Dr. Garlow on "The Colbert Report" | Upcoming Brazilian Election | Florida Battleground

October 5th, 2022

Jim Garlow with Stephen Colbert

STEPHEN COLBERT OF THE COLBERT REPORT – 10 YEARS AGO
A decade-old picture of Stephen Colbert and me popped up on Facebook on Sunday. It brought back many memories. Actually good memories.

Ten years ago, I was invited to be on “The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert.” An attorney-friend advised me not to go on the show. About a dozen of my intercessor friends and I happened to be meeting in Philadelphia at the time when I had to make the decision whether to accept or decline the offer to appear on the show. My (late) wife and the intercessors said, “We have your back. We are praying. Go on the show.” I did.

Although Colbert loved making fun of conservatives, he was once a funny and creative comedian. (In contrast, I don’t think he is at all funny since taking over “The Late Show.” I never watch him anymore.) While at “The Colbert Report,” Colbert was very courteous to me in the Green Room before the show. Once on the air, he mocked me in his typical comedic way.

You need to know what it was like to go on his show in New York City back in 2012. First of all, the crowd was in a stadium venue with very steep slopes. They were peering down on you. Secondly, the extremely loud rock music really hyped the crowd. If felt more like a Roman stadium gladiator event than a typical TV studio interview. The crowd is “hungry” for the proverbial “blood.”

The guests stood over to the side of the steep stadium seating. The producer told me in a loud voice over the blaring music, “At a set time, we are going to put this chair on the platform and you will have only have a few seconds to be in the chair as the camera will be on you.” I said, “Okay.”

Apparently not impressed with my response, the producer repeated it, with emphasis, “We are going to put this chair on the platform and you only have a few seconds to be in the chair as the camera will be on you.” I nodded my head and said “I understand.”

But apparently I was still not responding satisfactorily or perhaps the producer was trying to intimidate me by "pushing some buttons." For reasons I am not sure, she repeated with higher volume over the loud music, “We are going to put this chair on the platform and you only have a few seconds to be in the chair as the camera will be on you.” This time, I responded louder, “I got it. I got it.”

As the show began the loud music subsided, but the sound of the crowd did not. They were roaring with excitement that Stephen Colbert was on the stage. The show had started. Colbert’s opening lines were hilarious. The crowd loved him and they let him know it with cheers of approval and laughter and clapping.

Then, he started his mocking introduction of me. The chair in which I was to sit was suddenly whisked the 20 or so feet to the stage. I walked as fast as I could – almost ran – to get there, stepped up on the stage, and quickly sat down, a second or two before the camera was on me. And that’s how it began. I admit it: My heart was pounding. There was no chance to “settle in” to the environment.

At the beginning, the crowd was clearly against me. However, I appreciated the fact that Colbert did allow me to speak. But you had to think fast and speak quickly. Finally, well into the interview, I challenged him to “come speak at my church” (for an evening seminar). He gave an excuse why he could not come. I challenged him to change his schedule to allow him to come.

The audience, which had been against me, suddenly softened, and saw that, while I was willing to come into “his arena,” he would not accept the challenge to come into “my arena.” The “atmosphere” of the packed studio seemed to immediately shift, to become much more accepting of me at that moment.

More of the backstory: In the Green Room after the show, I once again invited him to come for an evening event at my church. He said, "If I come to your church, I would tell the people to 'not believe what you preach.'" I responded, "Fine, come tell them that!" I called his bluff. He knew it. He did not want to come.

I do need to say that we did have a very cordial time together. He was courteous. He was not rude at all. I really enjoyed my time with him. And he seemed to respect me and enjoy his time with me. In fact, his producer said to me, “He wants to have you come back on.”

I thought you might enjoy seeing this brief interview and hearing the backstory. My reason for including it is not merely remembering what happened 10 years ago – October 2, 2012 – but to encourage you not to fear to go into the proverbial ”lion’s den.” We won’t all be on “The Colbert Report,” but each of you have opportunities to speak truth into what may seem to be semi-hostile environments on a daily basis. We don’t have to be angry and belligerent. But we can be magnetic and winsome. And we can be bold. I encourage us all to do exactly that.

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

Jim and Rosemary with Yair Bolsonaro

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT YAIR BOLSONARO
In an wonderful, unexpected blessing, the corrupt and previously-jailed socialist candidate for the Brazilian presidency, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (known as Lula), did not have the strong showing that pollsters predicted. The pollsters said that Lula would be 10-15% points ahead of Bolsonaro, thus securing the needed majority of 50% plus one vote. But that did not occur in Sunday’s election, which was almost viewed as a defeat for Lula.

Lula secured only 48% of the vote, not the needed, predicted, and highly-anticipated majority, while the current president, Yair Bolsonaro, received 43%, meaning there will be a runoff election in a month. In a team led by Mario Bramnick and the Latino Coalition for Israel, we had the privilege of meeting twice with President Yair Bolsonaro in Brazil on two occasions. He is known as “the Trump of the Tropics.”

Contrary to the constant attacks from the media, leftists, and socialists, Bolsonaro has given Brazil remarkable, solid and, I would contend, Biblical leadership. He is a devout Catholic. His wife is an evangelical.

You might recall that he was stabbed when he ran for president the first time in 2018, and had to run his campaign from a hospital bed with his cell phone. Pray for President Bolsonaro. Read more about the Sunday, October 2nd elections here.

Byron and Erika Donalds

FLORIDA, FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES: 1) THE HURRICANE, AND 2) THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE
Sunday night, October 2nd, we had a profoundly illuminating call regarding both (part 1) the impact of the hurricane in Florida, as well as (part 2) the political landscape as we head into the November 8th election. Leading off the discussion was Erika Donalds, President and CEO of Optima Foundation, former member of the Florida Constitution Review Commission, and wife of Congressman Byron Donalds, followed by a group of highly informative speakers.
Watch the call here.