What happens when faith collides with politics, economics, and questions about authority?

What starts as a casual chat about hockey fandom and Canadian rivalries quickly opens the door to something bigger: the tension between government power, personal freedom, and what the Bible actually teaches about authority. I’m joined by Alin Armstrong (Pastor Coin), who focuses on helping the church understand Bitcoin and why it matters for the future of money and freedom.

I wrestle with questions many believers are asking right now. Verses like Romans 13 are often used to argue that Christians must submit to the state, but what happens when government actions start crossing into areas many people believe belong to the church or to individual conscience?

We connect those questions to Bitcoin, free markets, and the argument that decentralization may lead to stronger and healthier societies than centralized control. Along the way, the story of the Tower of Babel raises a deeper issue: why humans repeatedly build systems of power that place authority in human hands instead of God’s.

If you’ve been thinking about the intersection of Christian theology, government authority, Bitcoin, and decentralization, this episode raises questions that may challenge how you see all of it.

You’ll Learn:

[00:00] Introduction

[08:26] Why pastors are becoming more politically engaged, and what the Bible actually says about it

[17:12] The biblical origin of centralized government, from Babel to Israel's kings to the gospel

[31:17] Romans 13 as a slavery text, and why "maximize Jesus, minimize Caesar" is the biblical

[47:20] Biblical entertainment, the rise of shows like House of David, and whether Christians should make better art

[55:13] How studying Bitcoin led a pastor to Scripture, fiat debt, sin, and who actually bears the guilt

[01:08:43] Why denominational labels have lost their meaning, and what "Jesus Maximalist" replaces them with

[01:14:46] Mary as the second Eve, the Genesis 3 thread that runs all the way to the cross

[01:25:47] Applying "minimize Caesar" to diet, homeschooling, and food sovereignty

[01:32:54] Biblical archeology, Sodom's sulfur, the Book of Enoch, and the Giant of Kandahar

[01:41:31] Cold Case Christianity, why the resurrection is the only question that matters

Find more from Alin Armstrong (Pastor Coin):

Pastor Coin | X

Alin Armstrong | Website

The Bible and Bitcoin by Alin Armstrong | Book

Find more from Adam O’Brien:

Adam O’Brien | X

Adam O’Brien | Instagram

Adam O’Brien | Spotify

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Do we have proof that angels and demons exist?

Roberto Rios, a macro thinker and Bitcoiner, joins me to connect central banking, elite corruption, and what he believes is the spiritual dimension behind power itself.

We move from macroeconomics and investing into the darker implications of the Epstein files, blackmail networks, and systemic compromise. The conversation challenges the idea that corruption is random, suggesting instead that centralized institutions (financial, political, and cultural) may reflect deeper forces at work.

Questions of spiritual warfare, free will, and demonic influence surface as we examine why power structures persist and why reform often fails. Material explanations alone may not fully account for the patterns we see in global finance and governance.

Bitcoin is about more than money. It's about power, control, and the spiritual forces behind them.

You’ll Learn:

[00:00] Introduction

[17:12] Carnivore diet, oxalate inflammation, and why modern produce is nothing like ancient food

[33:07] Bitcoiners, Christianity, and whether atheism requires more faith than theism

[40:30] Epstein's Baal bank account, satanic ritual in the files, and elites summoning demonic power

[43:40] Demons feed off human emotion, every deal backfires, and elites keep making them anyway

[50:57] Epstein's blackmail ring, Trump's compromise, and CERN as evidence of coordinated elite capture

[55:54] Three true stories of demonic influence

[01:06:59] Island exile over prison, capital punishment, and calvinism

[01:26:20] God-given curiosity, a TB genome that stumped PhDs, and how The Big Short changed everything

[01:35:29] Roberto's case for holding gold and silver, the utility theory of value, and paper markets suppressing Bitcoin's price

[01:51:16] China's silver rush, the Shanghai premium, and the next Fed easing cycle as Bitcoin's catalyst

Related The Adam O’Brien Show Episodes:

Is It Really Bitcoin?? How To Evaluate Bitcoin Treasury Companies | YouTube

Resources Mentioned:

Plant Free MD | Podcast

Find more from Roberto Rios:

Peruvian Bull | X

Peruvian Bull | YouTube

The Dollar Endgame| Book

The Dollar Endgame | Substack

Find more from Adam O’Brien:

Adam O’Brien | X

Adam O’Brien | Instagram

Adam O’Brien | Spotify

Stay connected with Adam’s latest insights by following along on all social platforms.

Bitcoin might be less about money and more about time.

In this episode, I’m joined by Scott Dedels, Co-Founder of Block Rewards and author of The Dao of Bitcoin. Scott blends hands-on experience in Bitcoin infrastructure with a deeper exploration of how time, value, and decentralization shape the systems we live in.

We dig into how blockchain technology and Bitcoin challenge the way modern society measures and monetizes time, and what that means for the future of finance. Scott reframes debt as monetized future value and inflation as a devaluation of the past, positioning money as a temporal instrument rather than just currency.

Drawing from his own experience navigating cryptocurrency, including the Terra Luna collapse, he explains why he sees Bitcoin’s energy-based structure as fundamentally different from other digital assets.

If you’re interested in decentralization, financial sovereignty, and the bigger ideas behind Bitcoin, this conversation goes well beyond market headlines.

You’ll Learn:

[00:00] Introduction

[06:46] Pizzagate, YouTube censorship, and the moment Scott stopped trusting what he was shown

[11:57] Clock time, accelerationism, and how Bitcoin enables cathedral thinking again

[24:13] Governments as self-serving organisms, and the anomalies in recorded history that don't add up

[36:47] From Saturn to the moon landing: the full story of how time, history, and technology have been altered

[57:13] Satanic imagery in mainstream media, the theological framework for who holds the keys, and the devil's limited playbook

[01:02:25] The Bible as an edited document, the omitted books, and the free will vs. predestination tension

[01:11:28] The brain's tape delay, block universe theory, and the idea that consciousness might be God

[01:34:16] AI compressing time infinitely, and Bitcoin's low time preference as the only real cognitive anchor

[01:36:16] Scott's daily practice: no TV, physical books only, and retraining a dopamine-fried brain

Resources:

The User Illusion by Tor Norretranders | Book

The Dao of Bitcoin by Scott Dedels | Book or Audiobook

Find more from Scott Dedels:

Lantern Bitcoin | X

Lantern Bitcoin | Website

Scott Dedels | LinkedIn

Find more from Adam O’Brien:

Adam O’Brien | X

Adam O’Brien | Instagram

Adam O’Brien | Spotify

Stay connected with Adam’s latest insights by following along on all social platforms.