Morris Farm in Currituck County, North Carolina, has spoken openly about his bout with depression, drinking, and drug abuse, as well as what raised him from the depths.

Anthony explained on the Thursday episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" that he had been "in a really just f***ed-up place," stressing he uses that that word "with discretion" but that in this case, it was an apt descriptor.

In was in that particular state of mind, body, and soul that Anthony indicated he "found a lot of peace from this book," referencing the Bible on the table between him and Rogan, though it was not always so.

Anthony recalled having attended church growing up, but being put off of what he perceived to be "a lot of theatrics and a lot of politics."

Rogan pressed the musician on the nature of his spiritual reawakening, asking, "What was like the day you picked it up? What was the feeling you had? Like, what caused you to act? What was it like when you did it?"

"I had been reading [the Bible] here and there, off and on, and I had ... off and on for a long time, like, 'cause again, I was introduced to it as a kid," said Anthony, who has taken to reading Scripture during his recent shows.

However, upon being taken to the emergency room with a stinging sense of mortality, what had apparently been lurking in the background came to dominate Anthony's thoughts and heart.

"I went to the ER for everything that was going on. I mean I thought I was seriously going to die. Like I was having shooting pains up under my jaw, down in my wrist, in my leg. ... Just cardiovascular 101 symptoms," said Anthony. "I remember being in the truck after that ... and I just, yeah, just had a breakdown moment. I was just crying."

Anthony continued, "I just felt hopeless like almost the way a child feels hopeless when, you know, you can't find your parent or something, like a 4-year-old that can't find his parents or something. I was just like, didn't have anything left in me."

The 31-year-old indicated he turned to the one parent who can never be lost.

"I just decided like, right then and there, I was like, 'I can't do this any more,'" continued Anthony. "'But I know ... there's things I need to do.' And I just — I just told God, I was like, 'Just let me do it.'"

In the bargain he then made with God, Anthony recalled promising to "give all this sh** up" and telling the Almighty, "'I'll give up the weed and I'll quit getting drunk and I'll quit being so angry about things.'"

Anthony told Rogan he had further asked God for a blank slate and to "start over again," making "Him the focus and not me."

Accordingly, the country star said he has since sought to discard his ego and everything he was, working instead to center his life on God.

To this end, Anthony indicated that rather than the ostensibly dominant Epicurean mode of thinking, in which people slavishly serve the desires of the flesh, he has instead sought to serve God.

"I quit worrying about me and I started worrying about what it is I'm supposed to do," Anthony told Rogan. "It talks in the Bible about ... being a servant and, you know, giving up — I guess — my desire and my will and whatever it is that I want to do. I don't know the best way to describe it, but it's about trying to use what I have as a tool versus doing what I can in the moment to give myself whatever satisfaction that it is I'm trying to get."

This thinking might account in part for why the musician has reportedly turned down at least one multimillion-dollar record deal.

While Anthony acknowledged that many people faithlessly strive after things greater than themselves, he indicated much of this ends up being mundane idolatry.

"I think inherently all human beings idolize something," said Anthony. "It talks in the Bible about false idols. We all have false idols. Like whether it's our phone or its a celebrity or it's something we do or it's our addiction to food or drugs or whatever. ... There's always something above us, right? Because we're always in pursuit of something bigger than whatever it is in that moment. And I think for me it was just about taking everything else, all the distractions and all the other things in my life, away."

"It's just about trying to ... make God and the concept of what it is that He wants done on this earth my idol versus anything else," added Anthony. "We all serve some master, whether we realize it or not, so why not let it be the master that is above all?"

Joe Rogan often has self-help gurus, dieticians, and motivational speakers on his show who share the fashionable insights of the day. Anthony instead appealed to insights several millennia old, quoting from Proverbs 4:20:

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free from perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Rogan appeared taken aback, responding, "That's pretty f***ing profound."

Anthony stressed, "The whole book of Proverbs is like that. Like it's not preachy, it's not what you think. ... It's like good guidance you would want a father to give to his son."

— (@)

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