Speaker 1: It is easy to be a cultural Christian. It is
Speaker 1: hard to realize that you have been stuck in it.
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, Welcome back to the podcast. This is
Speaker 1: episode two twelve. I'm by myself today answering your questions.
Speaker 1: You email me Grangersmith podcast at gmail dot com and
Speaker 1: we'll walk through it just like we're sitting in the
Speaker 1: cab of a truck just having a friend conversation one
Speaker 1: on one. You can look at it like a campfire.
Speaker 1: Talks could be about any subject and you'll see, as
Speaker 1: we've gone through over two hundred episodes, the questions really
Speaker 1: are all over the place, and we'll call it a
Speaker 1: safe place. This is a safe place. Let me go
Speaker 1: to the first one. And by the way, no notes
Speaker 1: in front of me. I like to say that because
Speaker 1: I have not prepared. I have not read these questions beforehand.
Speaker 1: I don't have a bunch of CS. Lewis quotes on
Speaker 1: my desk, or I don't have anything prepared. So I
Speaker 1: do that so that you can get my first reaction.
Speaker 1: It's that means it's not always right, but it's my
Speaker 1: first reaction. Because if we were sitting in the truck
Speaker 1: and you you asked me something I will tell you,
Speaker 1: and later I might say I probably should have said
Speaker 1: this or that, But in the form of this podcast
Speaker 1: and for the sake of this show, I want to
Speaker 1: keep it where. This is my first reaction. You may
Speaker 1: or may not agree with it, but I promise you
Speaker 1: it's from my heart, and I'm telling it as if
Speaker 1: I was telling my own brother. Okay, So, first question
Speaker 1: from Grangersmith podcast at gmail dot com. The subject line says,
Speaker 1: fear of the Second Coming. Hey, Granger, I don't want
Speaker 1: to be riding in the truck with you for this conversation.
Speaker 1: I want to be us fishing for bass and cats.
Speaker 1: I've grown up. First of all, Hey, good intro. I
Speaker 1: like it. We're fishing me and you. He said, I've
Speaker 1: grown up in the church. I'm sorry, it's a she
Speaker 1: she said. I've grown up in the church for thirty
Speaker 1: three years that I've been alive. And I know that
Speaker 1: none of us could ever know the exact day or
Speaker 1: time that Jesus will be coming back. However, I do
Speaker 1: know that the Bible proves that there will be signs.
Speaker 1: With everything going on in Israel, it makes you wonder
Speaker 1: if he is coming soon. From growing up in church.
Speaker 1: I know his second coming is something all Christians should
Speaker 1: look forward to. Is it normal to also be a
Speaker 1: little scared? I know I should feel comfort in knowing
Speaker 1: that he is coming back, But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I thought of forever as a tad bit scary to me.
Speaker 1: The thought of forever that a tad bit scary to me.
Speaker 1: Should I be questioning in my heart in this situation
Speaker 1: or do you think it's a normal thing. I would
Speaker 1: love to know your thoughts. Thank you for all you do.
Speaker 1: Your podcast encourages the single mama daily and I want
Speaker 1: and it makes me want to be a person for
Speaker 1: my daughter to look up to. I live and do
Speaker 1: things hard, and I'm having trouble on the first question
Speaker 1: reading all it says. I live by the do hard
Speaker 1: things motto. That's what she says. And your words have
Speaker 1: helped me on this journey. Be content in my singleness
Speaker 1: and wait on the Lord. Keep getting his word out there.
Speaker 1: Natalie from Martin, Tennessee. Thank you, Natalie, and I thank
Speaker 1: you for the kind words. Yeah, this is a good question.
Speaker 1: It's not straight eschatology as far as the end of times.
Speaker 1: You have a little twist to it. Should we be
Speaker 1: a little scared of it, and so yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: good question, thirty three years in the church. I want
Speaker 1: to point out to anyone listening that thirty three years
Speaker 1: in the church could mean that you've learned things, but
Speaker 1: it also doesn't necessarily mean that you're a Christian. Not
Speaker 1: speaking to you specifically, Natalie, I'm just saying for anybody,
Speaker 1: it's not the amount of time in church that matters.
Speaker 1: It's the heart, right, It's the full surrender of the heart.
Speaker 1: And I can attest for someone who was myself in
Speaker 1: church most of my life as well, but didn't really
Speaker 1: know the Lord until later. And that's that's really my testimony.
Speaker 1: And I hope that everybody hears me when I say
Speaker 1: that that it is easy to be a cultural Christian.
Speaker 1: It is hard to realize that you have been stuck
Speaker 1: in it, and that when I talk about cultural Christianity,
Speaker 1: it's it's difficult unless your eyes are opened to know
Speaker 1: that I'm actually talking to you, right, because our pride
Speaker 1: gets in the way. They're like, eh, I'm not me.
Speaker 1: I'm definitely a Christian, definitely, But that's a that's a
Speaker 1: top conversation for another day. Maybe maybe it's because you
Speaker 1: said a prayer and repeated a pastor at some time
Speaker 1: in your life, and that gave you this false assurance.
Speaker 1: That's another question, and we'll get to your question here, Natalie,
Speaker 1: talking about the end times, the second coming of Co
Speaker 1: He became the first time in the flesh, the incarnate son,
Speaker 1: came God in the flesh to redeem sinners to himself,
Speaker 1: went to the cross, took upon himself as a substitution,
Speaker 1: took upon himself the sins of his people so that
Speaker 1: he could pay for that in full, as the ultimate sacrifice,
Speaker 1: as the sacrificial lamb, which was always part of Judaism culture.
Speaker 1: Now he became the final sacrifice, this abolishing the sacrificial
Speaker 1: system from then on, and then it became faith in him,
Speaker 1: belief in him and he his atonement would be transferred
Speaker 1: to you. His righteousness would be transferred to you through
Speaker 1: faith by grace. Right, that's the first coming. Then he
Speaker 1: ascended after he resurrected from the grave after three days, saying,
Speaker 1: all who believes in me will have eternal life. He
Speaker 1: ascended after a while, after he met with over the
Speaker 1: over five hundred people saw him. After the resurrection, he
Speaker 1: talked with the disciples. He ate with them, He sang
Speaker 1: with them, he prayed with them, and then he ascended
Speaker 1: into heaven. That was the first coming. The question here
Speaker 1: on the podcast is about the second Coming that he
Speaker 1: promised would happen. Here's my thing, you'll know me. You
Speaker 1: know about eschatology, that's the study of him times. And
Speaker 1: the crazy thing about eschatology is that it becomes a distraction.
Speaker 1: I have heard so many people lately saying things like, man,
Speaker 1: I've heard a lot of good preaching on the internet
Speaker 1: lately because a lot of pastors are putting together all
Speaker 1: this eschatology. They're putting together all this end time stuff,
Speaker 1: and sure is sounding good. And I have to warn
Speaker 1: everybody that that can and I think is becoming the
Speaker 1: tickling of the ears, people with itchy ears wanting scratched
Speaker 1: the things that they want to hear because it sounds nice,
Speaker 1: it sounds it sounds good. But those same people have
Speaker 1: to be very careful that they have the full concept
Speaker 1: of the gospel. The gospel is what I shared earlier
Speaker 1: with the incarnate Son, the first Coming. You know, it's
Speaker 1: almost like you could say it this way. We worry
Speaker 1: more about the Second Coming these days then we do
Speaker 1: the first coming, the Atonement happened the first Coming, right,
Speaker 1: he comes to collect his people in the second Coming.
Speaker 1: But you don't know his people, you don't know who
Speaker 1: they are until the first Coming happens. Then they're separated
Speaker 1: by faith, those that believe in him. And so when
Speaker 1: he talks about Jesus, when he talks about the end times,
Speaker 1: and he talks about the Second Coming, and he talks
Speaker 1: about the signs, he talks about the birth pains, he
Speaker 1: talks about how you'll know the season. When he says
Speaker 1: all that, why does he say it? We should ask
Speaker 1: that question. Why is he saying it? Well, the answer
Speaker 1: is to be ready so that you will be ready.
Speaker 1: So be ready. That's the whole point of eschatology. And
Speaker 1: no one talks like this, but I think about it
Speaker 1: all the time. No pastor gets up and says this.
Speaker 1: Perhaps maybe in your church, maybe he does, But as
Speaker 1: far as I know, you don't see it on the internet.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get a lot of views on TikTok, it
Speaker 1: doesn't get a lot of views on Instagram. Reels a
Speaker 1: pastor just saying, hey, be ready, stop worrying about the end,
Speaker 1: Stop worrying about using revelation. The book of revelation, like
Speaker 1: it's a roadmap, like you're a treasure hunter on Indiana Jones,
Speaker 1: Pirates of the Caribbean. We're trying to read a treasure
Speaker 1: map using ancient texts of the Bible, going, Look, we'll
Speaker 1: put this together and look six six six, and look
Speaker 1: at the anti Christ. Look Israel here, looks Syria from
Speaker 1: the north, and the look Hamas here. And you know
Speaker 1: what Hamas means, oh man, it means evil. And then
Speaker 1: these guys are coming, and then Russia if they get
Speaker 1: up on the China with the million man army. If
Speaker 1: they come, you start reading like this, and what are
Speaker 1: you doing. You're just getting distracted. You're using the second
Speaker 1: coming to distract you from the first coming, and you're
Speaker 1: missing the cross. It's the whole point. The whole point
Speaker 1: is the cross. See it. Know that you're a sinner.
Speaker 1: Know that he went to the cross, Jesus to redeem
Speaker 1: sinners to himself, becoming sin. He who knew no sin,
Speaker 1: became sin so that we could be forgiven, so we
Speaker 1: could be seen as guilt less. The guilty we are guilty.
Speaker 1: We are seen as guilt less. With what he did
Speaker 1: on the cross, he covers us right, He takes on
Speaker 1: the wrath of God, the punishment, so that we don't
Speaker 1: have to. So we believe in him, we turn from
Speaker 1: our sin, that's repentance. We turn away from our old lives,
Speaker 1: and we turn to him. And when we do, we
Speaker 1: are forgiven, restored, redeemed, covered, cleansed, gifted eternal life by grace,
Speaker 1: not on our own doing, not because of anything we did,
Speaker 1: but everything that He did right there on the cross
Speaker 1: in the first coming. And so then what do you
Speaker 1: think the enemy would do if this was if this
Speaker 1: was like you're building a storyline, what's a pretty good
Speaker 1: plan for an enemy to do. Ah, let's use this
Speaker 1: whole second coming thing as a distraction, because look, y'all,
Speaker 1: Jesus is coming. He's coming, that's a fact. It's just
Speaker 1: a matter of win. And so if we get so
Speaker 1: caught up on the win, the one thing that's going
Speaker 1: that's not known. We do know he's coming, but the
Speaker 1: one thing that's not known is win. And if we
Speaker 1: get so hung up on the win, we forget the
Speaker 1: fact the thing we do know, he came, He had toned,
Speaker 1: he resurrected, he has risen, and he's coming back. Stop
Speaker 1: worrying about the win. He said, no one will know
Speaker 1: the day or time. No one will know. But we
Speaker 1: get so obsessed as a culture that we think we know,
Speaker 1: we think we're the generation. What do you think the
Speaker 1: last generation thought that it was them? What do you
Speaker 1: think our greatest generation that we call the greatest generation,
Speaker 1: the World War two generation? What do you think they
Speaker 1: thought when not were just about taking over the world,
Speaker 1: they thought, well, this is probably yet. Then they saw
Speaker 1: the Holocaust and this is probably yet, this is probably
Speaker 1: this has to be the second coming. Then they saw
Speaker 1: Israel become a nation again. Oh, this this is the sign.
Speaker 1: This has to be it. He's come in any moment now,
Speaker 1: and he didn't. And that generation is about to pass away,
Speaker 1: if they haven't already. My Granddad's passed away, all of them.
Speaker 1: What do you think that? What do you think they
Speaker 1: thought in the Civil War when the bodies were piling up,
Speaker 1: or World War One, or the Revolutionary War? What do
Speaker 1: you think they thought in all the other wars that
Speaker 1: the world has seen. What do you think they thought
Speaker 1: in the Black Plague in the Middle Ages? They must
Speaker 1: have surely thought this is it. He's coming. He's coming, Lord, Lord, Come, quick, Marinatha,
Speaker 1: here he comes right. Don't get distracted by reading the
Speaker 1: Times and not paying attention to the first coming, losing
Speaker 1: the grip, losing the focus on Jesus' first coming, because
Speaker 1: you're so distracted by the second. I think. I think
Speaker 1: it's a great ploy by the enemy to get us distracted,
Speaker 1: to get us, not to get us forgetting the gospel,
Speaker 1: to get us not evangelizing the gospel because instead instead
Speaker 1: of going out and telling the gospel, which I've done twice.
Speaker 1: Now you know why I've told the gospel twice on
Speaker 1: this show already is because Roman's one says, the gospel
Speaker 1: is the power of God for salvation. Faith comes through hearing.
Speaker 1: So I've told you the gospel now twice, so that
Speaker 1: you're left with no excuse. To listeners of this podcast,
Speaker 1: there's a supernatural power that comes through hearing the gospel
Speaker 1: and believing. I'm appealing to your conscious, not appealing to
Speaker 1: your mind. I'm appealing to your conscience that knows that
Speaker 1: you're a sinner. And so what's happening is preachers are
Speaker 1: going out and they're preaching eschatology, they're preaching the end
Speaker 1: of times. They're trying to put Israel in a box,
Speaker 1: and Syria and Babylon and Egypt and Rush and Palestine
Speaker 1: and Hamas and China. They're trying to put all this together,
Speaker 1: and it really gets great attention from the church. Everyone
Speaker 1: loves it. It gets tons of us, tons of clicks.
Speaker 1: People walk out saying, that's the greatest sermon I've ever heard.
Speaker 1: And guess what happened. A lot of time was wasted
Speaker 1: talking about that and not enough preaching the gospel. Because
Speaker 1: the only way to be ready for the end of
Speaker 1: times is to be equipped with the Gospel, to believe,
Speaker 1: to believe the Gospel, that's how that's how you get ready.
Speaker 1: And so to your question, Natalie, you say, I know
Speaker 1: his second coming is something all Christians should look forward to. Right,
Speaker 1: let me stop you right there, and before I get
Speaker 1: to the next sentence, let me just say, his second
Speaker 1: coming is something all Christians should look forward to. Yes,
Speaker 1: but odds are if we're just playing odds here, you're
Speaker 1: going to see him in your lifetime through death, through
Speaker 1: physical death. That's what to look forward to, right The
Speaker 1: sting of death is gone, so we look forward to
Speaker 1: seeing him, but not necessarily the second coming. That's fantastic,
Speaker 1: But the odds are you're gonna see him a lot
Speaker 1: sooner than that because you only have let's say you're
Speaker 1: thirty three years old, do you only have Lord Willing?
Speaker 1: You only have fifty sixty seventy years left. So unless
Speaker 1: he comes between fifty and seventy years, Lord Willing, if
Speaker 1: you live that long, then you're gonna beat everybody to it.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. You're gonna beat the Second
Speaker 1: Coming and your own mortality. So think about that first.
Speaker 1: Make sure you're equipped with the Gospel, You're ready in
Speaker 1: that aspect, and let's get to your second question. Is
Speaker 1: it normal to also be a little scared? I know
Speaker 1: I should feel comfort in knowing that he will be back,
Speaker 1: But at the same time, the thought of forever is
Speaker 1: a tad bit scary to me. What's scary to me
Speaker 1: is reading that's sin, it's from you, Because yes, forever
Speaker 1: is scary if you're not sure where you're going to
Speaker 1: end up, right, if you have that blessed assurance, like
Speaker 1: the old hymn says, if you have blessed assurance, then
Speaker 1: you go. Christ is magnified in my life, whether life
Speaker 1: or by death. So hurry Christ, hurry death or keep
Speaker 1: me here for as long as I need to tell
Speaker 1: everyone else about my treasure right. Either way, I'm Christ.
Speaker 1: To live is Christ, and to die is gain That's
Speaker 1: the thought, that's the apostle Paul. That's what he's thinking about.
Speaker 1: That's what he's preaching, and that's coming from his art.
Speaker 1: That's what he feels. To live is Christ, to die
Speaker 1: is gain right. And so there is nothing in that
Speaker 1: about to live as Christ and to die. Oh man,
Speaker 1: I'm scared. If you are scared, then maybe we double
Speaker 1: down on here in the Gospel again and a little
Speaker 1: bit less eschatology, a little bit less in times, a
Speaker 1: little bit more first coming, a little bit less second coming.
Speaker 1: Does that make sense? I hope it does, Natalie, and
Speaker 1: I thank you for the question, and I hope that
Speaker 1: probably answers a lot of other questions and probably riles
Speaker 1: up people. People are probably gonna email me and go, man,
Speaker 1: don't you know the mark of the Beast is coming?
Speaker 1: And you know President Biden and United States and Russia.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to be like, please don't read revelation
Speaker 1: like it's a treasure map. Yeah. Next question, very different
Speaker 1: one sounds like subject line grand old Opry, and the
Speaker 1: question says, did you ever get a chance to play
Speaker 1: the grand Ole Opry before you retired from music comes
Speaker 1: from Teresa. Thanks Teresa. Yeah I did. I played the
Speaker 1: Opry two times and it was great. Yeah. I enjoyed
Speaker 1: the Opry that I believe. The first time I played,
Speaker 1: my grandmother came my grandmother Mini, who's now ninety seven.
Speaker 1: She got to be with me. So yeah, playing the
Speaker 1: Opry was really cool. I'm not gonna say it was
Speaker 1: a the climax of my career or the pivotal moment
Speaker 1: of everything, or the apex of music. It was a
Speaker 1: beautiful building. The ryman's great, The Opry house is awesome
Speaker 1: and gay lord, but it's you know, I'm a Texan.
Speaker 1: I most people in the South grow up and they're like, man,
Speaker 1: the opry is it. I never thought that. I never
Speaker 1: grew up that way. I grew up a big George
Speaker 1: Straight fan, so that was never like George wasn't big
Speaker 1: on the opery, so I never saw that as like
Speaker 1: the thing, so I never pursued it. And the opry
Speaker 1: is typically it was like on a Saturday night or
Speaker 1: a Tuesday night, and me living in Texas when they
Speaker 1: would invite me, it would I would me, and I
Speaker 1: would have to travel outside of my own tour to
Speaker 1: go and play the Opry for and pay my own
Speaker 1: way and play two songs and go home. And I
Speaker 1: just never was into it that much. It never mattered
Speaker 1: to me that much. And that's not everyone else is
Speaker 1: not like that. Most people are like, man, the Opry
Speaker 1: is everything. I'll drop everything and go do it. And
Speaker 1: so I have great respect for it, great respect for
Speaker 1: the history of it. I think it's a fantastic platform
Speaker 1: and it has been in the history of country music
Speaker 1: for so long. But I never looked at it as
Speaker 1: like the top at the top, and so that's why
Speaker 1: I never I guess you know what. Oh look behind me.
Speaker 1: Oh you can't see it. The camera's not covering it.
Speaker 1: But there's a promo poster right above me. If you're
Speaker 1: watching on YouTube, that is the live at the Opry
Speaker 1: at the Rhyman and it's my promo from when was
Speaker 1: that November twenty eighth, twenty and fifteen. So there you go.
Speaker 1: We'll take a break, be right back if you want
Speaker 1: to get a hold of me, if you want me
Speaker 1: to send you a message, I say this a lot
Speaker 1: Cameo dot com slash Granger Smith. It's a really good
Speaker 1: way to do it. Or you can download the cameo
Speaker 1: app and search for me Granger Smith. You ask for
Speaker 1: whatever you want me to record, and I pull out
Speaker 1: my phone and do a video message specifically to you
Speaker 1: or to your son or your boyfriend or girlfriend or
Speaker 1: daughter or whatever. It might be a word of encouragement,
Speaker 1: happy birthday, happy anniversary, Merry Christmas. I could do it all,
Speaker 1: and I have done it all, and it's really easy.
Speaker 1: It's a great last minute gift and something for someone
Speaker 1: that has everything. So cameo dot com slash Granger Smith.
Speaker 1: Back to the podcast, All right, back to the podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys for listening and watching whatever platform you're
Speaker 1: coming from. And this has been This has always been
Speaker 1: a treat for me having this podcast, and kind of
Speaker 1: it's different than everything else I do because I just
Speaker 1: literally sit down and start some cameras and start my
Speaker 1: computer recording and dive into your questions, which you email
Speaker 1: me Grangersmith podcast at gmail dot com. The next question
Speaker 1: going down the list here just randomly it has no
Speaker 1: subject and it says, hey Granger, my name is Ian
Speaker 1: and I love your podcast. I'm fifteen years old. I'm
Speaker 1: a Christian and I like this girl, but I don't
Speaker 1: know if she likes me. I've prayed, but I don't
Speaker 1: have any clarity on whether or not I should ask
Speaker 1: her out or just wait until i'm older. Also, if
Speaker 1: I do decide to ask her out, should I ask
Speaker 1: her dad first? Thanks? Ian, I believe that's how you
Speaker 1: say your name. It's spelled e O. I in Ian.
Speaker 1: If we're sitting in the truck or is that one
Speaker 1: message said last break? If we're fishing, then I'm in Annita.
Speaker 1: I needed a little bit more information from you, Ian.
Speaker 1: And one of the questions I would ask is how
Speaker 1: old is she? Fifteen? Is that's going to be borderline
Speaker 1: of what I'm gonna think is too young? And if
Speaker 1: I'm the girl's dad, I would say no. And I
Speaker 1: do have a girl that's twelve. I would say no,
Speaker 1: it's not time. And I'm probably rare. There's probably not
Speaker 1: a lot of dads that would do that. Say you're
Speaker 1: not going to date, but I would say, let's hang
Speaker 1: out in a group. Right, you could go out with
Speaker 1: my daughter and you guys could hang out in a group,
Speaker 1: maybe go see the high school football game. Maybe you guys,
Speaker 1: we could all go to the town festival. We can
Speaker 1: go to the county Fair as a group. And there's
Speaker 1: four or five guys and there's four or five girls,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to say, you're not going to be
Speaker 1: alone with my daughter. It's not you Ian. In fact,
Speaker 1: I don't know you at all, and it's not that's
Speaker 1: the It's kind of irrelevant to the situation of who
Speaker 1: you are. It's your age, that's the deal. However, that
Speaker 1: being said, of course I remember being fifteen. I remember
Speaker 1: liking girls, and I remember thinking what you're thinking, and
Speaker 1: so what you're feeling and what you're asking is not
Speaker 1: wrong in itself. I'm just going to counsel you, and
Speaker 1: I hope that others will counsel around you and go, hey, buddy, okay,
Speaker 1: I got it. You like this girl, I got it.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you how we're going to walk through this, right,
Speaker 1: I would hope that that's how it's going to go.
Speaker 1: I probably won't. I'm glad you emailed this podcast, So
Speaker 1: let's walk through it as if you actually are going
Speaker 1: to ask her and pretend that the dad's totally cool
Speaker 1: with this and this is not my daughter, Okay, let's
Speaker 1: talk of it that way. I think, first of all,
Speaker 1: it's a fantastic idea to ask the dad for everything
Speaker 1: I just for every reason I just gave is a
Speaker 1: fantastic thing. You're fifteen years old to talk to the dad,
Speaker 1: Because what if the dad says, my daughter's not allowed
Speaker 1: to date, okay, and the girl goes ahead and goes
Speaker 1: behind his back and goes out with you. What kind
Speaker 1: of future does that possibly leave you? None? Because you're
Speaker 1: just sneaking around and as soon as the dad finds out,
Speaker 1: he's gonna shut this down quickly, and you don't want
Speaker 1: to be part of it when dad shuts this down.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna go find out for yourself and just
Speaker 1: go Hello, mister so and so. My name is Ian,
Speaker 1: and I was wondering if I could have permission I
Speaker 1: go to your daughter's school. I was wonder if I
Speaker 1: could I could have permission to go on a date
Speaker 1: with her. And if he says, well, sit down, let's talk.
Speaker 1: Let's let's learn who you are a little bit, and
Speaker 1: hopefully he does at least that, then then you can
Speaker 1: talk about how you're going to take her out and
Speaker 1: what time you're going to pick her up and what
Speaker 1: time you're going to bring her back when you're fifteen. See,
Speaker 1: this is one of the problems that I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk to you about before fishing me and you is
Speaker 1: that first of all, you're too young to drive, and
Speaker 1: so you got to have your parents drive, or he's
Speaker 1: got to drive, the dad or the girl. So that's
Speaker 1: where it gets complicated. So let's put all that aside.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the next part of your question.
Speaker 1: Should I ask her out? I like this girl, you say,
Speaker 1: but I don't know if she likes me. I've prayed,
Speaker 1: but I don't have any clarity on whether I should
Speaker 1: ask her out or not, or just wait until I'm older.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna sa wait to your older. But let's
Speaker 1: dive in as if you were going to do this.
Speaker 1: What's crazy about a question like this is that what
Speaker 1: we so often miss when we're in it and we're
Speaker 1: not looking from the outside of it like I am
Speaker 1: and all the listeners are listening to it right now,
Speaker 1: you miss the key element to the whole thing. I
Speaker 1: like her, I don't know if she likes me, and
Speaker 1: I've been praying on clarity, but you're missing the one thing.
Speaker 1: Just ask her. I know that that seems crazy to you,
Speaker 1: but that's the obvious answer. That's what I would say
Speaker 1: at any age, At any age, if you like a girl,
Speaker 1: you don't know if she likes you. You need some
Speaker 1: clarity on the situation. And you've been praying about it.
Speaker 1: You don't know if she's gonna say yes on a date.
Speaker 1: The obvious answer is ask her, right, I mean, it's like, Man,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask the podcast, I'm gonna ask my friend's advice,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna pray to God and hope that he
Speaker 1: writes something in the cloud for me. And the obvious
Speaker 1: answer to you, Ian is you walk up to her,
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit awkward in the hallway at school,
Speaker 1: and you go, hey, can I ask you something? She's
Speaker 1: like yeah, you say sorry, I'm a little bit nervous
Speaker 1: right now. But I'm nervous because I don't know the
Speaker 1: answer to what you're about to say. And the question
Speaker 1: is you think you'd ever be interested in going on
Speaker 1: a date with me? I just you seem like a
Speaker 1: really cool girl, and you're really pretty, and you seem
Speaker 1: like someone I would I would love to get to
Speaker 1: know a little bit better and maybe take on a date.
Speaker 1: So at that point, Ian, it's going to be awkward,
Speaker 1: and it's going to take some nerves and you're going
Speaker 1: to be very nervous and awkward. But at that point,
Speaker 1: from right there, right at the end of that sentence
Speaker 1: I just said, from then on, you all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: will have perfect clarity on the situation. You'll have your
Speaker 1: answered prayer. You'll have clarity on whether or not she
Speaker 1: likes you right then and there, because the next thing
Speaker 1: that comes out of her mouth or perhaps her body language,
Speaker 1: is going to tell you. She could say, oh I
Speaker 1: don't think so okay, good, okay good. It might be
Speaker 1: a little hurtful, might be a little humiliating for you,
Speaker 1: but bro, then you know, right. So then you walk
Speaker 1: away and you go okay, okay, I'll sleep better tonight
Speaker 1: knowing that this mysterious question I've been wanting to know,
Speaker 1: will she like me? Will she go on a date
Speaker 1: with me? The answer is over I have it. She
Speaker 1: said no, okay, move on all right, or she says
Speaker 1: I'm not allowed to date. Then you go okay, cool,
Speaker 1: Then you wait, well, then you go, hey, I totally understand,
Speaker 1: I don't really know if I could date either I'm young,
Speaker 1: so at least now you know now you know? Wait,
Speaker 1: or she says I think that would be really nice,
Speaker 1: and you go good because if she says really nice,
Speaker 1: then you've got a pretty good indication she likes you,
Speaker 1: or at least she kind of likes you for sure.
Speaker 1: Then you get to move on and schedule the date.
Speaker 1: Clarity just like that magic. Thanks for the question, buddy.
Speaker 1: All right, interesting subject line. Here will see what it says,
Speaker 1: says punishment email says, hey, grangdear, my name is Caden,
Speaker 1: I should say probably my name is Caden. I'm twenty
Speaker 1: nine years old. I live in Texas, and my wife
Speaker 1: and i've been married for a little over four years.
Speaker 1: I'm reading ahead. No, I don't think I stopped. I
Speaker 1: stopped myself because I thought, have I read this before?
Speaker 1: I don't think I have. My wife and I have
Speaker 1: been married a little over four years. Since we got married,
Speaker 1: we've been trying for a baby. Now we both have
Speaker 1: a child from previous relationships. In four years, we've had
Speaker 1: four miscarriages and have seen the fertility specialist and gotten
Speaker 1: no answers as to why this keeps happening. I can't
Speaker 1: help but feel like I'm being punished by having to
Speaker 1: watch the pain this has caused my wife because of
Speaker 1: mistakes I made in my first marriage. I'm a believer
Speaker 1: and understand that God doesn't operate like this, but it's
Speaker 1: a constant thought. I have any advice on dealing with
Speaker 1: these thoughts. Thanks in advance. All right, Kayden, I'm sorry
Speaker 1: for the pause. I literally thought this sounded familiar, but
Speaker 1: it's not. It's a brand new email. So twenty nine
Speaker 1: years old, living in Texas, been married four years. You
Speaker 1: each have a baby from a previous marriage. You're having
Speaker 1: trouble conceiving now and you don't have let's see, you
Speaker 1: don't have a baby together. Is that correct? That's correct?
Speaker 1: So in four years you've had four miscarriages. Seen a
Speaker 1: fertility specialist. I've got no answers to why it keeps happening.
Speaker 1: Okay Man, thanks for the email. I know this is
Speaker 1: a very sensitive subject and I hope you're listening, and
Speaker 1: I appreciate, I prove really appreciate you trusting me in
Speaker 1: this podcast for a question like this because I know
Speaker 1: it's near and dear to your heart. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say a couple things here. I'm gonna say. First of all,
Speaker 1: it's the lore. If you're a Christian, you'll know this.
Speaker 1: It's the Lord that opens the womb. And man just
Speaker 1: sit with that, to sit with that for a while.
Speaker 1: It's the Lord who opens the womb. We see that
Speaker 1: throughout the Bible. We see these stories and we see
Speaker 1: that the Lord closes wombs, and we see the Lord
Speaker 1: opens wombs. And so, first of all, know that we
Speaker 1: have a providential God. We have a God that is
Speaker 1: totally sovereign and he's complete. He has complete providence over
Speaker 1: even your wife's womb. So know that. And then we
Speaker 1: need to get into this guilt that you have from
Speaker 1: your previous marriages, not plural for you, but hers and yours.
Speaker 1: You have things that you have done in your past.
Speaker 1: You've made mistakes. Right, well, when you're believer, when you
Speaker 1: have put your faith in Christ, your trust is in Christ.
Speaker 1: You are redeemed, you are restored and renewed by Jesus's
Speaker 1: finished work on the cross right, And I gave the
Speaker 1: full Gospel twice on the first break of this podcast.
Speaker 1: When that is you, one of the benefits you get
Speaker 1: as an adopted son of God is your sins are covered,
Speaker 1: Your guilt is covered. Your sins are remembered no more.
Speaker 1: Your sins are as far apart as the earth is
Speaker 1: from the heavens. They are forgotten. You're covered and forgiven.
Speaker 1: That's what forgiveness means. That's what Jesus says when he's
Speaker 1: talking as you read the Gospel narrations, and he says
Speaker 1: your sins are forgiven. That's what he means. He doesn't mean,
Speaker 1: your sins are forgiven and I will still remember them
Speaker 1: and punish youth for them. That's not what he says.
Speaker 1: It's not what he's saying, and that's not what it means. However,
Speaker 1: sins are sins. Every sin is a sin against God himself,
Speaker 1: and they all are a rebellion to our creator. However,
Speaker 1: some sins have different repercussions, different consequences that last longer
Speaker 1: in our lives. Not supernaturally hurting a pregnancy of a
Speaker 1: woman that you're with now, not that kind of not
Speaker 1: that kind of hurt. Right. The sins that you're talking about,
Speaker 1: I don't know what they are, but I'm assuming they're great.
Speaker 1: The sins of your past marriage, whatever happened, that is
Speaker 1: not God is not punishing you in this new marriage
Speaker 1: by making your new wife not be able to get pregnant.
Speaker 1: But the consequences of those first sins are affecting your mind.
Speaker 1: They are bringing you down because the consequences are great,
Speaker 1: and you're carrying those burdens of the great sins with you,
Speaker 1: and you're carrying it into this marriage so much so
Speaker 1: that you have four miscarriages, and you go, this must
Speaker 1: be divine punishment. Now, the Lord definitely disciplines, right, The
Speaker 1: Lord definitely disciplines those that he loves for their own good.
Speaker 1: But he's not going to take a sin that you
Speaker 1: did and then make you make it hurt this new
Speaker 1: wife of yours physically, where now her womb is closed,
Speaker 1: even though remember what I said at the very beginning,
Speaker 1: it's the Lord that opens wombs and close wombs. Right.
Speaker 1: So the more biblical way to look at this is
Speaker 1: why am I having? Why have we had four miscarriages?
Speaker 1: So that God's glory will be known? That's what he
Speaker 1: would say. It's like, why is this man blind that
Speaker 1: would ask Jesus so that God's glory may be known
Speaker 1: through him? So that so that you could see what's happening.
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is for you, But whatever
Speaker 1: is happening is for his glory. That's always what his
Speaker 1: plan is. And so four miscarriages are significant, that that's
Speaker 1: a significant number. That's like, Okay, something's going on here.
Speaker 1: What is it? Maybe let me throw a few things
Speaker 1: out here. Maybe it's so that we rely on him.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's so we could start saying, you two, Lord,
Speaker 1: we come to you. You know our heart, you know
Speaker 1: we want a baby. Please God open open her womb,
Speaker 1: please hear our prayers. And then she gets pregnant, and
Speaker 1: then what happens? What happens when she gets pregnant? Then
Speaker 1: then you go, ah, it was you, God, It was
Speaker 1: always you, but now we see we see you God.
Speaker 1: It took four miscarriages for us to stop thinking about
Speaker 1: ourselves and start thinking about You. Got to bring everything
Speaker 1: to you. Maybe not for sure, but maybe that sounds
Speaker 1: that sounds like my God right. Or maybe Lord has
Speaker 1: adoption plans for you. Maybe adoption is in your plan.
Speaker 1: But maybe you wouldn't have ever gotten to that point
Speaker 1: if you had just kept creating biological babies with your wife.
Speaker 1: Maybe the Lord goes, I have different plans for you
Speaker 1: than you think My plans are better. My plans are greater.
Speaker 1: It's not what you think. I've got better ones. And
Speaker 1: you're gonna think that this is suffering. You're gonna think
Speaker 1: that this particular suffering of these four miscarriages. You're gonna
Speaker 1: think whatever you might think about it. You're gonna think
Speaker 1: you're disciplined because of some past sins, which I told
Speaker 1: you are forgiven child. But the truth is I have
Speaker 1: greater plans for you, and these four miscarriages are making
Speaker 1: you turn to me, look at me. Here's what I
Speaker 1: have for you. Stop worrying about yourself. What follow me? Right?
Speaker 1: That sounds that sounds like my God. I think that
Speaker 1: being twenty nine years old and having this problem, you
Speaker 1: have so much life ahead of you as well. I
Speaker 1: would take all of this to the Lord, and I
Speaker 1: would I would meditate through the Psalms. I would meditate,
Speaker 1: meditate through the through some of the gospel narratives. I
Speaker 1: would meditate through Isaiah and Ezekiel and Elijah and Elishah
Speaker 1: and Jeremiah. I would just kind of go through some
Speaker 1: of these these biblical stories and and feel God's presence
Speaker 1: through his ever living word as it's being poured over you,
Speaker 1: hear his promises, hear his promises of a chosen child
Speaker 1: of God poured over you. Go Yes, I trust you God,
Speaker 1: And even if this womb is closed forever, even if
Speaker 1: I never have another baby again, I trust you that
Speaker 1: your plan is better than what I think my plan
Speaker 1: is for myself. When you start praying stuff like that,
Speaker 1: you stop worrying about Oh man, is this my past
Speaker 1: sins haunting me? You stop worrying about that, and you
Speaker 1: start instead focusing on the promises of God. Thanks for
Speaker 1: the question, brother, Let's hit when we're here how to
Speaker 1: grainde your My name is Matt. I'm twenty years old
Speaker 1: from Pottstown, PA. Have always been a fan of your
Speaker 1: music and a longtime listener of the podcast. I was
Speaker 1: so excited to see you perform at the Clearfield County
Speaker 1: Fair back in August. My question is what camera setup
Speaker 1: do you use for vlogs? Recently I've been watching a
Speaker 1: restoring Earl's Old Truck series and it's inspired me to
Speaker 1: start a channel for my truck. I have a nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety four Silverado See thirty five hundred six point five
Speaker 1: liter diesel with five speed manual. God bless everything you do, Matt.
Speaker 1: Thank you Matt, And he actually put a picture on
Speaker 1: here as well, so I appreciate you. Bro. There's the
Speaker 1: there's the truck. Oh man, it's white and it's a Duley.
Speaker 1: I don't think you said that. It's awesome, okay, buddy.
Speaker 1: I use Sony cameras. In fact, I'm using Sony cameras
Speaker 1: right now and I'm using two of them here. The
Speaker 1: one I've logged with the Smiths is not with me,
Speaker 1: but I use Sony DSLR and Sony lenses. So the
Speaker 1: lens I use with the Smiths and with that restoring
Speaker 1: Earl's truck was a sixteen to thirty five Sony camera
Speaker 1: and it's got an f stop of two point eight.
Speaker 1: It's a great lens. It's good, really expensive. It's very expensive.
Speaker 1: It's like I want to say, probably used. A used
Speaker 1: one's like fifteen hundred bucks and a brand new one
Speaker 1: is about two thousand dollars. That's that's just the lens.
Speaker 1: It's an awesome lens and I've started using it after
Speaker 1: Rob Turklet from Lunkers TV told me about it, and
Speaker 1: I've then used it for years. For five years now,
Speaker 1: I've used that lens the camera body itself is expensive
Speaker 1: as well. It's almost the same price for the camera
Speaker 1: body for a for a good Sony DSLR. Okay, and
Speaker 1: I've had different ones, but those are that's the look
Speaker 1: and that's the that is the most trustworthy cameras. So
Speaker 1: to get to that, I mean you're looking at dropping,
Speaker 1: say you go used three to four grand. It's it's
Speaker 1: quite a bit. It's quite a bit of cash. So
Speaker 1: I guess I should say I should end with in
Speaker 1: your question with this, don't do that. Don't do that yet.
Speaker 1: Is always my advice to someone starting content creating is, hey,
Speaker 1: use your phone first, and remember that the content you're
Speaker 1: getting is more important than the media you're using to
Speaker 1: capture the content itself. So if your content is good,
Speaker 1: then you could be using a phone. Matt Chrricter demo.
Speaker 1: Matt has for the longest time just used a little
Speaker 1: point and shoot camera. His content is so good that
Speaker 1: he doesn't need good cameras and good lenses because his
Speaker 1: content he likes the camera just that fits on the
Speaker 1: little side pocket. So if that's what you're going for,
Speaker 1: I would start with just filming on your phone and
Speaker 1: editing right there on your phone and throwing them up
Speaker 1: on you. If you get traction, if people are like, man,
Speaker 1: I love your channel, I love what you do, then
Speaker 1: you can go Okay, I'm actually making a little bit
Speaker 1: of money on YouTube, and I could start using that
Speaker 1: to pour back into the actual stuff, the equipment I'm
Speaker 1: using to film. I would wait a long time. I
Speaker 1: would wait till you reach some landmarks on YouTube, like
Speaker 1: five thousand subscribers. I would wait until you get to
Speaker 1: five thousand subscribers before you get a decent camera, and
Speaker 1: then I would wait till ten thousand subscribers before you
Speaker 1: get a decent lens. Right I would. I think that's
Speaker 1: a pretty good thing to think about. But I appreciate
Speaker 1: you and your encouragement to me on my channels and
Speaker 1: have fun with that truck. Man, it's a beautiful white
Speaker 1: four door crew cab Duley. That's a that's a really,
Speaker 1: really beautiful truck. So all you, thank you for listening,
Speaker 1: and we'll see you next Monday. Thanks for joining me
Speaker 1: on the Grangersmith Podcastiate all of you guys, you could
Speaker 1: help me out by rating this podcast on iTunes. If
Speaker 1: you're on YouTube, subscribe to this channel. Hit that little
Speaker 1: like button. And the notification spell so that you never
Speaker 1: miss anytime I upload a video. If you have a
Speaker 1: question for me that you would like me to answer,
Speaker 1: email Grangersmith Podcast at gmail dot com. Yi