Podcasts about Thanksgiving

It was one of her best Thanksgiving celebrations ever, despite being a thousand miles apart. Learn how to build out a creative plan to avoid the default “winging it” strategy. #ThePitch #INICIVOX #VirtualMentorship

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Ep #118 — "Start With What You Have" Denzel Turner on Building Black Fridays PodcastPart of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series

Thanksgiving means "turkey day" to most Americans. While the Chinese can get behind the whole idea of a day giving thanks, they also have a few less-than-enthusiastic opinions about turkey. Find out the Chinese view on turkey and learn how to use Chinese to defend the honor of this delicious bird. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1810

The BOB & TOM Show — July 30, 20266:00 Hour 6:00 Tom out; Jeff in 6:00 Billy Jonas – Outside discussion 6:05 Josh has lived on three continents 6:06 Discussion about speaking Latin 6:07 Jeff says his son took four years of Latin but still can't speak it 6:14 Highway safety discussion 6:22 Letter: Lived in China for 20 years but never became fluent in Chinese 6:24 Letter about late-night food cravings 6:25 Pat: Did you know hamburger browns on its own? 6:27 Jeff: Calling a child "bubby" 6:29 Chick's Thanksgiving story involving a gun 6:30 Jeff dated a girl who had kissed her cousin 6:32 Letter remembering the Husky department at Sears 6:34 Kristi attended Sears charm school 6:34 Chick's story about his ex-wife's glamour photo 6:49 Letter: Brother brought firearms after their mother's funeral 6:50 Letter: Nude car show in Wisconsin and nude pickleball 6:52 Josh ate some of Tom's shredded wheat 6:52 Pat performs the Pickleball Song 6:54 Pickleball is not for Kristi 7:03 Jess joins the studio 7:06 Sports 7:06 Josh explains the slang term "gooning" 7:10 Scrotie the Nads school mascot discussion 7:23 Phone call from Jimothy the Raccoon 7:26 Chick says he would keep driving if he saw a car fire 7:28 Robot in a school classroom discussion 7:30 Jess says sex dolls always look angry 7:31 Online marketplace ordered to pay $50 million after couple was harassed 7:34 Ozzy Osbourne haunted house discussion 7:47 New flaming lime crunch cookie flavor 7:50 48-ounce beverage bucket discussion 7:52 Pat performs "Like My Coffee Like My Women" song 8:06 Jeff talks about breaking up with Maggie during her period 8:08 Jeff sets 14 alarms to wake up 8:09 Man rescued after being stuck inside a gas station sign for five hours 8:11 Five stolen cannonballs found in Alabama 8:13 Josh discusses whether cannonballs can explode 8:28 Jackie Kashian joins the studio 8:30 Jackie discusses Korean dramas 8:31 Jackie presents "Pete Moss" 8:33 Escaped Shetland pony returns home 8:39 Jackie talks about her husband being a gamer 8:51 Today in History 9:09 Al Jackson joins via Zoom 9:13 Al talks about enjoying rain showers 9:20 Al discusses the meaning of "Unc" 9:30 Jackie talks about her podcast, The Dork Forest 9:35 Jackie discusses her father 9:50 Jackie tells a joke 9:51 Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken mentioned 7:00 Hour8:00 Hour9:00 Hour Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She created Lilith Fair! She's sold more than 40 million albums! She's a 90s music icon, but her new album “Better Broken” just won Adult Contemporary Album of the Year at the JUNO Awards (Canada's version of the Grammy's)!Sarah McLachlan tells me: About the cookbook she wrote in the 90s, and what recipes she still makes today! The story behind her Writer's Block Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! Which food her daughters say she made way too much when they were kids! How many times a year she eats a Thanksgiving dinner! About the homemade "pig's breakfast" Green Goddess dressing she always keeps in her fridge! Between its healthy green, herbaceous glow and its hippie dippie sounding name, Green Goddess dressing gives off big 1970s health food store vibes. But it was actually invented in 1923 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco! You'll learn the dressing's star-studded history & the controversy surrounding its name. Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!    Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  Sign up for Rachel's (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.  Follow along on Instagram.  Order Rachel's cookbook Open Sesame. 

Psalm 136

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Hot Slice Podcast, Michael Androw, owner of E&D Pizza Company, in Avon, Connecticut, gets honest about what it actually takes to open and survive in this industry. He shares the hard lessons that recipes and passion can't teach you, from the financial traps that can cost you your home to the relationships that can save your doors from closing. If you own a pizzeria or dream of opening one, this conversation delivers the "down and dirty" reality most people learn the hard way.Here's what Michael covers:Relationships before you need them. Why building genuine, non-transactional ties with your building and health inspectors matters, and how those ties let him reopen the morning after disaster.Surviving disaster. The Thanksgiving a car crashed through his building, and what it takes to manage contractors, insurers and inspectors when everything falls apart.The brutal math of slow days. A Tuesday in February with $75 in total sales, and how to hold your nerve on labor, utilities and staff morale when the register goes quiet.Outsource the numbers. Why accounting and payroll should go to professionals, because you can't afford to get tax codes wrong on zero sleep.Learning to let go. How over-managing slows your team and hurts your labor metrics, and why delegation is the hardest skill for a perfectionist owner.Consistency and creativity. Following recipes to a T for customers who expect the same pizza every time, while giving staff room to build fun weekly slice specials.Lease and loan landmines. The commercial lease clauses and loan terms that carry personal liability, and how to tell good money from bad.The emotional cost. Seven days a week for two straight years, and the private toll of ownership no one warns you about.Michael brings this same candor to his workshop at Pizza Expo Columbus: W01, You Want to Open a Pizza Restaurant? on Sunday, October 11, from 8 a.m. to noon ($250). Workshop Description: Dreaming of opening your own pizzeria from scratch? Michael Androw has been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. This workshop is your crash course in everything from site selection and lease negotiations to zoning laws and start-up marketing. But it's not just about the nuts and bolts — it's about the blood, sweat, and tears (and maybe a few sleepless nights) that come with building your dream. Michael's insights could be the difference between success and heartbreak. If you're ready to take the plunge, this session is a must. Register now for Pizza Expo Columbus .

Wait, Why is Virginia cancelling Thanksgiving? What else is she thinking about cancelling?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Melissa Lamesch was just days away from becoming a mother. The 27-year-old EMT from Mt. Morris, Illinois, was full-term and scheduled to be induced any day. On November 25, 2020—the day before Thanksgiving—her home went up in flames.Firefighters forced their way inside and found Melissa dead on the kitchen floor. At first it looked like a tragic accident. Then the autopsy told a different story: no smoke in her lungs, normal carbon monoxide levels, and clear signs of strangulation. Someone had killed her before the fire ever started—and then tried to burn the evidence. The investigation zeroed in on Matthew Plote, a firefighter-EMT and the father of her unborn son. What began as a relationship full of promises ended in a calculated cover-up. DNA under Melissa's fingernails, a web of lies, and a secret Plote was desperate to keep would eventually unravel everything.Timestamps02:38 Melissa's Final Days09:57 The Father Revealed18:18 Racing to the Scene29:57 Questions After the Fire53:20 The Autopsy Changes Everything1:12:36 Clues Start Adding Up1:23:52 Charges and Conviction    

Brick Lombardi rides the Packernet signal into another late-night set — four songs, four corners of something real. Tonight he reaches back to a Thanksgiving in Detroit, steps onto a Fourth of July porch, turns up loud for a rookie who arrived with a name worth learning, and turns the lights all the way down for the man who mobs the floor after everybody's gone home. - "Thanksgiving Night" — the Packers walk into Ford Field and take it 31-24 on Turkey Day; Love throws four touchdowns, Parsons is in the backfield all afternoon, season sweep; dressed up as an 80s power ballad with weeping guitar and saxophone, a noir slow burn that somehow works - "Born on the 4th" — church organ, honky-tonk piano, and a gospel rasp on the chorus; a flag on the porch since '85, factory whistle at five, fireflies and sparklers; the working man who earns every dollar and still calls the whole thing a blessing - "Savian" — third-round receiver Savian Williams out of TCU, six-four and built to shake up the room; chant chorus, industrial guitars, the whole thing built to make you learn his name; the talent's real, the tape says so - "Lights" — ethio-jazz, vibraphone, baritone sax, brushes on the drums; a night janitor walking past the trophy case in the dark, knowing nobody's watching, and the shine on that floor was his Subscribe and keep the signal going. Thirty years, same booth, near enough. You were never alone out there. This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks! Use code PACKDADDY to get started with America's #1 fantasy sports app. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/PACKDADDY To advertise on this podcast please email: ad-sales@libsyn.com Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/packernetpodcast Check out everything I'm building across the Packers and NFL world: NFL Draft Grades: https://nfldraftgrades.com/ Hashmarks: https://hashmarks.io/

Brick Lombardi rides the Packernet signal into another late-night set — four songs, four corners of something real. Tonight he reaches back to a Thanksgiving in Detroit, steps onto a Fourth of July porch, turns up loud for a rookie who arrived with a name worth learning, and turns the lights all the way down for the man who mobs the floor after everybody's gone home. - "Thanksgiving Night" — the Packers walk into Ford Field and take it 31-24 on Turkey Day; Love throws four touchdowns, Parsons is in the backfield all afternoon, season sweep; dressed up as an 80s power ballad with weeping guitar and saxophone, a noir slow burn that somehow works - "Born on the 4th" — church organ, honky-tonk piano, and a gospel rasp on the chorus; a flag on the porch since '85, factory whistle at five, fireflies and sparklers; the working man who earns every dollar and still calls the whole thing a blessing - "Savian" — third-round receiver Savian Williams out of TCU, six-four and built to shake up the room; chant chorus, industrial guitars, the whole thing built to make you learn his name; the talent's real, the tape says so - "Lights" — ethio-jazz, vibraphone, baritone sax, brushes on the drums; a night janitor walking past the trophy case in the dark, knowing nobody's watching, and the shine on that floor was his Subscribe and keep the signal going. Thirty years, same booth, near enough. You were never alone out there. This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks! Use code PACKDADDY to get started with America's #1 fantasy sports app. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/PACKDADDY To advertise on this podcast please email: ad-sales@libsyn.com Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/packernetpodcast Check out everything I'm building across the Packers and NFL world: NFL Draft Grades: https://nfldraftgrades.com/ Hashmarks: https://hashmarks.io/

This week the gruesome twosome, Zena and Shelby, are unboxing the icy return of horror legend Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER, HOSTEL, THANKSGIVING). His new film ICE CREAM MAN melts into theaters August 7 via his own label, The Horror Section. To celebrate, Bloody Disgusting is throwing down in Los Angeles this weekend with some seriously frosty festivities: it kicks off Saturday, Aug 1 at The Horror Boodega (3116 W Magnolia Blvd #104, 1 PM)! Enjoy free ice cream cones while supplies last, a meet-and-greet with the maniac himself, and a Boo-dega full of twisted Summerween treats! Then at night, head next door to The Mystic Museum Afterparty (3204 W Magnolia Blvd, 8 PM, 21+) for dancing, frozen frights, a costume contest, film-themed drinks, and merch you won't find anywhere else. Tickets required: http://eventbrite.com/e/after-hours-ice-cream-man-horror-boodega-tickets-1993571570232?aff=oddtdtcreator Then Zena and Shelby dive into the August horror movies they're already counting down the days for the ones giving them chills just from the trailers or posters! And because you always bring the heat, we're answering some of your listener questions too! Horror hypotheticals, seasonal horror movies, and a few curveballs that caught us off guard! New episode is live now! Hit play and join the conversation. Subscribe for weekly horror talk, spooky season prep, and everything scary hitting theaters and streaming! Let's get bloody. Let's get disgusting. Got a horror question you've been dying to ask us? Don't be shy, we don't bite…much! We want to hear from you! Call and leave us a message at (224) 475-1040, shoot us a text, or drop us an email @ bdisgustingpodcast@gmail.com. Your question could be the next one we tackle live on the podcast! Sign up for SCREAMBOX now at screambox.com and stream the best in horror: new, cult, and everything in between. *** Follow us on social media and join the conversation! // Follow The Bloody Disgusting Podcast Twitter/X: twitter.com/BDisgustingpod IG: www.instagram.com/bdisgustingpod Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/bdisgustingpod.bsky.social Facebook: www.facebook.com/bloodydisgustingpodcast // Follow Shelby Novak Twitter/X: @shelbybnovak | IG: @shelbybnovak/ | Bluesky: shelbybnovak.bsky.social // Follow Scare You To Sleep Podcast Twitter/X: @scareyoutosleep IG: @scareyoutosleep/ Bluesky: scareyoutosleep.bsky.social // Follow Zena Dixon Twitter/X: @LovelyZena | IG: @realqueenofhorror/ | Bluesky: lovelyzena.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RealQueenofHorror/videos TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@realqueenofhorror Watch FREE horror streaming 24/7 on Screambox! https://www.screambox.com/livetv Never miss a horror headline, follow us on Instagram - https://instagram.com/bdisgusting Twitter - https://twitter.com/bdisgusting Facebook - https://facebook.com/BloodyDisgusting Your #1 source for all things horror since 2001! https://bloody-disgusting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan MailEvening Prayer of Praise & Thanksgiving - Lord gave me an idea almost 15 yeras ago to develop a process where people could lay in their bed at night and let the last thing their eyes saw be the word of God scrolling softly and quietly upon their ceiling. It has taken a long time and probably most telling a change of heart because back then I couldn't help but think well this could be a way to be more financially secure to sell this to people but also to hospitals and nursing homes and others as a way of people seeing what their schedules were and the day and time and upcoming appointments or to see faces that brought calm etc etc. but now my only thought was I can't wait for the chance to give this tool away to anyone who wants it and then the LORD made it happen. Isn't that cool. Praise GodThank you for listening, our heart's prayer is for you and I to walk daily with Jesus, our joy and peaceaimingforjesus.comYouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@aimingforjesus5346Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aiming_for_jesus/Threads https://www.threads.com/@aiming_for_jesusX https://x.com/AimingForJesusTik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@aiming.for.jesus

Am I the Genius? is the show where you get real answers to questions you've always wondered but didn't think to ask. Subscribe on YouTube - youtube.com/@amithegenius?sub_confirmation=1 Am I the Jerk? on Instagram - instagram.com/amithegenius Am I the Jerk? on Spotify - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/0uEkxvRMpxLuuHeyPVVioF?si=b279dadfe593432b⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ x.com/amithejerk facebook.com/amithejerk SUBMIT YOUR OWN STORIES HERE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://amithejerk.com/submit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Mint Mobile - Get this new customer offer and your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at MINTMOBILE.com/AITJ Quince - Keep it classic and cool — with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/AITJ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. EveryPlate - Dig into these flavor-packed meals your household will love. New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AITG199 to get started. Green Chef - Head to Greenchef.com/50AITJ and use code 50AITJ to get fifty percent off your first month, then twenty percent off for two months with free shipping. Lola Blankets - Get 35% off your entire order at Lolablankets.com by using code AITJ at checkout. Uncommon Goods - To get 15% off your next gift, go to UncommonGoods.com/AITJ Don't miss out on this limited-time offer. Uncommon Goods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every night shift nurse has one story they won't tell their family at Thanksgiving, and almost all of them happen at exactly three in the morning. Okay, that's a little theatrical, maybe not exactly 3 a.m., but you get it. The night shift is notoriously spooky by ambiance alone, and when you add the frightful, and often times completely unexplainable experiences shared by those brave enough to work the night shift, it's no wonder these folks make the big bucks. Just from posting clips leading up to this episode, we received countless first hand accounts from nurses all over the globe, sharing their experiences through comments and dm's. So much so, that we might just need to make a part two, filled with exclusively listener submissions. So if you're a nurse, or know a nurse that has experienced a thing or two they can't explain while on the job, please be sure to comment your story below, or send it in to mothy@talltalesocialclub.com (make sure you don't add an S at the end of TALE. It's singular, not plural.) and you might just be featured in the next installment.TIME STAMPS:0:00 - Night Shift Nurses Have Seen Some Crazy Stuff2:30 - Florence Nightingale Believed In Spirits3:22 - INTRO THEME6:41 - How Do You Do's / Banter / New Merch Drop 8:45 - STORY: Room 82712:00 - Christian Talks About The Twilight Zone13:30 - Oscar The Therapy Cat, Steere House Nursing, 200715:33 - The Big Why?17:57 - Christian Shirt Intermission 18:39 - STORY: The Boy In The Red Pajamas25:30 - Return of the Wrinkled Ball Bag26:28 - STORY: GEORGIE & THE ELEVATOR30:55 - The Terminal Lucidity Phenomenon34:01 - Shout Out Reliant K Intermission 35:15 - STORY: Man at the End of the Bed39:00 - I Do Know Movies… 41:00 - LISTENER STORY: The Radio45:20 - End of Life Dream Research & Other Studies48:00 - OUTRO 49:40 - Talk To Your Family on Halloween / L8R G8R________Become a Member at www.talltalesocialclub.com Shop Merch at www.talltalesocialclub.com/merch Follow us on Socials @talltalesocialclubFollow Mothy on X @heymothySubmit your story → mothy@talltalesocialclub.com

During the 3pm hour of today's show Chuck & Chernoff talked about the Braves getting blown out in by the Mets. They discuss the Atlanta Braves lineup + needs at the deadline, Falcons Training Camp starting tommorrow. Jonathan Kuminga, the Hawks, and a thanksgiving invitation to Chuck coming from Ben Watson.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us Fan MailAre you frustrated with your prayer life?  Do you feel like you're stuck in a rut?  Do you find yourself rushing out the door in the morning whispering a half- hearted prayer for   help with your day?  When you crawl into bed at night do you pray a quick prayer of thanks as you fall asleep?In this edition of Finish Strong, you'll learn how to pray powerful and effective prayers.  By making your prayer life a priority you can unleash God's supernatural power in your life.When you understand the reasons, requirements and methods for effective prayer, your soul will soar to new heights and you'll live your life according to God's plan.  Discover Biblical truths that will turn your prayer life into a powerful engine that will energize your life in every way imaginable!  Join Brian, Terry and Dan and learn how effective prayer is the key to Finishing Strong! Support the showFearless Faith Websiteffaith.orgTo leave a review - Open Finish Strong on the Apple Podcast app and scroll down until you see "Ratings & Reviews". There will be a link to click so that you can "Write A Review"FacebookYouTubeInstagram

ELEVATION PRAYERS 2026July 07 - July 27Meeting ID: 816 5555 2739 Password: JESUSJoin Here:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81655552739?pwd=U1pXaVR4cUpvbFNhSnlXVTJ4UnNqZz09⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PST (Pacific Standard Time) – 4 A.M. (Vancouver, Los Angeles)MST/CT (Mountain Standard Time / Central Time) – 5 A.M. (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Denver)CST (Central Standard Time) – 6 A.M. (Texas, Manitoba, Chicago)EST (Eastern Standard Time) – 7 A.M. (Toronto, New York)AST (Atlantic Standard Time) – 8 A.M. (Halifax)NST (Newfoundland Standard Time) – 9:30 A.M. (Newfoundland)WAT/GMT (West Africa Time / Greenwich Mean Time) – 1 P.M (Nigeria, United Kingdom)EAT (East Africa Time) – 3 P.M. (Kenya)GST (Greenwich Standard Time) – 4 P.M. (UAE)

ELEVATION PRAYERS 2026July 07 - July 27Meeting ID: 816 5555 2739 Password: JESUSJoin Here:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81655552739?pwd=U1pXaVR4cUpvbFNhSnlXVTJ4UnNqZz09⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PST (Pacific Standard Time) – 4 A.M. (Vancouver, Los Angeles)MST/CT (Mountain Standard Time / Central Time) – 5 A.M. (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Denver)CST (Central Standard Time) – 6 A.M. (Texas, Manitoba, Chicago)EST (Eastern Standard Time) – 7 A.M. (Toronto, New York)AST (Atlantic Standard Time) – 8 A.M. (Halifax)NST (Newfoundland Standard Time) – 9:30 A.M. (Newfoundland)WAT/GMT (West Africa Time / Greenwich Mean Time) – 1 P.M (Nigeria, United Kingdom)EAT (East Africa Time) – 3 P.M. (Kenya)GST (Greenwich Standard Time) – 4 P.M. (UAE)

Teaching from 1 Timothy 2:1–8, Ryan Moore explains that prayer is learning to live with a continual awareness that God is present and available. Prayer reshapes what matters to us, gives us access to God through Jesus rather than our own achievement, and changes our hearts before it changes our circumstances. (00:00) - Meeting Caleb in the 1990s (02:24) - 1 Timothy 2:1–8 (04:31) - Ignoring the Fire Alarm (06:10) - Prayer Interrupts the Illusion of Control (06:57) - The Spiritual Exhaustion of Ephesus (08:38) - First of All, Pray (09:06) - What Does It Mean to Pray Continually? (10:15) - A Working Definition of Prayer (10:36) - Practicing the Presence of God (13:08) - Petitions, Prayers, Intercession, and Thanksgiving (14:16) - Praying for All People (16:04) - Jesus, Our One Mediator (18:03) - Prayer Changes What Matters to Us (23:13) - Access, Not Achievement (28:02) - Prayer Changes the Person Praying

Live show, baby! The Notes: We're finally live at Uplift Coffee! It's less racist than Thanksgiving (we hope)! Nelson can feel the marketing flow through him! The 6th dimension is love! Ed Parker! Ed broke all the speed laws in Nebraska! International Cracker Barrel was gentrified out of Omaha! Ed can speak Martian! Ed has an old head! DJ Ed! Nebraska Furniture Mart is to Nebraska what Foster's Beer is to Australia! Pour one out for Theo! Amber Fraley! Amber is out of the Gen X game! Amber is the new Tom Clancy! Jodie Foster, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you! Amber will sit (not on) your pets! Amber turns our self-esteem powers against us! Gene Hackman makes the world go round! We call Will's mom in Ireland in the dead of the Irish night and leave her a voicemail! Loren Saunders! Loren is an authority figure! Big Road Corner! St. Louis is famous for knife fighting and fried ravioli! How to keep all the skin on your hands! Protective wear for the stylish worker! Ollie! He's a model now! Ollie's greatest assets and his darkest secrets are one and the same! His poop mountain is made of chocolate! Kristen Colahan-sederstrom! Difficult Names Corner! Will gets called the fuck out! Pin the nipple on the boob! It can always be worse (the new American Dream)! Positivity: is it a problem!? Kristen has dark secrets, but she's not telling! When can't you eat a dead chicken! The perils of goat yoga! Roll tide! Hay bale throwing (next weekend)! How much can a goat bench! Margaret Saunder refuses to commit her words to posterity, but she still gets prizes! Brian Moss! Keep your cats off of roofs, hot tin or otherwise! Chunk, or Chazz, or Chad! Libraries! The perils of library computer systems! The Dewey decimal system is a joke in your town! Solving ghost murders at the library! Brian wants you to come to nerd night! Sheep Detectives Q&A Finale! Contact Us! Follow Us! Love Us! Email: doubledeucepod@gmail.com Twitter, Instagram, Threads: @doubledeucepod Bluesky: @doubledeucepod.bsky.social Facebook: www.facebook.com/DoubleDeucePod/ Patreon: patreon.com/DoubleDeucePod Also, please subscribe/rate/review/share us! We're on Apple, Android, Libsyn, Stitcher, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Radio.com, RadioPublic, pretty much anywhere they got podcasts, you can find the Deuce! Podcast logo art by Jason Keezer! Find his art online at Keezograms! Intro & Outro featuring Rob Schulte! Check out his many podcasts! Brought to you in part by sponsorship from Courtney Shipley, Official Superfans Stefan Rider, Amber Fraley, Nate Copt, and listeners like you! Join a tier on our Patreon! Advertise with us! If you want that good, all-natural focus and energy, our DOUBLEDEUCE20 code still works at www.magicmind.com/doubledeuce for 20% off all purchases and subscriptions. Check out the Lawrence Times's 785 Collective at https://lawrencekstimes.com/785collective/ for a list of local LFK podcasts including this one!  

Spiritual Amnesia: Remembering God's Faithfulness That Fuels Praise Sam Choi Download I want to say the saints of All Peoples Church greet you. We were sent out eight years ago from Cities Church, and it's a joy to serve you this morning. We're going to be going through all of Psalm 105. There's 45 verses, and so we're going to pick it apart in chunks instead of me reading the whole passage at one time. I want to start off with Psalm 105:1-5, and I want to invite you to have your Bibles out if you have a paper Bible. If not, use your phones. We're going to go through the text together.Most of you don't know me. That's okay, but I love you, and I've been praying that the Lord would give me a heart to see you as my people, even though you're not my people. That He would give me a heart to feel towards you what He feels towards you, and that I would be faithful to serve you this morning. I'm grateful for my family to be here. Just want to honor them. They're sitting there, and I love them, and I love to do life with them. So we're in Psalm 105:1-5.And if you have an ESV Bible, or you can click on it in your phones, would you read this out loud with me?Psalm 105:1-5, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.”Psalms like this have been historically hard for me because it's calling me to do that which I don't feel like often doing. What do you do when the psalmist calls you to praise God, remember His works, and tell of His wondrous works, and seek His face and His presence continually, and you're like, “But I don't feel like it”?Have you ever been in that situation where you got a worship leader, a very peppy worship leader, he's like, “Come on, God's people, let's praise the Lord.” And you're like, “I don't want to.”And so you're in a dilemma. What do you do? Do you fake it? Some of you know how to fake it, like you know the right things to do. E minor plays, you put your hands up because it's the time. The drums are going. You've been conditioned by church. You just know how to go through it, right? Or you're just like, “No, I'm authentic. I'm not going to praise if I don't feel like it.” Right? There's a spectrum in here. The psalmist is calling us to do something that isn't normal. It isn't natural to praise another. It's not. You aren't born with a desire to praise others and thank others. We are born with an inward bent, and so what do we do?Spiritual AmnesiaI want to show you the key to this passage that will free your lips, free your hearts. See, the key to this passage is in verse five. Verses 1-4 give us 10 commands. Sing praises, give thanks, over and over again. And I'm not going to throw law on you, “Hey, guys, have you given thanks this week? Try this week now. If you've only done 5 out of 10, let's go to 6 out of 10, church this week.” Because that won't last. Now, we can shame you, we can guilt you, we can rile you up to have a week of doing it, but you'll forget eventually, and I forget. So what's the key? The key is verse five. “Remember the wondrous works that He has done, His miracles and the judgments He uttered.”Remember, remember, remember.It's repeated a few times throughout the psalm. This is the key that unlocks the rest.The reason why our praise is sparse, our hearts can be full of grumbling rather than gratitude, is because we've forgotten. We have spiritual amnesia.Do you remember what 2021 was like? We were just coming out of the throes of COVID, and my family and I, we live five blocks from George Floyd Square. We just had a contentious election. And on top of that, we had a new church, and one of my good friends was trying to get me removed as a pastor. It was the lowest moment of our life, by far. And my wife and I were brought low. One of my children woke up in the middle of the night regularly with night terrors because there were fires around our home and marches coming around us. Do you remember this time? Something about living here, just this happens a lot, right? You guys are in the news.And during that time, I got a text from a family that I didn't really even know, and they said, “Hey, we'd like to give you $1,000 of spending money, fly you to Anna Marie Island, give you a giant Airbnb that we can no longer use, and bless you.” And that trip was the greatest vacation of all time.My wife and I wept regularly with our Bibles open, worshiping, saying, “God, you see us. You know us. Oh God, you care about us. We're not forgotten. Even though we feel forgotten, we're not forgotten.” And I made some declarations during that time. “God, I'll never forget this. You provide for us. You see us. You know us. You don't forget us.”And guess what I've done?I forgot about that.Have any of you guys been like that where God provides in a supernatural way, and it's so sweet, and you're like, “God, I'll never doubt you again!” Anyone? And then we forget, and then we're anxious again.He provides for you over and over again, and then we forget. This is kind of a problem with God's people: we forget what He has done. What the psalmist is going to try to do is ground our praise in memory, to remember, remember.What do we need to remember? Well, let's look at the next verse, verse 6,“O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,”What do we need to remember? We need to remember the Lord. And what do you need to first remember about the Lord? It's that although you may have forgotten him this week, He has not forgotten you.The psalmist calls us to remember, but what do we remember first? Verse 8:“He remembers…”We all forget. We all can be fickle.The Lord isn't. The Lord, He is our God, and He remembers you, church. He remembers you even when you have forgotten Him, and even go further than forgotten, forsaken Him. He remembers you. That is the ground, that is the foundation, that is the security, you can have this morning. It's not that your memory is like an elephant. I will never forget you, Lord. It's just like Peter's grandpa. Peter's grandpa could forget at times, with dementia, but the Lord did not forget him. And I hope that encourages you this morning because some of us here are going through circumstances that are so painful. There are unmet longings or unanswered prayers where you feel, “Certainly, God, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten me. I don't believe this here. Yeah, maybe it's true for so and so, but not for me. You've forgotten me.” And God wants every one of you people this morning to remember He remembers you. He knows every prayer you've prayed. He knows every trial you've gone through. He knows every unmet longing of your hearts. He knows the anxieties. He knows everything. And you need to know that He remembers you, and He's near to you this morning.So what the psalmist is going to do is he's going to go back into history. David is going to remind us of what God has done through several different acts in Israel's history. Something that is important for you to know is that there's not a single person who was hearing this psalm originally who was at the original events. Why is that significant for you?Because a lot of times when we read God's Word, we can feel like it's distant from us, it's sterile. “Yeah, God, you did that back then, but what are you doing now?”See, when David is speaking to his people, and the context is actually in Chronicles. David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and he says these words, you can see it in Chronicles. And it's a reminder that the stories from the past are our stories.See, nobody was there alive when we were going to read about Moses. No one was there, and none of you were there either. And we can often be like, “Well, yeah, that was just for them.” But one of the biggest burdens I have for you this morning, church, is for you to walk away saying, “That's my God.”Those stories are your stories. Remember Galatians 3. If you are in Christ, all the promises that you are an heir of Abraham's line. Yes, you may be Scandinavian, and you may be a Midwesterner here, and you're not ethnically Jewish, but the same God who walked with Moses and Abraham and rescued His people, that's your God. So as we go through these portraits, if you grew up in church, and you know the Father Abraham and all that kind of stuff, the temptation is you're going to be like, "Yeah, I know." But that is your God.Oh, church, fight for your heart this morning. Be like, “Wow, He did that? He did that? That's my God?” That's what I'm going to try to model for you as we go and exalt over each of these stories. And so what I'm going to do is what David tries to do. He tries to remind a forgotten people what God has done and who He is, and who He is for us. So the first one we're going to look at is that God is a fierce protector, if you're a note-taker, from verses 12-15.1. God is a fierce protector.Verse 12,“When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it,13 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,15 saying, ‘Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!'”Okay. So we see a lot of things in this passage, and I don't want to oversimplify, but God is a fierce protector over his people. Think about God's people at this time. They are small. They're vulnerable. They're a remnant. They're barely a blip, and they're traveling through foreign territory. They don't have an army, really. They're cooked. They have no hope of making it as a nation, as a people, and yet God jealously fights for his people. He fiercely protects his people.Think about Abraham and Jacob, or Abraham and Isaac, with Abimelech and Pharaoh. God is able to stop the abuse of Sarah. It doesn't matter how powerful the person is, God is greater still. He fiercely protects his people, and some of you need to be reminded of that. We're exiles, church. Don't forget, this world is not our home. If you feel like you're an exile, you're a remnant, you're a sojourner … good!You're remembering one of your identities. And so when we're here and we have these protesters outside and the world who doesn't love Christ and obey him pushes against us, this is a reminder this is not our home, and yet we have a fierce protector over us.Any of you parents here, you guys are fierce protectors of your children, right? You know that any desire you have to protect your kids is just a shadow of how God feels towards his kids?You care about protection because God cares about protection. Being made in the image of God, you are just reflecting what he's like. And so if you think that you care about your kids, infinitely more your Heavenly Father cares about you, church. He's a fierce protector. Oh, church, put your hope in him afresh, that you are protected by him!One of my children recently said to me, “Dad, do we need to live here? It's hard to live here. It doesn't feel safe.”And that's heartbreaking to hear that from your child. But you know the safest place is to be in God's will, no matter what happens. You can move out into the boonies, in the most safe, conservative area with the most amount of cops, and die if you're out of the will of the Lord. And you could be right in the firestorm of everything, and you are untouchable until the Lord says, “It's time to go home, son.”Do you believe the Lord is a fierce protector over you? Or are you anxiously trying to control and protect your life in a perfect way where you actually don't need him? Remember the Lord, he's a fierce protector. Now, how does he protect? The next portrait we want to see of God is that he's sovereign over all things, even hard and evil things.2. God is sovereign over all things.Let's look at verses 16-25:“When he summoned afamine on the land and broke all supply of bread,17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.18 His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron;19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.20 The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free;21 he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions,22 to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.”Let's stop right there. We'll continue in a moment.This is an amazing reversal. Think about it. This is the superpower of the world, and you've got a guy (Joseph) who gets betrayed by his brothers, and God sends him ahead of time through great evil and trial so that he could bring salvation to the rest of the world when a famine is coming. This is amazing. He goes and he starts as a slave, goes to prison after a little psych-out where it looked like he was going to be good, and then over years of languishing in a prison, when you think he probably said, “God, have you forgotten me? I'm in a prison. I didn't do anything wrong. Yeah, I was annoying to my brothers and a little arrogant, but I don't deserve prison. Oh, Lord, have you forgotten me?”And the Lord elevates him in due season to be at the right hand of Pharaoh so he could bring salvation to his people when the famine hits. And there's a lot to learn there, because remember: what his brothers did to him was evil, was wrong, and that's why when Joseph meets his brothers, what does he say? He says, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”And I want to remind you of that. There's a lot of evil done towards us and evil we do, and God is working it for good. And oftentimes, I think when we hear stories like this, we think super American individualistic. What I mean by that is like, yeah, yeah, this situation is bad, and somehow he's going to work it good for my life. Yes and amen, but so much more than that. God is never doing one thing. Your suffering isn't meaningless. He's actually working in that great evil against you to bring about good, not just for you, but beyond you.He's writing a greater story, a grander story, for all kinds of people, not just you. So your suffering isn't meaningless. Joseph probably thought this was meaningless, but God had purposes to save the entire world through this. This is amazing. What a reversal. But then let's keep reading, because then it gets crazy…Verse 24,“And the Lord made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes.25 He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.”Okay, let's talk about this just for a moment. I'm not going to, in a few moments, try to explain how God's sovereignty over all things harmonizes with human free choices, but let me say a few things and then for the rest you can email me at jonathan@citieschurch.com. He's on vacation, you could flood him with really hard questions. Don't do that. So oftentimes in scripture, we have two different lenses when we see things that happen. So we have on the ground. On the ground, Egypt is nervous and scared and anxious about this people group that is growing among them. “Maybe they'll turn against us.” Those are all normal human thoughts that they thought until Pharaoh was like, “Okay, let's subject these people, because they could turn against us, and that's not going to be good.” So Pharaoh wanted to subject Israel, God's people, the Hebrews.But then sometimes in scripture, like Psalm 105, you kind of zoom out 30,000 feet and you get God's divine perspective. He was working in that without violating Pharaoh's desires or the Egyptians. They wanted to subject them in an evil way, and yet God is somehow sovereign over that. That's a mystery that many have spilled much ink over. But both are true in scripture. And so in Psalm 105, we are looking at the larger view. Whenever you confuse those views, that's where a lot of times problems come. But I want you to notice that even in doing that, God is setting up something greater. Because if he didn't set that up, his people wouldn't be able to plunder the Egyptians and leave with great triumph and bring judgment on a very wicked world. And let me make this point now. I said that God is sovereign over all things, even evil things. And you know who has a problem with evil things? Not just you. God does. Any sense of justice you have is just a mere echo of God's divine wrath and righteous anger towards wickedness and injustice. And so make no mistake. Yes, God is sovereign in all things … but the next section, God is a righteous judge. Let's look at verses 26-36.3. God is a righteous judge.Verses 26:“He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.27 They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham.”Let's stop there. I'm not going to read the rest of that section because it's a little longer, but why don't you just look at it briefly. What is he doing here? He's turning waters into blood. He's throwing frogs at them … like crazy. Flies, gnats, hail, lightning, and it all culminates in the striking down, in verse 36, of the firstborn. Egypt was a wicked nation. They were a wicked nation, and they oppressed peoples greatly. They subjugated God's people for 400 years. God is not okay with that. And Egypt put a lot of hope and trust in their different gods. They had gods for this, gods for that, and what Yahweh is doing, God is systematically going down the line and showing that, “I reign over that. I reign over frogs. I reign over water. I reign over every single thing.” He puts them in their place because God will have no other gods. He will not share his throne with another. And so let this give you hope when you feel like there's injustice done. Who is making it right? Know that the Lord is a righteous judge. Yes, the timing may not be what you would choose, but if you saw his perspective, you would understand his timing. The Lord is a righteous judge.Church, you don't need to be the judge. You don't need to retaliate. You don't need to have vengeance. The moment you take it in your hands, you are forgetting that the Lord is a righteous judge.Someone needs to remember that. Someone has wronged you greatly, and you feel the burden of taking it into your own hands, or you feel the burden that you can't forgive them because if you forgive them, they're going to get away with it. Don't forget the Lord is a righteous judge.But he doesn't just judge Egypt. He's seen 400 years of unmet prayers and longings from his people. 400 years, generations without wages and without provision. So the next portrait we see is that God is a lavish provider.4. God is a lavish provider.Not just a provider, a lavish provider. Look at verse 37. “Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.40 They asked, and he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.”Church, have you let this become a fairy tale for you? Have any of you guys been in the desert or in a desolate place?And can you imagine if we were hiking together and all thirsty, and I'm like, “Hey, guys, watch this.” And I just hit a rock and water came out. That would be insane. That'd be the craziest thing you ever saw in your life. And yet we see that and we're like, “Yeah. That's cool. That happened. I saw it in Prince of Egypt. It's a good movie.” Right? That's your God! He did that!They were starving and God gave them manna. Just appears on the ground, they got to collect. They wanted protein, because they didn't want to be vegans, and God sends them quail.That's crazy, church. That's our God. He provided for them. That's your God. He covered them at night. He led them through the day. That's your God.Why do I keep saying that's your God? Because sometimes we forget that that same God who did that is the same God who knows you intimately and walks with you right now. Those stories are your stories, church. That's your story. That's your God. That'‘s your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, whatever grandfather. They went through that. That's your family lineage. That's your heritage. And so some of you, your bank account is low. You're in massive debt up to your eyeballs. You're struggling with so many anxieties and pressures, and you're worrying, and you're wondering. God is a lavish provider. Oh, Church, put your hope in Him. Put your trust in Him. If He could provide then, He can infinitely provide more for you now. Amen? Amen. Now, God needs to provide a lot of things. We have things that we need, and He cares about them. But there's something that we need most, and let's look at this last portrait, the singing Savior. 5. God is a singing Savior.Look at verse 43,“So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.”Now, what we see in Exodus is that when the peoples were delivered from Egypt, Miriam led God's people with a tambourine and a song she wrote, and people were singing, right? But the Hebrew right here is ambiguous about who's actually singing.And when I hear this language, it reminds me of another passage. Would you turn with me to Zephaniah 3:17? If you're not familiar with your Bible yet, it's in the end of the Old Testament. It's one of the sweetest passages, and I want you to hear the parallel language that you hear here. One thing I want to remind you is that anything that we do on this side of eternity that's from the will of God, it's just a shadow and echo of God's heart and what's going on in heaven. When you see someone come to faith and you rejoice, what's going on in heaven? There's a party. It's an echo. So as Israel is rejoicing, what they don't know is that there is another one rejoicing, too. Read with me if you have your Bibles right now, Zephaniah 3:17,“The Lord your God is in your midst. A mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exult over you with loud singing.”Write that on a note card, tape it on your mirror, and brush your teeth every morning. And stare at that. The Lord sings over you like an embarrassing father who delights in his children.The Lord doesn't just save begrudgingly. He delights to save. It brings him great joy. Yes, God is a righteous judge, but he does not delight in the death of the wicked. But God delights to save. He sings. He's a singing Savior. So the greatest need that we have is met in Christ, that Christ saved us. Christ Jesus died for us, and He delights to save His people. Remember that. He delights to save you. It wasn't a duty. It wasn't begrudging. It was His joy, and He sings over you. For some of you, the reason why you don't praise is because you've forgotten that He delights over you, and so this whole Christian thing is just so regimented and so just religious and going through traditions. The Lord sings over you, church. Now, I want you to notice something. The next verse. The next verse is another thing that He provides for us richly, and it's also connected to verse 11.“And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the people's toil." So the Lord provides for His people not just a temporary residence, but in Christ, if you are in Christ, church, you get to inherit the entire world. And the ultimate rest that we have is that we get Jesus. Oh, if you're weary, if you feel displaced, if you're longing and you feel like this earth is not your home, something's wrong, nothing's satisfied, your ultimate destination is Jesus forever on this redeemed world. And Israel gets it in parts, but not in its full. But for us who are in Christ, one day we'll inherit everything, and the greatest inheritance is that we get Jesus. It's the greatest need we have. So if you feel like, man, this world is just not enough, it's not cutting it, it's because you were made for another. You were made for the land that has Christ at the center. Now, if God's people are saved, set apart, rescued, what should be the result of that? Let's look at verse 45,“that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws.Praise the Lord!”This is so important. If you haven't been listening, please hear me right now. This order is super important. What comes first, obeying or saving? What comes first, obeying or saving? I'm not trying to trick you. Saving. No, it's obeying. Just kidding. No, it's saving. Saving is first!He brought them out of Egypt. He brought his people out of slavery so that they may obey. That order is the difference between Christianity and not. You are not saved because you obey, but because you are saved, you will obey. This is important here. Another sign of our spiritual amnesia is that you don't obey because you forgot what the Lord has done, and some of you, you don't obey because you're not saved yet. So I just want to say this to you. I don't know you. I only know a few of you. If your life is not one where you're progressively becoming more like Jesus and obeying him more and more in all the stuff of life, then you should have insecurity if you are actually his. And if that's you, come, pray with someone today. Wrestle with it. Examine your heart. Do I actually know the Savior? Because you can't know the Savior and the Savior not change you. You can't. It's impossible. There is no category in scripture, except the category that we have in the West, that you can know Christ and stay the same. Will it be perfect? No. Will you stumble? Yes. Will you still sin? Yes. But over time, will it be true? Yes. Not fully, but truly, over time, Christ will transform you. So if you are not obeying Jesus in every area of your life, oh church, remember the Lord who saved you. Remember the Lord who loves you and sings over you. Don't forget the order. You're saved and set apart to obey. And what does God want to do when we obey? What is he trying to do? Because when we obey, Jesus is taking us by the hand and showing us how to truly live the life he wants us to live, truly be human, truly live the life of abundance he's called us to live. And when we do that, we reflect his heart and his character to the nations, to our neighbors, to our coworkers. God is calling you to show what he's like in your obedience. He has purpose behind him setting you apart to be his.Tell of His Wondrous WorksSo we've gone through the whole psalm, and I want to end with a few points … Look at your life. Is your life characterized by one of praise and gratitude and seeking his presence and his face continually? Ask your friends, ask your spouse, ask your kids, ask people who know you. Does that sound like me? Or am I slow to speak of the things of the Lord? This is something that can be cultivated over time. So I want to challenge you, Cities Church, to practice this habit. Practice it for those who have families, fathers and mothers.Practice telling of his wondrous works to each other. It's not something that can always be natural, but you can grow in it.My wife has us set aside a jar every November to write down things that God has done this last year, and then we read it out loud the week of Thanksgiving and praise the Lord. That's a little simple habit you can try to bring into your life.For those of you who are in community groups, and I hope all of you are in community groups, don't turn this building into just a service where you come and you're like, "Feed me, ah," and you just get your goods and then you go and you leave to do something you want to do. Cities Church is a family to belong to, and Sunday services are absolutely essential, but they're not sufficient for full formation to follow Jesus and become like him. So fight to be in a community group if you're not. And if you're in a community group, regularly have times where you can take time to say, “What has God done? Let's tell of his wondrous works.”And you know how sweet it is to be part of a community who does this? Because check this out. There will be seasons where your heart is cold and someone else is buzzing because God has done great works. And they share, and you hear, and your heart gets warmed, and you're like, "Oh, yeah, the Lord!" You know what that's like? And guess what? Maybe a season or two later, you guys switch spots. This happens a lot of times in marriages.And this person who used to be burning hot have gone through some fiery trials, and they're struggling, they're languishing. And then you're like, "Brother, do you remember?" "Sister, do you remember what he did for you?" You can remind people of his wondrous works and how he worked in their life, and how he worked in your life. How sweet would it be to be part of a church family where you could do that for each other? Older saints in here, go out of your way to share: "Hey, son, come here. Let me tell you something about what the Lord has done.”Younger saints, talk to older saints. Tell me stories of God's faithfulness. Stir up my faith. Build my faith. I want to exhort you that today, over lunch, share of something the Lord has done in his wondrous works. Stir each other's faith. And if you're like, “I can't remember anything”, pray. We planted a church this last year, and they're going through this discipleship curriculum. One of the first things that they do is they do an inventory of three moments where God really showed up in your life, to write it down, so that you can share it with others. And the whole group was like, "I don't know." But then when they actually sat down and were quiet, they're like, "Oh my goodness, God has done great works." We forget, don't we? Church, you have a treasure trove of stories of God's faithfulness for you, but we forget. So write them down. Rehearse them, share it with your kids. Tell it with your neighbors. Tell it with your coworkers. May the Lord open up our mouths and share.And so church, it's been good to be with you, and I want to remind you, the Lord has not forgotten you.You may have forgotten him, and I forget him too, but the Lord has not forgotten you. And that is the great confidence you have.Remember, you have been saved. That leads to obeying. You don't obey to get saved. Remember that the Lord is a fierce protector over you, and that even in the hardest moments of your life, he is sovereign even over that thing.God is a righteous judge and he will redeem and make all things new, and he will right every wrong.And that God is a lavish provider. He can redeem the years the locusts have stolen in your life, no matter how painful or how impossible. He is the God who can give you water out of a rock.That is your God, church. That's your God. Don't you sleep on that. That's your God. And he's the God who saves you with joy and gladly sings over you. And if you don't know this savior, oh, would you talk to someone this morning? Would you not leave if you don't know the sweetness of this savior who delights to save? The righteous judge who judged himself so that you could stand free. Would you come? I'd love to pray with you, and I know there's a number of people here who would love to talk with you. Let's pray.Father, thank you for who you are. And Lord, we confess many of us have forgotten you have been far kinder and better to us than we remember. Sometimes our hearts can be filled with grumbling and amnesia where we forget. And so God, we recenter our hearts, and we look back at your faithfulness, not just to God's people from all generations, but our own lives. I pray for a special gifting over Cities Church that we would grow to be able to tell of his wondrous works. That you would loose our tongues to be able to share. So many in this room have great stories of your grace and your kindness, but they forget it or they're timid, and would you loose their tongues so that this whole church will be full of praise and thanksgiving and gratitude. Oh, God, may we seek your face continually, seek your strength continually. Oh, God, we need you. And Father, if there's anything that I said that was in error, either in manner or in content, would you please correct me and let no one here remember. But God, all that is actually from above, that is from your Word, let it deeply shape us. Let the Word do its work in our hearts. And God, as we transition to the Lord's Supper, help us be freshly reminded that this table is a reminder that you are the Savior, and you delight in us. And you save us, not because we obey, but that it leads to obedience.Let everyone be freshly reminded of the sweetness of the gospel of grace. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Introduction: Why is Complaining So Serious? (Numbers 21:1-9) Because It INSULTS GOD . (Num 21:1-5) Because It INFECTS OTHERS . (Num 21:4-5) Because It INFLICTS A PENALTY THAT MUST BE PAID . (Num 21:6-9) John 3:14-15 - “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” Romans 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? God, I give you thanks for... ____________________________________________________ Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! For Our Example: Ancient Warnings for the Church Today - Do Not Be Complainers Taylor Brown Download Audio Transcript 00:48Numbers chapter 21.00:53Do you ever suffer from decision paralysis?00:57Trying to figure out what to watch on a Friday night, and you end up spending the whole night scrolling through all your various streaming services because you can't figure out a movie to watch?01:08You and your family have decision paralysis about where you're going to go on vacation next year, the lake, the beach, a road trip across America.01:17You and your spouse have no idea where to go for your next date night. Do you know where I experience the greatest sense of decision paralysis? The Cheesecake Factory. Has anyone else ever been there? Does anyone want to guess how long their menu is? 21 pages. 21 pages.01:47on those 21 pages. Over 250. That's insanity. There are so many good options to choose from. Whenever I'm in that booth, I have decision paralysis. I don't know what to pick. I don't know what to eat. I felt that same exact way that I always feel in the Cheesecake Factory booth as I decided what to preach on this morning.02:16This is the final week of our latest series for our example, Ancient Warnings for the Church. Today, we have been digging into the books of Exodus and Numbers and learning from the negative example of the Israelites and receiving warnings from God Himself. Warnings like, do not be idolaters. Do not be doubters. Do not be fake repenters. This morning, we will receive our fourth and final warning.02:45Do not be complainers. So why did I experience decision paralysis as I was planning out this series and this sermon in particular? Because there are so many stories of the Israelites complaining in Exodus and Numbers. Their complaint menu is long and extensive. There are so many options to choose from.03:15their work harder in Egypt. In Exodus chapter 5 verse 21. They complained at the Red Sea. In Exodus 14. 11 through 12 that they would die. And they finally shut up whenever God rescued them. They complained about food and water in Exodus 15. Exodus 16. Exodus 17. Numbers 11. Numbers 20. The people complained about how hard their lives were in Numbers 11 verses 1 through 3. And as a result, some of them were consumed by fire from heaven. And number 16, a group is not happy with God's choice of leadership and they rebel against Moses and Aaron. They grumble, they complain. And as a response, God opens up a sinkhole and swallows the rebels. A much more serious sinkhole than the one outside Passman Hospital a few weeks ago.04:14People are very upset. They think Moses is the one who killed these rebels. They complain. And then God kills those complainers with a plague from heaven. Do you see why I suffered decision paralysis? There are so many options to choose from on the Israelite complaint menu. What about your complaint menu? Is it short and almost non-existent? Or is it long?04:44and extensive.04:47If I asked you to list all the things you complain about, would that be difficult for you?04:53Would it be difficult to filter out all the options, to list out every single thing you complain about because you complain about most things in your life?05:02Or maybe you even complain about everything in your life.05:07Complaining may seem like small potatoes compared to idolatry, doubting, and fake repentance, but it isn't. Complaining may seem like a small issue, but it isn't. It is a big deal. It is a serious issue that you need to take seriously right now. It is a serious issue that I need to take seriously right now. Thankfully, I eventually overcame my decision paralysis.05:40And I forced myself to make a decision. I settled on the last recorded example of the Israelites complaining in the book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 21 verses 1 through 9. This passage shows us why complaining is so serious and how we can take it seriously moving forward. So let's go to the Lord and ask for his help. Let's ask the Lord that we would take our complaining seriously and we would take his word very seriously as well.06:10Go to the Lord in prayer. Father, there is not a single person in this room or watching online who can say that they did not complain this past week. And the same for me. Lord, we are so sorry that we complain so often. We are so sorry that we often do not recognize Your goodness in our lives.06:40We walk out of this service with a renewed desire to worship you and give you the thanks that you deserve. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So why is complaining so serious? Why is complaining so serious? Reason number one, because it insults God. Because it insults God.07:10I know that many of you have been in and out of service over the past month so let me give you an idea of where we are in Israel's history they have been rescued from slavery in Egypt and many of them survived worshipping the golden calf at Mount Sinai two weeks ago we studied a sad story of doubt the Israelites refused to go into the promised land they chose to trust themselves more than God and as a result God gave them a consequence The Grumbling and Complaining Older Israelites will never ever see the Promised Land. They will die during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The younger generation will see the Promised Land. It will take 40 years to see that come true. Last week we focused on the Israelites' response to this bad news. They tried to take the Promised Land by force against God's wishes.08:10for them? Not at all. They were quickly defeated and they were sent away. Now we are fast forwarding in time and we're picking up their story near the end of the wilderness wandering. The older generation is fading away and the new generation is replacing them. Let's see if the new kids on the block do any better than the older generation when it comes to complaining. Look at verses 1 through 3 of chapter 21.08:40When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Otharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction. And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.09:10The Canaanites pick a fight with the Israelites, which leads to the defeat of the Canaanites. God is giving His people a preview of what their conquest of the promised land will look like. It looks like a new day is dawning. It looks like the Israelites have turned over a new leaf. It looks like they are closing the book on their disobedience. And they are starting a new chapter of obedience.09:39Maybe not so much. Check out their response to God's victory. The victory that God gave them in verses 4 through 5. From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is no food and water and we loathe this worthless And we're back.10:14It looks like the apple hasn't fallen very far from the tree.10:17New generation, same old sins.10:21The Israelites are impatient again.10:23They are accusing their leaders again.10:26They are complaining again.10:30At its core, complaining is dissatisfaction with God and His good gifts to you.10:38Complaining is an unspoken thought or a spoken word of dissatisfaction with God and His good gifts to you. And that's what the Israelites are doing here. They are complaining. They are acting like God hasn't done anything for them lately. They are completely ignoring His provision in the past and in the present. The Lord just showed up for them in a huge way in their battle against the Canaanites. God could have chosen to sit this one out, but He didn't.11:08He could have sat on the sidelines and did nothing, but He didn't. He gave them victory. And all along their journey in the wilderness, food and water has miraculously been provided for them. More on that in a minute. These are the facts. But the Israelites have forgotten the facts. They have lost sight of their many blessings. Very often, spiritual defeat comes right on the heels of spiritual Spiritual Victory. One minute the Israelites are riding high after the defeat of the Canaanites, and the next minute they are down in the dumps. They are feeling sorry for themselves. They are moaning and groaning about what they do have and what they do not have. You realize the same trend happens to you and me as well. Spiritual defeat often follows Spiritual Victory. You're on the mountaintop, and then you're down in the dumps. You tend to sabotage yourself after God helps you, after God blesses you greatly. You forget the facts. You lose sight of his many blessings. You moan and you groan about what you do have and what you do not have. You and I complain. Yes, this complaining in the wilderness is an ignoring of God's past and present provision, but it's even worse than that. It is an utter insult to God. It is a slap in his face. It is an attack on his character and reputation. Look again at what they say in verse 5. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, why have you brought us up out of the land of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.13:08This first reminds me a lot of my son, Sam. Whenever he finds out that he's about to be served his least favorite meal, which is my favorite meal that my wife makes. Chicken with ranch potatoes and green beans. I love that meal. Sam does not feel that way at all. When he asks his mom, what are you making for dinner? And she breaks the news to him. He complains before he eats it, as he eats it, and after he eats it.13:43It's the same for the Israelites in this passage. God's best is not good enough for the Israelites. Let's go through their list of grievances to see what is not good enough for them. God brought us up out of the land of Egypt to die in the wilderness. Really? That is your view of what happened. God rescued you from back-breaking labor, slavery in Egypt.14:08He was your personal GPS who led you with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He annihilated the Egyptians whenever they chased after you. He led you through dry ground on the Red Sea. Really? That's your view of what God was doing? He brought them to the edge of the promised land where they blew it. They chose not to go in. They chose to doubt Him. That was their fault, not God's.14:38I'm sure none of us in this room or watching online can relate to complaining about circumstances that we have brought upon ourselves. Next grievance. For there is no food and water. Seriously, over and over again, God has miraculously taken care of them. Water from a rock. A literal quail storm that rains down quail from the sky. Manna. Miraculous manna.15:07every single day. All they have to do is bend over and pick it up. But again, that is not good enough for the Israelites. That's their last grievance. We loathe this worthless food. The Israelites view this miraculous manna as monotonous manna. They walk out and are like, manna again? God, can't you do something better for us? Can't you give us something that tastes better? Can't you at least give us, like, nachos?15:37or Flamin' Hot Manna, can't you do something different for us? Come on, I'm sick of this. The gift that used to look good seems pretty bad right now. The blessings that they used to give thanks for seem like curses to them. God's best is no longer good enough for them. You know, at times, God's best doesn't seem good enough for you and me.16:08The gifts that used to look good seem pretty bad right now. The gifts that you used to give thanks for seem like curses right now. You and I can look like those miserable people in those memes that say something like, me at the job I prayed to God for. Or me parenting the kids I asked God for. We're just so unthankful for what God has given to us. The things that we begged Him for and asked for now we can't stand them maybe god has blessed you with friends and fellow christians who love you and care about you but you make it clear to everyone who will listen that they don't do enough for you they don't reach out to you enough they don't make enough of an effort you say that you're just telling it like it is but you know what you're doing you are complaining and insulting god Maybe God's blessed you with a means of providing for your family, but you constantly think negative thoughts about every single aspect of your job and you constantly say negative things about your boss and your coworkers. You say that you're just venting, but you know what you're doing. You're complaining and insulting the Lord.17:29Maybe you are very quick to point out how your family does not meet your high expectations.17:35You are very quick to critique and to lash out.17:40You say that you're just being honest, but you know what you're doing.17:44You are complaining and insulting the Lord.17:49Here's a big one for me.17:51Maybe the Lord has blessed you with a house that you constantly rattle off things you hate about.17:58You constantly talk about other people's houses and how they're way better than your house. Again, you say you're just venting, but you know what you're doing. You're complaining and insulting the Lord. Here's the thing. You cannot insult a gift without insulting the giver of the gift. You cannot grumble about the blessings of God without grumbling against the God of the blessing.18:29Your complaining is serious because it insults your God. Why is complaining so serious? Second reason, because it infects others. Because it infects others. As I studied this past week, I couldn't stop thinking about the origin of this complaining. How did it start? Who did it start with? We're told this in verses 4-5. The people became impatient along the way, and the people spoke against God and Moses. This is a communal sin that must have started at an individual level. While they are wandering in the wilderness, the germ of complaining, the germ of grumbling, begins in the mind. It begins in the mind of individuals, and then it exits the mouth. It starts in the mind something like this.19:27I can't believe we're doing this again we're wandering in circles again this is so stupid and so senseless it's so hot out my throat is so dry my stomach is eating itself the germ of grumbling starts in the mind and then it quickly exits the mouth individuals begin to vocalize their thoughts as they walk sit around the campfire at night and lay in their tents personal protesting turns into corporate complaining It snowballs very quickly and gets out of control. That's how complaining works. It doesn't just stay with you. During the school year, my kids bring home a variety of viruses and illnesses. When one of my kids is stricken, it's just a matter of time before all of us are stricken. One sore throat turns into four sore throats. A solo cough turns into a family.20:27In my house, viruses are easily caught. Sickness effortlessly spreads. The same goes for complaining in your house, your workplace, and even this church. Grumbling is a sinful virus that is easily caught. Complaining is a sickness that effortlessly spreads. One grievance turns into an unending list.20:57of grievances. One complaint invites another complaint. One person complaining leads to many people complaining. It only takes one complainer to infect your small group and this church. Are you patient zero? Are you a contagious complainer who corrupts your home.21:30Are you a contagious complainer who corrupts this church?21:37You have to understand that more than just your health is at stake.21:41The health of your family is at stake.21:43The health of harvest is at stake.21:48Would you purposefully sneeze in someone's face after service and intentionally spread your sickness to them?21:57Would you do that? You answered that way too slowly. I'm going to stay away from all of you after service. Would you purposefully sneeze on someone and intentionally spread your sickness? Okay, I guess I'll shake your hand after service. Then why would you purposefully grumble and intentionally infect someone else with your spiritual sickness? That should be as unthinkable. That should seem as rude.22:26as literally sneezing in someone's face.22:31It's infinitely more destructive than physically passing on a cold or a fever.22:37Deal with the germ of grumbling when it first pops up in your heart.22:41Do not give it room to breathe.22:45Your complaining is serious because it sickens your soul and infects the people you care about the most.22:54Why is complaining so serious?22:55third and final reason. Because it inflicts a penalty that must be paid. Because it inflicts a penalty that must be paid. The Israelites don't want God's best, which results in a serious penalty in verse 6.23:21Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died. The Lord has responded to Israel's complaining with a lot of creative penalties in the past. A plague, a fireball from heaven, a literal sinkhole, but He reserves His hardest and most challenging penalty for this act of complaining.23:50fiery serpents. And no, this doesn't mean that the snakes are on fire like flamethrowers. It means that they have bites that inflict severe inflammatory pain. These bites don't just hurt you. These bites kill you. These snakes slither into the camp, bite many of the Israelites, and many of them die. The new generation of Israelites quickly change their tune. They go from complaining to crying, Look at verse 7.24:24And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned and we have spoken against the Lord and against you.24:30Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.24:35So Moses prayed for the people.24:40Once again, Israel messes up big time.24:43And once again, Moses stands in the gap and intervenes to them.24:46He prays for the Lord's mercy.24:49And once again, the Lord responds to his request. And he gives his mercy to his people who do not deserve it. What is the method of the Lord's mercy? You see it in verses 8 through 9.25:19and live. Does this method of mercy seem odd to you? It's kind of a strange way to be healed, right? You know, the guys in my small group went to an all-we-can-eat wing night this past Wednesday. It was a lot of fun, but I gotta tell you, the last thing I wanted to see after eating 24 wings was another plate of wings in front of me. My stomach wasn't feeling very great. Doug can tell you he was there.25:49But imagine if the waitress came up to me and said, oh, your stomach hurts. I have just the thing for you. Here, eat some more wings. That'll make you feel better. What? No, get those things away from me. I don't want that. That method of healing my stomach wouldn't make sense to me. Again, the last thing I want to see after eating all those wings is more wings. On a human level, the bronze serpent solution seems as crazy as the just eat more wings solution. It doesn't seem to make much sense. The way to be healed of your snake bite is to look at a fake snake on a pole. I'm guessing the last thing the Israelites wanted to see after being bitten by snakes is another snake. Why does God choose this method of mercy and healing? Why does God go this route? Because it requires faith.26:49of human wisdom and acceptance of divine wisdom. It requires a rejection of self and a deep trust in the Lord. To be clear, the bronze serpent is not a magic trick. The fake snake has no healing properties of its own. The healing comes through looking. The healing comes through trusting. Faith is the method of salvation and forgiveness. Faith is the method.27:19of healing.27:21The Israelites have a choice in this moment.27:23They have two options.27:25They can pay the penalty of their complaining on their own.27:29They can refuse to look at the serpent and die.27:32Or they can in faith look to the serpent and live.27:36They can obey God's command even though it doesn't make sense.27:42Those are the only two options available to them.27:47And you may be thinking, this is all super interesting. But what does this random snake story from over 3,000 years ago have to do with me and my complaining today? Well, you and I must understand that every single sin is a complaint against our Creator. Every single sin we commit is an act of discontentment. And this goes back to the very beginning.28:16with Adam and Eve. They were tricked into believing that God's best was not good enough for them. They were tricked into believing that something more satisfying must be on the other side of disobedience. Eating that fruit was an act of discontentment and complaining. Adam and Eve communicated a loud and clear message to God that we've been talking about this entire sermon. God, your best is not good enough for us and we want better.28:46All the sins we have studied over this past month find their root in discontentment. The Israelites are expressing their discontentment to God by committing idolatry, by doubting His promises, by refusing to genuinely repent, by complaining about His provision. They are shouting, Lord, Your best is not good enough for us.29:16same message to God every single time that we sin. Your sins are acts of discontentment and complaining. The penalty for insulting a good and perfect God is eternal death. The penalty must be paid by someone. The penalty must be taken care of by someone.29:45Do you know that this bronze serpent story isn't a random and isolated incident in the Old Testament? Do you know that the bronze serpent pops up in the New Testament as well? Jesus makes it crystal clear that this bronze serpent points forward to himself. It points forward to the most important person, the most important event in human history. The bronze serpent points forward to Christ and his sacrifice upon the cross.30:15Look at what Jesus says in John 3, 14-15.30:19And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.30:32Like the Israelites, you have two options.30:36You can pay the penalty for your complaining on your own, or the penalty for your complaining can be taken care of by looking to Jesus Christ in faith. By believing that His death is enough for your forgiveness and cleansing. By believing that God's best is all that you need. There is no option C. There is no third way. There is only trusting in yourself which leads to eternal death in hell. Or there is trusting in Christ which leads to eternal life.31:13in heaven.31:17Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers of the 1800s.31:21I'm sure you've heard him quoted and misquoted many times in church.31:24Every single time a pastor shares a quote in church, it's either Spurgeon or C.S. Lewis.31:30But Spurgeon came to Christ as a teenager when he stumbled into a random church during a snowstorm.31:37And the preacher that morning wasn't particularly gifted or eloquent, But the Lord used that sermon to grab ahold of Spurgeon's heart and save him. At one point, the preacher looked directly at him and spoke to him in the sermon. And Spurgeon describes it this way. Just fixing his eyes on me as if he knew all my heart, the preacher said, Young man, you look very miserable. Well, I did, but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow.32:11struck right home. He continued, and you will always be miserable. Miserable in life and miserable in death if you don't obey my text. But if you obey now this moment, you will be saved. Then lifting up his hands, he shouted, young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look, look, look. You have nothing to do but to look and live. I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said. I'd not take much notice of it. I was so possessed with that one thought. Like when the bronze serpent was The people only looked and were healed. So it was with me.32:45I had been waiting to do 50 things.32:47But when I heard that word, look, what a charming word it seemed to me.32:51Oh, I looked until I could have almost looked my eyes away.32:54There and then the cloud was gone.32:56The darkness had rolled away.32:57And that moment I saw the sun.32:59And I could have risen that instant and sung with the most enthusiastic of them of the precious blood of Christ and the simple faith which looks to Him alone.33:09Oh, that somebody had told me this before. Trust Christ and you will be saved. Friends, look to Christ and live. Trust in Christ and be saved. Have you looked yet? Have you trusted yet? If you haven't, there is no time like the present. Next year may be too late. Next month, may be too late. Tomorrow may be too late. Now is not too late. Now is the perfect time. Look to Christ. Trust in Christ. You will be forgiven. Maybe you've already looked to Christ. Maybe you've already trusted in Christ. If you have, continue to look to Him. Continue to trust in Him. There is no other way to grow.34:09There is no other way to fight against the germ of grumbling when it pops up in your heart. Whenever you are tempted to complain, look to Christ who suffered, bled, died, and bore the wrath of God for your discontentment. Look to Jesus and never forget that God gave you His best. He gave you His own Son so that you could be His son or daughter.34:39forever.34:42When you are tempted to complain about anything, remember the words of Romans 8.32, He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?34:57You have been given everything in Christ.35:01What more is there to strive for?35:03What more is there to gain?35:05What could this world possibly give you that compares to what God, has given to you? Nothing.35:13What is there to complain about when God has given you everything that He has? Nothing.35:21Your complaining is serious because it inflicts a penalty that must be paid.35:28I hope and pray the penalty for your complaining has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.35:37The worship team can now make their way forward. It's so easy to walk away from a sermon series like this and say, you know what? I'm going to buckle down and I'm going to stop committing idolatry. I'm going to stop doubting. I'm going to stop fake repenting. I'm going to stop complaining. Well, that's great to hear. But what will take the place of those unproductive sins? Sin loves evacuations.36:07If you do not replace an unproductive sin with a productive discipline another sin will just rush in and take its place For right now let's focus on complaining What will you replace complaining with?36:24What will you replace grumbling with?36:28Thankfully the Bible gives us the clear answer You are to replace complaining with thanksgiving You are to replace grumbling with gratitude But as Pastor Jeff often says It's not enough just to feel thankful You need to actually give thanks And I'm going to give you the opportunity right now On the bottom of your outline There is a fill in the blank prompt that says God I give you thanks for Fill in the blank I want you to fill in the blank for what you are most thankful for right now. Be very specific because specific praise honors God's specific blessings. Write down what you are thankful for. The Thanksgiving party doesn't end here. Now we are going to give you an opportunity to share what you are thankful for with the rest of the congregation. I'm going to have a microphone. One of our elders, Brian B., he's also going to have a microphone. And we ask you to come down one of the aisles.37:34and to share one sentence with us. Fill in the blank. God, I give you thanks for fill in the blank. I guarantee that you will not regret giving thanks to God and sharing that blessing with the entire congregation. So come forward if you would like to share. Let's stand and continue to thank the Lord together. Small Group DiscussionRead Numbers 21:1-9What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Why is complaining such a big deal?What do you tend to complain about the most and why?What are you thankful for right now?BreakoutPray for one another.

Sermon Text: Ephesians 5:3 Teacher: Al Kenitz Scripture Reading: Psalm 95:1-3 Benediction: Romans 11:33-36

A message about gratitude, witness, and the courage to live your faith in the open. "Gratitude Has a Rhythm" Some people thank God like it's a reaction. Some thank Him like it's a routine. But the believer is called to thank Him like it's a lifestyle.   Thanksgiving is not what you do after God blesses you — it's how you live because He already has.

Learn how to JournalSpeak⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak When I got Claire's email, I was so filled with gratitude that I knew our interview had to be our Thanksgiving episode. Claire spent a lifetime (and I mean a lifetime) battling TMS in myriad forms, never knowing that there was a solution that connected all of her symptoms. Plantar fasciitis, fibromyalgia, and finally larynx and voice disorders that brought her to her knees - Claire became ready to look outside of the medical model for answers. When she landed on this podcast, she knew she was at the precipice of something that was going to change her life. And now... Claire is pregnant! Not only is her pain COMPLETELY GONE, but she is poised to be such a wonderful mother now that she won't be parenting through the lens of her own issues. It's such a gift, one that I've lived personally. Enjoy this inspiring conversation full of so much helpful guidance. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! XOOX n. ⁠1:1 COACHING WITH TRAINED COACHES SUPERVISED DIRECTLY BY NICOLE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW THE PODCAST HERE TO HELP OTHERS FIND IT!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Producer: Lisa Eisenpresser ~~~~~ SUPPORT:

Send us Fan Mail#morningprayer #pray #Christianprayer #Jesus #God #HolySpiritThank you for listening, our heart's prayer is for you and I to walk daily with Jesus, our joy and peaceaimingforjesus.comYouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@aimingforjesus5346Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aiming_for_jesus/Threads https://www.threads.com/@aiming_for_jesusX https://x.com/AimingForJesusTik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@aiming.for.jesus

Most people assume the holidays are the deadliest time to drive. The data says otherwise. In this episode of Risk InSight, host Anya Grondalski talks with Professor Michael French, PhD (University of Miami), and Gulchin Gomez, PhD (Florida Atlantic University) about their new study on traffic crashes during spring break across the entire state of Florida, not just the hotspot counties. Using 12 years of crash-level data, they compare spring break to the Thanksgiving-to-New Year's stretch and find spring break comes out more dangerous for non-fatal injuries, and alcohol isn't the main driver. The conversation covers why out-of-state drivers, young drivers, and pedestrians face sharply elevated risk and the role road density and construction zones play. French and Gomez also share what's actually working on the ground in Miami Beach, from staggered university calendars to parking rate hikes, and where they'd take this research next if better data on distracted driving existed. Listen Now!

Drop a comment! Hit the ❤️Written by I.E. LizProduced by Eric DizzyKayla came home for Thanksgiving expecting food, family, and the same familiar man she had been dealing with since seventh grade. Instead, she walked into a betrayal involving her sister, Dominique, and a family that somehow expected her to absorb the damage quietly. That was their first mistake. Chapters one through three follow Kayla as Thanksgiving falls apart, old family wounds break open, and she decides she is done being everybody's provider, protector, and emotional punching bag. Then Tiffany convinces her to leave the hotel, get dressed, and come to Red's. That is where Deshaun enters the story. Calm. Fine. Observant.And looking at Kayla like he has been waiting for her to notice him.Headphones are strongly recommended. This version was produced as an immersive listening experience, with character voices, environmental sound, movement, and detailed sound design placing you inside Kayla's Thanksgiving from hell.Content notice: Strong language, sexual references, family conflict, pregnancy, abortion discussion, and physical violence.After listening, tell me: Was Kayla wrong for how she reacted—or did everybody finally push her too far? And more importantly…Who carries the most blame: Keyna, Dominique, or Kayla's mother?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/black-widow-podcast--3614545/support.

Payton loved rainbows. She knew all the colors, knew them in order, and would paint them perfectly every time. But she always added a pink line at the bottom, because she simply could not understand why pink was not already there. Every single rainbow she ever painted had that extra pink line. The Friday before she died, she painted one more. It was still drying on the easel at her Christian school when her class came in on Monday morning. Payton was five years old, a ray of sunshine with bright blue eyes and blonde hair, the kind of little girl who would run up to someone she had never met, say hi, give them a hug, and be ready to go be best friends. She cheered for her little brother Blake when he struggled to hit milestones. She gave her toys away to neighbors because that was just who she was. She asked endless questions about heaven, about the colors no one on earth has ever seen yet. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, she was struck and killed by a neighbor's car while walking her little brother around their quiet neighborhood circle. Holly is an ER nurse and a paramedic. She ran CPR on her own daughter in the entryway of their home, called her hospital to get the trauma team ready, and walked through the trauma bay knowing exactly where she was going. She was usually the calm during someone else's storm. That day, she could not be that for her own child. Payton was gone that afternoon. In this conversation, Holly speaks with remarkable honesty about the six months since, about navigating grief alongside a new baby, about walking away from a career she has loved since she was eighteen, about the foundation (Payton's Pink Rainbow Project) she and her husband started in Payton's name, and about a faith that has been shaken to its core, but has not let go. She tells God every single day: I am so mad at you. But I am going to remain faithful. Some days she does not believe the words when she says them. She says them anyway. And her friend asked her something that stopped her cold. When you are doubting God, who are you actually talking to? If you did not believe He was real, you would not be in conversation at all. I shared something I carried early in my own grief. As long as I was angry at God, that meant I believed He existed. And as long as I believe He exists, I am okay. The conversations may be cruddy. But as long as we are still having them, we are okay. That is the conversation that keeps us.

Eric G has got the remodeling scoop you didn't know you needed! As we dive into the last half of 2026, he breaks down the remodeling landscape with a spunky flair that'll make you rethink your home improvement plans. Prices are softening, but what does that mean for your kitchen renovation dreams? Well, let's just say if you're in the market for new cabinets, you might want to start planning now. With Thanksgiving looming like a hungry turkey, Eric emphasizes the urgency of getting your designs sorted out pronto! He shares insights on hotspots for remodeling, like Austin and Nashville, while also revealing the cold zones where contractors are twiddling their thumbs. Plus, you'll learn which design trends are officially on their way out—sorry, all-white kitchens! It's all about cozy colors and curves now, folks. Eric's wisdom is laced with a touch of humor, making this a must-listen for anyone contemplating a home makeover before the holiday season rolls in. The podcast episode takes a sharp turn into the nitty-gritty of remodeling economics, discussing how interest rates and market demand are shaping the industry. Eric's analysis is as refreshing as a cold drink on a hot day, breaking down complex market trends into digestible nuggets that even the most novice DIYers can understand. He elaborates on the importance of working with a qualified designer to ensure your project doesn't turn into a chaotic mess of mismatched plans and quotes. Think of it as the difference between a gourmet meal and a burnt toast—one is a delight, and the other, well, let's just say you'll be calling for takeout. Ultimately, this episode is a treasure trove of actionable tips for homeowners looking to navigate the remodeling maze. Eric G not only arms you with the knowledge to tackle your next project but also keeps the tone light and engaging. Whether you're all-in on a full kitchen remodel or just contemplating a fresh coat of paint, this episode serves up the right mix of practical advice and entertaining banter. So, grab your headphones and let's get those home improvement ideas flowing!Takeaways:The remodeling landscape for late 2026 is shifting with material prices softening, making it a prime time for homeowners to jump in without breaking the bank.If you're dreaming of that kitchen remodel by Thanksgiving, time to kickstart your plans now; it's like a race against the clock, folks!Cities like Austin, Raleigh, and Nashville are on fire with remodeling demand, while places like San Francisco and Seattle are in a remodeling slump—talk about a tale of two cities!Forget the all-white kitchen trend; 2026 is all about rich colors and cozy vibes—bring on the deep greens and inky blues, my friends!Working with a designer upfront can save you from a world of pain later; don't just wing it with bids from contractors without a clear plan!In a buyer's market, homeowners can negotiate better deals for remodeling projects—contractors are eager for work, so leverage that to get your dream space for less!Companies mentioned in this episode:Around the HouseHome DepotLowe'sInstabid.proKraftmaidAmerican WoodmarkBelmontNKBACarrier

What are the most highly anticipated games on the 2026 NFL schedule? This episode of Cover Zero, Drew Franklin and Billy each pick five games of the season to name the Top Ten Games of the 2026 season. Including only one International game and only one game a week! Billy finds a game between two contending teams in a very desirable location! Drew is considering a Thanksgiving matchup, but which one will be the best game? Drew hopes to find a 'snow' game and also considers the city attractions when choosing his games! Join NFL Cover Zero and decide your favorite matchups of the 2026 NFL season!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's poem is Young Widow at the Kitchen Window by Donna Spruijt-Metz.The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Maggie writes… “We know holidays and anniversaries will be difficult: Mother's Day after you lose your mom, birthdays after your loved one is gone, Thanksgiving with the family around the table and some beloveds missing. We know this pain.But grief isn't something we can schedule. It's not reserved for certain days or times. Grief sneaks up on us in the smaller moments. Or, maybe it doesn't sneak up on us at all, because it's been with us all along. It may feel like a rogue wave breaking over us, knocking us down, leaving us gasping — but really it's the water we swim in, day in and day out. That may sound like a dark, depressing thought, but I don't think of it that way. Grief is with us all the time because love is with us all the time. Grief touches every part of our lives, because love touches every part of our lives. The more you love someone, the more you grieve their absence.” This show is supported by gifts from listeners. Support The Slowdown with a donation today. Slowdownshow.org/donate

See which questions to ask when sharing the Gospel here. --------Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org. Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Tune in to the latest Social Success Series Podcast episode featuring special guest and Social Media Manager at Remington Hospitality, Anneleise McEvoy!  Anneleise joins the podcast to talk all things social media for Remington Hospitality as well as hotels in general and how they can not only improve but maximize their social presence online to drive bookings to their properties.  Cassady Quintana: Welcome to the Social Success Podcast, where we have conversations with top hospitality professionals about successful digital marketing strategies, emerging trends, and how to connect with today’s travelers. I’m your host, Cassady Quintana. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Social Success Podcast. I am your host, Cassady Quintana. Super excited for today’s episode today. I have Anneleise McEvoy, social media manager at Remington Hospitality. Anneleise, thank you so much for joining me. Anneleise McEvoy: Absolutely. So first of all, thank you so much for having me. Cassady Quintana: Absolutely. I’m super excited you’re here. Obviously, we’ve talked a little bit before this episode, so I’ve gotten to know you some and especially from your LinkedIn presence, but for our listeners who may not be familiar with you or Remington Hospitality, could you give us a little bit of background about how you got to where you are today? Anneleise McEvoy: Absolutely. So I’ve always loved social media marketing. I’ve been passionate about it ever since college, and it was a career path that I always wanted. I started out in college being super involved with clubs and internships where I did social media. So in 2020 when I graduated, I moved to Dallas to pursue, pursue a career in social media marketing at a food and beverage, a food and beverage marketing agency that’s top year in Dallas. I started out as a social media specialist, went all the way up to a senior account executive. So I worked there for three years, and then at my three-point mark, I was like, “How can I mix one of my hobbies, which is traveling, into my career?” And so I was scrolling through LinkedIn, one day and came across a job posting at Remington Hospitality, reached out to my now boss, Alexis, and she told me about this aw- awesome opportunity that she was building a in – house social media agency for their portfolio of hotels. And so the rest is history. I am a social media manager at Remington, like you said. And one week is different than every… Every day is different, is what I’m trying to say. I might be in Key West learning about a hundred-year hotel or making content on a private beach, or I might be closer to Dallas where I’m based now in Fort Worth, marketing a trendy girl dinner experience on their rooftop. So that’s what I love about social media. Every property has its story and I get to help tell that story through social media. Cassady Quintana: Absolutely. And I’m glad you mentioned the different locations, because that kind of leads me into my next question. You know, at Remington, you guys have properties that span across very different markets, like you said. Something in Key West not going to resonate with someone that’s looking at a hotel in Texas. So when you guys are kind of building those strategies, how do you make sure that it feels unique to each property but still staying, you know, efficient as a corporate social team? Anneleise McEvoy: For sure, for sure. So one thing I always say, you can’t market a property that you’ve never experienced. And I’m sure that that’s true in every industry. I knew, I know that it was true in the food and beverage industry too. So before I build a social media strategy, I want to walk the property. I want to eat at the restaurant. I want to meet the team and experience it like a guest. So that’s where you discover the little things that make the hotel memorable, the experience. So that’s the first thing. I wanna visit the hotel like a guest. And then I pair that with the brand standards. So for example, if you’re a Marriott, a Moxie should feel completely different than an autograph collection. Every hotel should have a personality, but in that personality, we’re working in the brand standard. So at the end of the day, hotels don’t sell rooms. It’s all about the experience. We’re selling experiences. So social media’s job, every content creator’s co – that come into the property, our job is to create a place where someone wants to book before they even book. So that aesthetic feed is where they picture themselves experiencing. Cassady Quintana: Oh, I absolutely love that. And it’s, it’s interesting because when we think probably when you first started in social media or even when we were in college, social media was a completely different thing than it is now. We’ve seen all these updates and especially in this new age of AI, things are changing. So do you and what you’ve noticed with your job, like, how has social media changed, you know, even from two to three years ago and how has that changed your day-to-day role with what you’re doing at Remington? Anneleise McEvoy: Honestly, everything. Like six years ago, social media landscape changes literally every single day. I feel like I open Instagram and there’s a new update. Like last week, you can scroll through an Instagram carousel, I’m sure you’ve probably seen, and you don’t have to pick one caption. You can caption each photo now. So just things like that. There’s just always another update that content creator social media managers have to publicize out to the property teams as well. But I actually think that’s one of the most exciting parts of social media because it’s ever-changing and we can… There’s always something new to learn. And then on top of every algorithm that’s changing, I think the biggest thing that’s changed in the social media industry is influencer marketing. Because when I started six years ago, I would give an influencer a pizza and beer and they would post five inseed posts about it. And they would post it all on their stories and tag us and even do weekly posts. And I just gave them a pizza and beer. And now creators understand the val- value that they provide and are asking for paid collaborations, which I don’t think is a bad thing because we’re getting more of that quality content. But the challenge there is finding a partnership that works for both parties because for everyone watching, you probably know that hospitality budgets aren’t as big as people think. So even the marketing budget. So I think it’s about negotiating with influencers and giving them what they need as well as what we need. And then the last part of that question I think that’s changed is, of course, AI. I think I have a pretty strong opinion on it on the marketing landscape. I think there’s a right way to use AI. And a lazy way to use AI. So of course, when you’re scrolling your LinkedIn or any social media platform, you see captions with those M marks and you assume that they’re a AI-generated caption, but I think marketers should use it to enhance their ideas. Right. In my career, I found that all marketers have creativity. So it’s just an enhancement. Make a good idea great and AI is not here to replace creativity, I would say. Cassady Quintana: I definitely think it’s, can be used as a vehicle, like you said, to enhance the skills you already have. And even just to, like, bounce ideas. I know I use AI a lot of times, like, “Hey, I have this post idea. You know, what do you think about it? ” Or, you know, asking AI to just clean up my copy a little bit or, you know, helping me along the way. And we’ll talk a little bit more about AI further down. But since you mentioned influencers, I did wanna ask you about that because you do work closely with influencers. So from your point of view, like you said, not, not every influencer is a match and not every influencer is gonna deliver what you want them to deliver. And a lot of the times when hospitality professionals think about influencers, they just want someone with a lot of followers, right? They just want the big numbers, but there has to be alignment. So for you, and when you guys are working with influencers, kind of what separates a good partnership from someone, you know, that maybe not f – maybe doesn’t fit that well? And how do you guys go about finding those influencers? Anneleise McEvoy: For sure. I think what you just said, people think about the follower count and just look about at follower count. It’s all about the vetting process upfront. So you’re looking at engagement rate. I’d rather work with someone with a higher engagement rate, a smaller audience, and people that are connecting with their followers, and you can see that that’s genuine than someone that has over a million followers and doesn’t have a connected audience. And I find that their content is more authentic anyways. One of my favorite success stories, actually happened the other week. He did have a lot of followers, but it’s not even about his content. It was the creator. We always, after creator partnership, we always ask what we could have done better or how their story went. And it was a creator telling us he brought his whole family, extended family, and he already booked a trip for Thanksgiving with his family again, because they loved the experience so much. So that’s when influencer marketing, influencer relationships become more than just the content. It creates future guests because they’re gonna keep coming back. And if they’re passionate about the property, you know that you have an ongoing partnerships. I think that’s super important to create those ongoing partnerships as well. Cassady Quintana: I love that you said that because when you were talking about that, it makes me think of the parallel of just hospitality in general and how hotels treat their guests because, you know, you guys hired this influencer to come create content and share his story about his stay there. Yeah. And in turn, he wants to come back. That’s the same exact thing in the same way that hotels should treat their guests too, because they’re kind of like micro-influencers in a way. Like they’re telling their friends and family if their stay was good, they’re gonna post about on social media if their stay was good. So I love that there’s that parallel there. And a lot of times, influencers can be expensive. I think we all know that, especially in this age. Yes. Like they’re making enough money to live off of it, but there are those micro-influencers that do still have dedicated audiences. So I think it’s important not to, you know, just look them over because they may not have the biggest numbers that you’ve ever seen. But kind of along those lines, I wanna talk about, you know, content that hotels can post because I talk a lot about on my webinars and other podcasts about content that’s evergreen or things that can work across the board. So is there any kind of content that you guys do at Remington that you see that works well no matter where the property is located? Like just some type of evergreen content that you see that works really well? Anneleise McEvoy: For sure. And I think, again, this works for across the board for every industry because I found this in the food and beverage industry as well. But two things that always perform best, pets and people. So if you’re a pet-friendly hotel and you’re not posting that dog, you’re missing an opportunity and it helps that I am, I have a golden retriever. So every day, that’s one of my favorite parts of my job. I do community management as well as content creation. And so every day I get to go on the hotel social media and scour the comments, send the DMs everything and I love to repost pet content as it comes in. But also my favorite type of content is, highlighting people behind the performance. So, whether it’s a chef, a bartender, a housekeeper. Remington, actually, our motto is driven by people powered by performance. And social media is one of the best ways to bring that to life. I actually have a story about that at one of our Key West properties. It’s been around for maybe 20, 25 years, but we have a bartender that works there that she has worked there the whole entire time. Every time I post a photo of her, I’m not kidding you, I get 250 organic comments commenting about her, their experience with her. A story about her, how she makes the best drinks, how they’re booking the hotel because of her. And when I go to lifestyle photo shoots and see her, she explains that the guests are her friends. Yeah. She’s traveled the world with some of the guests. So it’s always about highlighting the people behind the performance and behind the scenes as well. And people like seeing that connection. They don’t like just seeing the evergreen. So I think posting people is a way to do that. Cassady Quintana: And in a way, I feel like that is evergreen. You know, she, you just said she’s worked there the entire time, like – Yes. And people love her. So, you know, keep posting. I love that because I have that same kind of relationship with some hotels that I regularly go to with my family, like bartenders or – Yes. You know, general managers, things like that. And that makes, like you said earlier, like, we’re booking an ex – an experience and not just somewhere to sleep, right? So having that comfortability with people that work at the property just makes it better. And social media, we work in, like, the, the most feel-good industry. Our social media to reflect that, you know, it’s, like, it’s the most exciting industry to me because it is changing every day. There’s something new to talk about. People are always wanting to travel. Cassady Quintana: People love to travel. Like, it should be fun content to kind of match that. But kind of on, you know, the other side of social media marketing and some things that can scare hoteliers is, like, that paid social strategy. So for you guys at Remington, do you have a paid ad strategy? And if you do, what is your, you know, attack to figuring out, okay, we’re gona put some money behind this post, or we’re gonna keep this one organic. Is there a strategy there, and what does that look like for you guys? Anneleise McEvoy: There’s a strategy. I think that’s one of the things that has changed in the social media marketing world since six years ago as well. I think s – all social is pay to play. Yeah. So you need an organic strategy and you need to layer in a paid strategy. So paid social for me always starts with one question. If a hotel asks, “Hey, I would love to market a seasonal activation or I’d love to market, let’s say, Easter Brunch, Father’s Day brunch, 4th of July, what’s the business goal? What… Who do you want to see? Start with that one question. What’s the business goal?” And we just invest in where paid can reach the right visibility and right audience, and support the business results that we created in that strategy. So always start with that one question. Cassady Quintana: I love that. I think that’s a great way to go at it because it helps hoteliers that may be doing their own social media for their hotel. Like, okay, I do, I know what my goal is for this post. So if you already have that in mind, that’s a great way to kind of look at your strategy and understand which ones should be organic and which ones should be having that ad spend behind it. Definitely. We kind of mentioned this earlier that, you know, authentic, feel good, sh – posting your people. You know, we’re seeing a lot of… Instagram has honestly flipped a little bit. When it first came out, it was very, like, post your best photo with the best filter. Yes. You want that perfect shot. But now it’s like, that we don’t want that anymore. We don’t want polished photos on Instagram. We want authentic. We want real. So I know I’m sure you guys have a lot of user-generated content. I’m sure you have great photos of the property. So how do you balance that of, you know, we do wanna show what the property looks like, but we also wanna show the authentic everyday scene of the hotel. So what’s that balance like of UGC, of user-generated content, photos and videos you guys have taken? How do you kind of balance that together? Anneleise McEvoy: Like you said, I don’t think it’s an either/or conversation. I think you need to have both. Professional lifestyle photography and videography is our evergreen content. Right. I think the cool thing about Remington when I came on, hotels did understand that they needed lifestyle photography and videography. So we’ve gotten to do a lot of lifestyle shoots and create social media campaigns that are evergreen. And throughout the year, kind of with our lifestyle photo shoots, we also ask the property, “Hey, do you have any events that are gonna be coming up since we’re in July for 4th of July?” And ask them from there if they want some professional photography. But basically, that lifestyle evergreen content is the foundation of what we post. So I have, I would say 80% of our content calendars are that professional use po – more polished look that you were talking about. But I think that you’re right. I don’t think that we’ve moved away from the aesthetic feed to people want to visualize themselves in the feed. How am I gonna experience that rooftop bar? How am I gonna swim at the pool and get drinks brought to me type of thing? So that’s where we layer creator partnerships. And usually with our creator partnerships, we request one reel to be part of their deliverables where we can do a collaboration post where we share that engagement. It goes on both pages. And then UGC, user-generated content is an interesting conversation because obviously you don’t wanna post every single post that you’re tagged in. Right. So our process, we vet, at the beginning of the month what we would like to post. And then you have to be careful about permissions. So we always ask if we can po- post before posting it, but layering that in as the last one to make the page more authentic. And I think, I mean, to conclude, the best hotel pages balance both. Cassady Quintana: Absolutely. I totally agree. And you guys, you know, you’re managing multiple properties social media so obviously you can’t be at the property every day capturing that content in real time. And a lot of hoteliers and people that work at hotels, like, we’re, we’re hands off with social media because Remington is doing that for us. So is there, you know, how do you kind of get that buy-in from them, you know, if there is something going on at their property, like, “Hey, can you please get some photos, like, so we can in turn post this on social media?” ‘Cause I know, you know, it, it can be hard to get them to, to want to do that, right? It’s like the last thing on their mind because they’ve already given that to you guys. So is there a way to create that buy-in without, like, making it seem like we’re just asking them for more and more and more? Anneleise McEvoy: Scary. I mean, as you’re scrolling your own social media, I know that, I would be daunted by creating a reel of the activation I just told the marketing team. Right. So I don’t expect any hoteler or a director of sales and marketing to become a content creator. I start all of my social media calls like that. I expect one thing for them to be passionate about the thing that they want to market. Yeah. Passionate about the idea that they had to bring to me. And let’s give an example of maybe we have a rooftop market, farmer’s market experience. So when you’re talking about passion with that idea, I can make it come to life. Not everyone has to be a content creator, but you can create a social media champion on property. So designate one social media champion and I hop on a call with them. They’re usually very excited to capture the content. And then we make it easy with ideas and tell them how to get the best lighting, give them guidance on the best, the best clips and tell them that you don’t need to mute the clips. We’ll put on the music later. Right. It’s just about guidance and encouragement. But basically having one social media champion and having that passion is all you need. Cassady Quintana: Oh, I love that. And I think most hotels can find at least one employee that would be happy to do it, right? A happy to take those photos. And I’m sure they love their own social media, so why not, you know, do it for the hotel too? I would be that person for sure. I would love to, I would love to just go around properties and, you know, shoot content for them. Anneleise McEvoy: People even even raise their hand and say, “Hey, I wanna do this. ” And those are the best kind of people because you know that they’re, they’re really passionate about it. Cassady Quintana: And I’m sure it makes your life easier because you don’t even have to worry about finding that person, right? They’ve already made themselves know. So I’m sure that’s really helpful. And it’s cool to hear your guys’ process because, you know, when you work with a management group or you’re working with, you know, an agency like Travel Media Group to do your social media, it’s almost like sometimes it can be hard, I think, for hoteliers to fully be hands-off or, you know, there’s that kind of balance you have to have of, like, I’m passionate about it. I want people to see our hotel’s personality, but I’m also trusting someone else to make that come to life. So I think having that relationship with them and making sure that they understand, like, you want to bring their vision to life, right? So this is kind of an off-script question, but do you have trouble, like, do they have trouble coming up with ideas? Like, how does that balance work if you guys presenting ideas versus them saying, “This is what we wanna talk about this month?” Anneleise McEvoy: Like you said, I think two types of hotels. Some hotels come with me with 25 ideas, “Hey, can we post about National Lollipop Day?” Yeah. And I kinda have to reign them in and say, “Hey, let’s look at the brand standards and go back to our social media strategy. And I’d love to post about these five things that you brought up because, it’s in the area.” For example, the example that comes to mind is a DC hotel last year had, was close to the zoo, and they had pandas that were just born, and they wanted to post about it. And I was like, “That was kinda random, but we can make it a thing.” Right. They wanted to make it a whole activation. So they do come up with ideas. It’s all about balance in that relationship and being able to say, “No, that really doesn’t fit the brand voice,” versus, “Hey, yeah, let’s, let’s make that an idea.” So I have hotels that bring me ideas. We talk to the hotels at least once a month to present our ideas, whether that’s a local idea, what I just said about a panda being – Right. Born and it’s a, it’s a big piece of news. Or it’s more like National Wine and Cheese Day, “Hey, you should hop on this and we should get some local cheeses to come out and enhance your already done hot happy hour.” Yeah. So kind of both, both ways. We present ideas, sometimes they present ideas, but I like both. Cassady Quintana: That’s best of both worlds right there, have a little bit combo, because that allows you to still have your creative side too. So, okay, kind of shifting back, I know we touched on AI a little bit, but is there any AI tools, or workflows that you guys have utilized, you know, into your social media process? And how do you think AI is gona kind of fit into social media as we continue to move forward? Anneleise McEvoy: I actually think AI has made creativity in the marketing world more important, not less. Audiences know, like I said earlier, when something doesn’t feel authentic. And AI is not taking everyone’s jobs, as everyone’s saying. Hospitality is about people and the best stories still come from real guests, real employees, and real experiences. So they’re leaving those reviews. They’re leaving the comments. And I think we’re the liaison between the comments in the hotel. So for example, like I said about community management, we do community management every day, and I look at comments and reviews. I have one specific hotel that has been open, the same one as the bartender one, has been around for about 25 years, and people are repeat guests. Right. And they, they comment all the time, “Hey, I have 25 days till my vacation. I’m celebrating my wedding anniversary.” And so we could do an AI response back to that, but I like to send via email that comment to the hotel team and work with them on a special amenity that we can give someone because some of the comments I see, they’ve gotten married there, et cetera. So creating those real experiences that AI hasn’t. But yes, we do use AI. I think it’s just as enhancements. I don’t think that in the social media world, you should put your whole content calendar in there and use all of the captions, the cookie cutter captions that it comes out with. And then I think really interesting, the newest thing about AI that I’ve seen is AI influencers. And so I’ve seen a couple, of those and I think it just all goes back to being authentic. And some of those employees that you’re seeing in the AI influencers are not real places that these repeat guests are used to. So I think it’s a good thing and you can use it for lazy ways, like I keep saying. But just enhancements to already ideas. We put in different activations that we’ve though of and it’s came out with even better ideas. So yes, we do use AI. Cassady Quintana: Yeah. I mean, I think you kind of have to these days. It’s, it’s everywhere. And so if you’re not utilizing it, you know, you, you might as well be utilizing it in some way to help, help enhance your strategy or just to bounce ideas off. But I’m, I’m glad you mentioned that about, you know, employees that don’t actually exist. And I haven’t seen that influencer thing. I’m gonna have to check that out after this, but it’s, that’s kind of scary, actually, like, when you think about it. It is. ‘Cause that stuff looks so real. And if… Imagine you saw that. Imagine that you saw an em – an employee at the hotel and then you get there and then you never see them. And it’s like, it can be hard to make sure, like, okay, do I believe this or not? Anneleise McEvoy: Like you said, I mean, different… AI is just improving every day as you know. Right. And different generations look at that differently. And if an older generation looks at that AI influencer and they’re like, “Whoa, we wanna go there and we wanna experience this view and the view isn’t – Right. Like it is, then it’s not real.” So – Yeah. Cassady Quintana: Yeah. Yeah. It can definitely have a negative effect too. And we might even see, you know, negative comments, negative reviews about, you know, I saw this image on their social media and this is not what it looks like because maybe they used AI. And it’s like – Yes. A very fine line there. And we see it too with responding to reviews, and like you mentioned, responding to comments too, how it’s pretty easy to tell if something was just AI generated, but if you can take those comments and respond back to them like a real person and then like you said later on, they come to visit and you remembered that and you did something special for them, I think that’s awesome. And we can’t lose that humanity aspect of hospitality. And I don’t think we will. Like I think at the – Me. The base of hospitality is people and that’s what makes a hotel stay special is the people behind it. ‘Cause at the end of the day – Yeah. It’s just a building. It may be the most beautiful resort ever, but if the staff is not nice and they don’t have a good experience with them, like, overall, it’s not a great time. So look – I agree. I appreciate your insight on those. So before we wrap up, I like to do these, like, rapid fire questions. Okay. So I’m gonna give you questions and, like, first thing that comes to your mind, all right? Okay. Perfect. So what is one hotel social media trend you think is overused or overrated? Anneleise McEvoy: Lots of trends. I mean, I think we live in an era of pop culture. And not every brand needs to participate in every single trend. So we live in an era of all these trendy TV shows, award shows, the Super Bowl, all of these things. And sometimes saying no to a trend is having a strong brand voice. Yeah. And it’s not all cookie. So I would just say don’t hop on all of the memes just because they’re trendy. Cassady Quintana: Yeah. It’s like, I don’t know if you saw during the World Cup, the Levi Stadium had to cover, you know, their logo with the white cloth and all these brands are doing all of a sudden. And it’s like, it’s, that’s not what the, you know, that’s not why it blew up. Or the same thing with the – No. The couple that just climbed the Empire State Building with the flag, and now people are putting their stuff on the flag. Everywhere. It’s everywhere. It’s like, okay, guys. And I get it. I get why people are doing it because they want, they want that viral moment. But anyways, I digress. So, okay. Favorite hotel brand or property to follow on social media that’s not Remington? Anneleise McEvoy: I have three. So I would say, I mean, I’m in social media, but I’m also on social media doom scoo – scrolling a lot. So my local one would be Dallas Hotel Swexen. I think it’s a boutique hotel and they have a really cool aesthetic feed that w – like I was talking about lots of professional shots. So taking inspo from there. Why I started in s – hotels, I love LOEs. The story of the Plaza. So I love looking at the Plaza Hotel in New York and they have a great dog-friendly program. They get robes and room service for dogs. It’s just, it’s great to watch. And then the Lafayette in San Diego, I think it was recently transformed from a motel actually. I think it’s an independent, but they have a lot of great programming for food and beverage and pools and everything. And so I like looking at what events they have going on. Cassady Quintana: All right. There you heard it first, listeners. If you need social content inspiration, definitely go check those out. I’ll be checking those out after this too. Okay. what’s your favorite Remington campaign or post that you’ve done or that you’ve been a part of? Anneleise McEvoy: It’s actually happening right now. So Laconcia Key West is turning 100 this year. Nice. And I love it because, we layered so many different marketing strategies into the campaign. So we had a lifestyle photo and video shoot. And the video shoot was focused on reels where it compares vintage to now time. Actually, every week in July we are releasing, a different video. So that’s been fun. And then we had a couple weeks ago, we teased a social media giveaway. So they were established in 1926. So we teased this giveaway and we were giving away five lucky people, $19.26 a night rates. And so if they commented at the certain time that we posted, first five got this and of course we had blackout dates app, et cetera. But since we tease it, we got about 200 comments in the first minute. And so we had to be on the first five commenters and that was really fun. And they’re all staying in 2026. So it’s been a really fun 100-year campaign. That’s awesome. Cassady Quintana: Yeah. I wish I would’ve known about that. I would’ve tried to enter. Yes. Yeah, that’s awesome. I, I love that kind of stuff too, because that, I don’t know, that just adds another layer of personality beyond this day because it, it shows that you really care about that relationship with guests and wanting to do that kind of stuff. Also, 100 years is, is impressive on its own. Okay. What, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to a hotel that’s trying to grow its social presence? Maybe they’re just starting out. Anneleise McEvoy: I would say create those experiences. I would say if you have a ho- hotel happy hour and it’s just in a hotel bar and maybe you’ll Your branding is European. You make a European happy hour with a viral Aperol Spritz that people are going to take pictures of. Maybe it comes out in a cart. Maybe you train people to say a special word when they get this Apparel Spritz. It’s all about experiences on social now because that’s what you get, that’s when you get your user generated content. So it just makes sense. So create those experiences. Cassady Quintana: Love it. All right. Well, before we wrap up, I like to ask everybody, you know, kind of looking ahead to 2026, I can’t believe we’re already more than halfway through the year. It’s crazy. But what are some social marketing trends you’re seeing right now that hoteliers and other social media managers should pay attention to? Anneleise McEvoy: I think it’s actually going back to what hospitality means. I know we’ve talked a lot about people and experiences and everyone is talking about all of these trends, but it’s actually just saying, “Hey, we’re in the hospitality industry. Travelers are looking for not just a place to stay anymore. They’re not just putting their head on the pillow. They’re looking for a place where they can experience everything. They can walk to everything. They have all, they have a navigator at the front desk telling them what the closest d- destination spots. They’re curating that itinerary for them so they have to do no work. Our job as marketers, social media managers, content creators is to translate those experiences into content that makes someone think, “Hey, I wanna go there.” And then you can layer in all of the trends that people are talking about. But it’s really those, “Hey, I wanna go there,” moments that get you those bookings. Cassady Quintana: Yeah, for sure. Well, you’ve had great advice all this entire episode. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this. For our listeners, is there anywhere they can find you, connect with you, or Remington? Anneleise McEvoy: Yes, we have social media. Remington Hospitality is our handle on TikTok and Instagram and LinkedIn, so go follow them. And for me, Anneleise McEvoy on LinkedIn is great. Cassady Quintana: All right. Perfect. Well, Anneleise, thank you so much for joining me today. I had a blast talking to you and thank you everybody for listening to this episode and we will see you next time on the Social Success Series. Anneleise McEvoy: Thank you. Cassady Quintana: Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast so you don’t miss an episode. The Social Success Podcast is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I am your host, Cassady Quintana, and we hope you enjoyed this episode.

Welcome back to The Rotten Horror Picture Show Podcast, where this week Clay and Amanda sink their teeth into one of the defining horror films of the 1970s: The Omen. Richard Donner's chilling classic follows diplomat Robert Thorn as he slowly realizes that his adopted son Damien may not just be a troublesome child, but the literal Antichrist. Along the way, there are mysterious deaths, creepy priests, prophetic photographers, and one of cinema's all-time great scores by Jerry Goldsmith. Clay and Amanda unpack the film's lasting legacy, its influence on religious horror, and why The Omen remains every bit as unsettling nearly fifty years after its release.Now, there's one thing that's always bothered me about this movie. Everyone keeps talking about the "Hounds of Hell" like they're some horrifying, unspeakable evil. Have you seen the dog? That is an adorable animal! Big floppy ears, shiny coat, excellent posture. Who's the good infernal boy? You are! Yes, you are!The characters keep reacting like, "Dear God, it's the Hound of Hell!" Meanwhile, I'm over here wondering if he's accepting belly rubs. Honestly, the poor thing gets a terrible reputation just because of where he's from. If he were called the "Friendly Neighborhood Dog of Moderate Concern," everyone would be lining up with tennis balls.Sure, he bares his teeth a little. Sure, he occasionally appears in graveyards and helps usher in the apocalypse. Nobody's perfect. My uncle Larry once ruined Thanksgiving by microwaving fish, and we still invite him over.Clay and Amanda, thankfully, spend their time discussing the film's genuinely terrifying atmosphere, Damien's unsettling presence, and why The Omen has become such a cornerstone of supernatural horror. I'll be listening closely... while quietly wondering if someone remembered to pack a few dog treats.Because I don't care if you're from Heaven, Earth, or the fiery pits of eternal damnation—every good dog deserves a scratch behind the ears. Even if he does technically work for Satan.

The holidays are not a surprise. Christmas comes every single year. Thanksgiving comes every single year. New Year's Eve comes every single year. And yet most people walk into November completely unprepared, spend the entire season figuring it out as they go, and start January carrying a credit card balance they are going to spend the next several months trying to pay off. If that cycle sounds familiar, this episode is going to change how you think about the next five months.One of the biggest reasons people cannot stay out of debt is not a spending problem, it is a planning problem. Your list of bills only accounts for the things you already know are coming, and the holidays never make that list until it is too late to do anything about them. And before you tell yourself you will handle it with your bonus, I want you to sit with this question: what if the bonus is not as big as you expect, or what if it does not come at all? Future money is not a holiday plan, and this episode is about building a real one.I am walking you through a visual planning exercise I use with clients that puts actual numbers to every part of your holiday season, from the parties you are hosting and attending to family dinners, travel, decorations, and gifts. Once you know what the holidays are actually going to cost you, you can figure out exactly how much you need to save between now and December and start making decisions in advance instead of reacting when November shows up on your calendar.In this episode you'll learn...[00:04:15] Why the holidays are one of the main reasons people cannot stay out of debt and why waiting until November to think about them is already too late to do anything meaningful about it[00:08:30] The three box and four box planning exercise that helps you map out every part of your holiday season so nothing catches you off guard and you can put a real number to what November through January is actually going to cost you[00:13:45] How to think through parties, family experiences, travel, and gifts in a way that gets specific enough to actually change what you put in your budget starting this month[00:18:20] How to figure out whether you are on or off track with your holiday savings right now, what to do if you have a gap, and how to decide in advance which trade-offs you are willing to make so you can say yes where it matters and no where it does not[00:23:10] Why planning for the holidays in advance actually allows you to spend less and be more thoughtful with your gifts, and how giving yourself more time changes the quality of the decisions you make with your money[00:27:30] Why budgeting is a skill that gets better every single season you practice it, and how this holiday planning exercise is also building the foundation that keeps you out of debt next year and every year afterTune in to this episode of Money Files to learn how to plan a debt-free holiday season starting right now so that when December comes you have the money on hand, you are not figuring it out as you go, and you walk into January without a credit card balance hanging over you.Get full show notes and the episode transcript: https://wealthovernow.com/the-debt-free-holiday-planning-method-that-starts-in-july-not-november/ Links mentioned in this episode…Set up a call | Financial Coach Washington, DC | Wealth Over NowDownload my FREE spending plan

Why do morally good people often hesitate to change other people's minds, viewing persuasion as presumptuous, obnoxious, or downright creepy? The University of Washington's professor of philosophy, Dr. Colin Marshall, joins host PJ Wehry to discuss how to successfully bridge deep divides in our highly polarized climate.Dr. Marshall explores the ethics and psychology of civil persuasion in his book, Just Hear Me Out: How to Change Minds Without Lies, Bullshit, or Moral Compromise. They examine how genuine persuasion isn't about manipulation or aggressive takedowns , but rather requires a delicate balance of respect, compassion, and the right environment.In this conversation they explore: Why the fallout of the 2016 US presidential election pushed Dr. Marshall from pure theoretical philosophy into finding practical tools for civil engagement. The crucial difference between manipulative persuasion—where people are treated as obstacles to maneuver—and civil persuasion that honors a person's complete humanity. How combining Immanuel Kant's emphasis on rational respect with Arthur Schopenhauer's focus on deep compassion creates a coherent framework for changing minds. Why attempting to persuade someone at the Thanksgiving table almost always fails, and the importance of establishing an "attention-friendly context" like grabbing a coffee or a beer. Incredible real-world examples of successful persuasion, including Daryl Davis persuading extremists to leave the KKK and Megan Phelps-Roper leaving the Westboro Baptist Church after patient, charitable interactions on Twitter. The concept of "moral myopia"—the deeply human tendency to become so hyper-focused on one moral issue or our own self-respect that we lose sight of the other person's bandwidth and feelings. The psychology of building trust, and why establishing warmth and shared humanity must always come before proving your intellectual competence. This is a conversation for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology, and healthy communication who wants to understand how to sincerely navigate our modern disagreements without sacrificing their own moral integrity.Make sure to check out Dr. Marshall's book: Just Hear Me Out: How to Change Minds without Lies, Bullshit, or Moral Compromise

Thanksgiving, Again?!: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thanksgivingagain⁠⁠⁠⁠The Last Ryde: ⁠https://linktr.ee/thelastrydeDomenic Scarcella wrote the book 'Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen' and continues the conversation at the 'Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen' site on Substack. It's spiritual and mental health food for those who are sick of political junk food.Substack home page: ⁠⁠https://GoodNeighborBadCitizen.substack.com⁠⁠Connect with Domenic on X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/GoodNeighBadCit⁠Find the book ‘Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen': ⁠⁠https://amazon.com/dp/B0CL2Y6XW3BetterHelp: Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://betterhelp.com/macolino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for 10% off your first month of therapy with BetterHelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help #sponsoredYouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/JeffMacolino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Me!!! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/saintjmac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/jeffmacolinopodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/saintjmac/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IMDB Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17046562/?ref_=nm_knf_t1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffmacolino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Art Credit: Chase Henderson

October 15, 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle's treatise on Prayer. Way back in season 6 of our podcast, we took an extended look at “A Call to Prayer” by J. C. Ryle; those episodes turned out to be some of our most popular. For the next few days, we want to revisit a sampling of those episodes. If you find them encouraging, as I do, this review might spur you back to our 2022 and 2023 episodes to hear everything Pastor Ryle has to say about our call to prayer. Thank you for listening. Drop July 20, 2026We truncated our introduction for the last half of our October episodes. Our shorter introduction ends at the 3:18 mark if you would like to skip to that mark. This way, you have less to wade through.But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has “yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if he does not pray.”Subtly woven into this paragraph are the four main elements of prayer, Confession, Worship, Thanksgiving, and Intercession. These are undeniable marks of a heart saved by grace and one that is longing for knowledge of the Savior.Indeed it was David's fellowship with the God of his salvation that made him confess:Psalm 27:13I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.Even in the best of times, God's people need strength, courage, and patience. How. Much more in our day?“What a man is on his knees before God, that he is and nothing more.” Robert Murray M'CheyneAssistant Editor: Seven Jefferson Gossardwww.freerangepreacheronprayer.comfreerangeprayer@gmail.comFacebook - Free Range Preacher MinistriesInstagram: freerangeministriesAll our Scripture quotes are drawn from the NASB 1977 edition.For access to the voice-over services of Richard Durrington, please visit RichardDurrington.com or email him at Durringtonr@gmail.comOur podcast art designed by @sammmmmmmmm23 on InstagramSeason 008Episode 041

This Message is brought to you by the Senior Pastor of the global, multicampus ministry, Petra Christian Centre, Pastor Ayo Ajani.

Jesus Followers Have Much for which to Thank God - His Grace for Our Salvation and Our Freedom to Serve Him MESSAGE SUMMARY:  Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name. Our government has set aside an annual national holiday of Thanksgiving for all Americans to offer prayers for our country; our many blessings; and our special blessings for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, thanksgiving to God, for Christians, should be a lifestyle; and Jesus Followers should not need a special day to give thanks to the Lord. As Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”. Do you, as a Christian, need a special day to give thanks God because you get so immersed in your life outside of your relationship with God? Do you stop to give God thanks for His grace for you and His blessings to you in your prayer life's personal relationship with God? Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, after his loss, you gave Job prosperity, blessing him with twice as much as he had before, but that has not always felt like my experience. Grant me patience. Help me to trust and wait on you, especially in those areas of my life where I have no idea what you are doing, when my hardship will end, or where you are taking me. In Jesus' name, amen.     Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 115). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Chronicles 16:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4; Psalms 50a:1-12. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Following Jesus – Jesus Calls Us to Follow Him Without Reservations” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/    DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sovereign Grace Bible Church of Ada, OK

In this episode, Betsy asks, are you feeling resentful? Are you feeling angry? Are you feeling invisible? She advises that the first place to look, is not him. The first place to look is where you’ve centered him and where you’ve disappeared. In the Navigate Method Betsy says, you can’t make a clear decision about your marriage from a place where you’ve already abandoned yourself. So listen in and learn how you can learn to live big! Transcript:  Welcome to The Art of Living Big, where we explore how to live intentionally and with more joy. I’m Betsy Pake, your host, master, coach, and creator of the Navigate Method. Here to help you listen in to your true desires, elevate your standards, and live life to the fullest. Now, let’s go live big. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the show today. This week, you’re getting this episode this week. I know on the, on Instagram, if you follow on Instagram, I was going to answer a bunch of questions, and that episode will be next week. Next week I’ll be in Belize for the retreat, and that’s the episode that will drop on Thursday. So look out for that. Joy and I just had… We had issues scheduling. It became like a chasing each other all day, and so I thought, “You know what? I, I have another thought,” something that we talked about in group. So I wanna get to this. Okay. So there’s this moment, I think, when we stop orbiting somebody else. I’m gonna explain what I mean here. But it’s, it’s when you stop, , checking their mood before you make a decision, or when you stop thinking about how they’re gonna perceive you before you get dressed. Does anybody else… Am I the only one that does this? Or if you cook. You know, you’re cooking dinner, and you’re like, “Uh, are they gonna like this?” I know that some of this stuff might sound like courtesy, but I wanna… Just hang with me here, because I wanna, , uh, like sort of separate this out, because I think there is a moment that this awareness happens. If you leave your partner or you’ve made a big change with how you experience your partnership, I think that there is a moment where this orbiting becomes really disorienting, and so disorienting that you’re starting to recognize that there’s, , this piece of you inside here that is… , you’re not even quite sure where she is. You, you have, like, pieces of her, but she is really contorting herself. You know what I think of, like, when I, when I think of this, is like, you know if you have a cat and then you have, like, a weird shaped item? And they get in the weird shaped item, and th- they’re still a cat, but they’re not really, like, cat shaped anymore. I remember when I moved into my apartment a couple years ago, you know, after my divorce, and I’m, I’m here in my place, and I had this awareness that I didn’t check to see what somebody else was doing or wanted to do, or where I needed to be in the house, you know? I, I, I didn’t have to think about whether my dinner was gonna make the house smell like something he wouldn’t like, or I didn’t have to wonder… I didn’t, I just didn’t have to think about anybody else. And even think about, when I put on an outfit, is this something that would be, I’m gonna say like acceptable, but hang with me as I think through this. Not like, it, not like I’m dressing like a, like a hoe, you know? But is this something that men would like? I mean, I think we put it through a filter. You know, we talk about dressing for the male gaze or dressing for the female gaze. And there was this moment where I was in my apartment and I recognized that everything that I was doing was still orbiting other people who weren’t even there. They weren’t even in the house. And honestly, it was weird. Because centering somebody else, even when you don’t like ’em, even when you’re tired from it, but it’s a habit. It is like a groove that you’ve worn into yourself. And I think when you stop, there is a place where that person used to be, and you have to figure out who you are when you’re not constantly thinking about somebody else. So I wanna talk about this, and I wanna talk about it in the frame of something that has come up over and over again in our groups. And it’s really about this centering and how we center other people. It could be anybody. It could be how we center our kids’ school or school activities or everything about our lives. And I wanna talk about why that matters so much inside a partnership. So let me back up just a little bit. I wanna name, , what I mean by, , centering. So to me, centering someone m- else means that their perspective, you know, their, their needs, maybe their mood or their comfort, becomes sort of this, like, organizing principle of your day. So it becomes the thing that you are making little, little and big decisions around. And I don’t think it’s conscious necessarily. I think it’s usually really automatic. , You wake up, and you’re already scanning maybe for his mood or for who needs what or for what you need to do to make the day m- run smoothly for everybody else, and you’re calculating. Like, is it a good time to say something? You know, you’re running through what you’re gonna make for dinner and whether he’ll like it, and you’re dressing for somebody else or for what you think everybody else would like or what’s popular or trending or whatever. And you’re realizing that you are making yourself smaller so that everybody else can stay the same size or even grow or expand or become who they are meant to be. And I think we’re taught that this is love. I think that we were taught that centering the people we love is what good women do I think my mother did it. You know, my mother centered the kids for sure. She centered me and my sister. She centered my dad, for sure. , My grandmother did it. I, I think we just see it everywhere. , This idea that a, a woman, I’m gonna say a man, shapes herself around a man, but we really can shape ourselves around just about anything, you know? It’s, it’s really the version of us that makes it our job to keep the peace and to adjust. And I think we call it, , being a good partner or sacrifice or I’m devoted to this thing. You know, we, we call it marriage. But, but I think it’s an element of self-abandonment. And I wanna say, you might be like, “I don’t mind doing that all the time.” Maybe sometimes, but then is it conscious? And if it’s unconscious, is it truly a choice or is it you disappearing? And I think it gets a little bit tricky because self-abandonment doesn’t feel like a bad thing when you’re doing it. , It feels safe. It feels like you’re doing a good job, you know? It feels like you’re managing things or managing a situation or, or, or keeping it all together, you know? I remember that commercial, and I know I’ve mentioned it here before, but even as a kid, I was like, “This seems fucked up.” But it was like the, um, I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never, ever let you forget you’re a man. I’m like, look, you get, like, maybe two of those things out of three. Like, likely not. Pick one. I don’t know. But I think that there happens, , in, in our lives when we feel like what we’re doing is really being great, and marketing has taught us that, , our lives have taught us that. And then I think one day you realize that the reason you feel lonely in this partnership isn’t because you’re alone, but it’s because you lost yourself somewhere along the way, and maybe you realize that you’ve been gone for so long that you don’t actually know how to come back. So something that comes up in our groups over and over, and a couple weeks ago we were all talking, and I had this, , moment, you know? , And when I say groups, inside the Navigate method, this is my program that helps women make the big decision on whether to stay or leave your, their marriage. You can find out more about that on our website, or you can book a call to talk to us at betsypake.com. Okay. So- We were talking about it, and I had this thought. Now, this might be a thought y- that you’re gonna be like, “This is an obvious thought,” but the way it hit me was a little different. And I was like, men aren’t taught to de-center themselves. They are actually taught the opposite. They’re taught what we’re taught, which is to center them. They’re taught that their perspective is the one that matters, that their needs are the most important, and that the world kind of revolves around them at, at least a, a little bit, you know? And I’m not saying all men are like this. I’m not, I’m not saying anything is absolute. Humans are individuals, right? But I think this is a pattern, and I think when we’re socialized, and I think when we’re in the patriarchal system that we have all grown up with here, , I think it comes up, like constantly. And so you have a situation where she has disappeared, and he is centered. So she’s checking his mood. He’s not checking hers. And she’s thinking about her, how her actions affect him, and he is really not thinking about how his actions affect her Or if he is, it, it doesn’t come off in the same way, right? , She’s making sure he’s okay, and he doesn’t think to ask. And then she tries to communicate. She tries to say, “Hey, you know, this thing happened that hurt me. , This thing doesn’t feel good.” And he genuinely can’t see it from her perspective. It’s not because he’s a jerk. It’s not because he’s a terrible person. It’s because he is so centered in his own experience., His experience is the experience. His way of seeing things is the way. And so she’s trying to explain something from, , the outside looking in, and he’s looking from the inside looking out, and those are, like, two totally different vantage points, where you just don’t see the same horizon, you know? And I think that’s when resentment gets built. It’s not necessarily from what he did or from the fact that he can’t see what he did or from the fact that she has to explain it or, or, even that when she does explain it, he might not understand, because he’s not built to think that way. You know, she’s exhausted, because now she’s also managing herself. She’s also trying to translate her experience into some sort of version of language that he can understand. We talk about this all the time in group, like, what’s his reality? How can we get to the other vantage point so that you can explain and articulate yourself in a way that feels good, ? That, honors where you are, but also he could, if he was reaching for it, could find you in that. And it’s really about, it’s n- uh, w- when we were talking in group, I was like, “You know, I, I don’t even know that it is about… It’s about communication, but it’s also about trying to get him to de-center for just long enough to see her- And most of the time, I, I don’t think men can do it, and it’s not because they don’t love us, it’s, it’s because they weren’t ever taught to or socialized to. You know how… I remember when my son was little and we had this, , toy that was like a babbler. It would talk in, , different languages so that those patterns were formed in his head so if he wanted to, to learn another language later on, those neural pathways had been created, you know? Neural pathways get pruned, so it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. But that was the idea of it, right? And so it was the idea of if I could teach another way of seeing things, then seeing things another way could become easier Okay, so when I moved into my apartment, I’m there in my apartment. I have, uh, I have been, like, free of this dynamic where I have to center somebody else for the first time, , in decades. In decades, right? ‘Cause I feel like I’ve lived with somebody or had a partner or whatever forever, or had a kid. You know what I mean? There’s always somebody. And so here I am, my kid’s an adult, lives on his own. I’m here in my apartment. I’m all moved in. My stuff is here. I have no pet. At that point, Dean Martin was not, had not moved in. And Dean Martin’s the cat, for anybody new. So Dean Martin had not moved in, and so now here I am, and I am free from that dynamic for the first time in so long. And you would think that that would feel amazing, and I think it does, like, in moments. But mostly, it started to feel like I don’t know who I am. And I do this work, but being alone shifted something, because I spent a long, long time centering somebody else, so long that I don’t actually know how to make a decision that’s just for me without even, thinking about them. Do you know what I mean? I wanted to not even be thinking about them. And it, it took me a minute to realize, oh my God, why am I thinking about that? Like, why am I doing that same thing? And then I realized, I started thinking about, well, like, what about my son? I wonder what he’s doing for dinner. What is he w- like, j- same thing, but just with a different person. I think I started doing it a little bit with my friends. I started just, , checking with people. , Before I know what I wanna do, I wanna see what everybody else is doing. And then I realized, like, this isn’t even about my former partner. It’s about me. It is about a pattern that is so deep in my bones that I am just gonna keep doing it until I consciously, repeatedly choose something different. And so I had to start really asking myself a question. So instead of, like, what does everybody else need or what does everybody else want, I started asking, and I, I started asking this deliberately, even if I didn’t notice. Like when I put my outfit on, sometimes I would put it on, and then I’d be like, “Eh, I don’t know that… Like, people are gonna think this looks dumb.” Again, centering other people, right? So I would ask, like, “Is this the choice that’s best for me? Like, is this something that makes me happy? Do I feel good about this?” And I know that sounds really simple, but when you’ve spent, , your whole life… And women, we are- We are, I wanna say created. We’re not created to do that, but we are taught from, m- you know, taught from a very young age to do that. So when you’ve spent your whole life centering other people, asking yourself that question feels crazy. It feels really crazy. And I started doing it with like small things, but I wanted to make it like a repetition. So like what do I want? I remember in my partnership if I made like eggs, my partner didn’t like that because he didn’t like how the egg smelled, and so there would be a lot of thoughts about that that were shared with me. And so I would think like, “I’m gonna make eggs. Is anybody coming over?” Nobody, nobody was coming over. Like I had nobody to come over. But I, that’s what I would think. Instead of , “What do I feel like? Do I feel like eggs?” Or you know, whatever, whatever kind of eggs I wanted. Like is that what I want? Instead of , “Does this outfit feel good? Do I feel happy in this?” I would think “Oh, this makes me look like I have no waist.” Who cares? Like who cares? And so I started noticing all the ways that I was centering people, and the ways that I was still performing a version of myself in certain situations. And I think it’s interesting because we think, and I often, and I’ve even said it on this podcast like years ago, like if there was just no people, I would be great. But then I lived alone and there was no people, and it wasn’t great. It was, it was interesting. It was the way I was still afraid to say no. The way I was still checking with some outside source before I made a decision so I wouldn’t rock the boat. It was weird. Eight months. Eight months is how long it took me before I noticed that I wasn’t doing that, and it was like a moment where I was like, “Oh my God, I just made that choice and didn’t think anything of it.” Eight months before I could make a decision just because it was good for me without feeling something about it. And, some days I still catch myself doing it. I talked with a girlfriend recently, and I said about how I was getting ready to go on a date. I know we’re gonna talk about that next week on the podcast. I was getting ready to go on a date, and I put on an outfit, and then I thought, “This is not an…” I, I… It was twofold things that I thought. “This is not an outfit you wear on a date, and this makes me look gigantic,” because it was all, like, big, roomy, th- flowy dress, or whatever the heck it was. I don’t even remember. And I got mad at myself because I was doing this scanning thing, and I was like, “God, I haven’t even been dating b-,” you know what I mean? “But a couple days and I’m already back to centering other people?” And I talked to a friend of mine, my friend Heather, and my friend Heather said, “It’s okay to center them sometimes. , That can be a choice. It’s okay to dress for the male gaze sometime. It’s okay to dress for the female gaze sometime. It’s… Like, that might feel good to you.” And it was a w- odd permission that I think I needed. Being in this space of like, “Oh, hell no” for so long w- you know, in my own process, it, it was interesting to me because I feel like when I show up in, in coaching and group, I’m so open, like, what feels g- like, there is validity on both sides, but when it came to myself, it was interesting, you know? So it’s okay sometimes, but we want to be conscious of it, right? So let me kinda map out… Let me do it this way. So I wanna map out sort of what, l- like, when you’ve been centering somebody else for years and years and years. Here’s what I think. Here’s, , the, , dynamic I think. I think first you sort of disappear. You know? I think it… Well, I think it kind of happens. You disappear, right? A little less of your opinion here, a little less of your preference here, you know? You get smaller. You take up less space, you know? You make decisions based on what’s keeping the peace instead of what’s true for you. And then I think, in that disappearance, something happens. I think, without realizing it, you start to resent the person that you’re centering, and it’s not because of who they are. It really isn’t, and this is why I always say this in my videos. , It’s because you’ve abandoned yourself to stay with them But perhaps it could have been okay even if you’d stayed with yourself. So you resent that they don’t notice when you’ve gone quiet. You resent that they don’t ask why you’re not yourself anymore, or you resent that they, that they are able to just live their life centered in themselves while you’re over here like a cat trying to, , fit into a weird shaped vase, right? And so then I think you start to collect evidence. , He did that, he did this, he didn’t notice this, you know, he didn’t… or she didn’t ask about that. And every piece of evidence that you gather kinda gets added to this, , big pile because , I think the real issue here, or the real problem, we’ll use the word problem, isn’t what he did. The real problem is that you made yourself so small that you have become invisible, but then you’re angry at him for not seeing you. But he can’t see you, ’cause you disappeared on him. He’s not looking for you, because as far as he knows, you’re right there just adjusting and adapting like he is the center, ’cause that’s what that’s what he believes, right? So now you’re resentful, you’re trying to communicate why you’re resentful, and you’re trying to get him to see that the problem is not that he did one specific thing. The problem is this, , huge whole dynamic. And the problem is that you don’t exist in this relationship anymore. That’s the actual problem, is that you’ve centered him for so long that there just doesn’t seem to be any room for you. And because he’s looking at you and thinking, “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.” Because he’s centered himself because that’s what he was taught. He can’t see the centering in this dynamic because it’s b- he– because he’s benefiting from it. So now you’re both stuck, right? Like, you’re invisible and angry, he’s confused and defensive, and now the actual thing that’s broken, it’s the centering. It’s the disappearing. And so I think what happens is we try to fix this by having better conversations, or to explain, like, more and more and more clearly, right? Or trying to get him to understand. And you cannot fix a centering problem by centering them more. I know that sounds so, like… You can’t fix a disappearing problem by disappearing even more. So what does it look like to actually de-center? So it looks like asking yourself, what do you actually want? And then honoring that. I know it sounds so simple, but that’s it. It looks like you say no when you wanna say no, even if people get disappointed or grumpy. To be okay with the grumpy can be really hard. But it looks like you making a decision based on what’s right for you, not based on just what’s right for everybody else. It looks like, you know, letting other people be a little uncomfortable. Like, being okay with that. It looks like being willing to wa- rock the boat. You know, at Thanksgiving time, I think every year, the past, , two or three years, I post this video that I did, like, three years ago about Thanksgiving, and I was going to get pie. And I was hovering over the pies, and everybody wanted pumpkin pie or apple pie. And I want cherry pie. And I was like, everybody’s g- like, I’m not gonna buy a cherry pie for me. , I actually thought that. I’m not gonna just buy a cherry pie for… It’s the holiday. It’s my holiday, too. Like, I don’t have to lose myself just to accommodate other people. And so I think that, you know… So I bought the cherry pie, but I, I was like, even if I eat one piece and throw it out, , I’m okay with that. It’s Thanksgiving. And I think the thing is, is that when you’re doing it You know, uh, I don’t think it feels, when you’re, like, doing it, when I say it, when you’re de-centering, I don’t think it feels selfish to anybody else. I think it feels selfish to you because you were taught your whole life that taking care of yourself is selfish and that centering other people is what love looks like. But de-centering isn’t selfish. It’s just you coming back to yourself. And I think when we start de-centering, especially in a partnership, I think things shift. I think it shifts marriages in good ways. I think it shifts, , partnerships. I think it sh- can shift relationships at work. I think sometimes it shifts in a way that doesn’t work anymore But either way, it shifts. Because now they’re with the real version of you, and you don’t wanna be in a relationship with somebody who’s not you. Now he’s with a woman, or she’s with a woman, who has opinions and preferences and needs, and now he’s not with someone who’s disappearing. And I think for some men, that can be really great. I think they actually like the real version of you better. They actually wanna be with someone who’s not making themselves small. And for some men, you know, the centering was the whole deal, like having a woman who disappears so he can stay centered is really important to him, and that’s what he signed up for. But when you de-center, then that whole dynamic doesn’t work anymore, and that is a lot of really important information that you won’t have otherwise. So I wanna say this, and I wanna be, like, honest about how I see this. And again, you know, this is my podcast, so I say what I think. You’re… You can ex- you can climb on board and like, “That makes a lot of sense to me,” but you don’t have to. There can be parts of this that feel true to you and parts that don’t. But I think that de-centering is not a quick fix. I don’t think it’s something that you decide one day and you’re done. And the reason I say that is because I lived in an apartment by myself, and it took me eight months. Eight months before I could automatically shift to not centering. Eight months of asking myself over and over again, “What do I want? What’s true for me? Is this the best choice for me?” And that’s just the basics. That’s just getting to the place where you’re not constantly thinking about what somebody else needs. Uh, like we’ve been learning… I mean, I was learning that for 53 years. And I think the deeper work, the work of actually building a life around yourself instead of around someone else, I think that takes even longer. But here’s what I know. Every single time that you choose yourself, every single time you say no, every single time you make a decision based on what’s true for you, you’re de-centering. And it gets easier, and it gets more familiar, and it starts to feel less like you’re being selfish and more like you’re actually being alive. So- If you’re thinking like, “Oh, I think if I de-centered, he wouldn’t like that.” , I’m not here to tell you to leave your marriage. , I’m not here to tell you that your husband is a problem, and I’m not here to tell you what to do. But I am here to tell you this: if you’re resentful, if you’re angry, if you feel invisible, the first place to look is not him. The first place to look is where you’ve centered him and where you’ve disappeared. Because you can’t make a clear decision about your marriage from a place where you’ve already abandoned yourself. You can’t think straight when you’re invisible. You can’t hear your own wisdom, your own internal guidance when you’re so busy, , listening to everybody else. So ask yourself, what is it that you really want? Not what your kids need, what… not what your husband needs, not what your friends think you should do, but what do you really want? I remember I went with my son. He messaged me and said, “Do you wanna go get ice cream?” And I really didn’t want to, and I thought about saying no, and I decided to go anyway because he wanted to, and that made me happy. But knowing that I didn’t want to and that I was making a choice to that was conscious changed everything. So when you know what you want, when you’re grounded in that, and then you can make a real decision, you’ll know whether you’re going to get ice cream or staying in your marriage because it is true for you, or it’s because you’ve disappeared and you didn’t feel like there was another option. Come back to yourself. All the other stuff becomes easier after. And I think that is how you live a big life. All right, everyone, next week I’m gonna be in Belize at the retreat. I hope you come to the next retreat. We’ll have details on that soon. It’ll be sometime next year, and we will be thinking of you, especially if you reached out and said, “I’m thinking of going,” just know that I’m thinking of you and wish you were there. But next week we’ll have a really great show with Joy and I talking about some things that have been happening with me that pushed me through a portal, a threshold, in my own experience over the past six weeks. All right, I love you guys so much. I’ll see you all next time. Thanks for joining me on The Art of Living Big. I hope today’s episode sparked something within you, maybe pushed you to dream a little bit bigger and live a little larger. Don’t forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and share this podcast with someone you know who might need a little inspiration today. You can find me over on Instagram at Betsy Pake and on my YouTube channel. Remember, the world is vast. Your potential is endless, and your life, it’s yours to shape. Until next time, keep reaching, keep exploring, and keep living big.

We say we want peace in our homes. We talk about how our world can find peace, but do we know the best ways to make this happen? Today I have conflict and peace expert Abigail Harper on to discuss the structure we need to learn for lasting peace. She teaches us about collusion, how to recognize our part in the conflict, and how to choose something more peaceful.  Abigail is currently developing a college level curriculum that studies the motivation behind hate groups and teaches us the psychologically backed reasons and treatments if our kids are choosing to affiliate with harmful groups and ideologies. Yes! It is possible to have Thanksgiving dinner with folks who disagree politically. Yes! You can have a deep and connected relationship with your kids who left your faith. Yes! You can love family members who choose to dehumanize others- listen in and find the peace you need… then pass it on. xoxo About me guest: Abigail Eve Harper received her undergraduate from BYU-hawaii in intercultural peacebuilding and psychology and just graduated from Drew university with a masters in arts of religion.  To more fully understand, embrace and implement what I teach, book a free Discover Your Disconnection Pattern call with me.

Chris and acclaimed horror director Eli Roth (Hostel, Thanksgiving, Knock Knock) discuss the new wave of horror directors, adapting to the changing filmmaking landscape, how kids make the scariest monsters, and the only critic who truly matters. Eli's new film "Ice Cream Man" is in theaters August 7th! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Love Island USA Season 8 Finale Recap Love Island USA Season 8 crowns its winners, and Kirsten MacInnis and Brian Scally are here to break down every champagne pop, dance move, and tough moment from the finale. As Bryce and Trinity take the top spot, the hosts dig into the season's last dates, the new final four dynamic, and where the couples go from here. With full spoilers and hands-on opinions, the recap unpacks both the sweet connections and the lingering drama. This finale features heartfelt celebrations, late-game reflection, and a look at the final four's journeys. Kirsten and Scally analyze how each couple arrives at the finish line, from Melanie's resilience and Trinity's steady confidence to the eye-popping romantic setups, think riverside sandwiches and fairy tale books. The show's format comes under the microscope, too, with talk about how certain finale date types might reveal the winners and whether “I love you” moments hold up under the bright villa lights. Discussion extends to post-villa prospects for the cast, social media surges, and Love Island Games casting predictions. The episode keeps things lively with playful debates about fashion hits (and misses), lessons in Gen Z dating patterns, and a cameo from celebrity fans. Key moments include: The four finale dates, from Carl and Aniya's over-the-top flower fantasy to Zach and Kayda's (slightly cursed) riverside picnic, plus an analysis of how production choices signal a couple's likelihood to win Deep dives on couple dynamics: Sincere's rock-paper-scissors massage negotiation, Melanie's patience, and a rare finale night where not all couples go exclusive The significance of an all-Black women final four, as highlighted by contestant reflections and on-air celebration Sharp takes on the fashion, plunging dresses, bold cutouts, and a standout hot pink look, and whether some choices match the gravity of winning night Predictions for which cast members make it to “Beyond the Villa,” Thanksgiving, or even a return on Love Island Games, alongside thoughts on social media growth and brand deals post-show As the summer closes, who's likely to last, and which Islanders are vying for their next reality TV title? With post-villa challenges, shifting alliances, and a reunion on the horizon, the conversation stays focused on the drama and heart of the game. Dive into the full recap for in-depth analysis, predictions, and all the sharp observations about Love Island USA's Season 8 finish! 00:00 Finale Begins: Brinity Are Winners 06:09 Champagne, Conversations, and Final Four 10:00 Sincere and Melanie's Daytime Date 13:39 Sincere Fails the Massage Test 19:27 History: All Black Women Finalists 24:42 Zach and Kayda's Riverbank Date 28:42 Aniya and Carl's Fairy Tale Book 34:10 Will Aniya and Carl Win? 38:18 Bryce and Trinity's Romantic Declaration 43:46 What's Missing From This Finale? 50:02 Finale Fashion: Dresses and Reactions 53:49 Family and Celebrity Video Messages 58:55 Final Placements: Bryce and Trinity Win 01:05:13 Ranking Season 8 Among the Rest 01:12:04 Love Island Games Future Draft 01:19:29 Who's Making It To Thanksgiving? LISTEN: Subscribe to the We Know Love Island podcast feed! WATCH: Watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube SUPPORT: Become a RHAP Patron for bonus content, access to Facebook and Discord groups plus more great perks!