1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:27,720 This is Jimmy Internet. 2 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:28,720 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 3 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,080 Just a second. 4 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:31,080 Not Annette today. 5 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:32,080 Yep, that's right, folks. 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:38,800 Annette has actually been sick at home and she is in bed. 7 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,640 So I came up to the BCF studio just to do a podcast today. 8 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:48,360 We actually did shoot a video for our church, a welcome video where me as a lead pastor 9 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:53,680 did this video to welcome people to our church who click on this link type of thing. 10 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,640 So I thought, you know what, I'm up here. 11 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,920 In fact, Annette even said, you know, you should go ahead and do a podcast by yourself. 12 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:02,320 I'm like, by myself? 13 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,520 That's just weird because it's always Jimmy and Annette, not Jimmy or Annette. 14 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,200 And it's also our guest, Mr. Chevy. 15 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,480 So this is kind of a whole new vibe. 16 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:14,280 I'm up here by myself today. 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,640 But I did want to go ahead and come to you and first of all, wish you a very Merry Christmas. 18 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:21,360 Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. 19 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,080 We had a fantastic Christmas. 20 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:29,120 And by the way, my name is Jimmy Pruitt and my other half Annette is home in bed, hopefully 21 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:30,880 taking a nap this afternoon. 22 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,040 That was my orders when I left, but we'll see how that goes because she was up all night 23 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:36,040 coughing. 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,880 And so she said, hey, since you're going to be up the church shooting some film, go ahead 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,720 and do the podcast because let people know we're still alive. 26 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,920 And so, hey, we're still alive and kicking just barely. 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,940 I've gotten a lot of reports from other people who listen to the podcast, who've been sick 28 00:01:50,940 --> 00:01:56,000 and even one family, friends of ours in another state all got COVID. 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,360 I mean, over the holidays, you know, kind of a hyped up version of a cold. 30 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,720 So they're doing okay and recovering. 31 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,920 But my goodness, there's a lot of stuff going around right now. 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:07,320 But I want to welcome you to our podcast. 33 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,560 It's called Living Up in a Down World. 34 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:10,560 My name is Jimmy Pruitt. 35 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:15,400 I'm also a lead pastor of the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas. 36 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,760 And so I'm here in our new studio. 37 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:19,200 We just got it finished. 38 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:20,280 Well, almost finished. 39 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,500 We got some more soundproofing to do, which there's never enough of that unless you just 40 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:26,840 build a foam fort around you. 41 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,080 But anyway, I think it's sounding pretty good and we're getting there. 42 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,880 We'll see how the video came out today as well. 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,840 So anyway, it's just going to be me today. 44 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:36,720 So I wanted to bring some things to you. 45 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,080 This will be a shorter podcast than normal just because I wanted to make sure you knew 46 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,640 that we're still alive and we're okay. 47 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:47,240 So I'm calling this episode, How Low Can You Go? 48 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,240 And my answer to that is I can go solo. 49 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,540 That means I'm by myself. 50 00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:56,720 And so again, thanks for listening to the podcast and got some things I want to share 51 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:57,720 with you. 52 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:59,880 First of all, Annette, that's the big news. 53 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:05,160 She's been sick and fighting off this cold and this infection that's going on. 54 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:09,640 She's in the middle of a Z-Pak and hopefully we'll be on the backside of that soon and 55 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:12,840 be with me the next time we record. 56 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:18,040 One of the things I wanted to bring up and talk to you about is my one word for 2024. 57 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:24,400 A number of years ago, like everybody else, we used to do resolution lists. 58 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:30,640 I know I would try to come up with 10 each year and about honestly three weeks to a month 59 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:36,560 into it, I misplaced it or I put it in my Bible and couldn't find it or it just didn't 60 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:42,120 go well or I'd review it in a month or two or three and go, you know, that's really not. 61 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,280 And sometimes I just felt forced to come up with something. 62 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,800 And then a number of years ago, I heard about this thing called My One Word. 63 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:50,600 There's actually a website to it. 64 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,480 I don't know if it's still in existence or not, but it's been a few years ago. 65 00:03:55,480 --> 00:04:00,200 And what it is, you come up with a one word theme instead of trying to come up with 10 66 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:01,200 resolutions. 67 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,800 I think I've mentioned this on a prior podcast, but I wanted to review that with you because 68 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:11,200 it's kind of where I'm going this Sunday for the message at Bridge Church where I pastor. 69 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:15,600 And by the way, you can check out all of our sermons online and all of our resources online. 70 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:21,920 It's at the email or the web address is bridgefbg.com. 71 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,560 Check it out on that front landing page when you land there. 72 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,960 If you'll scroll down, you'll see where all of our messages and sermons and everything's 73 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:31,520 there for you. 74 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,480 And you can pull those up and look through them. 75 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,240 We even include the worship on the front end of it and then right into the message. 76 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,440 So be glad to have you jump on with that and check it out. 77 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:47,480 Also, you can find us, JimmyInnet, at livingupinadownworld.com. 78 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:48,480 That is our website. 79 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,440 One more time, livingupinadownworld.com. 80 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,680 I do a daily blog on there, which is my Godshot or my Devo that I've been writing for years 81 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:02,040 and years every morning, hot off the press, fresh in the morning. 82 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,640 It's the download I get for the morning. 83 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,740 And I've done this every day for 20 years. 84 00:05:06,740 --> 00:05:08,480 So I have several thousands of those. 85 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,760 Now on the website, we just started the website this last year and it just dawned on us just 86 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:14,920 a couple of days ago, isn't it? 87 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:16,300 And I were talking about the podcast. 88 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:21,360 We're coming up on one year, I think in January or February. 89 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,160 I think January, we started with our first podcast. 90 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,880 So it'd be interesting maybe to go back and review a little bit of the topics that we 91 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:31,700 started with a year ago. 92 00:05:31,700 --> 00:05:36,720 We were doing them every other week and then we decided to do it every week for a while. 93 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,720 Now, FYI, some of you have asked and even reached out to our friends, Adam and Tina 94 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,440 Curry of Curry and the Keeper, hey, what's going on with Jimmy and Ned? 95 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,440 They haven't had a podcast. 96 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,560 It didn't show up this week. 97 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,520 Well, part of the reason is because, A, and that was getting sick, but more so at that 98 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,920 point, we were extremely busy. 99 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:01,280 Just so you know, for pastors and teams and staffs of church, a lot of times if you're 100 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:06,600 in a little bit medium to a larger size church, it really could be any size church, Christmas 101 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,800 and Easter are kind of the Super Bowl Sundays for us. 102 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,040 And so a lot of work goes into those. 103 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:15,720 And so no different from us. 104 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:20,920 We were doing two full services on Christmas Eve and there's just a lot that goes into 105 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,560 that and a lot of intensity. 106 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:28,560 And then December, we looked up one day and our schedule somehow just all of a sudden 107 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:29,560 filled up. 108 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,800 And going into December, we were hoping, okay, maybe a couple of parties, meet with some 109 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:34,800 friends, have dinner. 110 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,880 It just seemed like as the month progressed, just more and more things. 111 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,040 Part of the reason for that is our church is growing, which is exciting. 112 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:47,640 We're adding more staff and we're doing a lot of construction, build out things on our 113 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,720 building and that takes a lot of energy and time as well. 114 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:56,240 Onboarding new staff, stewarding our space and meeting with contractors. 115 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,240 It's just a lot going on. 116 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,760 So we were like, we've got to gain some margin because we looked up and almost every night, 117 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,560 every day and night was taken up for us. 118 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:07,520 And we don't typically roll like that. 119 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,860 As we've gotten older, we're like, okay, let's get some margin. 120 00:07:10,860 --> 00:07:14,840 So we decided to just go every other week and that was the plan and then Annette got 121 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:15,840 sick. 122 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,640 So that's why it's been more of an extended period than we would like. 123 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:20,980 And Annette said, please just do it today by yourself. 124 00:07:20,980 --> 00:07:23,400 That way people will know we're still alive. 125 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:24,400 We haven't gone anywhere. 126 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:25,400 We're coming back. 127 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,540 We're going to come back in 2024 stronger than ever. 128 00:07:27,540 --> 00:07:29,120 So back to my one word. 129 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:33,040 My one word for 2024 is the word engage. 130 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:38,120 And that came, there's a lot of reasons why I chose that word. 131 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:43,640 Now what I tend to do is about October, November, I start thinking about the new year a little 132 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:44,640 bit. 133 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,600 I'm starting to look out into the new year and I'm thinking about, you know, what would 134 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,920 be a good word to capture where I want to go for the next year? 135 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:54,680 And that's kind of how I do it as a theme. 136 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,760 Like what I'm projecting, almost prophesying, like where do I want to go? 137 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,920 I mean, what do I want to lean into? 138 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:04,560 And I'll pray about it and think about it. 139 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,480 Annette and I talk about it and kick it around. 140 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,360 A lot of times I'll come up with mine. 141 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:10,920 She'll come up with a word as well. 142 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,960 And then over the last two or three years, she decided, you know, every time you come 143 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,440 up with a word, it's really something I'm doing with you. 144 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,200 And it's something we're doing together. 145 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:25,160 Because like I always say, it's not Jimmy or Annette, it's always Jimmy and Annette, 146 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:26,720 except for today. 147 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,840 And so she tends to just adopt and will agree upon a word. 148 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:38,080 So when I was talking to her about what I was sensing and feeling about 2024, and I 149 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:43,040 came up with engage, and it's just this, for me, it's a mindset. 150 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:49,320 It's action oriented, but it's also a mindset and a mentality of not hesitating, not holding 151 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:57,280 back, not being silent, not being quiet, not being shy, but literally, whatever it is I'm 152 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:04,160 moving toward, instead of being hesitant, or having trepidation, or even fear in some 153 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:08,960 cases, my attitude is I'm going to go all in and I'm going to go straight for it, whatever 154 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,260 that is, and whatever it happens to be. 155 00:09:12,260 --> 00:09:15,280 And so that's my word for the new year, engage. 156 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,480 And what's interesting, as soon as I came up with that word, I wrote it in my journal, 157 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:25,200 shared it with some friends, it's like immediately I started doing it. 158 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:30,580 So there's something powerful about a word that's action oriented, that's compelling. 159 00:09:30,580 --> 00:09:32,720 And so I don't know if you've done a one word. 160 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,680 In fact, a lot of people have already come to me and said, yeah, I've got my one word. 161 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,200 In fact, Adam Curry wrote me, I think it was yesterday, we do a text back and forth every 162 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,460 morning, I send my God shot over to him, my daily Devo in the morning while he's drinking 163 00:09:44,460 --> 00:09:46,960 his coffee and getting his day going. 164 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,520 And he wrote back and said that his word is encourage. 165 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,480 And so he is an encourager, this will be easy for him. 166 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,560 He's already that on steroids. 167 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:58,780 So it'll be cool to watch him be more intentional. 168 00:09:58,780 --> 00:10:00,880 And really, that's what a my one word is about. 169 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:07,080 It's being intentional, and leaning in and leaning toward that theme that you choose. 170 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:12,640 So if you're interested in doing that, it sure beats doing resolutions, which I forget 171 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,200 are misplaced. 172 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:19,240 But every since we started the my one word, it has been really helpful for me to have 173 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:20,960 a one year theme. 174 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,560 And look, there's no hard fast rules, you may get into it for several months and something 175 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:29,840 else comes to you and you're like, wow, I really feel stronger about that than I did 176 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:30,840 that. 177 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:31,840 There's no rules. 178 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,480 I mean, this isn't it isn't a contest. 179 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,720 So you may come up on a word that you want to adopt and adapt right into your into your 180 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,440 my one word for the set the back half of the year or whatever. 181 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,000 Like I said, no hard rules, but it's just a way to kind of lean into something and be 182 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:46,000 intentional. 183 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,880 I like the idea of intentional living, living life on purpose. 184 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,840 In fact, one of the things I say to people a lot is have a good day on purpose, have 185 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:55,000 a great day on purpose. 186 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,120 I'll say that to the cashier or to the barista or whatever. 187 00:10:58,120 --> 00:10:59,840 Have a great day on purpose. 188 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,980 And I mean that be purposeful and be intentional. 189 00:11:02,980 --> 00:11:05,440 And so that's my one word engage. 190 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:06,840 And I hope you've got one. 191 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,320 And if you do share it with us, you can always go to our website, living up in a down world 192 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,080 dot com and you can write in it. 193 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,920 We have the contact box right there on the main page. 194 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,640 Actually, it's on every page and you can contact us. 195 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:22,760 And we love hearing from you, by the way, your feedback. 196 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,680 You have no idea how much that means to us. 197 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:29,740 I shared this a while back, but we went to a podcast conference this last year with Adam 198 00:11:29,740 --> 00:11:31,480 and Tina Curry. 199 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,680 And Adam received a lifetime achievement award as a podcaster, podcaster of the year. 200 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:37,200 I mean, it's really cool. 201 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:38,420 And he was the keynote speaker. 202 00:11:38,420 --> 00:11:42,380 So it was really fun riding along with them and hanging out. 203 00:11:42,380 --> 00:11:48,240 But what was interesting is that every person that took the stage to talk about podcasting, 204 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,640 whether they were they talked about different elements of it, you know, the technical side 205 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:56,960 of it, the the why behind the what side of it, the motive, why we do what we do. 206 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:58,400 It was really interesting. 207 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,500 All the speakers were great. 208 00:12:00,500 --> 00:12:05,460 Every one of them said the same thing at one point in and maybe a little different way. 209 00:12:05,460 --> 00:12:10,920 But it was basically this is that they have periods of time that they go through as podcasters 210 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,560 where they wonder, is anyone really listening? 211 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:18,600 And boy, and that and I hit that wall a couple of times. 212 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,280 Didn't know we would because I mean, it was our first year of podcasting. 213 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,720 And you know, when I'm preaching, I get instant feedback. 214 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,760 If you think about it, I'm standing up before, you know, on a given Sunday now around here, 215 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:31,960 about 500 plus people. 216 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,140 And so the 500 people give you feedback, good or bad. 217 00:12:35,140 --> 00:12:36,140 You're going to get feedback. 218 00:12:36,140 --> 00:12:39,100 You know, you're going to say, man, hey, stay on that. 219 00:12:39,100 --> 00:12:40,100 Bring out the book. 220 00:12:40,100 --> 00:12:43,240 I mean, it's just we have a vocal church and I liked it. 221 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,640 I love the interplay and the interaction. 222 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,780 I like the interactivity of a room where you're face to face with people. 223 00:12:49,780 --> 00:12:54,640 So speaking into a mic is a whole different ballgame, totally different ballgame. 224 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,280 And so, yeah, and I hit that wall a few times this last year. 225 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,920 We're like, gosh, is anyone really listening? 226 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:02,340 Well, listen, you can help us out by that. 227 00:13:02,340 --> 00:13:03,800 And you are so good at it, by the way. 228 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,160 I'm going to share some things here in just a few minutes of people that wrote in and 229 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,840 things that have been sent in just giving us feedback. 230 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,660 And it's so helpful because we want to help you. 231 00:13:15,660 --> 00:13:21,360 That's our heart, mine and Annette's heart and Mr. Chevy, by the way, our heart is to 232 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:22,360 help. 233 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,160 And so the reason we do this is because we want to help you. 234 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,520 And that doesn't mean we know more than you or we've got anything more figured out. 235 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,360 It's just sometimes we can bring a different perspective. 236 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:36,120 We're always going to come from a faith based perspective because that's who we are. 237 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:37,120 We're followers of Jesus. 238 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:38,120 We're unapologetic. 239 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,820 And speaking in terms of engage, we engage our faith full on. 240 00:13:42,820 --> 00:13:44,420 And so we're not quite about that. 241 00:13:44,420 --> 00:13:49,040 But we feel like if we come and give you a perspective that's from a biblical worldview 242 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:54,680 and a biblical point of view, it may help you in your life as you navigate the problems, 243 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:58,780 issues, difficulties and the complexities of this world and this life. 244 00:13:58,780 --> 00:14:00,540 And so we're here to help you. 245 00:14:00,540 --> 00:14:01,920 We're here to encourage you. 246 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:06,680 But it helps us to have feedback and feel free to float topics our way. 247 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:12,280 I mean, you can even just write us in and say, hey, have you thought about covering 248 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:17,320 this topic or what about this or what does it mean in the Bible to do this? 249 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,480 And many of you have written in and asked questions, which I always try to respond as 250 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,400 quickly as possible because we want to keep you engaged. 251 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:28,040 But give us feedback because it really helps us shape the show into something that will 252 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:32,080 help you and encourage you and build you up. 253 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:33,600 Well, here's another thing. 254 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:39,720 We actually, I'm clicking these off as I go through them again solo, but we finished our 255 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,880 office studio here at the church. 256 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,200 We're calling it BCS Studio. 257 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:45,200 Super excited about it. 258 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:46,400 I'm sitting in it right now. 259 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:47,600 It's Friday afternoon. 260 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,720 There's nobody here in the building. 261 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,800 And so it's just me and you. 262 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:58,360 And I'm looking around this room and just so, so thankful and so grateful that our people 263 00:14:58,360 --> 00:14:59,360 gave. 264 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:04,720 We did a lot of work and we actually gave up our offices during COVID. 265 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:05,720 We couldn't be here. 266 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:12,000 So our church was growing and we knew that we needed space for children's ministry. 267 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:17,480 And so where our offices were located, that whole wing was really perfect for children's 268 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,840 area and a big meeting room. 269 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:24,800 And so we gave that up so that they could have more space and it worked out great. 270 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,680 But ever since then, which now coming up on four years, right? 271 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:33,120 Starting in January, that'll be four years since that thing broke out. 272 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,040 We were officing with backpacks. 273 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,960 I mean, every one of us had a bag or a backpack that we carried and we'd all sit in one big 274 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,640 room during the day and without any privacy or phones or anything like that. 275 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:49,480 So it, and at first it was okay for a long time because we're like, Hey, it's all right. 276 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,140 It's just price you pay. 277 00:15:51,140 --> 00:15:56,840 But as we've been able to continue to build our building out, we found space and we were 278 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:01,840 able to reconfigure things so that it gave us some space to build out what I'm calling 279 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,160 a studio slash office or office slash studio. 280 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:09,120 And so this is where we'll be doing our podcasts from, we'll be doing our YouTube channel, 281 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:10,920 which is called Meet Pray Love. 282 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:16,360 And it's about the carnivore lifestyle and about a total life wellness approach, mind, 283 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:17,560 body, spirit. 284 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:19,800 So that's going to be happening right here. 285 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:24,840 In fact, I met with my tech engineer who is also my youngest daughter, Faith. 286 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,780 She's 23 and brilliant with all things digital. 287 00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:33,040 And so when we shot the video today, we were talking about what that looks like and ideas 288 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,080 of camera angles and various things like that. 289 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,240 So getting all of our gear together for that and we'll be doing that soon, maybe next week 290 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:44,480 is what I'm hoping to shoot our first real video with me and Annette. 291 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,080 So that's coming up as well. 292 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,240 But we're super excited that we're able to finish the office. 293 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:49,240 I'm going to post pictures. 294 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:54,880 Actually, I did in the last newsletter. 295 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:59,980 And if you haven't subscribed to our newsletter, go to our website and you could subscribe 296 00:16:59,980 --> 00:17:00,980 on there. 297 00:17:00,980 --> 00:17:02,920 Subscribe button on livingupinadoworld.com. 298 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,560 Click on that and I will add your name to the list. 299 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:09,840 And so once I get that, I put it right on there immediately and you'll start getting 300 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:10,840 that. 301 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,400 And those go out about a day before we do the next podcast. 302 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,080 And that's just a way to give you a heads up of what's coming. 303 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,920 Always like to give you some behind the scenes pictures and what's going on in our life. 304 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:25,320 And so anyway, that's before each podcast. 305 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,040 So anyway, studio's done. 306 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:28,720 I say done, almost done. 307 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:30,200 I did detect a little bit of echo. 308 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,160 So we're going to do some more soundproofing, but for the most part, it's done and we could 309 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:35,360 not be happier with it. 310 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,400 And this feels good to have space that's dedicated and kind of get it out of our house so we 311 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,500 can kind of have our work life balance back a little bit anyway. 312 00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:49,240 It's hard though, because we love what we do so much that it doesn't always feel like 313 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:50,240 work to us. 314 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,800 But anyway, so big things happening. 315 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:57,440 I was listening to Curry and the Keeper, their latest episode yesterday, Adam and Tina, and 316 00:17:57,440 --> 00:17:59,540 they were talking about the Tannenbaum Ball. 317 00:17:59,540 --> 00:18:04,240 That is a huge event here in Fredericksburg and it's an annual event. 318 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,600 It's always a Christmas orientated theme. 319 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:16,040 And it is actually to raise money for our museums here in town, the Pacific Museum of 320 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:17,520 the Pacific War. 321 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:23,040 Man, it is an amazing world class museum. 322 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:25,040 I mean, world class. 323 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:26,240 And I recently went through it. 324 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,120 In fact, Adam and I went through it together. 325 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:29,120 I'd never been. 326 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:30,120 He said, hey, let's do it. 327 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:34,880 So he and I took some few hours one day and we barely got through, we barely scratched 328 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,760 the surface of what all they have because there's so much there. 329 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:44,360 And so much, I was reminded of how bad my history classes were growing up in college 330 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:51,540 and in high school and middle school because there were so many wars and fights and battles 331 00:18:51,540 --> 00:18:56,560 and issues and things that I was completely unaware of. 332 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,020 So anyway, it's a brilliant thing. 333 00:18:58,020 --> 00:19:00,520 And so this is the annual fundraiser for that. 334 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:06,400 It's kind of the who's who of our community, Fredericksburg, Gillespie County here in Texas, 335 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:07,400 show up to that. 336 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:12,960 And I was blown away because half the place was people from our church that I didn't even 337 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,760 realize were a part of that or whatever. 338 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:17,440 So anyway, that was our first time to go. 339 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:18,880 We'll definitely go next year. 340 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,400 It was a phenomenal event. 341 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:27,480 Truly, truly, so many God conversations with people, not just people from my church. 342 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,400 Although there were a lot of people coming up to me and me and Adam are hanging out a 343 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:31,400 lot. 344 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:37,440 And in David, he talks about David, the ER doc, surgeon general, he goes to our church 345 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:38,440 as well. 346 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,680 We all hung out and spent time together. 347 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,920 And people kept coming up to me and saying, Hey, my name is so and so by the way, I go 348 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:45,120 to the bridge, I go to your church. 349 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:47,920 I'm like, Oh my gosh, I've never met you before. 350 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,360 And so it's kind of the hazards of growth. 351 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:51,720 Sometimes we're growing pretty fast. 352 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,800 So there's a lot of new people coming in. 353 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,880 So you don't always catch names or see faces. 354 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:02,080 And so anyway, and then I've started at the end of every service going out in our four 355 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:03,520 year and just meeting people. 356 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,320 It's like a it's like a mosh pit party out there. 357 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:07,560 That's really where the party is happening. 358 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,000 But we're just meeting people right and left and just having a blast with that. 359 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,000 But anyway, it was so cool being at this ball. 360 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,760 And a lot of the people that were there go to our church. 361 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,360 And it was like, this is our church outside the walls. 362 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:26,000 And it was beautiful to watch our people laughing and connecting and hanging out with other 363 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,120 people and enjoying good food and good music. 364 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:35,760 They had a crazy good band there from Austin that was killing it with Motown and all kinds 365 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:37,240 of full horn section. 366 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,400 I mean, these guys were amazing, amazingly talented. 367 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:47,280 And they did every kind of music from my past and growing up that you can imagine everything 368 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:54,320 from rock to to pop and Motown and rhythm and blues and just so cool, so cool and so 369 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:55,320 much fun. 370 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,640 And again, always so good hanging out with Adam, Tina. 371 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:03,560 And the weird part is we were not at the same table because they were a part of another 372 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:04,560 table. 373 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:05,720 We were invited by another table. 374 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,680 And so we were like, this is like not right. 375 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,480 We're not even at the same table. 376 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:11,480 What's up with that? 377 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,080 You know, so it felt kind of weird. 378 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,040 But anyway, well, we all end up hanging out anyway, because that's just what we do. 379 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:18,960 So that was an amazing event. 380 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:23,520 And then we had a sweet, sweet dinner with Gary and Maggie Cleansing. 381 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:28,320 And they own a restaurant here in town called Crossroads, which is an amazing steakhouse. 382 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:29,840 And they know they know we do meat. 383 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,200 And so we went out and had steak with them as the first time we got to hang out with 384 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:35,200 them. 385 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,400 And they're long term, long term Fredericksburg folks. 386 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,240 And they do a lot of builds and a lot of projects around Fredericksburg and really just continue 387 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,860 to bring the quality of life up here in Fredericksburg. 388 00:21:44,860 --> 00:21:49,000 And so hanging out with Gary, Maggie, and we went with one purpose and at night and 389 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,820 that was to listen. 390 00:21:50,820 --> 00:21:52,800 So often we're doing all the talking. 391 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,680 I'm doing it all the day, which just feels weird. 392 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,600 But we're doing all the talking. 393 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,200 And sometimes we don't get to hear other people's stories. 394 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,240 So we sat down. 395 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,140 The first thing we said to them is, hey, we want to hear your story. 396 00:22:05,140 --> 00:22:06,440 We want to hear about your life. 397 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,440 And oh my gosh, what a wild, wild adventure that was. 398 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:11,440 And we spent. 399 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:16,360 Have you ever been with people and you look up and it's three and a half hours later and 400 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:20,240 you're like, didn't even it felt like 15 minutes. 401 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,080 We were there for three and a half hours at their restaurant. 402 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:29,560 And it was so wild because time flew because we were just listening and they were telling 403 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,160 us these stories about their life. 404 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,560 It was so life giving and so enriching. 405 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:38,380 And so just a shout out to Gary and Maggie just for blessing us with a wonderful evening 406 00:22:38,380 --> 00:22:42,920 at Crossroads and also just a sweet time together with them. 407 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:48,120 And then also to a lot of our friends, the friends that provided the opportunity for 408 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:50,320 us to attend the Tanenbaum Ball. 409 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:54,720 Man, just we have such a great group of friends from the bridge. 410 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,800 And I'm afraid to name names because I'll forget somebody and leave somebody out. 411 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,760 But they really it was a joint effort for them to bless us with that evening. 412 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,960 And I just want to give a great shout out to all of them because there's just so much 413 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,040 love in that group. 414 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:14,360 And the girls call themselves the bridge posse, which is hilarious. 415 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:17,920 And they're just amazing, amazing group of ladies. 416 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:19,280 And they're the ones who put the ball on. 417 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,320 I mean, they're the one who put it all together. 418 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,600 So big shout out to them. 419 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,120 So I'm just going down the list here. 420 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:28,960 Christmas Eve services at the bridge. 421 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,480 Of course, like I said earlier is that, you know, it's the Super Bowl for us. 422 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:37,120 I mean, we always know we're going to have a lot of people that usually don't come to 423 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,160 church, come to a Christmas Eve service. 424 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:44,400 And we did our regular morning service times because Christmas Eve actually fell on Sunday 425 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:45,400 this year. 426 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,360 You know, every seven years it rotates and we'll get it in seven years again. 427 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:52,440 And so this year, this was the year for Christmas Eve. 428 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:57,720 So instead of doing Christmas Eve, Eve services, we kept our services at the same time in the 429 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,160 morning and it worked out great. 430 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,320 We had 600 people in attendance. 431 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,440 Which is more than normal. 432 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,220 We're typically about 500. 433 00:24:06,220 --> 00:24:10,080 So we saw a bunch of new people here and it was wonderful. 434 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,960 Our worship team was killer, kept it all, is very Christmas oriented. 435 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:16,480 And we had such a sweet time. 436 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,760 And I told the story and I've told it on here on the podcast of my brother getting hit by 437 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,800 a car during the Christmas holidays. 438 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,400 And just, we nearly lost him that year and it was a terrible tragedy because it was a 439 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:29,400 hit and run. 440 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,440 And so I told that story at length. 441 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,360 And so if you want to hear that story, if you're interested in that, because I mean, 442 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,600 it was a game changer for my family. 443 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,640 And it was really one of the first times anyone had really introduced me to Jesus Christ as 444 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:42,640 a 10, 11 year old kid. 445 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,360 I think it was 11. 446 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:49,760 And anyway, I told that story in detail and you can find that on our website from last 447 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,200 Sunday, either the 9 or the 10 45 a.m. service. 448 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,880 I told the same story in both services. 449 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,200 But we had a wonderful, wonderful time. 450 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:04,120 And I was so reminded on Christmas Eve being with our spiritual family, our church family, 451 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:09,120 how blessed we are to have community here in Fredericksburg, not just the community 452 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:14,840 of Fredericksburg, the city itself, but community, a community of faith and a community of people 453 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:20,880 who love each other and are trying to walk out their faith life everywhere they live 454 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,020 and where they work and where they play. 455 00:25:23,020 --> 00:25:25,200 And it was such a beautiful, beautiful time. 456 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,440 I was just reminded of the love that we have here. 457 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,680 And then on Christmas Day, talk about special. 458 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,480 We actually hung out with the Currys and they invited us over. 459 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,880 You know, we've been we've become family. 460 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,000 We're not just friends. 461 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:41,000 We're family. 462 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,800 And that's the good, the bad, the ugly. 463 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,800 We've all seen the good, bad, ugly of each of us. 464 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,800 And so and yet we're still best friends. 465 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:52,720 And that's what it's about is really learning to do life together, not just when it's great, 466 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,240 but when there's hard times, too. 467 00:25:54,240 --> 00:26:01,920 But we ended up having just a beautiful, beautiful afternoon and evening with Adam and Tina and 468 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:09,920 their daughter, Ellen and her boyfriend, Jesse, were in from Chicago and just just stunning, 469 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:10,920 beautiful young people. 470 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:17,820 And man, just the next gen where when I see young people like this, I think, my gosh, 471 00:26:17,820 --> 00:26:20,920 this is the next generation that's going to change the world. 472 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,800 They're going to make a difference and just both super sweet. 473 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:29,040 And Tina strategically placed me right in front of Ellen. 474 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:34,080 And so it was cool because I got to know her and she actually separated me and Adam because 475 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:35,760 she knew what would happen. 476 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,760 Me and Adam would get in a gab fest about God, the world and other things. 477 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,960 So that was very strategic, well played, Tina. 478 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,360 And so it was me and Ellen. 479 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:50,520 And so I just engaged Ellen and started talking to her and asking questions about what motivates 480 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:51,520 her. 481 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,120 She's involved in government and city government there in Chicago. 482 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:58,800 And man, you can imagine that's a battlefield in Chicago. 483 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:03,640 And so I was just curious about how she landed the job and what motivates her to do what 484 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:05,960 she does and what her future looks like. 485 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,200 And we had the greatest conversation. 486 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,640 And of course, I asked the golden question, which I've been asking everybody and I'm continuing 487 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,880 to do this everywhere I go is what are you thankful for? 488 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:18,400 What's the first thing comes to your head? 489 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,720 What the first thing off top of your head? 490 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:20,720 What are you thankful for? 491 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,720 And of course, that her and Jesse both had amazing things to say and beautiful things 492 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:32,440 to say and just just a lovely to use Tina's word, a lovely, lovely evening with people 493 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,720 that we love and care about. 494 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,640 And Phoebe was in great form. 495 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:37,920 She's doing fantastic. 496 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,680 That's their dog that had to go to boot camp because she almost bit my wife and that. 497 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:44,720 And so she's doing great. 498 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:50,920 So it was just one of those magical evenings to use a worldly term, but it was magical. 499 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,920 It was a beautiful, beautiful evening. 500 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,760 And we talked about God and we talked about the world and other things. 501 00:27:57,760 --> 00:27:59,440 And it was amazing. 502 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,080 And so, so thankful for our friendship with this precious family. 503 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:05,680 And there were some tears here and there. 504 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:11,120 Just our conversations just went very deep and very real and very authentic. 505 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:16,040 And that's what friends and family are for is that you can go there and just being able 506 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:24,080 to hear about Jesse and about Ellen's life and what they're doing and how they're living 507 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,800 and their young couple trying to make it, trying to figure it out. 508 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:33,640 And so, gosh, it was such a, such a special, special time and just so loved that family 509 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,680 and so thankful for them. 510 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:42,280 Now, one of the things I wanted to share and talk about is just how, as you lean into this 511 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:46,120 new year, what do you have a vision for the new year? 512 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:51,360 For years and being a pastor, people always expect pastors to have a vision, you know, 513 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:56,520 like go up on the mountain, meet with God, get some new stone tablets, come back down, 514 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:02,280 beard's white, hair's white, and you're carrying the stone tablets, you know, like Moses in 515 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,800 the movie The Teen Commandments, you know, Charlton Heston. 516 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:07,400 It doesn't really work like that. 517 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:13,000 Just so you know, we don't have a mountain to go up to and we've never received stone 518 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,000 tablets. 519 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,440 And so, we get our messages from God just like you do. 520 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:23,000 And that may be a trade secret right there is we don't have a red line to God. 521 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:28,160 We don't have a hot hot line or a red phone that you don't. 522 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:33,360 We get it the same way you do and it's getting up and giving your day to God and saying, 523 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:34,880 good morning, Holy Spirit. 524 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:36,360 Good morning, Lord Jesus. 525 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,000 Good morning, Abba Father. 526 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,440 It's praying the Lord's model prayer, you know, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed 527 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:44,440 be thy name. 528 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,800 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 529 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,240 I mean, it's we get it just like you do. 530 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,800 We get it by reading our Bible and our Bibles in different translations. 531 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,680 Now, because of our work and the nature of it, we spend more time because we have to 532 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:05,760 study and prepare to share and to give teach lessons and teach studies and preach sermons 533 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:06,760 and all that. 534 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:12,240 So, by nature of the job, it throws us deeper into it on an ongoing basis. 535 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,200 But we still we hear it just like you hear it. 536 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:16,520 We get impressions. 537 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:17,800 We write in journals. 538 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,200 We read things that speak to us. 539 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,520 We hear music that speaks to us. 540 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,320 We see nature that calls to us. 541 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:33,440 And so, I just want to encourage you to think about what would 2024 look like if you lived 542 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:34,440 life intentionally. 543 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:39,320 I mentioned this earlier and I want to revisit it before we go today because I want to encourage 544 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,040 you to live your life on purpose. 545 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:46,880 And that's why my word engage is an on purpose kind of word. 546 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,640 It is it's saying, I'm going to do something. 547 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:52,840 I'm going to not be quiet. 548 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,200 I'm going to not be silent. 549 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,440 I'm going to not not say anything. 550 00:30:58,440 --> 00:30:59,440 I'm going to engage. 551 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,120 I'm going to engage this world. 552 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:02,440 I'm going to engage politics. 553 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:06,640 I'm going to engage the ills of the world and social mores from the pulpit. 554 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,920 I'm going to be fearless and brave and going to make a difference. 555 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,920 And so, I'm excited about a year of engagement. 556 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:21,200 So, my question for you is what is 2024 going to look like for you? 557 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,600 I read the headlines just like you do and most of the time I just look the other way 558 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,160 and you know you read stuff that's doom and gloom. 559 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,640 You know, oh 2024 is going to be a hard year for everybody financially. 560 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:38,360 It's going to be this and that or it's going to be dark or with all the political stuff 561 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:39,360 that's going on. 562 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:41,960 You know, it's going to be just constant battles. 563 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,080 But I don't, I choose not to live that way. 564 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,120 I choose to live up in a down world. 565 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:53,320 I'm living an intentional life and I want to challenge you and encourage you and really 566 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,120 call you out and say, you know what, you can live up in a down world too. 567 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,680 The world can be down but you don't have to. 568 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,520 The world can be lost but you don't have to be lost. 569 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,920 The world can be confused but you don't have to live confused because you've got the true 570 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:07,920 north. 571 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:09,520 That's God's word. 572 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:15,440 Bring out the book is what the people were telling Nehemiah and Ezra in the book of Nehemiah. 573 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:16,440 Bring out the book. 574 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:17,680 Bring out, they were chanting it. 575 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:18,680 Bring out the book. 576 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,120 Bring out the book. 577 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:24,400 And I want to encourage you to bring out the book in 2024 and be intentional. 578 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:29,400 I was just thinking about because a friend of mine has been doing a through the Bible 579 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:30,400 in a year. 580 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:31,400 I've got several people doing that. 581 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:32,400 In fact, Tina just did that. 582 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,120 She's gone through the Bible in a year. 583 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:39,840 Annette and I did something two, three years ago, we did a two-year version of that because 584 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:45,640 there's one in the U version Bible which is real handy and I want to encourage you to 585 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:46,920 get in the Bible. 586 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,440 Bring out the book. 587 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:49,640 Get into God's word. 588 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:51,280 Get into it every day. 589 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,040 It will make a difference in your life. 590 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:59,120 There's a Greek word that sounds like energy and it literally means that the word of God 591 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,600 is living and energy. 592 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:02,600 It's energy. 593 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:03,600 It's alive. 594 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:05,840 It's living and active and powerful. 595 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,320 And then it says it's sharper than any two-edged sword. 596 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:14,200 It literally pierces down into and reveals the intentions of the heart, the motives and 597 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,020 intents of the heart. 598 00:33:16,020 --> 00:33:19,720 And so I want to encourage you to bring out the book this year. 599 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:24,440 Lean in and say, Lord, I'm going to dive into your word and I'm going to trust that you 600 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:30,000 will speak to me from your word because your Bible even says in the book of Hebrews that 601 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,640 your word is active and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. 602 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:40,040 It literally reveals the intents and purposes of my heart, my motives, everything. 603 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:45,900 And so I'm going to dive into that book and let it energize, rejuvenate, and enliven me. 604 00:33:45,900 --> 00:33:47,400 So I want to encourage you. 605 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:53,000 Just commit to step into this new year to live life on purpose, to engage a new year 606 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:57,640 with living up in a down world, not living down in a down world, living up in a down 607 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:04,120 world, choosing life, choosing to be positive, choosing to see the good, choosing to reject 608 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:09,000 all the news media mess that's coming your way and propaganda and saying, I'm going to 609 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,040 believe God's word over what this world's telling me. 610 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,800 And you can dive in and start taking steps to live up in a down world. 611 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:21,160 And that's going to be our challenge all year long. 612 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:25,640 That's why we call this podcast, Living Up in a Down World, because we want to see you 613 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:26,640 win. 614 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:27,640 We want to see you go ahead above water. 615 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:31,960 We want to see you living up when everything else seems to be falling down. 616 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:33,400 So that's my heart for you. 617 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,720 That's my encouragement to you. 618 00:34:35,720 --> 00:34:39,440 And that's our prayer for you as you listen to us. 619 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,440 Well, I want to thank a few folks real quick before we go. 620 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,520 Man, just got a great note from Ryan Tierney. 621 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:51,960 He sent in 77,777 stats. 622 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,000 That's a striper donation there. 623 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:55,000 And he writes this. 624 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:59,200 Jimmy and Annette, I started listening to your podcast when Tina and Adam first mentioned 625 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:00,960 it on Curry and the Keeper. 626 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:06,800 And it has been a real blessing in my life as I have rekindled my somewhat stagnant faith, 627 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:11,280 kickstarted by hearing the Currys discuss their own faith journey with such passion 628 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:12,640 and excitement. 629 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:16,040 Thank you both for shining his light so brightly. 630 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,400 Merry Christmas, Ryan Tierney from Virginia. 631 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:22,640 Ryan, first of all, thanks for the value for value and for the boost. 632 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,360 So appreciate the stats. 633 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:28,240 But more than that, we appreciate your encouragement and just thanks for saying thanks. 634 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:30,240 Thank you for writing this great note. 635 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:33,400 We want to encourage you to say Merry Christmas to you. 636 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:35,320 And man, get ready for a great New Year's. 637 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:36,600 You live up in a down world. 638 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,360 No matter what's happening in the world, we can live up in it. 639 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:40,880 And I want to encourage you in that, Ryan. 640 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:42,000 Thank you again. 641 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:51,440 And then secondly, also with 77,777 stats, Adam, the Podfather, Curry sent those in. 642 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,080 He said this and he's talking about our new studio, BCF Studio. 643 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,080 He says, the room already sounds great. 644 00:35:58,080 --> 00:35:59,440 That's before we have the soundproofing in. 645 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,720 So we're a step up now. 646 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:03,400 He says, sounds great. 647 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,720 I'm sure it'll be perfect once the leather couch and Damonette's filets are in. 648 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:10,400 He knows our love. 649 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:11,520 We're all things meat. 650 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:13,680 We're carnivore, all to the core. 651 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,840 And so he knows Annette's love for filets. 652 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:18,400 But yes, the leather couch is in. 653 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,320 And so it helps too with the sound actually. 654 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,520 But Adam, appreciate you, man. 655 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:24,520 Love you. 656 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:25,520 You're my brother. 657 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:26,520 You're my friend. 658 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:27,920 You're my brother from another mother. 659 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:31,300 And I just love our friendship and how it just keeps getting better and keeps growing. 660 00:36:31,300 --> 00:36:35,760 So looking forward to what 2024 is bringing for us and the adventures. 661 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,480 I wrote that when I boosted you and Tina on the Courier and the Keeper earlier today. 662 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,620 I'm looking forward to the God adventures that are going to happen in 2024 together. 663 00:36:45,620 --> 00:36:47,560 So God bless you, my brother. 664 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:53,120 And then Robert Ludwig with 1100, well, 1111 sats. 665 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:57,320 He wrote this, a boost of bones for Mr. Chevy for Christmas. 666 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,960 Thank you for your uplifting podcast. 667 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,520 Robert Ludwig from Nevada, Iowa. 668 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:04,320 Robert, thank you so much. 669 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:06,560 And thank you for the boost for Mr. Chevy. 670 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:11,440 He doesn't get enough press time, but really appreciate that and appreciate the sats. 671 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,040 But more than that, just thank you for taking the time to write in and to encourage. 672 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,640 Man, we love and appreciate all you guys. 673 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:21,080 We're so honored to be able to do this walk with you. 674 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:25,840 Well, hey guys, say a prayer for Dame Annette as she continues to recover. 675 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:30,480 I'll be reaching out to her as soon as I hit the stop button and head home and just to 676 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,080 check on her and see how she's doing. 677 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:33,080 But say a prayer for her. 678 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:34,200 We really appreciate it. 679 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:35,340 And do write. 680 00:37:35,340 --> 00:37:36,680 Do let us know you're listening. 681 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:41,080 Do let us know if there's any particular topic you'd like for us to address, scripturally 682 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:42,080 or otherwise. 683 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,840 We're always glad to talk about what's going on in the world. 684 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:46,680 So we'd love to hear from you. 685 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:50,720 And our prayer for you is that you will have an amazing day on purpose. 686 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:54,280 Well, that's it for episode number 48. 687 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:55,280 Can you believe it? 688 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:56,280 Coming up on a year. 689 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,280 Listen, Merry Christmas to you and to you. 690 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:04,000 A blessed and prosperous and amazing new year. 691 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:05,000 God bless you family. 692 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:19,000 We're out.