Episode Transcript
Speaker 2 00:00:07 Well, hey, Brian Phillips here with you today on the Grays Ops podcast. It's really an honor to, to have with me, uh, in the studio here. Uh, Darren Bailey, who became a great friend over the last, uh, couple years as he was running for governor for the state of Illinois, and me, along with, you know, I don't know how many tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people really believed that you'd be our next governor, um, really believed it was from the Lord. And, uh, I still believe that <laugh>, so I, I feel like something else went wrong, not God, you know? So, uh, and people can debate that, whatever, you know, but it's just my sentiment to you. When I first met Darren, he, uh, we, we, uh, the first time I ever saw Darren Bailey, he was, uh, down by the Lincoln Memorial in Springfield, Illinois.
Speaker 2 00:00:51 And I had just finished doing some kind of speech I was asked to do at this during covid opening days of Covid when the governor was getting crazy on shutting us all down. And I just remember looking over, I got done with the mic talk, and I was standing up there where everybody's gonna talk. And I was like, Darren Bailey, I read it on your, uh, the side of your, your, uh, your vehicle. You know? And so I, I kind of, uh, that's where I got to, to know you. And so how you doing, Darren, welcome to IOP's podcast. And
Speaker 1 00:01:19 Now I thank you your friendship. I thank you for your support. I thank you for your work that you're doing, and, and, uh, you know, you are right. I, we went into, uh, we went into, uh, there November 8th, uh, into Springfield that morning. We were at a, a train state, two train stations in Chicago, and people were just coming up to us. We had a, had a gentleman with us campaigning with us that, uh, went there every day, every, every Tuesday morning he had been going there. He was a real estate developer in Chicago, and he's been running for Congress for like 12 years, or 12, 12, uh, cycles. And that's when he said, he says, Darren, I've, I've never seen this before. People were coming. They knew who we were. We didn't have any Bailey stuff on. I voted for you. I'm gonna vote for you.
Speaker 1 00:01:59 Thank you. God bless you. Yeah. So we come to Springfield and we just, uh, you know, we know, we know Victory's imminent, and, and, and that's the feel and the pulse that we got. And Yeah, totally. And, you know, yeah, there's a lot of things that, uh, you know, went wrong, obviously. But at the end of the day, you know, we, we know God can do whatever he wants to do with, with, you know, whatever he has, he he can do it. And, um, <laugh> it took us a little bit, you know, to decipher this, if you, well, it took us, you know, that next morning we were just, uh, and that's, man, that's the beauty of being rooted in Christ and, and having this relationship because you just, you have, you trust and you know that whatever the outcome, it's, it's okay cuz God's got it. And, but it wasn't until I, I still, what happened, God, because yeah,
Speaker 2 00:02:44 No doubt, man. We all felt that way. <laugh>, we all
Speaker 1 00:02:47 Felt that way. We, we knew data, our, our numbers told us that if we had a 60, a 60 plus percent voter turnout, that, uh, the numbers would be in our favor. And the reality was only 45% of registered voters showed up. So, you know, I knew that those are the facts. And, and, and, and Pritzker spent 35 million collecting 650,000 of the 800,000 mail-in votes that came in. So, you know, those are the facts. And it wasn't, uh, a few days later, and I, I look in the scripture up, and I didn't find it in time. I think it's in the Exodus or or Leviticus, about the, uh, when, when Moses, you know, was on top of the mountain, uh, for, for 40 days. Yeah. And can you imagine just the, the, the awe of that time? And then towards the end of that, uh, God said, hate those people down there are revolting.
Speaker 1 00:03:33 They, 40 days, 40 days, they lost focus, lost track. And, and at the end of the day, I think that's what we've got. We've gotta, you know, this republic, we've been told this, that, that, you know, I've given you a republic if you, if we can keep it. And, and just like a, just a healthy church, it entails the body, the people, you know, doing what they're called to do. And when we failed to do that, we suffer the consequences. And that's what we're living under, both ins, the state of Illinois and, and, uh, here in this nation. So I, you know, I'm not, no, I'm not whining. There's no excuses. It is what it is. And God's got something else in store for us, and I'm perfectly good with that. But, uh, I do think, uh, all the people who are listening that prayed, that supported, that voted that God out there, just God bless you.
Speaker 1 00:04:15 Um, and hopefully, you know, and, and God is using this testimony in, in, in, you know, two others, whether it's a, a loss with health, a family relationship, job, financial, whatever, that, you know, it's okay. Pick yourself up. We live in the greatest country still, still to this day, still at this moment. Yeah. That the net world is ever known. And we serve a God who can do anything with nothing, and it's all right. And, and, uh, move ahead and keep forging forward. Yeah. And he'll put you in the place where it is that he ultimately wants you and needs you.
Speaker 2 00:04:46 Well, and you're totally right with that. You know, like, you really have, you know, when you, when you lost, it was like, I don't know, the way you just, you put always, you always put such a good, uh, hard for God out there, you know, the way you present things. So originally when I was introducing you, I, I saw you move, and I didn't hear a sound. So I got concerned about if your mic was working. And that kind of stopped short of my, uh, you know, we were, I met you a year later in an airport up in Papa Grove and asked you about, you know, why do you think you could win? And I don't know, just hearing you talk, I just, you know, cause I'm not, I don't claim to be Republican or Democrat, you know, all that kind of stuff. I mean, obviously I lean way more on the conservative side.
Speaker 2 00:05:26 I'm definitely that, definitely that. But you know, it is just nowadays it's like, I just feel like, I feel like so many politicians are just failing us and not even caring and just using the system. But then here comes you. And while I don't like everything Trump does in his, uh, you know, at least in the news media that I see or whatever, I don't like some of the, uh, stances or the aggression he takes in certain type of posting and stuff. But I really thought he was an awesome president, and I really like him, uh, overall, you know, and I, I love to have him back as a president. And that's hard for people to identify with Trump. You know, I know a lot of our local leaders, politicians, um, they kind of distanced themselves from Trump. And, uh, they were doing that with you, you know, and you weren't distancing yourself from Trump. Trump endorsed you. And, um, why is it so hard? You know? Cause like today we're looking for warrior types, disruptor types, um, constitutional men and women, you know, the type of politicians we should have. And you're definitely that. Do you see that growing? Do you see that category you're in growing? Or how hard is it to be in that category?
Speaker 1 00:06:31 Well, that's, you know, the world is, uh, in our nation and our state and our communities are void of leadership. And I think that's what you lend with a grace ops. I think that's what you lend, uh, you know, with the church and your family. We are a void of leadership. So when your void of leadership, you know, people don't know what direction to go. I, I, I, I, I like you, I, uh, you know, I, I call myself a a Christian conservative, but the reality is the Republican platform, we've got the answers. I just, I just, I, I plead with people I go to, uh, just Google the Republican platform and look it up. The answers are there. But the reality is that, uh, you know, back with Ben Franklin when he said, we've given you a republic, if you can keep it, I've been doing a lot of things with the public school or a private, uh, schools with Illinois Family Institute recently.
Speaker 1 00:07:18 And I ran across a quote from President Lincoln in the 1860s. And he, and he said that, uh, this is in 1860s, he said, our future is dependent on what our children are learning in our classrooms today. And it's interesting that a hundred years later, the 1960s, there arises this person named Saul Linsky. And he wrote this really simple read, it's called A Rules for Radicals. And it's a very depressing read. Matter of fact, the book itself listed in the book is dedicated to Lucifer. And, uh, but the reality is that, uh, he taught at the University of Chicago, and two people, uh, studied under him, two people named, uh, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And when you read this, uh, one of his sayings were, uh, you know, was, was, you know, we've gotta, that we've got to take the classrooms. If we take the school classroom, there's like 18 rules or something like that.
Speaker 1 00:08:12 And one of 'em was taking over education. So the, the problem is that we are flirting. Our nation is not, we are, or they are flirting with this socialist Marxist mentality. You know, you, you, you take from the rich, you give 'em to the poor. Uh, you don't, you don't. Why should you have to work so hard? You know, this socialism, everybody's the same communism, it's in common. And we really are where, you know, they, they've been, they've been working with this for, you know, at least a hundred years now, and then, and probably more. And so when you, uh, I, I, I, I think it was Thomas Jefferson, I'll throw out another quote out there. Thomas Jefferson said, when the populace, when the, when the, the American people, uh, figure out that they can vote themselves entitlements that democracy will fail. And that means you're, you know, you're voting for people who are just going to give you stuff, you know?
Speaker 1 00:09:03 So that's what, that's what the problem is. Um, we are in this day and age when this, uh, socialist Marxist movement has gained some serious traction. So, so we look at it and like, well, gosh, the Democrats are in control and they're just, uh, giving out, you know, giving people stuff. It's our tax money. And, uh, how are we gonna get elected? Well, we need to water down our message. So how dare Trump stand up and say, uh, Darren Bailey, you're not gonna give an inch on life shame on you. You're not gonna get elected. You've got to give. And as, as a matter of fact, uh, uh, last week, Tony McCombie, the Republican, uh, uh, minority leader in the house was, uh, was with a group of Democrats speaking. And she admitted, she said, well, nobody in my caucus, nobody in the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives for the state of Illinois, uh, you know, agrees with me on this. They're all staunch, uh, pro-life, uh, members, every one of them. But she said, not me. She said, I believe that, uh, you know, I would support, you know, a pro-choice candidate in the suburbs. Cause that's the only way we're going to win. So, Brian, that's the problem, is this compromise. People look at President Trump and they, they, uh, they, I mean, look what this man did under the, had adversity of four years. Um, I
Speaker 2 00:10:13 Know <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:10:14 Got things done. I mean, and he's a business person, much like myself. I despise politics. I wouldn't, I fought and kicked, didn't wanna get into it. But then you,
Speaker 2 00:10:23 You actually wanna show up and work.
Speaker 1 00:10:24 Yes. Four children and 12 grandchildren. We've gotta, we've just gotta stop this nonsense. So to your original point, we gotta, whatever your, wherever the, whoever's listening on the other end of this, wherever your work, your church, your family, your, you're on a school board. If you're on a community ward, whatever you are, stand on your principles. I'm telling you the world, yeah. They are hungry for true, genuine leadership. And to your point, I've been blessed to have a, a couple of, uh, brief conversations with President Trump, but anywhere from two Yeah. Talk,
Speaker 2 00:10:55 Talk about that. You last, what, the last two or three weeks you've been down to Florida twice. Like, that's, that's gotta feel pretty cool.
Speaker 1 00:11:01 It it, it was, it was cool. And, and I was com it was, I was completely blessed. Uh, during the two visits, there was probably at least five times when, uh, I was able to have a really brief conversation. Cuz you're there, he's in these meetings, high level meetings, all day long, lawyers, and hi. And, and people are coming in and out. And I don't know how the man does it, it really is pretty impressive. But, but where, uh, you know, there's other, I've involved with other, there, there's fundraisers, there's dinners and, and, and there's, and there's just a lot going on. And, and then when he comes to the, uh, when he comes to these, uh, it was been pretty awesome because I'll he'll, he'll see me, recognize me, get a shoutout. I've been able to kind of communicate with him what, uh, you know, what my, uh, directions are.
Speaker 1 00:11:43 But here's the deal. Uh, the man is genuine. Uh, I believe without a doubt, the man loves his wife. President Trump loves his children. President Trump loves his country. And I believe, without a doubt, that that is the sole reason that he is. Uh, you know, he, he, he, he'll say that, you know, he's been, he's been blessed to be as successful as he is. And he wants to give back. And when you're having a con conversation with him, and you don't see this very often, you can have a true conversation with him many times with some of the, some of the people who are running for office that are down there that I've been blessed to meet. You know, you'll, you'll be having a conversate. Go up to him, Hey, I'm Darren Bailey, nice to meet you. Good luck. And how's things going? And the whole time you're talking to him, they're, they're looking over your shoulder, Hey, I gotta go talk to this person.
Speaker 1 00:12:24 I'll be right back. And they never come back. I mean, that's just an instant. And even our local politicians, you, you sense that, you know who's genuinely real. I'm gonna tell you something. When you sense that, then, then I think that's God telling you something that, hey, maybe you better go find someone else to support. Or maybe he's calling you to be, to rise up out of that frustration and, and, and run. I, I believe the, uh, salvation of our country is dependent on Christian men and women and, and standing up drawing the line saying, I've had enough and I'm gonna do whatever it takes by the grace of God to fix my school, my library, my community, my state, or my country.
Speaker 2 00:13:05 Yeah. So do you, do you think that, I mean, cuz I hope that it would, but do you think that people like you and you know, are wired the same kind of thinking and framework of, of mind like Trump has? Are they on the uprising or do, are they, I mean, do you see that as a thing that's happening, or,
Speaker 1 00:13:24 Well, that's all dependent on the people. I mean, <laugh>, we, we, we work, there's, I'm gonna say a side, and I don't mean this arrogantly. I'm gonna say aside from President Trump's presidential campaigns, we saw how hard that man worked. I mean, many times being I, I, what is he, 74, 76 years old? And you, I look at like, how did that man, that's amazing what he's doing. And I'm going to say, aside from that, and I hear this a lot, that in across this country, no other campaign put in as much work hours or effort Wow. As, as our gubernatorial campaign. So people are hungry, and yes, people respect that, and people get in. We have, we have, we have a grassroots movement that I believe President Trump or any other organization is going to want to be interested in when they get serious about running, because we have that organization that exists, wonderful people, partnership.
Speaker 1 00:14:15 It's that, that have helped us, you know, along the way and, and we're inspired by our work. So yes, <laugh>, the possibility is there, but why did we just go through a consolidated election and only 13 to 15% of the people show up to vote, vote why on November 8th that only 45% of the registered people show up to vote? So the question is the same as what Moses was thinking when he came down, smashed the, uh, 10 Commandments and, and just said, what are we doing? So the question is, what are we doing? Are we, I I that I don't know, are the American people going to step up? Our people in Illinois, our people in your county going to step up and say, you know what? I've had it, I'm in for the fight. And like I said, we had some amazing warriors out there fighting, but we still came up short. So yes, people are hungry for true, genuine leadership. I have tons of people everywhere. I go, come pat me on the back, I'm right behind you. You know, and I'm like, and I tell him, said, I don't need you behind me. I need you beside me. You need, right, right. You need to be marching in unison. So
Speaker 2 00:15:18 We all need to be in the arena,
Speaker 1 00:15:20 A general reminder that, you know, whatever you can do, step up and do it. You know, and let's, let's press forward.
Speaker 2 00:15:26 Yeah, a hundred percent. Like, um, well, I think, you know, my prayer is that God's raising up more men like you, um, where we can all be in the arena together. Yes. I mean, I've had, in the recent days, I've had people say, well, you should consider doing something political. And I'm like, yeah, I've never done that before. But whoever knows, man, I might be like, have a story. Like one of my farmer friends, <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:15:47 Hey, listen, I'm gonna tell you, um, from the day that I was asked to serve as a deacon in 1992, I said, Nope, I got too much going on. My wife caught wind of it and said, Darren, what are you doing? Get your butt back there and you're, you need to be doing this. Uh, 1994, I got a phone call, uh, one evening and said, Hey, we've got a vacancy on our school board meeting and our, the boards, uh, want, wants me to call and ask if you'd fill out vacancy? Uh, no, no, I'm sorry. Thank you for thanking. And, you know, says, who is that that called these goofballs? Want me to run for schoolboard? Fill a vacancy? And you're wife. So I'm, I'm blessed to have such an amazing wife. And in 2017, I, um, you know, I, uh, I I I find out that my state representative voted for a 32% tax increase.
Speaker 1 00:16:32 And of course, I'm in, not involved in government whatsoever. 14 years earlier. And, and, uh, 2002 or three, Cindy and I helped him get elected. And then that's what we do. We pat these people on the back, Hey, go get 'em. We send 'em to, to Springfield or Washington, and then we go back to doing what we're doing. But I got noisy on Facebook. Literally, you can, you can trail my personal page back to that day. You'll see I had 500 friends and, and I was just watching using Facebook to <laugh> children. And two weeks later I had 5,000 friends, you know, because then we turned and, and because of the, uh, because of the movement hearing, people didn't know, and it kind of, kind of, all of a sudden they started realizing, oh my gosh, I didn't know where this taking place. And that day came that people started saying, Hey Darren, why don't you, uh, why don't you run? I'm like, absolutely God. Like absolutely
Speaker 2 00:17:18 Not.
Speaker 1 00:17:19 Government don't. I'm
Speaker 2 00:17:20 Attracted to run <laugh>. Correct.
Speaker 1 00:17:22 It's those guys. So, but anyway, God, my wife was there to kind of spur me alone. And, and, uh, we, we pressed in, turned it over to God, prayed and fasted. And it's just like, I call it the Jonah syndrome. I went every which way, but, you know, and I kicked the whole way and I finally realized, ah, this is where he wants us at. So, wow. So no, I, uh, you get that, you get that urge, press and pray fast. And if you feel like God's calling you go for it. So,
Speaker 2 00:17:45 Well, that's the thing. I'm like, you know, my whole stance has been no, no, no, no way. You know, I, that'd have to be God. So, you know, even when I throw the idea around my wife, she's not, she's not excited about it. <laugh>, you know, so I don't,
Speaker 1 00:17:58 That's that's huge. That's huge. Your spouse, that that, and that's another problem. And many elected officials, that is the story. And if, if the, uh, if the spouse is, and, uh, it's gonna make your life miserable, number one, that's now God can change hearts. But number two, yeah. You know, I prayed years, a couple, about five years before I actually ran for office. I had people, I actually had two good friends come to my farm one day, five years, uh, be 2012. And they came and one of 'em was an elected official, and they sat down and then we, we had kind of some small conversation. I said, so what brings you guys here today? You know, and well, Darren, we're wanting Ashley, if you'd consider a running for office against, uh, you know, this guy. And, and <laugh>, we had already been talking for about 45 minutes. And I just stood up and I said, guys, here's the deal. I said, I just, you're always in, you're always invited here, but don't you ever come back here and insult me,
Speaker 2 00:18:52 Insult me,
Speaker 1 00:18:53 Politics, and no, they, they'll, they just kind of sat there. And I said, with that, I do have to go. I'm, I love you. Like I said, you're always invited, but we, that's, I gotta get back to work. And, and that was five years prior. And then, uh, like I said, so, so here's the deal, you know, sometimes God calls us. And, and that's so, so I did after that, I'm like, okay, uh, you know, God removed this guy and, and have people call me up and put me in that place. And now sometimes we've gotta step in, you know, just, can you imagine what Abraham thought whenever he got this, uh, you know, word that he needs to, uh, you know, uproot everything and, and move, you know, and, and, uh, just many other of our patriarchs that, that did amazing things on, you know, word from God and, and, and when, when there were much simpler solutions, but they had to step out in faith.
Speaker 1 00:19:45 And I just, I wanna challenge anyone listening, but whatever that looks like, if you're asked to serve in leadership at your church in two years Yeah. To have elections in for school boards and library boards later this fall, you've got the opportunity to get petitions and run for precinct committee person. One of the most important bedrock foundational. That's how we take the Republican party back. We run for precinct committee person, we start showing up at our, at our county board meetings. And then, and nine times outta 10, not always, but nine times outta 10, we see that the chair of the party, you know, they've been there forever and they like to be there because they have the badge of pah. And that that's our problem. We've gotta root them out of the way and start putting them in. Well,
Speaker 2 00:20:23 And it's, and then the more I've gotten to know you, and the more I, cuz I, you know, the more I'm starting to pay attention to things like the constitution and politicians and all that stuff, cuz Covid kind of awaken that in me. Yep. But, um, and I always was a patriot guy, but you know, up until Covid, I ne it never really bumped into me too hard. But yeah,
Speaker 1 00:20:39 I
Speaker 2 00:20:40 Agree. But you know, there like, you get one good politician and there's like layers of like, corruption of pe corrupt people around him, you know, and it's
Speaker 1 00:20:46 Like, right, how do
Speaker 2 00:20:47 You crack? How do you crack this thing? But, you know, um, just recently I was on your podcast, uh, the Darren Bailey show, and you can find that on YouTube. And I would encourage you to, uh, if you're listening, uh, or you know, go check out Darren's, uh, podcast. His is always videos, which is cool. I'm gonna try to be cool like that one day. We'll get there, <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:21:06 Cause I can't figure out
Speaker 2 00:21:07 Yeah. When I grow up, I wanna be like Darren. So, you know, um, <laugh>, um, even though we're on video here, but all, not all my podcasts are video, but yeah, it's really cool. It was an honor to be a guest, uh, with you there. And you, you really bring some good, uh, you know, maybe tell everybody a little bit about your podcast and what you, uh, your angle of what you're trying to accomplish there.
Speaker 1 00:21:26 Just education information and, and most importantly, empowerment. And it's interesting because this whole video platform with me, it took off. My birthday is on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. So you may remember the, uh, when I was, when I, I served as a state representative and, uh, served from, uh, 2019 and 2020. Served the same four, two years there as JB Pritzker. And my full intention was to, you know, term limit myself for 10 years and go back to the farm. Well, into that journey, uh, my senator stepped down and I was actively looking for someone to take his place. You know, like a true conservative when people said, Hey, services are senator cause we love what you're doing and you're representing, you're working, you're working hard. So, so I did and mm-hmm. <affirmative> and thought I'd term limit myself to 10 years as a senator I, and go on my way.
Speaker 1 00:22:15 And then, then this journey opened up with, within Covid happened and everything else went nuts. Well, on, on, um, in March, 2017, that was the primary, uh, when I was running for Senate. And that is the day a lot of people will remember when all the shutdowns and lockdowns, uh, took place. We actually had a, a big, uh, you know, we're gonna have a big watch party that night and we canceled it just because, you know, don't know what's going on here. Let's, let's kind of cool our jets and back off a little bit. Yeah. Two weeks to flatten the curb. <laugh>, well, also what happened for two weeks, you know? And so then it was my wife's idea again. She says, Darren, the month of April, you know, we're farmers. April showers bring me flowers the month of April. She said, I think you need to do, cuz I had already, I had been doing, uh, you know, frequent morning devotions getting on and kind of my Bailey da Daily Bailey, some people call 'em.
Speaker 1 00:23:06 And, and, uh, just informing people about what's going on in Springfield and empowering them and then sharing a devotion and praying with them. So she suggested that, uh, the whole every day at eight o'clock in the morning from April, that I, um, I get on and, and do a word of encouragement. You know, there was nothing going on in government and just encourage devotion and, and pray. So I, I reluctantly, I, I don't think I agreed to do that until the morning of April 1st and <laugh> that entire month of every day. And I'm gonna tell you what, it just, again, that was another round of explosion for, uh, you know, for, you know, recognition. So we did that and, and I still, still to this day, uh, people are, thank you so much, you know, for doing that. So, so that's where it started. And then, you know, after this, uh, after running for governor, you know, I'm not a, uh, a senator anymore. I had to choose because of the, uh, because of the remapping, the redistricting. And, uh, people there just seems to be there. You know, we, we've got a following. It's, we're just blessed.
Speaker 2 00:24:08 Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:24:09 So, you know, basically it's what's the, what do you want next? God? What are we doing? So as we continue to figure out where our path is next in government, we do believe, I'm not going back to the farm. I am, uh, staying entrenched. This is our mission field. But, uh, again, it was Cindy's idea, uh, with all these podcasts that I have used sometimes to guess, why don't you do something like this Darren and get the platform out there. So yeah. So that's, uh, that's, you know,
Speaker 2 00:24:32 You know what's cool about, uh, as I've gotten to know you and, and just, you know, we've spent a lot of hours talking and just conversing, but it's so cool you're bringing some of it up here. How spirit led this whole thing has been, you know, like, yeah, you do have a following. You did, ya are building out a platform, but you haven't followed like, you know, how to build a platform or how to market yourself. You know, you haven't followed these gimmicky things. You, it's been really cool cuz most of it's like Cindy, it, it's almost like the Holy Spirit uses Cindy. He,
Speaker 1 00:25:03 He does, does
Speaker 2 00:25:04 Drop an idea on you. Um, and actually as I've been spending more time with you, I've, I've been asking my wife like, uh, gimme one good idea right now <laugh> of what I should do to help Grace Softs. You know, like I'm just testing it out. I'm like, you know, cuz my wife's, she's, she's awesome, she's powerful and she's, she's a, I don't know, she's a force force to be reckoned with. But, um,
Speaker 1 00:25:25 I appreciate hearing that because my problem is I don't always recognize it. Cindy's telling me stuff all the time. Like, I'm not gonna do that <laugh>, I'm not, later the Holy Spirits hit me inside the head of the brick. Like, yeah, okay, alright.
Speaker 2 00:25:37 No, I just think it's cool about your story. It's like, you know, like you, you're not following some typical road and, and, and God has blessed you and he is gonna continue to bless you. And it's just, you know, you're just taking simple steps led by the Holy Spirit. And it, you know, that's really the essence of the Christian life. You know, we're supposed to be devoted to God and following his spirit. And it's just cool cuz these ideas actually manifested a lot of, uh, they brought forth a lot of fruit, you know? Yeah. And, uh, it's just, it's really cool that to uh, yeah.
Speaker 1 00:26:06 In politics and in government of all things. Imagine that. So Oh,
Speaker 2 00:26:09 I know. Yeah. And,
Speaker 1 00:26:10 And, and, you know, with that, and you're, you're, you're, the grove is fully awake. Oh, thank goodness. You're not fully woke. You're fully awake. <laugh>. And that's one of our, that's one of our goals is to wake the church up. And I'm telling you, the church across Illinois and across this nation is asleep if, and, and, and there are woke churches out there. And, and, and I truly believe that, you know, God's given us something that he has expectations for it. It is, you know, it was the church that, uh, you know, was gravely responsible for this constitutional republic. But, uh, we've, we've been lulled into complacency and, and until the
Speaker 2 00:26:44 Church, yeah. You know,
Speaker 1 00:26:45 Up, are we gonna take this back?
Speaker 2 00:26:47 During Covid, when I would bring up things like the Constitution, I, I actually had people leave my church. You know, people, it, it helped, uh, weed out some, yeah. Some people that it, they're either more liberal and agreed with that side or that thinking, or they were just not willing to be bold and to say things like that, you know? And, and I'm like, I would tell people, um, so the Constitution was a document that you think like these people, uh, fighting for their life, fighting for their freedom. They write, they write this document, and they would kiss it. I mean, I would, I would be like, yes, dude, we did this, you know, this is accomplished. And it would be like a sacred document. And, and nowadays we're just like throwing it in the trash can. We don't even know what it says. Uh, you know, we're, I don't know, like you said before, like they, they're taking our classrooms.
Speaker 2 00:27:33 Um, I wanted to bring something up because it goes along with this. I did, I'm a police chaplain and I did a, a, a ceremony yesterday with them swearing in a few more officers, and a couple of the officers got promoted, which was, was really awesome. It's cool to know these guys. And I wrote like a new little speech, which was three sentences. I get about two minutes to do a benediction. You know, so I say a couple things, I pray, and you know, the Lord on my, I was thinking about it on my drive to the location, and the Lord was like, it just flowed. It was like, I, I told my followers that they'd be like sheep among wolves. And I also prayed from my followers that God wouldn't remove them from this evil, from the wolf, but he would protect them in the midst of the wolf.
Speaker 2 00:28:21 Wow. And, uh, so I said that to the law enforcement and I said, uh, I said, and you're part of that protection, you know, you're part of that protection from God, you know, whether you see it that way or not, that's the way God's designed it. And so, uh, and I also said some things like, you know, when we create Gotham City, the wolves come out and that's kind of what we have. We have a Gotham City type, uh, circus at the, at the helm of this thing. And, uh, you know, and I, and I wanted to understand, um, and I talked about the constitution a little bit, you know, all just two or three minutes. And then I prayed for them and, and, and, uh, but you know, as I talked to officers afterwards and just kind of we're just chatting, I didn't really have an agenda.
Speaker 2 00:29:00 This mindset came up a lot, you know? Well, the pendulum always swings back. Like right now, it's not in our favor, the pendulum's way over there, but it always comes back, you know, and, and I've got people in my neighbor, my neighborhood that think that way. Um, and then it, when they start talking and they're calm, I'm like, well, maybe I'm just paranoid. Maybe I am weird <laugh>, you know, because I'm like, cuz I, I said, well, hey, I'm like an alarm that's going off. I'm sounding an alarm. And, uh, you hear it, you know, even when I'm doing a two minute benediction, there's an alarm going off in me. You know, it's like, wake up. You know, like, and you know, what do you do when you hear an alarm? You either don't want to hear it anymore or you do something about shutting it off and figure out what it's trying to tell you.
Speaker 2 00:29:41 But, uh, I don't know, this pendulum thing, you know, cause I had some conversation and I don't disrespect anybody that thinks that way. I tell 'em, I hope you're right. I said, but at some point in time, that cycle could break. And I go, as weak as our schools are. That's what I wanted to bring up to you. It's like, you know, cuz uh, cuz that's the mindset. Like, well, the pendulum's gonna swing back the other way. It's like, brother, everything's gonna be fine. And uh, but I was like, I don't know, what do you think about that? The pendulum? And, you know, cause I put on the table with them, I was like, but look at our schools. I'm like, they're, they're, they're literally dis demonically destroying the minds of the next generation. And, uh, you know why? One of the officers was like, well there's, there's no way they could enforce taking our guns from us.
Speaker 2 00:30:23 He was like, there's no, there's no entity out there that could enforce that. And I'm like, okay, well that's good to hear cuz I, you know more about that than I do. I said, but, um, but what, what, when, what, 10 more years from now, what about 15 more years from now? I go, what about when the next generation's so dependent on the government that, or what about if they removed the cash from our society and they can control all us anyway? I know I'm throwing a lot out there, but what do you think about this pendulum thing and what do you, how do,
Speaker 1 00:30:46 Heck, that's spot on. Because if you're saying that the pendulum, it's, it's gonna be okay. It, it's gonna, it's gonna, it'll come back. What, what are most people doing? You're waiting. If you're waiting on that pendulum to come back, you're waiting. And, and, and, you know, uh, that's the message that I hear from a lot of churches. You know, God, Jesus is coming back anytime and we know the end of the story. And yes, we do, but sometimes we mistake that for waiting. Everything's good. I'm a Christian. I'm, I'm, so, I'm gosh, thank goodness. So I'm just gonna kinda lay low and, and not get myself in too much trouble or anything that's gonna, so we wait and Jesus didn't tell us to stand and wait. He said, you are my hands. You are my feet. You are my voice. You have work to do while you are here. And I really truly believe that, uh, that, that, that, that conversation entices us to wait. And when we wait, what are we doing? We're just kind of standing around, you know, waiting for something we can't do that we live. Yeah. With expectancy, we work with expectancy. We are Americans with expectancy, and we got work to do. And,
Speaker 2 00:31:53 You know, the bottom,
Speaker 1 00:31:54 I truly believe that's caused that.
Speaker 2 00:31:56 The bottom line is this, there are demonic pressures coming against this culture. I mean, it's hitting the church, you know, you, and, and it, it's hidden. I I I say this all the time. It's coming to all of our front doors. Yeah. You're not gonna be able to turn away from this. I mean Right. The evil that's hitting our culture is, and, and when I look at the schools, right? Cause I was talking, you know, some of the follow up talks and dude, I still live in a county that's still, I think, pretty good. It's a pretty good, right? I mean, the police is good. There's not a high crime. We've got a mayor down of Belvedere that believes in, uh, a law and order. You know, I, but we're, but where I, I take a pulse on all this stuff and I can, I know that in our court system in Boone County, it's starting to tip a little more liberal, starting to tip a little bit.
Speaker 2 00:32:37 So once that tips more and more that way, if it does, hopefully it doesn't, but if it does tip more that way, um, it'll be harder for law enforcement. You know? And then all the guys, you know, I just feel like people are, that that whole pendulum mindset's so dangerous to me. Cuz it's like he is, it is. And, uh, you know, and, and the guy I was talking to totally respect him. Great. He's a friend of mine and he, you know, we, we were agreeing and disagreeing with each other and had a great conversation. But he, uh, you know, and he brought up really good talk points. But to me, it's just like the school thing. Um, the school thing is so dark. I mean, it is so demonic what's happening in our schools. And what really opened my eyes was, uh, this last school board election, you know, we were trying to help some get some the right people in. And I don't think that we didn't do that. We, it, it all failed. Um, but even the, the problem was even if the right person gets in, they may not be able to change anything.
Speaker 1 00:33:28 Right?
Speaker 2 00:33:29 So what do we do? I mean, I think, I don't know, it's hard because we say it all the time, but no one, we're not, we don't see it at all. It seems, it feels like, but we, the people can solve this problem, right?
Speaker 1 00:33:41 I think a lot of times people are afraid to be wrong. Uh, I think that's why.
Speaker 2 00:33:46 That's good. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:33:47 I have, that's one reason that this platform that I'm on has been elevated because I'm not afraid to be wrong. Send me back to the farm. It's okay. I'm gonna say it when I first, well, I really, I, I, you know, I, when I ran wrong,
Speaker 2 00:33:59 That's good.
Speaker 1 00:34:00 Yeah. When I ran against the, uh, this, the state rep who was a friend of mine, can I call him out? I said, we had this whole discussion, this just went on, this went on months before I decided to run or wanted to run. And I said, what are you doing? Oh, Darren, we've, we haven't had a budget and, and don't you know that people wanna budget? And I'm like, well, no, they, they don't want 32% tax increase. I do know that. And anyway, he went ahead and, and, and cast his vote like it was so, I mean, I was there to, to warn him and push back, but, and I'm sitting there thinking, well, dude, I don't know. Do people really want this? I could be wrong. What's gonna happen if I, you know, what happens when you sue JB Pritzger over Covid? What happens the next day? <laugh>, if the newspaper say millions of people died last night, because that's what people were telling us, you know? Yeah. Which
Speaker 2 00:34:43 Was absolutely insane. That was insane.
Speaker 1 00:34:45 I mean, you see, you, you, that's this platform that God has blessed us with. It's only elevated because I'll speak what I believe to be the truth. And, and, and many people, so if you're on, if you're that long school board member, start writing letters to the editor, start talking to your friends. Start telling guys, do you know that this is what's going on in our schools? Do you know, start elevating and don't be because you're, yes, you're going to get people, you're gonna go to that next board meeting and you're gonna have them look at you. They, they may even vote to censor you, but you're gonna have scoffers look at you and say, how dare you speak out against blah, blah, blah. But what did you do? I wanna read it. I love this verse outta second Timothy three verses one through five.
Speaker 1 00:35:33 We've been in the last days ever since Jesus, you know, assembled. And we know that. But you know, the, the, the subtitle, this is the dangers of the last day. Uh, Paul's writing to Timothy, you should know this Timothy to second, Timothy three. And and when I read this and, and so often come across this in scripture, I mean, I just, I take myself back 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, I can take myself back and I can think, gosh, has it, has it, has it gotten worse? And I think the answers are resounding, yes. You should know this Timothy that in the last days, hmm, there will be very difficult times. Well, you know, we know, um, you know, most of the apostles were, were, were killed. Jesus was crucified. Things were pretty rough under the Roman, you know, we, we know that.
Speaker 1 00:36:19 And they've been, they've been, the church has been persecuted. We know there's been rough days for people will love only themselves and their money. But then we fast forward to this day we're living in, and we just ask ourself, I don't think it was this bad 10 years ago, 20 years ago, they will be boastful and proud, scoffing that God disobedient to their parents and ungrateful, they will consider nothing sacred. Think about life in the womb. They will be unloving and unforgiving. They will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends. They will be reckless, they will be puffed up with pride and love, pleasure rather than God. Almost a historical lo of Christians in America today. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. And here's the key point in verse five. Stay away from people like that. I just, I don't know. I read that and I'm like, oh, okay. This thing's been in print for 2000 years and I don't know, <laugh>, it's, it's always been bad. No, no. We're, we're there and, uh, we got work to do.
Speaker 2 00:37:32 Well, you know, a few more little things trickle in my head when you say, when you read that passage, cuz you know, you think of Romans one where God gives you, gives people over to the desires of their, their, you know, their flesh. And you know, part of that's kind of a form of judgment. And as much as we, I don't want to say this necessarily, but, uh, we kind of, we kind of deserve the leaders we get. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:37:54 Yeah. God get what if we, if we're not doing anything, we, we, we, we get, uh, what we read. So if you don't sow the seed, you're not gonna have a harvest. If you don't sow the seed, you get what you got, which is nothing. And it's worse than, than the harvest you would've had. So that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 00:38:09 Yeah. So, but at the same time, you know, I do, I'll be supporting Trump in the next election and, um, you know, it's, it just, it just is what it is. And I want to pray for, for him, pray for you. Um, it's been great having you on, uh, as a guest today. Um, did we cover everything? Good? You got anything
Speaker 1 00:38:29 We could talk for, for three hours if we wanted to? We'll, just, there's always more to talk about, but I, the end of the day men and I love what you're doing with Gray Softs, because men need to step up. Men get in your schools, your your kids in, in public schools. I maybe even even in a private Christian school, get in the school call the call the, they'll do a background check on you and say, Hey, I wanna, I wanna set my kids' classroom. There's a group out there, a national group called Watchdogs Dads of great students. And you, you go to your school however often you want to, and you can spend the day there. Like I said, they'll do a background check and they'll move you from classroom to classroom. And that's
Speaker 2 00:39:04 Cool. And
Speaker 1 00:39:05 I'm gonna tell you what, uh, when I did that in the past, our public school, you're getting loved on the whole time because these kids, kindergartens, they usually keep you in just in, in elementary and, and in the lower grades. These kids are so needy for love. And, uh, you're just out there and encouraging them on the playground, helping them read stories, helping them do your homework. Men get involved somewhere.
Speaker 2 00:39:26 Yeah, that's right. That's awesome. So, um, I like to pray for you, man. All right. Well Father, I thank you for Darren and thank you for Cindy. And we just lift them up to you. And thank you for this spirit led, um, testimony and story that you're building into designing and in very critical days of the Earth. Yes. Um, and Father, these days are, uh, everything hangs in the balance right now. Yes. And, and I can sense it and feel it deep, deep within. And Lord, we just pray for your will to be done. We pray for, uh, awakening in the hearts of people, uh, maybe from waiting for the pendulum to swing to more of a awakening the heart to your will, your way. Um, open our eyes to our sin. Open our eyes to our dullness. Yes. And Lord, we ask that you would, uh, cause repentance to stir among the land of, of the United States of America.
Speaker 2 00:40:18 Father, that judgment would start in the house of God and that it would spill into, uh, the hearts of people. Father, you're so amazing and awesome and everything that you want for us is so, it really is just simple and right and holy and beautiful. And, and we, it's, we struggle with it sometimes. Our flesh, our shame, our guilt, we struggle with it. So we just ask, Lord, that you would move across this land in a, in a way that would be like the great awakenings of Old Father, that you would really do something powerful in this land. And Lord, we trust you. You're sovereign and we know you. You've got the end times all mapped out. We don't have to figure that all, all that out. But Lord, while we're heading in that direction, whatever your timeline is, we pray for favor on Darren and Cindy and, and we pray for more.
Speaker 2 00:41:02 Um, and I use this word in a good way, but disruptors, yes. To, uh, to emerge and to, uh, to have a voice of, of uprightness and to take stances all across the landlord. So I'm asking you, father, to raise up 50 more Darrens Lord a hundred more across this land, um, that would take their, their stand in at the gates. Um, and they would be in conversation with their enemies, Lord, the enemy, your enemies, we love them. But Lord, you, you called us to be men who, uh, speak to them and don't back down from them. So we pray, father, for boldness to come across this land and we pray for your will to be done, even if it's not what we desire. In Jesus' name <laugh>. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:41:44 Amen. Well, thank you. You're sitting there praying and I'm thinking about the Old Testament story with, about Ahab and, and when he is got his, all of his people, you know, telling 'em that with the iron horns, yes, you're gonna win and you're gonna conquer and, and King Jeha fat, he's kinda like, but isn't there a man of God out there? But yeah, like he had scissor, there's this guy that he always prophesized trouble over me and we don't. Well, jeha fat said get him. You know, and, and so yes, a disruptor, one person, one person can make a difference. So God
Speaker 2 00:42:10 Bless you. Well, you know, I had this idea, cause I've been thinking about it for a while cuz I heard you say it cuz after I was on your, uh, podcast, I went back and listened to all your, all your episodes and really liked them. And, uh, it was fun, man. I was like, I just wanna get in tune with your podcast. I had a playing while I was working and stuff, but, uh, d did Darren Bailey disruption <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:42:31 Show.
Speaker 2 00:42:32 That could be your show, the disruption,
Speaker 1 00:42:34 An official title. So yeah,
Speaker 2 00:42:36 Like, yeah, like your intro could be like, I'm here to disrupt your day. We're here to disrupt you with this
Speaker 1 00:42:41 Pledge hammer breaking things. I like it.
Speaker 2 00:42:42 Could be, could be a good Yeah. You know, we'll have to see if Cindy approves of it. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:42:46 She, she'd love that.
Speaker 2 00:42:48 The Darren Bailey disruption or Darren the Disruptor. You could, you could, you know, you gotta play with it. And then you can maybe have like all these like, cartoon character character type figures and uhhuh, you know how those politicians, those things are hilarious.
Speaker 1 00:43:01 Let's work on that.
Speaker 2 00:43:02 That could be really funny. You know, so really, really, really just a good angle, you know, so well hey man, it was awesome having you here today. Um, we look forward to having you back and serving you in whatever capacity that we can.
Speaker 1 00:43:13 Thank you for what you're doing. God bless.
Speaker 2 00:43:15 All right guys, thanks for tuning in today. Until next time, live upright.
