Unsolicited TED Talks

Everybody has that one topic that turns them into a full-time lecturer the moment you bring it up. We put that to the test and hand out “permission” for unsolicited TED Talks, which takes us from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Zuko’s redemption arc to the God of War storyline, to a bizarre Tower of London history detour that includes the time it literally functioned as a zoo.

Then we make a turn into what we all share beneath the hobbies: our Christian faith. We talk honestly about why Christianity can feel massive and intimidating, why grace is a gift instead of a reward, and why the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for messy people who don’t “measure up.”

From there we answer two big questions: why faith is deeper than an interest, and what following Jesus actually changes. We get practical about love, forgiveness, purpose, and peace in suffering.

If you like funny friend-group energy with real talk about faith and grace, hit play. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find us.

Transcript

Cold Open And Chaos

SPEAKER_08 0:00

Okay, let me lock in. Welcome back to the podcast. On today's episode, we're talking about things we're passionate about, which basically means everyone has been given permission to give it a stop. Okay. Oh, welcome. I can't. No, I got it. I got it. No, I've got it, my dude. I've got it. I've got it. Stop. Everyone look away.

unknown 0:27

All right.

The Unsolicited TED Talk Premise

SPEAKER_08 0:29

No, stop. Okay. Welcome back to the podcast. On today's episode, we're talking about things we're passionate about, which basically means we've been given permission to give unsolicited TED Talks. The only difference between a TED Talk speaker and us is that they usually know what they're talking about. So we're already off to a rough season.

SPEAKER_11 0:49

I know 100% what I'm talking about with my own. I am very passionate about frat flicking, Kenna.

SPEAKER_08 0:55

Frat flicking. Hopefully, we get at least one decent point from this whole thing. Please listen again. This is just so I'm Kennedy, and I am very much Marvel obsessed.

SPEAKER_09 1:21

I'm Tyree, and I hate when men wear flip-flops. I'm Mary Grace, and Jesse was my first Disney Channel show.

SPEAKER_05 1:31

Hi, I'm David, and for Christmas every year, I buy my sisters socks and candles.

SPEAKER_10 1:37

Hi, I'm Morgan, and almost like nine times out of ten, when I put lotion on my hands, I get too overstimulated and have to wash it.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Hi, I'm Gracie, and I think Disney just needs to pull the trigger and make Nick and Judy Hops and Zootopia a real couple.

Avatar And Zuko’s Redemption

SPEAKER_11 1:51

Yes! What do y'all's TED talks? How about I go first so that I can get my number with? Plus I know so if you won't judge me after. Something that I can give a TED talk on is the show Avatar.

SPEAKER_04 2:09

Oh yes, she can and she will.

SPEAKER_11 2:12

The last airbender, not the blue people. The blue people, listen, if you like it, that's good for you. I don't prefer that one. Specifically, specifically, Zuko's redemption arc. Oh my god. Peak. So if you guys don't know, Avatar the Last Airbender is basically a show about this little boy who unites the nations and he learns how to airbend, waterbend, earthbend, and firebend to defeat the Fire Nation.

SPEAKER_10 2:49

You know who else unites the nations? Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Sister Preach.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Sorry, Ted Talk. So sorry.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

As I'm explaining.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

Jesus would love that joke. You know, Jesus would love that joke, guys.

SPEAKER_11 3:11

As I'm explaining all this, I'm realizing that this is really nerdy. No, but this is my favorite show growing up. Anyways, basically, Prince Zuko, who's banished because his father was a turd. A turd. And he banished him when he was like 13 years old, and Zuko had daddy problems. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_11 3:32

He grew up having daddy issues. And so he went to find the Avatar so that he could bring the Avatar back to his father, restore his honor. And he just wanted his dad's approval. And basically by the end of the show, Zuko realizes like the apex of like peak Zuko-ness is when he realizes that his right, so his granddad was the like most wicked like fire lord, but his other grandfather was Avatar Roku. And so he realizes that he has good in him. And so he wants to join the Avatar to help defeat the Fire Nation and bring peace and honor to the world and unite the nations. I literally cry every time I just watched it last week. The episode where they reconciled because Prince Zuko betrayed Uncle Iro. I mean, yeah, I think Prince Zuko has the most elite uh redemption arc.

Reading The Bible With Context

SPEAKER_09 4:51

I can go next. So I thought about a couple of different things, but the thing that I feel like I could talk about the longest is some Bible nerd stuff. Yeah. So I am really, really passionate about like reading the Bible and learning about the Bible through the Eastern perspective of like how it was originally, the audience it was originally written for, and so um breaking down the stories in the Bible through like an Eastern lens. So I really love this podcast. Am I able to say the name of it or not? Yes, absolutely. Okay, there's this podcast called the Bayma Podcast. I am that that's that is like my You're promoting another podcast religious.

SPEAKER_10 5:38

Actually, fans' sponsors. What about the big features? I think that was just so funny.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Thank you, little Caesars, for sponsoring to that time.

SPEAKER_10 5:54

Little Caesars.

SPEAKER_09 5:56

No, I love that podcast. That is one of my favorites for sure. It basically like goes through the whole entire Bible, like, and it just gives you that Eastern like lens, like as you read the like the different stories, and I could talk about it forever. Like to go through the because when you read the Bible, sometimes there's a lot of stories that just don't make sense, and this has brought me a lot of clarity. And so, like, even going through the creation story, one thing that was fascinating for me was like, you know, sometimes it doesn't make sense. It's like, why were there plants or something before there was the sun and stuff like that? But they explain that and they say there's this thing called a what is it called? Uh I'm I'll think of it in a second. But basically, it's a pattern of writing that points you to like a deeper meaning. So, like in our Western perspective, we like to read stories and gain knowledge kind of in a straight line. Like, what's the question? Give me the answer, and not really any self-discovery with that, but the eastern perspective was more like you find out it's like a self-discovery process. So you find out on your own through like piecing together the little clues that the text leaves you. And so the Bay Maw podcast kind of shows you those clues and how to pick up on them as you read the Bible to find the meaning. And the first story that they go over is the creation story, and it was just so fascinating to me that the whole point of that story was about Sabbath. Like they're you God is using the creation sort, the creation story to teach us about Sabbath. Because the Israelites had just come out of Egypt and were in slavery for 400 years, and they thought that their worth was based on like how much they could produce, how many bricks they could make, and how much they could build. And then God brings them out of Egypt, and he's like, here's the story about Sabbath. So it's really fascinating. I could talk about it forever. So I'll just move on now. So I won't keep talking. But that's great.

SPEAKER_10 8:02

Love a good podcast. It's so true that's important to read it like with the intent written behind it, because like we broke down scripture into verses and chapters, and like that's my other thing, is a narrative thing that they wrote, like at these times, and when you don't read it as a narrative, like overarching some of the meta-narratives of scripture, you're losing the imagery and like everything that's important that connects it to each other, yeah, which makes it feel less impressive. Less impressive, I don't want to say, but like when you look at it as like all these different people wrote these different sections of it across however many years. It's like okay, that but yeah, it's not as impactful as like there's these strands connecting Leviticus over to Romans, and this strand connecting like I don't know, like Jude all the way back to like numbers, like something super specific and like all these small stories.

SPEAKER_09 8:50

It's one it's one continuous story throughout, and it's just really cool how they set up the story in the beginning and then like show you how to see God's narrative throughout the rest of the Bible. Like he's still, and that's kind of one thing they say is you know, God's thing from the beginning has been able to his people has been trust the story, like continue trusting the story that I've created, and he brings them back to that every time. So it's yeah, it's really fascinating, and I think it's encouraging for me too, because sometimes it's really hard to read the Bible because there are a lot of things that just don't make sense, and again, when you're reading it through that Western mindset of like, okay, none of this seems to be in order, like this is so weird. It just really helps me to to like just be able to understand and read the Bible, and that helps me in my own like faith journey too. Um, so yeah, sounds good.

SPEAKER_11 9:46

Mary Grace eating, no one can talk about forever because we all agree.

SPEAKER_06 9:52

Yes, we do, and now I have to now. I have to follow that up now.

SPEAKER_10 9:58

He's gonna like craft my favorite Pokemon is Charizard.

SPEAKER_06 10:02

Okay, alright.

SPEAKER_10 10:04

The original three Pokemon are the best in the whole Pokemon.

God Of War And Game Stories

SPEAKER_06 10:08

See, we're not even gonna talk about that because that's true. Okay. Um, yeah, I gotta follow it up now. Wow. Um I mean, I'm I'm very infatuated with a lot of different things. So it's hard for me to choose, but my number one series of everything would have to be probably God of War. I just think it's an amazing game series because of the story it tells. It starts off with a man who's in deeply grieving about the loss of his wife and daughter by his own actions. So he goes on a revenge tale, and through this entire ser well, the entire first couple games, the this entire story, he's just going after revenge, which he realized accomplished nothing. Like a lot of people think it's this awesome story about how he just went and killed all the gods and was a super awesome guy. But in reality, at the very end of the third game, which is after he kills all the gods, he sits there and admits he destroyed the world. Because the gods held things in order to keep it at peace, and he destroyed the world by doing that. Then jumps to however long later he has a son and then has to learn how to become that caring father once again after the monster he was, and he has to accept his past, he has to accept being a father, and also accept that his son is growing up, which I think is just between uh like the game, between Kratos, the main character, and his son, the dynamic was very similar to how me and my dad are, so it was it hit very at home for me, especially. So it was I think that is just something that I could sit and talk about for hours and hours on end. Not about not just how cool it is, but how important the storyline is it anything like Animal Crossing or You know, it is uh not Tom Nok is the god of war.

SPEAKER_10 12:04

Tom, Tom Nok Shut up.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

My mom for real. You just pulled things out of your tail. Your vocabulary glossary, bro. Glossary.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Is Gracie calling a morgan?

SPEAKER_03 12:24

No, like it's just very it's a method, new method.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

When's the boxing match? When's the boxing match?

SPEAKER_11 12:30

I would never. New method, your glossary, bro. Your glossary.

SPEAKER_07 12:36

Because it's like very like niche things. And it's like a dictionary is like everything. Glossary is like specific. It's just like what the book's about.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

But why are you calling why why are you calling her out on Tom Nook? Like, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_07 12:50

Well, he does look it's just like a crazy pool.

SPEAKER_11 12:53

Him and the fox that steals your money when you try to buy artwork from him, he'll scam you.

SPEAKER_10 13:01

Stingy.

SPEAKER_11 13:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 13:02

Well, I'm bringing you my furnished goldfish, and you don't want to give me my tuna tom.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Give me a absolute jump from gaming, from like God of War to frickin' to an animal promising.

SPEAKER_11 13:21

Listen, didn't I try to think like what kind of game are you playing? I'm like, this is so setting it. I'm like, I didn't know that games were this like storyline.

SPEAKER_10 13:36

You need what you need to do is this is so stupid.

SPEAKER_11 13:38

No, I like I like games where I can just like No, it's not just playing.

SPEAKER_10 13:44

People make cutscene movies of games, and they're like the length of an actual movie. Sometimes they're longer, but like the Spider-Man PS4 movies. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

That story is the best Spider-Man ever.

SPEAKER_08 13:57

It's Morgan Stern.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

No, but that is oh genuine. You can go on YouTube. All right, and so after uh Animal Crossing, we're gonna do that.

SPEAKER_11 14:10

I'm gonna make a gameplay video of my Animal Crossing. I did actually go one of Animal Crossing.

SPEAKER_04 14:17

What we should do is you play God of War. I play Animal Crossing because I've never played Animal Crossing.

SPEAKER_11 14:22

So the first time I played, well, I don't know what God of War is like. Are there guns in it? No. Sorry, I don't know what it's like at all. I'm just in trying to describe the first time I played Call of Duty. It was it was entertaining to say the least.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

What for you or the other people?

SPEAKER_11 14:38

Everybody entertaining.

SPEAKER_10 14:39

We may even play Rivals tonight. Yeah, it's horrible. Rivals Grace 2. I don't know what that is. It's like we're gonna lock it. It's okay. It's good. And that's the best part.

unknown 14:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 14:51

One time my brother's playing Fortnite, and he's like, I gotta go to the bathroom. And I was like, it's okay. I can play for you. He says, just do not die, right? That's your dude. Fortnite. I jumped out, I walked off a building.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

I didn't even know, like, I was like, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

You never, I'm not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_07 15:07

He wasn't even like in the bathroom yet. I was like, I got this. I started walking forward, boom. And I said, Oh man, boom, yeah. He was like, don't tell me. And I was like, I walked off the building. Like he was like, You didn't even get shot. Like that.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

He was like, you did it yourself. Like, you did it for the kills. Nothing.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

No, I don't know. No kills. Nothing more. Bro, hide in a bush next time. Sorry. Stay still.

Trauma That Shapes Art And Music

SPEAKER_10 15:33

My my TED talk. Okay, this is like complete, total shift. I'm so sorry. The influence of collective trauma on creative or artistic movements in people groups. Okay. Because I researched part of it in college for a paper, and it was really interesting.

SPEAKER_06 15:46

I talked about God of War.

SPEAKER_10 15:48

Better saying a woman is speaking. No, and so I wrote a paper on it in college, and it was talking about the effects of 9-11 and on American culture following it in like music movements and artistic movements. I've heard of that. And like relating that back to like when the crusades happened, like how that affected like Muslim culture. Sorry, I'm like so interested. So like one of the I'm just laughing because one about bringing up, but for like the one about 9-11, one of the main influences was like my chemical romance. And it was somebody who firsthand witnessed the attacks, it was traumatized by them, and then that started a whole shift in like not even just a genre shift, but like a topic shift of the way people wrote their music, and it created a whole subgenre of people. And so how it affects cultures moving forward, because like now, even though we are like over 20 years past the attacks.

SPEAKER_08 16:47

No! I'm kidding. Keep going, keep going. So good.

SPEAKER_10 16:51

Like we're over 20 years past the attacks, but still you can see the traces of those specific, like for the listeners at home.

SPEAKER_04 17:00

I have a bull for the listeners at home.

SPEAKER_08 17:08

Every mic picked it up.

SPEAKER_04 17:10

For the listeners at home, I have MMs near me, and Gracie just got up. All the way around. Went in here and just dug straight into that box.

SPEAKER_08 17:24

We are gonna be here till one in the morning. People lock in.

SPEAKER_10 17:30

Anyway, you can see in American culture now, the direct trace between the two things. So it would just be about that in different cultures, how that's affected things, how that affects where you are now. And then you could use that to predict different cultural shifts. Like I think that COVID is gonna show, like, after like probably another five to ten years, we'll look back and see how it shifted for like pop culture or for music or for art. Interesting. And like how that affects it. But I found it really interesting.

SPEAKER_11 17:53

So you're telling me Black Parade is like directly uh child of 9-11. What do you want to connect with? Like trauma.

SPEAKER_10 18:03

Like Green Day, uh Wake Me Up when September ends. That song is about the attacks on 9-11. Yeah. No, that's so interesting. I haven't heard of that.

SPEAKER_06 18:12

You said that very well because I've heard that. Not very well.

SPEAKER_10 18:14

Good job, Morgan. Um, let me think, and I might be able to tell you afterwards. I can't think of any on the moment. But those are like the big two.

SPEAKER_11 18:20

You like it.

SPEAKER_10 18:20

Love it how it affected.

SPEAKER_11 18:21

So good, Morgan.

SPEAKER_10 18:23

Love Tracy.

SPEAKER_11 18:24

Next step on the docket.

Why Public Education Matters

SPEAKER_07 18:26

Okay. For me. For me. My smokey, probably kind of boring. But mine is the importance of education. Yes. Education is important. But okay, yes, I am a teacher. But like it is. I think more so also like public education. Yep. Not docking any other thing else. But just as a public school teacher, the importance of I'm with you, girly. Sorry, I just don't even know what to say. But they're just so it is so important. Like, schools are a place where one students learn how to read, write, and just function. To be normal human beings and to like be able to do that. And there's a lot, there's like a study, this is credible from nowhere because I can't think of the study, but there's a study that shows that like ill like not being literate leads to a lot of people going to jail. And it's like more than half the people who are incarcerated don't know how to read. And a lot of times when people who go to jail, they go to jail. No, this is not a lot. This is actually just like I'm just like overarching this, which is probably not right. But like because people can't read, then that can lead them to jail, not because they're actually like doing something wrong, quote unquote, but because like they didn't know. Like, for example, if they send a contract, they can't read the contract, they don't know they broke a contract, and so it kind of leads to me like that, like a lease of a car, a lease of X, Y, Z, whatever it may be. Like, so a lot of times, like literacy is just super important in like our kids right now as a teacher. It's it's looking rough in the classrooms. I think also like besides just literacy and like critical thinking skills are also lacking right now where people are just like, Yes, I'm like, like, ugh, they just want everything to be handed to them. And like, there's even like adults who I talk to where they're just like, I just don't know. And I'm like, hey, look it up. Like, we have the internet. At least we have the internet. Like, we have so many resources, and we're just like, I don't know. I'll just sit here and do nothing. I'm like, no, like, go do something about it. Like, ugh, I think that's a huge. Go do something about it.

SPEAKER_11 20:19

I was talking with somebody the other day, like, I don't, I don't know, but just like how, especially like since COVID, and how like kids is educ like not even their education, but like their motivation to even like do work or to learn. They don't, it's just really lost.

SPEAKER_07 20:37

And I think that also then going into it goes back to I also serve a very like different I serve like a Title I community. And I think that also leads to like having the support at home. And it's not that that the parents or whoever's at home doesn't want to, it's that they're working night jobs, they're working a daytime job and a night job. So my students are going home, not just mine, in general. Some students are going home to not an adult, so there's no one there to sit down with them to practice their multiplication tables, to read with them at night, to do these things. And it's not because the parents are neglecting them, it's because they're trying to put food on the table. And they're trying to like survive and they're trying to provide for them.

SPEAKER_06 21:15

Yeah, and they can't they legitimately cannot be there to teach them because they have to be able to provide.

SPEAKER_07 21:22

Yeah. And then with that, then it goes in like schools becoming like a parent figure to a lot of these kids. Like there's teachers like raising kids. Like, we send home like food on the weekends, and like I'm making those like phone calls to parents, and like I'm like, I had a kid tell me, like, he's never been said, I love you too. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I love you so much. Like, have a good day. And he's like, What? Like an adult like loves me? And it's just like it was like it's heartbreaking that these kids are just going through so much at home and like there's like just no one there for them. So not only is it a place where they can learn to read, write, all that stuff, that's a critical thing that's super important, but it's like Can be a safe place for a lot of students, even though a lot of people are like, ew, I hate school, and like, yeah, I get it, because it's hard. And like, but hard things are important to do and overcome. School's so much more than just learning to like.

SPEAKER_11 22:11

You learn like social skills, you learn like how to, like you said, the confidence, like that's where it starts at.

SPEAKER_07 22:19

I think and also then you could go back into technology in the classroom and how that has played a negative impact in our students learning.

SPEAKER_06 22:27

I'm not gonna lie to you. I've had this conversation with one of my friends many times. I I sometimes wish that I could go back to like the like the eighties to where we didn't have to like like immediate access to the internet and stuff like that. Or so e immediate access to talk to people.

SPEAKER_07 22:45

Yeah, and like there's no attention span. And like me too. Like honestly, you know what I'm saying? But like especially these kids like the product of my environment.

SPEAKER_06 22:53

And no, literally, but it's also like girl, when I'm driving, I gotta, I gotta stop myself from playing TikTok. He's a text.

SPEAKER_08 23:03

Continue, sorry, Grace.

SPEAKER_07 23:04

Anyway, but yeah, and it's like kids also, but it's like there's like two parts where it's like kids don't know how to be bored.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 23:10

You like they have to be like, what do I do now? What do I do now? Like nothing. Find some find something to do. Or just like sit. Like I'm not sure. Turn your brain off. I saw one teacher and she's just like, I practice daily boredom. Like that's part of like what I'm doing. It's like, we're just gonna sit and do nothing. That's so smart. That is smart. And also kids just love to like hum and they talk to themselves. I'm like, sorry, that's just like not even like I just there's such a I'm like, turn off your vocal cords. Like I can't just say stop talking because I'm not talking. Like vocal cords are off. Because imagine, oh no, you just hear, I can't do that. That'd be me. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_04 23:43

But it's like if I was like a teacher and I was like, all right, nobody talking. And they start humming.

SPEAKER_07 23:50

I'd be like, No, that's that's daily occurrence where I'm like, I did it to my mom the other day, and I was like, just talk to me. And I'm like, and she's like, stop. She lasted just two words, seven seconds. Anyway, it's it's ironic you bring it up though.

SPEAKER_10 24:04

Because like literally today at work, a coworker and I were talking about it, how like she was doing an assignment, and the you had an argument either or you had to argue whether or not education was a right or a privilege, or should be a right or a privilege. And to me, it's like it education should be a right, but if you have the right, you should view it as a privilege. And like that's something I feel like it's missing, at least in like the US in some cases. Yeah. Because like you go to places like we work with a nonprofit in Kenya, like those kids literally do not have access unless they can pay fees from a corrupt government, like to gain access to education, and even then most do not finish their education past like eight years old. Like, because of that.

SPEAKER_11 24:45

So, like yeah, it's think of all the people that literally want to come to America just for the education alone. Yeah, like because I work in public education, I work in a different department, but there are people from other countries that specifically come here sixteen thousand dollars a year, we charge them tuition, but they want to come here.

SPEAKER_06 25:06

Like some people are like and it yeah, and I think I I think going back to what you were saying about like parents and stuff like that, being having to not like just like in a home setting can't be there because they have to work. I think that's a failure on uh on the the system as a whole, how much it costs just to live nowadays.

SPEAKER_07 25:25

Yeah, that's it. The system's broken. That was mic drop. Yeah, teachers should be paid more. Mic drop. Yes, mic drop. Also, but I love my summers off.

SPEAKER_04 25:32

Teachers, teachers shouldn't be paid. I was joking. I was just joking, I'm joking, I'm joking. Stop! I'm joking, I'm joking.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

It's a joke. Gracie, I promise it was a joke.

SPEAKER_08 25:48

I just know you cooked up something so elaborate for trying to think of something niche, a little bit funny, a little bit whatever. I couldn't really think, so I did text my mom. I was like, what do you think? Outside source, and immediately not allowed. She said, Maybe you could do one like about raising kids. I was like, what? I'm like, I think I would offend people with that because I don't have children. And she's like, hmm. I was like, so I'm not doing that, but I just thought that was a land closer. Like, why would you think I'd do a TED talk about raising kids? I don't have kids. I'm not raising. You're the elder daughter. I'm the elder daughter. You're the eldest mother.

SPEAKER_10 26:21

I really said yours on the eldest daughter. I love it, though. A gentleman. He just made me laugh out loud at work. All right, that's your time. Sorry. Alright.

The Tower Of London’s Wild Past

SPEAKER_08 26:35

No, so I'm doing the uh something that I know a lot about that interests me. The Tower of London. Ooh. Like the Tower of London? What the heck is that? International? The Tower of London. The Tower of London.

SPEAKER_11 26:47

Kennedy is the Ashen the International Woman. The international lion.

SPEAKER_08 26:51

No, I thought so. When I had been in London, I'd heard of the Tower of London just being like a place where they hold like the jewellery. And so I was like, I don't, I mean, I'll stop in there because I am also obsessed with the royal family. So it's like I would love to see the jewels and like Henry VIII's armor and all that, whatever. But I did not realize what that place actually is. Like it, I'm just telling you, like, I can't even describe how mind-blowing it was. And when I had a public speaking class that I had to take, I did a presentation on it. Everyone needs to know it's a crazy place. Like, it's not just like I don't know what I assumed it was, just like a nice pretty building where you know kings used to go every now and again and they they have their jewels and stuff. It's been 12 different things. It has been a prison, place of expansion. Oh. They used to make coins there, they used to do a whole bunch of stuff. The most interesting part, it used to be a zoo. Whoa. Okay. And this place cannot. No, this is the crazy part. This is what I really fixate on. It's not a place where you can really have a zoo. It it's kind of a box shape, and there's like a field in the middle. But Europeans were really obsessed with animals, right? And I'm talking like this is like the 12th century. Like they had never seen this type of thing before. So they would like other kings would give gifts of their exotic animals to Europeans. They did not understand how to take care of them. So the stories are insane. So they had brought like an ostrich one time. They thought that ostriches ate an iron. So they would feed it like nails and stuff. And I'm like, how? What? What's going on right now? We said nails at the same time. And I was like, that's insane because that's not like food. They they had brought like an elephant over and they would thought it was a carnivore and they would let it drink wine. They thought that's what it consumed. And I'm like, what kind of idiots? Like it just makes me like I just can't. There's just so many. And so again, not really a zoo as far as like it can be caged. People would cut like pay to visit. That's why they lost.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

And they lost.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Yeah, this giant bird I'm like, yeah, that one thing wants to eat some nails.

SPEAKER_08 29:12

It just makes my monkey. An uncaged monkey like killed a little boy here.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

Don't talk about parame like that.

SPEAKER_08 29:27

Happen there first. No, I'm trying to think about like a lion. A lion like ripped off a girl's arm. I'm like, who's going to this like a room filled with like literally wild animals is just like trying to pet them instead of crazy and then give them wine and nails and like all this stuff? Because they're like, we don't know what we're doing. Like maybe think a little. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 29:47

No, I kind of agree with Terry's comments. This is why they lost.

SPEAKER_08 29:50

Not very smart. Usually that bird.

SPEAKER_10 30:00

It seems like he loves iron.

SPEAKER_04 30:04

I do know that this giant mammal. This giant mammal wants to drink a bowl of wine.

SPEAKER_10 30:17

That's an animal with a trunk. He looked like he'd like cabinet.

SPEAKER_03 30:35

This is a private school education gets education.

SPEAKER_07 30:40

I am not glazing Morgan is the funniest person, maybe in the world. Yeah. No glaze at all. And I will put money on it. Draw a donut.

SPEAKER_11 30:48

No draw.

unknown 30:51

I think.

SPEAKER_11 30:53

Okay, so we just can't. So basically, London, they discovered a multi-purpose room.

unknown 30:59

Sure.

SPEAKER_08 31:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_11 31:00

And they decided to do a whole bunch of things.

SPEAKER_08 31:03

Describe how obsessed I was. I was like, this should not be real. And just a bunch of I mean, my mom, being Canadian, love her, but sadly that's the case. Non-derogatory is non-derogatory. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. To my Canadian family that's listening, I love you guys so much. We love you because we make up 80% of our listeners. You make us an international podcast. And where do they live? Morgan? That's not even funny because they don't know.

SPEAKER_06 31:29

Where was that one guy? Like, shout out to that one guy in like where was it? Lithuania.

SPEAKER_08 31:33

And Italy.

SPEAKER_04 31:35

Yeah, shout out to the guy in Italy listening to us.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

That's crazy. No, but I was.

SPEAKER_10 31:39

Do you want to be on the pod next week?

SPEAKER_04 31:41

Because of my mom.

SPEAKER_10 31:42

Montorno.

SPEAKER_04 31:45

Yeah, we just lost them.

SPEAKER_10 31:47

Now they're clicking off. Sorry. Can anyone keep going?

SPEAKER_08 31:50

That was fascinating. Thank you very much. No, I knew none of that. Was it because my mom obsessed with the royal family? So there's just a lot of you know crazy stuff that happens there. People that get killed, so other people can have the throne. And I was just like, they're buried here, and like this is where it happened. And I don't know. It was just insane to me. And there's people buried there. It's a pretty jewels. Everyone just like, oh my gosh. It's like whatever. But there's people buried there. So like, does everyone like know Anne Boleyn? Oh, yeah. So yeah, yes. I went, I'm not sure. That was my second topic. Three of Henry VIII's wives were executed and buried there. Woo!

SPEAKER_11 32:24

Final follow-up question.

SPEAKER_08 32:25

What is it used as today? It's just a touring spot, really. Okay. So it's it's really cool to see because also, like, they have like these trained crows there. I don't know why this makes me like how. They just stay there and they're like trained and they just like do stuff. And I'm like, how? It's a crow. Like, I don't know. There's just so many things there. But you just go and you could spend hours there. Don't bring them over here. And don't bring them over here.

SPEAKER_09 32:50

Trained crows.

SPEAKER_08 32:51

It's beautiful. It's quite beautiful.

SPEAKER_09 32:52

So it's just a touring spot?

SPEAKER_08 32:54

Yeah, to just see because it literally has been used for so much. And like just I can't even describe how much history happened there. I'm just gonna keep the highlight of the animal thing because I think that's the most insane. But if you're into British history, like you have to go there. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_09 33:10

Do you sorry? Do you know what it was like the longest? So what do you think?

SPEAKER_08 33:17

I want to say the longest, it was a prison. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 33:19

I was hoping it was a coin factory.

SPEAKER_08 33:21

No, maybe it wasn't. It was also used for like a fortress, and like if things were happening, they would like take the royal family like there as like a secure, more secure spot.

SPEAKER_06 33:30

It was almost like a panic room.

SPEAKER_08 33:31

There, sure. Yes. No, but I can't. We'll we'll end for the sake of time. I want to hear more after. Yeah, after we can talk about it. I'll show you my PowerPoint presentation. Let's go to our next segment.

SPEAKER_11 33:46

For the sake of time. She ate, she ate. So to transition, I know we've been talking about and joking about all of the random, very random things that we're passionate about. I'm actually surprised at all of your guys's because that was very insane.

SPEAKER_04 34:02

Really? You're surprised about mine? I feel like mine was the most blatantly obvious.

SPEAKER_11 34:08

Well, I don't know God of War, so I just didn't, I just couldn't go. But the one thing that we definitely wanted to mention on this podcast is something that we all have in common, something that we could all probably talk about for hours and hours and hours that we all share. It is our faith. And so for us, it's not just a hobby, but I know you all pretty well. And I think we are well, we try to, you know, just be a better person and just to follow after the Lord every day. And so that to us is what we are very passionate about. And so, and it's comforting to have a group of friends like you guys that are just so awesome and just points each other to Christ. And so I think it's hard when you think about Christianity as a whole. I think the feeling of it being such a massive concept, and the feeling of not measuring up is something that I feel like a lot of people will have in common, I guess, when they look at Christianity as a whole. And I think everybody knows what it feels like to try your best and not be good enough. But Christianity, it's not not about that. Like we all fall short in patience, in pride, in our motives. But I think the story of Jesus Christ doesn't end with we messed up. Romans 5, 8, God chose his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So while we're still figuring it out, while we're so inconsistent, while our lives are so messy, I mean while we are actively, you know, stiff arming him and being far from him, Christ moves towards us in love, even when you don't want it. And I think that's what makes Christianity so beautiful, our faith so beautiful in Christ such a perfect God. Ephesians 2, 8 through 9 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith. It is a gift of God, not a result of works. So grace is a gift, it's not something that you grind for or something that you get by being impressive and showing off or, you know, whatever. It's not something that you lose every time that you fail, which I think is something that I struggle with. It's not trying to be come like you when you have faith in Jesus, it's not about trying to become a flawless person. It's knowing that you're loved by a perfect savior. And so we're passionate about a lot of different things: music, ideas. We're passionate about our community, we're passionate about each other, being funny, laughing, all of these things. Um, but at the end of the day, they're not things that carry our identity. Um at the end of the day, they're things that we you know we just like to do, and our identity is found in God. So Jesus is the foundation that doesn't crack when we mess up. So when we're saying we're passionate about our faith, it's true. You know, we love Jesus and we strive every day to just grow closer to Him, know more about Him, be in His Word, be in prayer for others. It's knowing that we're held by the one who holds all things together. So the gospel is this that Jesus is God, He died on the cross to pay for my sins and for yours. Jesus bodily rose from the grave, defeating sin, and there's nothing else in all of creation that deserves our heart's affection more than him. So yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:27

That was amazing. So good. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_10 37:31

Eternal good. Eternal good.

Why Faith Is Not A Hobby

SPEAKER_11 37:34

So I have a few follow-up questions for you guys, just so that I'm not talking. So, why is faith something deeper than just hobby, like we all mentioned, or something deeper than just all of our random TikToks that we just talked about? Are we going in a circle? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_09 37:54

Free answer. I think that for me it's not just about salvation, right? So I believe in the gospel. I believe that when I die, because I have accepted Jesus as my savior, I'll go to heaven. But it's also about my life here on earth. One thing that I really like to use as helpful illustration is like not just picturing the church, because I think sometimes we can get an idea like the church is for like good people, or where you know, even some people feel like the church is a bunch of hypocrites because they are like, oh, they they think that they're so good, but I know that they've done this, this, and this. And I really like to say that if we could all picture the church as like a hospital instead of like a place where quote unquote good people go, like we go to church for the same reason that we go to a hospital. Like we go to the hospital because we know we're sick and we know that we need the doctor. We go to church because we know that we're broken and we know that we need Jesus, we know that we need God, and so for me, it's not just about salvation and eternity, it's also about my daily walk here on earth. Like, I know that I need Jesus every single day. I don't just need him to save my life for eternity. I need him to get through every single day. And like I I I that's my hope and prayer that more people, if they don't believe in Jesus, if they're not a Christian, if they could just hear that and maybe it would make a little bit more sense. There's definitely, you know, Christians, like we're all people, we're still sinful, we are not perfect, and I think that's the point, is that's why we do go to church because we need we need a savior, we need help, we need help day to day. And I heard it said like this too, talking about like the difference between like kind of breaking the the thought that like good people go to heaven, or like I if I do enough good things, if I'm a good person, like I'll go to heaven. One of our pastors at our church said this one time, and it really stuck with me heaven is not good, heaven is perfect. And I think everyone on this earth can admit that they're not perfect. And so, like the reason why we trust in Jesus as our only way to heaven is because he was the only person that was perfect. And so I just really like that illustration to be like, okay, it's not about being good, it's not about what we do. Yes, we want to do good things to glorify God, but at the end of the day, it's about accepting Jesus as our savior because he was the only one that's perfect. And it's really encouraging to me that we're not just gonna go to a place someday that's good enough for good people, we're gonna go to a perfect place one day. And I want to do everything that I can on earth to build that relationship day in and day out with my perfect savior because it's about relationship, it's not about a bunch of rules that you follow, it's not about, you know, do this, don't do that. You know, it's it's about the same way we build a relationship with each other here on this podcast, you know, you spend time with we spend time with each other, we a lot, we share a lot of laughs, especially those two. We relax. We we spend a lot of time together and we build relationships, and that's what it is with our savior. Like we spend time with him by being in the word and prayer and going to church, and the more you build a relationship, the more you love someone, and the more you can rely on them and trust them in the hard things that happen every day.

SPEAKER_06 41:47

So for me, I've always been a believer, always went to church with my parents, stuff like that. It was always more it was more so like I never didn't believe in the Lord. For me, it was like I didn't always worship him until I had so there was a point in my life where I had so much malice for somebody very close to me. I had so much anger and just frustration that I just, you know, I needed to get away from that. And I, you know, tried everything I could to get away from that any every earthly thing, and it didn't work. And I broke down and I went to actually Morgan's older brother was really my my first mentor who really showed up.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

Listeners in Florida. Only two.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Yeah, he left me and flew to go to Florida. Don't say that church with his wife.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

Hard luck. Hard luck to you.

SPEAKER_06 42:45

No, they freaking I remember he texted me about I hadn't heard from him in months, and he texted me, he goes, dude, I but I was like, my wife's pregnant.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

I was like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_06 42:54

I was like, but no, like, and just thinking back to how far I've come, I'm not a perfect human being. I never, I will never say I am. And I agree with more not more Mary Grace, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_10 43:06

International I also agree. I agree too. Both work. We all agree. We all agree.

SPEAKER_06 43:12

I mean, we're not all perfect, and I think striving to be like Jesus, I mean, we all know we're never gonna be perfect. If you think you are, got news flash for you, buddy. I think, in my opinion, I think we can try our best to be as close to it as we can. And I don't think that's a bad thing, knowing that we'll never reach it. But being as close as we can to how Jesus Christ was, I think is a pretty noble thing to try to do. Ever since I've been saved, I you know, it made me it helped me meet all of you guys. I wouldn't trade that for the world. I cherish every single person in this room. And uh I wouldn't be who I am today without you guys. David, shut up, shut up. That is through and that was.

SPEAKER_10 43:56

We're gonna get weeping, right? David was looking dead into Gray's eyes this entire time. He can look at any of us. He was staring at the gray ground.

SPEAKER_06 44:09

I think, you know, you don't all I mean, I think sometimes people are like, oh, go going to, you know, the Lord because you need him, or like, because, you know, you've been through all these bad things. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like some people can make it sound like, oh, if you went after him because you were like so bad and so dark in these dark places. I don't know. I've I've seen a lot of people make it sound like it's a bad thing to go to him like that. You should just naturally flow to him. For me, that was not my journey. I didn't naturally flow to the Lord. He was my last resort. And I wouldn't have it any other way because I realize now there is no other option.

SPEAKER_08 44:51

Good job. It all turned around.

SPEAKER_06 44:54

That's great. Thank you.

SPEAKER_08 44:55

We lost track in the middle, but we're talking about it.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

You're right, you're right, you're right, you're right.

SPEAKER_08 44:59

We got there, we got there.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

Tripped on the run. Uh tripped on the run, fell down, but I got back down the cross.

SPEAKER_08 45:05

The listeners don't even know because I cut it out. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

We're good. We're good.

SPEAKER_10 45:12

No, yeah, I feel like faith's important because like I feel like it's a very grounding thing in your life too. Like, I don't, I feel like I I see with a lot of people that they think like they take a lot of people can take comfort in not knowing definitively the way things are in the world. And like I think I used to be a little bit like that where I was like, well, I if I don't know, then I can't be held accountable for that. You know, and I feel like that's the one thing that like it's faith is a scary thing, but it's beneficial because like you can know, like you can know the God in the universe, you know what I mean? Like that's insane. Yeah, and like that's not something being like, oh, we know this. Like, if you're not a Christian, like it's not us being like, we know this, and you don't know anything, like, not at all. Like, that's just the fact of the matter of like sorry, no, I don't know. It's just like it's a crazy thing to think about how like the entire story of the Bible, entire story of all of our lives is like God's constant pursuit of people. And like you can take comfort in knowing for sure where you stand and like knowing God because it's a good thing to know, you know, like He's a good He's a good person to know. Like, you know, it's like it's not like oh now I know and I have to do something with it, like which is true, but like now you know, and you can have comfort in that in itself. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

That's good as a whole blurb. That's good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good.

SPEAKER_07 46:43

Yeah, I think mine, my favorite verse, like the things that like coming to mind, I'll be real. So like coming to mind, like I just love the verse, like John 10 10, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus has come to give life and life abundantly. And I think I've experienced the devil trying to come steal, kill, and destroy, and like you can see that in the world around us. Like, yes, whether you've experienced it personally or you see it in somebody else or in the world, like you see that, and I think just like but Jesus has come and he has just like given so much fulfillment in my life and like so much purpose in places where like it seems where it would be meaningless, you know, or it just seems like whatever, but like the way the Lord has turned it for his good and just has brought joy in it, and so I think that's like my like that fulfillment.

SPEAKER_09 47:28

Good, good, I will say too, I've never like experienced love in like such a deep way, and like the one thing that I say is it's like before walking with the Lord, because I've known I've been grown up in a Christian home as well, and so I knew about Jesus, I went to church, all that stuff, but I wasn't walking with the Lord, it was more my family's faith and not my personal faith. When it became my personal faith and I was walking with the Lord, the best way I can describe it is like I was seeing in black and white, and then I started seeing in color. Like everything in life became so much like even how I experienced love, it was just deeper and richer and made all of I don't know, I can't really describe it. That's just the best way that I can put into words, and that just reminded me from that what you said there.

SPEAKER_06 48:20

That is the best way to explain the lore's love.

SPEAKER_09 48:23

It's good.

SPEAKER_06 48:24

Like it is I don't think it said very well.

SPEAKER_10 48:27

Yeah, it it makes me think too of just like I feel like a lot because of how saturated or like the US is specifically with like churches and with Christianity being integrated into very different sects of the culture, like it can be easy to grow up in an environment where you don't have not that you don't have the full understanding, but like you're taught facts, like you're taught stuff like that. And like for me, like I grew up in a Christian home, I went to church, but like I also went to a private Christian school, and for a long time I associated stuff in the Bible and about faith as like a test answer, or like I have to study this to get this right, and like that affected the way I viewed things. So after that, like when it was time for me to like figure that out myself, having seeking after God, seeking after Jesus is the primary focus, right? Like if you don't know what you believe, try out Jesus. Like everybody, no matter what's that quote where it's like no matter what, like every human being has to deal with the question of who the who Jesus is, like whether or not you seek it out or not. Yeah, and so because of that, like when you're searching for God, like you you will find him, like he's not gonna hide himself from you. But when you're put into spaces where it's like you don't have that connection first, it can confuse things. And I feel like that's why it's important to like know the Lord personally to seek after him, because like you'll be disappointed by people every day of your life. Like all the time, and all the time, and all the time. All the time, and so like in churches specifically, I think that's what you're saying, Mary Grace, with like the hypocrisy side of things, like it's very hard from the outside to see like these people say they believe these things, they do the other things.

SPEAKER_07 50:07

Yeah, and it's hard for the inside too. Yeah, no, it's when you see people it takes more.

SPEAKER_10 50:11

And it's like, what are you doing? Like, yeah, yeah. Like, why are you not acting the way that you say you you believe? You believe right? And it's like so those things are frustrating to everybody involved in the situation, you know. But like the important thing is to focus on seeking out Christ and seeking out the Lord. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 50:28

Yes, it's good.

SPEAKER_08 50:30

I'll make mine so quick. What makes my faith deeper than just an interest? Like, I think if you take away the knowledge that I have of the Tower of London, I am the same person that I would have been. And right now, so good. But you take away you take away, you know, what Christ has done for me and the like the way my life was changed and the perspective I view and the way I try and live my life, like I'm not the same person. That's what changes it from being like an interest or a hobby or something that I would like to know more about. Like, that is me, that's my identity, and I'm not anything without that. So that's just personally for me what makes it more than you know, a TED talk.

SPEAKER_09 51:14

It's not just something you know, it's who you are. It's your name. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 51:19

I'm just absolutely shocked. That was that really well.

SPEAKER_08 51:24

Thank you. That was amazing.

SPEAKER_11 51:27

Uh the next question is what does following Jesus actually change? So my answer was I mean, it changes everything. Everything all the time. Jesus changes, Jesus changes everything. It changes it and for me specifically, I think it changed my view of love. So opposite of Morgan, I did not grow up in a Christian household. And so my view of love that I learned from my parents, and you know, everything like that was wrong. And so when I accepted Jesus as my savior, right? Like it was the internal tension of like, why is this different? Like, this doesn't feel like what I grew up with. Now I know. Like I grew up and I internalized this version of love. And now all of a sudden, like, you know, meeting all these new people, like actually, you know, having friendships and relationships with other Christians, like in small group and having a mentor and being discipled, and like now I'm seeing this layer, and also the love of Christ. Now I'm seeing this layer of love that looks completely different than what I know it to be true. So just the just the concept of love and a lot that I had to unlearn and relearn the true definition of what love is, which love is Jesus. And love is a relationship with the Lord, because God is love and he is perfect love, and it's not just an attribute, it's not just the characteristic trait that he has, it is everything that he is. And so just getting closer to Jesus and re-learning a lot of things, but mainly rediscovering what love is something that was very impactful for me. Yeah, that's really good.

SPEAKER_09 53:33

I mean, I I agree. I I just think it changes everything. It changes how you see the world, it changes how you see people, how you see yourself. It changes what you prioritize, what you spend your time doing. And I just think it gives so much it just gives you so much, Jesus gives you so much purpose. Like when you when you find what your soul's been searching for that you didn't know that you were searching for. Like I've heard it said that we each have like a God-sized hole in our heart, and I know that I've tried to fill it with other things. And when you find the one that your soul's been longing for, you're like, okay, this this is what this is what I was looking for. And so I don't know, like I think it just gives me so much hope knowing like kind of what Morgan was talking about. Like I used to like it, it does cause a lot of anxiety, I think, and even depression for some people who like they don't know how they got here, they don't know like what's gonna happen after they die, and it's just kind of can get very like dark sometimes. And some of them are like okay with not knowing, they're okay with kind of just being like, Oh, I don't really care to know. But to not have to worry about that, like to just have peace in that, to have hope in that, it changes how I see every day. Because I think a lot of people live their life as if it doesn't matter because they're like, Oh, we're all just gonna go, like nothing happens when you die anyway, so we're just gonna like I'm just gonna. But when you know that you have a purpose here, that you have a reason for being here, that God loves you and he has a plan for you, and there's a reason why he, you know, put you here, you know, gave you the personality he gave you, gave you the you know, the family he gave you, where you were born, you know, your gifts, your talents, all of that has meaning and purpose. And so I don't know, I think it gives hope, it gives peace, it gives joy. I think that's a big thing. It like the love and the joy in my life when I started like again, not just being a Christian, saying, like, I'm gonna go to church, read my Bible, but like love is sacrifice, right? So, like love means that you give up things. And when I started giving up things for Jesus, that's when my walk really changed. So I'm sacrificing how I used to live, and I'm living for him, and he's the one that dictates how I live. I think that's when you really get to that deeper relationship, and then you see, like, like I said, you see the colors. Like, I didn't even know I was living and seeing things in black and white until I started seeing color, and I was like, wow, there's so much depth in love, there's so much depth and joy. Like, why do I feel joy when this like super painful thing is going on? So I don't know.

SPEAKER_10 56:50

I don't think I just love that because like I I love the saying about how like you don't have to change to go to Jesus, but when you go to him, be prepared for everything to change. Like you like, you don't have to like you can come as you are to him and like seek that out. Like, you're not a perfect person, I'm not a perfect person. Like it's not behavior modification, like it's a change from the inside out, and like I'm not gonna you know point fingers at somebody because they live a different lifestyle than me, or they believe different things than me, or like do these different things. I think that's what like sorry, I didn't just give you David, my bad. You're good, but like that's that's what Jesus has changed in my life, is like the way that I treat others, like I view them with kindness and like treat them with kindness because I want them to know the Lord through I mean, like you might be the only Jesus somebody gets in the day, you know, like through actions and be like, hey, like there's a God that loves you, that sees you in your pain, your suffering, and like you're not alone. Like, I'll be that representation of him to you, and I want to point you to him, like through our friendship, through our relationship. And so, like, I don't know, I just feel like it provides such peace, also in that, because like I don't know, like, I don't know that I have the confidence to go to people the way that like I'm empowered to through the Holy Spirit, you know what I mean? Like, to do certain things, to say certain things to people to try and like encourage them, and like it just brings peace in my own life and like hard times and like with family things, with personal things. Like, it's really like encouraging to like continue on in the forward path. Cause like I don't know, like there's a lot of times in my life where I'm like, I don't know how I would have survived that situation without God. Like, I don't understand how I would wake up every single day and like keep moving and keep going. And knowing that about myself, I think brings passion to bring the Lord to other people. It's because I'm like, well, if I don't know how I would survive, then how are they surviving? And like, how are they doing? And like, how are they gonna be able to do it? You know, so it's out of that kindness and compassion that God gives you through knowing him that's being dependent on the Lord is like another one I could do a whole separate TED talk.

SPEAKER_11 58:56

Like Avatar State, dependency on the Lord. Well, because he like even when you feel like there's nothing left inside of you, like the Holy Spirit just gives you that like bottomless reservoir.

SPEAKER_09 59:08

Like, if you are just dependent on him to do to be obedient to him and to follow his lead, it's like there's more, and it truly is a peace that passes all understanding, like you're saying. Like, there's times where I'm like, I don't even understand why I could have peace right now, but like, yeah, it just doesn't make sense because yeah, what you're saying, I think that is why like a lot of people are searching for peace, they're searching for hope, and I don't know, it's just it's just something that you can't really explain.

SPEAKER_06 59:46

Yeah, yeah. Um another hard one to follow. For me, I guess the biggest change, I mean, uh uh obviously, other than everything, you guys both kind of had right on the head with it. But for me, for me personally, it was forgiveness and acceptance was hard the hardest thing for me because we're growing up that was forgiveness was not an easy thing for me to learn as a kid. And just from day one of me becoming you know a follower, like a real follower, not just somebody who went to church with my parents and stuff like that. The difference between before I was a follower and after I was a follower on how I reacted or how I treated situations like this. Last year I went through a lot of hardships with some family members of mine, and I literally I thought back to myself after having a small conversation with my old mentor just how differently I react to everything now. Like, I mean, I would have let the world shut me down and do nothing. I was I mean with all these terrible things going on, I was still happy because I knew that the Lord, if it was in his will, he would do it. He w if he if it was in his will, he wouldn't let the people around me suffer or be in pain. You know, he'd keep them at peace and keep me at peace as well. And that's exactly what he did because I I was peaceful. As crazy as it sounds to as crazy as it sounds with a peaceful David? Oh yeah, thank you. But it's I mean, yeah. And it's just been a lot easier to forgive people. Sometimes I think I do it a little too easily, but I think I'd rather that than hold on to grudges and hold on to malice because that's that at the end of the day, I think is one of the most harmful things that you can do is hold on to malice in your heart and hold on to hatred.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:54

It's the power within.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:03

I think for me, it's how I see other people. I think instead of talking, instead of like just seeing people just like, oh, as like a student, as a coworker, as a family member, as whoever it is, I see them more of like how God created them to be, where I'm like, they they have purpose. Just as much as I have purpose, they do too. Just as much as I'm creating the image of God, so are they. And so I think it I also have a very like a mindset of like I don't know, like an internal mindset where it's like, hey, they don't know Jesus, like they're like they're going to hell, you know what I'm saying? And it's like one of those things where it's like I need to share the gospel with them and like tell them about Jesus, you know what I'm saying? Because I have a very like that breaks my heart. Like hearing like like in the funerals, like people who like did not know the Lord, and like I'm like, oh my gosh, like that just like opens my eyes. Like it was in my mouth, I'm gonna do that. But I don't know, there's just been so many times of just like past things where like people didn't know the Lord in their life like ended, and it's like that just breaks my heart that they didn't know God and they didn't experience that perfect heaven, you know, and it's like the only way to heaven is through Jesus, you know, and I think just how I see people and like seeing their etern eternity, you know.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:22

So that's good. No, I copy and paste what everyone says, put it into mine. I think especially the love part for me, because I think I also always grew up in a Christian home, but I wasn't saved till I was six, and I think before that it was like that Disney type of love where it's like it's a it's a feeling and it's this and it's wonderful when it's like actually it's a choice, and like having love that's a choice changed the way because like I don't have some Disney Channel feeling that makes me f love my brother, I choose to love him, and that is more powerful than chosen, you're chosen, Grey. Like this is the love. He actually chose you, she chose you, and again I view people as all my brothers and sisters, right? And so you treat them with love. The I mean, yeah, the whole perspective of my whole life was changed by that. I also want to point out to people like I don't want to make it seem like this thing where you're always gonna be happy and you're never gonna struggle, and things are gonna be perfect for you because now you have God. That's not the case. I'm complete opposite actually. No, you'll go through suffering. I've been through pain that I can't express, and there are things that you actually can't handle, and that's why you lean on the Lord. And I can't imagine going through those things without having Him, but it doesn't mean that when you, you know, come to the Lord that all of a sudden life is just sunshine and rainbows, and you just have the best time. I think the reason that we all wanted to do this is because this is the greatest thing that happened to each and every one of us, and we want to share that with all of our listeners because we appreciate how you take the time out of your day to listen to us for over a whole hour and we just want you to know that we love you. We love you guys so much. And more importantly, Jesus loves you.

SPEAKER_10 1:05:15

And because you can't handle it, you can hand it to him. You're gonna break it. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:26

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:27

Oh my god, charge.

SPEAKER_11 1:05:29

All right, we'll end up thank you guys so much for listening to our podcast this week. So glad that you tuned in. Um, if you laughed at all, even once during this podcast, please send this to a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram at YappersUnite. And we're so glad that you listened with us. And yeah, join us back. Next week, hopefully, um the topic is going to be absolute ball knowledge. So you gotta you gotta you gotta come next week eternal ball knowledge. Eternal ball knowledge next week it's rough