How History, Coke, And Corinthians Point Us Back To Love

We trace December 20 through American history, then pivot to a surprising lesson from New Coke before centering on 1 Corinthians: do everything in love. We close with why our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and a call to hope, courage, and surrender to Jesus.

• key moments in U.S. history and culture on 20 December
• the New Coke misstep as a warning about change without care
• 1 Corinthians 16:14 and the primacy of love
• the church at Corinth and modern parallels
• worship in spirit and truth beyond buildings
• believers as temples of the Holy Spirit
• practical courage, holiness, and hope in daily struggles
• invitation to receive Jesus and live in love

Thank you guys for tuning in once again. I love you. God bless you. Jesus loves you, and you better get right.

Chapters

• 0:00 Warm Welcome And Date Check
• 1:17 This Day In American History
• 3:51 Cultural Milestones And Civil Rights
• 5:51 Stupid American History: New Coke
• 8:00 The Call To Love In Corinthians
• 11:16 You Are God’s Temple
• 14:41 Hope, Faith, And Final Blessing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:31

Hey guys, it's B Rob. It's the Food for Thought Faith Cast, and it is Saturday, December 20th. And I'm in a great mood, and I hope you are too. We're continuing this theme of love, but before we do that, it's December 20th, and this is December 20th, this day in American history. On this day, December 20th, several pivotal events helped shape the U.S. history from territorial expansion to lead up to the Civil War and modern military actions. Starting off in 1803, we had the formal transfer of the Louisiana Territory, where the United States took officially possession of the vast Louisiana Territory from France in a ceremony in New Orleans. This completed the Louisiana Purchase negotiated earlier that year by President Thomas Jefferson for 15 million, doubling the size of the young nation, and opening the way for Western expansion across lands that would become 15 states. All right, that was all in 1803. In 1860, South Carolina, old neighbor right here, 15 minutes down the road, Miss South Carolina succeeds from the Union. South Carolina became the first state to succeed from the United States, voting unanimously 169-0 in its convention to declare itself an independent Commonwealth. This act, in response to Abraham Lincoln's election, directly participated or precipitated precipitated, precipitated, it directly precipitated the formation of the Confederacy and the American Civil War. So fast forward to nineteen eighty-nine, this day, December twentieth, U.S. invasion of Panama. Operation just because or just begins. U.S. forces launched an invasion of Panama to dispose Dictator Manuel Noriega who faced drug trafficking charges. This operation succeeded in capturing Noriega and restoring democratic governance. All right, we got some other notable events, not really political, but notable. Nineteen forty-six, the classic film It's a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart, premiered in New York. That movie gained iconic status. Later down the road. In nineteen fifty-six, the Montgomery bus boycott effectively ended as federal injunctions enforce desegregation of buses following the Supreme Court's ruling. In nineteen eighty six, racial tensions flared in the Howard Beach incident in Queens, New York, highlighting ongoing civil rights issues. In 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed legislation establishing the U.S. Space Force as a new branch of military. Famous American Burst on December 20th. Harvey Firestone, he was a founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. He was born in 1868. And Branch Ricky, baseball executive who helped integrate MLB by signing Jackie Robinson. He was born in 1881. December 20th has marked moments of growth, division, and cultural milestone in American history. All right, well, we next we'll just get right into the stupid American history. In nineteen eighty-five, Coca-Cola decided its original formula wasn't cool enough anymore and replaced it with new Coke. In nineteen eighty-five, that was a grand idea. Replaced the original Coke with new Coke. And guess what? People lost their daggum minds. They protested, they made phone calls, they hoarded old Coke cans like treasure. It happened so fast that after seventy-nine days, Coca-Cola gave up and brought back the original Coca-Cola classic. Now, you may ask why it's stupid. American culture moment. Because fixing something that absolutely wasn't broken, yeah, that's our pastime, right? That's our pastime. Can't even keep a good job because somebody always want to come in and fix something that ain't broken.

unknown: 6:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:35

More, more, more. Greed, greed, greed. American way. Anyway, they obviously underestimated the nostalgia and the brand loyalty of the original Coke. Classic. And it was obviously another one of them massive corporate confidence failures, followed by instant regret. Yep, kind of like uh the cracker crack a barrel thing, you know what I'm saying? That lasted all of a month.

SPEAKER_00: 7:12

Not even. Jeez, Louise, Louise, Legee. I mean, come on, people.

SPEAKER_01: 7:25

Well, keeping on with the uh love theme, looking at first Corinthians sixteen verse fourteen Do all that you do in love. Let all that you do be done in love. Do everything in love. That's first Corinthians sixteen, verse fourteen. This comes this verse comes actually from Apostle Paul's closing exhortations in his first letter to the Corinthian church. The Corinthian church was a community struggling with divisions, jealousy, immorality, and a lot of misuse of the spiritual gifts. Sounds like a lot of churches today. I'm not. Anyway, Paul caps a series of commands. Be on your guard, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. That's verse thirteen. With this simple but profound instruction, it echoes the famous love chapter earlier in the letter, First Corinthians thirteen, where Paul explains that spiritual gifts, knowledge, and even faith are absolutely meaningless without love. The core message here, once again, is love. Agape, the selfless sacrificial love modeled by Christ. That should motivate in God every action, every decision, and every interaction in the Christian life, whether it be in worship, whether it be in relationships, whether it be in giving, tithing, whether it be in resolving conflicts, everything, absolutely everything, should flow from genuine, genuine care for others, not selfishness, not pride. It's a timeless reminder that true strength in faith isn't harsh, it's not divisive, it's expressed only through love. Not only are we children of God, we are temples of God. You probably like, B Rob, what what are you talking of? What the heck are you talking about? Well, if if you look in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16, chapter 3, verse 16. There it is, 316. But this is 1 Corinthians. It says, Do you not know that you are God's temple and God's spirit dwells in you? So let's go back to the time of Jesus walked. So the story goes, a Samaritan woman once asked Jesus where people ought to worship God. She said, On Mount Jerizm, where the Samaritan temple once stood, or at the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Jesus looked at her and surprised her by saying that the time was coming soon when men would not worship God at either spot, but the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. And that's John chapter four, verses nineteen through twenty-four. Indeed, as Stephen later said, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. That's in the book of Acts, that's chapter seven, verse forty-eight. That was the New King James Version, which is one of my more, I like to lean towards that one. That's a good one. If God doesn't dwell in temples built by men, where does he dwell? Jesus promised his disciples that although up to that time the Holy Spirit dwelled with them, he would soon dwell in them. That's John. That's chapter 14, verse 17. Paul clearly stated when he asked Christians, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? Back to First Corinthians three sixteen. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? He further stated, Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, and emphasize that that was why we ought to live holy lives. That's first Corinthians chapter six, verse 19. Second Corinthians chapter six, sixteen, and seventeen. Guys, what an awesome privilege to be a temple of God. All we have to do is live holy lives. All we have to do is believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Let Him into our heart. We don't have to suffer in anything alone. Pain, pride, jealousy, strife, envy, financial woes, marriage woes, relationship woes. You don't have to do any of that stuff alone. God has already worked out your pain. Hope. Keep hope. Hold on, pain ends. Have no fear. Fear is false, evidence appearing real. Live in love. Greet this day with love in your heart. God is love. The ultimate love is laying down your own life for your friend. Jesus did it for all of us. All he wants to do, all he wants you to do is give him your heart. That's all he wants. That's all he ever wanted. God loves us so much that he gave his only begotten son so that we can have everlasting life. And we can be with him and fellowship with him. Think about that. There's nothing happening in your life right now more important than getting to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. My name's B. Rob. This is the Food for Thought Faith Cast. Thank you guys for tuning in once again. I love you. God bless you. Jesus loves you, and you better get right.