On this episode of The War Room, Stephen K. and Ben Harnwell celebrate the end of the Christmas season and ring in the new year with a special guest, Dave Bratt. They talk about their favorite Christmas songs and what they hope to accomplish in 2020.
00:04:52.540I want to thank everybody associated with it.
00:04:54.540They wrapped up the year and we're starting off with talking about, as we always do on January 1st,
00:05:00.540do something a little different about the year ahead and kind of what the focus has to be and the energy has to be.
00:05:06.540I know a lot of people are still getting over last night.
00:05:10.540If you still go out and participate that way and enjoy some of the traditional go out and have a party and get to see folks and ring out the old and ring in the new.
00:06:00.540But yeah, I'm just looking forward to the new year, personal growth, just all the things we love.
00:06:06.540We look back on the on the past year and we just look forward to, you know, just renewing ourselves and our country and our families and the churches.
00:08:15.540What am I doing on this Earth that matters in the war room posse?
00:08:20.540I really don't need to preach to the choir there.
00:08:22.540But, you know, the one thing everyone here can do is spread this platform to your friends, because you as you've seen over the past week on the war room, we have major challenges all over the globe and more importantly, internally.
00:08:37.540And so, you know, just think, how has God put you?
00:08:41.540What gifts has God given you where you can make your difference and then encourage others?
00:08:48.540Right. That's what the church is, all different parts of the body working together.
00:08:52.540You say pray without ceasing is is your concept or what you're taught in your in the Presbyterian Church or your your your sector part of the Presbyterian Church.
00:09:05.540That is that the you're you're worshiping God throughout the day or is your work in your effort to move forward his plan as it as it's manifesting through you?
00:09:17.540Is is that is that your work and is that good enough?
00:09:27.540So, boy, there's a statement that puts us all in our place.
00:09:30.540But, yeah, no, you know, it just means to have your soul geared right, your consciousness, your soul, your heart all aligned toward God all day.
00:09:42.540Now, of course, no one does that. Right.
00:09:47.540And so everyone, of course, thinks about their own personal advancement and how you can make yourself look good and how to wear your tartan vest on TV and these kind of superficial things that don't matter.
00:09:57.540But, yeah, I mean, if I if I look back at my life, you know, Kierkegaard, I think, said you can see your your life in the past.
00:10:04.540You know, you look we're looking forward in the new year, but you can see the meaning of your life looking in the rearview mirror.
00:10:09.540Right. So you look back and I I was blessed with a great family, a mom and dad and the faith, good churches going there.
00:10:18.540I went to Hope College in Holland, Michigan, with a bunch of Dutch reformed theologian types, really good academic background, then worked in business a little bit, Arthur Anderson.
00:10:30.540But then I felt the call to seminary and then I went to my Ph.D. in economics.
00:10:34.540But all of that was linked toward the calling right toward what can I do?
00:10:38.540I worked at the World Bank while I was doing my Ph.D. to help the poorest of the poor.
00:10:43.540And so, you know, you just got to what does God want you to?
00:10:46.540You got to. No one else can answer that for you. Right.
00:10:48.540When I talk to kids going to the Career Center here at Liberty, you have to know what what God what, you know, I don't hear anything.
00:10:56.540I don't hear anything direct in my tradition.
00:10:58.540There's no I don't hear the direct voice of God.
00:11:15.540But you got to put yourself into that into that faith stance every day.
00:11:21.540The your Dutch reform. I think you've told me that before.
00:11:27.540You know, there was a movie. I don't know if you ever see George C. Scott in George C. Scott.
00:11:31.540There's a movie about the Dutch reform up in Michigan.
00:11:34.540The movie Hardcore. Did you ever see George C. Scott?
00:11:37.540Probably. Now that you say it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:40.540It was it was that they position the Dutch reformed as quite a dour people.
00:11:46.540It was the whole thing of the kid running away, the young daughter running away to California and bad times befell her.
00:11:54.540I don't give away the plot, but it's it starts with the Dutch reformed up in Michigan as being a particularly dour group.
00:12:01.540I don't think the Bratz are dour people, though. Right. You're you. You come out.
00:12:05.540You come at things with a very life affirming. Dave Bratz got a twinkle in his eye, as they say.
00:12:11.540Yeah. Talk to me about how was your I tell you what.
00:12:15.540What we're going to do is we've got beautiful music.
00:12:19.540One of the reasons I love doing these specials over the Christmas season.
00:12:22.540Our team here goes out of the way to make sure that we get fantastic, fantastic music that takes us in and out from different sources.
00:12:30.540I think we have a different version. We're going to play different versions of Auld Lang Syne, which happens to be one of my one of my favorite songs.
00:12:36.540So we're going to have a different version from one of the choral societies in the 50s.
00:12:40.540Let's go ahead out. We'll be back. You got Ben Harnwell and Stephen K. Bannon here and Dave Bratz.
00:12:47.540For Auld Lang Syne, my dear. For Auld Lang Syne, my dear. For Auld Lang Syne.
00:13:13.540We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne.
00:13:29.540We're King cover the AC 함, we hope that you're singingไร.
00:13:31.540We released a cup of a different kind, invoice of a different song.
00:13:39.540We do have heard a cup of having succeeded, but thekrit� track falls, the sons of Leund Lang Syne.
00:13:44.540We've fallen early, our weary foot seen no Laumort lang Syne.
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00:20:35.980I think we've done this the last couple of years. That's one of my favorite segments of the worm. So right there you saw that's a Japanese vocal star.
00:21:05.960Recording star that was inspired to do that and somebody was inspired to lay that on top of a really a not a trailer, but a two or three minute compilation of scenes from Waterloo Bridge. Why is this important? Well, if you if you they don't make them like they used to three years in a row.
00:21:27.460That's Vivian Lee the star Vivian Lee made Gone with the Wind with Clark Gable as everybody knows she plays girl over here. She then made a war film.
00:21:36.960As England was getting ready to go to war is already I guess in the war after 1939 called Waterloo Bridge. She plays a tragic lover of Robert Taylor.
00:21:46.760And a magnificent film but after Gone with the Wind this film was shot in black and white, but it is a it's a love story a very powerful discussion about war in Waterloo Bridge.
00:21:59.760Then she made I think one of my all-time favorites that Hamilton woman, but the tragic nature of the of the affair of Lady Emma Hamilton and of course my hero growing up as a kid Lord Horatio Nelson played by Sir Lawrence Olivier who was her husband at the time.
00:22:17.760She shot that in a row and of course this film is a very controversial film because later it was there was almost going to have an investigation about about how Churchill and MI6 had used as I say propaganda propaganda tool to actually get the United States on the side of England in World War two.
00:22:35.760But if you ever get a chance to see all three of them you'll see Vivian Lee at her height of her power in the late 1930s early 1940s as a magnificent I mean no comparison to Vivian Lee at the top of her game Gone with the Wind with Clark Gable Waterloo Bridge with Robert Taylor.
00:22:54.940Robert Taylor maybe not as well known today but was a huge star back in the back in the late 30s 40s and 50s and of course that Hamilton woman with Sir Lawrence Olivier and so if you got any time over a holiday weekend the last two shot in black and white remember that's after the magnificent what technicolor shooting that took so long for Gone with the Wind everything's in this a magnificent color even today so much more vibrant than most films as you see it made in 19
00:23:24.520in 1939 actually probably made in 1938 and 1939 Dave Brett and Dave Brett we have pulled from the files and we'll play later a film is about to about to know about the Dutch it's George C. Scott in one of I think George C. Scott's best I think it's his best role he had post post Patton was the movie Hardcore about the about Calvinist Dutch reform up in Michigan and it's
00:23:54.520fantastic Brat are you much of a note we got hard yeah go ahead yeah yeah on that note the dower on the dower note of course my dad was raised in a dower household coming out of the Great Depression so you know that there's a little bit of that going on as well historically but morally safer did a thing a while back it seems like yesterday was 2008 he he wanted to take in-depth look at the happiest people on earth which were the Danish and they after you know
00:24:24.040regressing on all the normal variables you know like income and all these kind of things they and they showed to people on the subway the Danes on the subway they look pretty dour they're all looking at their feet they're not smiling they're not you know young social designers like we got today and they said what's the main reason why the Danes are the happiest people on the earth in international comparisons for years and the answer is because they have the lowest expectations
00:24:51.040and so there's your right you know I don't push that on everybody but it's kind of a humorous right
00:24:56.240they're happy because they exceed their expectations right so that's a that's a clever little way to think about happiness
00:25:04.580Brad you've always got to bounce on your step though for coming and I always tease you about the because the Presbyterians are from the south
00:25:14.560the American south you know that Stonewall Jackson and so many of so many of our great generals
00:25:19.240uh in the uh in the confederate army during the civil war uh were Presbyterian they kind of came from that uh
00:25:25.820that hearty stock and I always give you uh I always give you a hard time that you've got that upbeat
00:25:30.680personality that's the uh Jordan C. Scott in the movie has got the Stonewall Jackson personality right
00:25:36.760he's not giving you he's not giving you he's not giving you a warm fuzzy at any time yeah um I admire those types
00:25:44.380go ahead go ahead no I admire those types those are the ones you look at the historical clips
00:25:49.660you just showed that that clip you show and I'm surprised it's not outlawed it's got a handsome
00:25:54.480man and a beautiful woman in it and I mean that that's stunning you compare that to modern social
00:26:00.540media and I wish we could go back to the great films there's one good guy's film this year f1 came
00:26:07.560out and it was like a rocky film I went to the gym the next morning and wanted to do push-ups and
00:26:12.420everything and uh they're just missing and so
00:26:15.180got bratt motivated by the way on waterloo bridge let me give you a heads up when you see this film
00:26:23.180this film is a very hard film I mean the the film look gone with the winds I think a tough film uh
00:26:29.160waterloo bridge a very tough film and that hamilton woman is an extremely tough film they didn't put any
00:26:35.320punches on this and the uh in waterloo bridge when you watch it's about vivian lee's a ballerina uh in
00:26:41.900london but it the what happens during her journey with this war hero played by robert taylor I think
00:26:48.480he's a colonel uh is totally unexpected you you will not anticipate uh the middle of the film and
00:26:55.000the end of the film with the beginning because back then I think they realized that adults can handle
00:26:59.800adult topics and you don't have to do it in a sleazy or perverted way but uh vivian lee just absolutely
00:27:06.380incredible anyway um let's hang uh I got my favorite segment of the year we do it right at
00:27:11.040the top of the show ben harnwell he's a little under the weather we're gonna find out is that
00:27:15.480from a new year's eve party or is he just under the weather and uh dave bratz with us we're gonna
00:27:21.040leave you with the pipes my favorite song it's new year's day it's one january in the year of our
00:27:26.640floor 2026 we're gonna take a short break be back in the warm in just a moment