WEBVTT - If I Were Single And Starting Over 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.800 What's Up? Everybody? Welcome to the podcast and what is 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.159 if you're listening in real time as it releases the 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:23.320 last podcast of two thousand and twenty four. Now, if 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:25.520 you're like me, I usually am playing catch up on 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:30.280 podcasts and listening after they release. So most people will 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:35.920 listen after it's already twenty twenty five or beyond. It 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.360 doesn't really matter. Because as I was kind of putting 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.800 together this podcast, and I'll be honest, I didn't do 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.000 very much prep. I hardly ever do very much prep 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:51.040 on these because I want them to stay loose. I 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.720 want them to be able to pivot and shift and 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:58.760 be flexible. So you know, my after midnight radio program, 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:04.200 it's pretty structured, it's pretty I have I have certain 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.200 I have certain points I have to make every hour 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.360 in each six hour segment that I do seven days 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:15.600 a week, and this podcast, I don't have a requirement 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.480 to go any direction, so I try to keep it loose, 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.360 and so I didn't do much prep work. But the 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.080 normal format of this is I answer your questions and 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:30.120 you email me podcast at grangersmith dot com. And I 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:31.600 think there's a good chance we can get to some 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:37.560 questions on this episode. But as I was collecting questions, 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:41.679 I started thinking, you know, last show of the year, 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:46.360 maybe it should be some kind of reflection. So then 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.560 I started thinking, what if. What if the reflection was 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:56.000 if I were single and starting over, here's what I 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.160 would do, right, And that's kind of a good exercise 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.000 for me, And so if it's a good exercise for me, 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.280 I might as well unpack it in real time on 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:11.240 the podcast. Like I said, I did just I thought 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.639 for thirty seconds on this really and so I hope 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.239 to kind of unpack it later. But I think it's 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:18.440 I think it could be a good reflection for any 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.320 of us, whether it's going into a new year or 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:26.919 mid season of anything else. If I were single and 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:33.720 starting over, here's what I would do. And you know, 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.840 as I look back on this year, and there have 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.440 been a lot of things to reflect on. You know, 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:47.320 there's a major election, the Olympics, major hurricanes hitting locations 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:52.000 of the US that have never been hit by hurricane. 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.480 There have been strange things in the skies, whether that's 0:02:55.560 --> 0:03:03.639 SpaceX or Chinese balloons or drones, a lot of unanswered questions, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:10.880 a fluctuating economy, an economy that was once pretty decent, 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.160 and then it was horrible, and then it kind of 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:18.040 started flattening out in certain areas. The rise of AI, 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:22.440 I mean, the rise of AI has been insane just 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.320 in this year alone. If you think of back to 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.400 twenty twenty three, we didn't really have anything to do 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.880 with AI, and now it seems to be the talk 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.000 of the town. So many people are talking about AI 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.640 and what it's capable of, and so much so that 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.320 we're probably looking into the next year and thinking, most 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.320 of us are probably agreeing that by next year we 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.640 won't know what is real and what is fake, and 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.640 we won't know a video faked or a video recorded. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.360 In fact, this very podcast, what I'm doing right here 0:03:56.000 --> 0:04:00.640 can probably and will be most likely replicated some form 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:07.280 within just a few years, which brings up the point. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:13.080 Here's my point. We should be training ourselves to see 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:22.200 hear truth so that when AI does the talking, and 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.920 it will in many times, many ways and many forms, 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.200 it will and it's not always a bad thing. I've 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:34.279 argued that it's not always a bad thing. It will 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:39.880 free up time and open up new avenues of creativity 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:45.600 for people. A little side note, for instance, here's an example. 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.680 If I was still in the music business and promoting 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.760 radio singles. I would imagine that here, just in a 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:59.400 few years, you will be able to start a prompt 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:05.240 on AI and create a visual music video for a 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:10.960 song in thirty seconds. So for an artist that doesn't 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.359 have a budget or is trying to get their feet 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:19.200 wet and get off the ground a little bit. Although 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.760 you could question the authenticity of it, I think that's 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:26.120 going to be just a thing. You know, Hey, make 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.839 me a video that a cool visualizer for this song 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.599 so that I could put it up on YouTube whatever. 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.440 So that that's coming and that's been a huge innovation. 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:41.120 And so I think for us learning truth, seeing truth, 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:46.640 even if it's AI, even if it's artificial, you realize 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.919 AI could either speak truth or not. It doesn't have 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:52.839 to be a human that speaks truth or lies. AI 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.719 could speak truth or lies. And so just because AI 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:59.400 says it, they could be telling you the biography of 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:04.000 Winston church and it could be actually really helpful. If 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.000 you're learning about Winston Churchill and AI is teaching you, 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:11.560 it's not helpful and it's hurtful if it's deceiving you 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.560 or hallucinating, like some people say, that's like the term 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:20.920 for AI messing up, hallucinating, And so it's a good 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:25.600 practice for us to be checking things, double checking things, 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.400 having multiple sources so that we can start training ourselves 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:36.600 to discern truth. That's important, right, and that that's something 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.800 that the last couple generations have had to learn with 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:45.160 the rise of big media. So that's what I want 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.120 to talk about. And partly it also comes because I 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:54.560 get these all these messages on my different platforms, and 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:59.520 everyone has some sort of religion and I'm not talking 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.080 about necessarily a deity. I'm talking about it could be 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:08.040 your religion is prepping. And when you get stuck in 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:13.680 this this rabbit hole of, for instance, prepping, then it 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:19.120 starts to feel like you must evangelize prepping to everyone, 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:24.040 and if you don't, then people will be unprepared and 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.000 you're going to be the only one with canned beans 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:32.559 or AMMO. Other people will message me about conspiracy theories 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:34.440 about like, for instance, the drones in the sky in 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.440 New Jersey, and they'll talk about the drones and they'll talk, 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.640 you know, they'll send me some Alex Jones thing. In fact, 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.000 I got an Alex Jones thing recently that Hurricane Helene 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:52.560 was completely manufactured by weather engineering, and it was weaponized 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.960 against the people of Appalachia. I am, by no means 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.720 saying that that is false or that it is true. 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:04.440 I am merely saying that there was a lot of propaganda. 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:10.520 Maybe that's completely true, maybe that's completely false, but either 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.440 way we need to learn to discern it. One of 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.560 these one of these things I saw. Here's an example 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:23.280 with the drones. I saw. It happened to notice on X, 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:30.240 which by the way, is is something that knows me well. 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.280 It sucks me in if I go to post something 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.920 on X that app knows me so well how to 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.439 grab me for the next thirty seconds. And that's something 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.680 I'm working on with my own self discipline really honestly, 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:48.000 that's a confession. But I saw this thing where I 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:52.000 noticed that with drones. People were posting pictures and saying, 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.520 you know, like comparing it to ezekiela one where the wheel. 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.319 Ezekiel's by the river and he sees the manifest station 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.080 of God's glory and there's a wheel and it's turning 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.920 in on itself and someone they were posting pictures of 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:10.959 the drones, going look is this Ezekiel one, and it 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:15.200 was like this very strange, weirdly moving orb It was 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.319 kind of turning in on itself, almost like fire or 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.840 smoke in the way that it moves, but it was 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:28.280 rotating in a very unnatural way. And X which for 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:32.559 all intents and purposes what I've seen with the X platform, 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.600 they're pretty good with their community notes, and it's said 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:37.679 on there on the community notes, it said, this is 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:43.040 not a shot of drones. This is actually a shot 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:48.800 through a telescope of the planet Venus. And the weird 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.160 movements you see are you know, like the sun's rays 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.560 or the rotation or the atmosphere, and the way that 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.400 it kind of moves and looks misty, and the focusing 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:02.720 in and out was the telescop of itself and so 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:06.439 it wasn't was not a drone. Someone was deliberately lying, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:12.000 deliberately deceiving, and it's not hard to believe why they 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:18.360 would do that, Partly mostly probably because people want to 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.840 get clicks, they want to get views, and they will 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:27.000 deceive you by putting something that's completely false on the 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.360 Internet so they'll get retweets or repost as they call 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:38.200 it now on X which is crazy. But after they 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.120 did the community notes, and it was like, once I 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:41.960 saw that, I was like, oh, that that's obviously not 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.120 It's obviously not a video of a drone. That's obviously 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.439 a telescope focusing on a star or a planet. And 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:52.840 then I started seeing that same video pop up on 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:57.920 other platforms and people were saying the same thing. Here 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.920 is a close up from my phone on the drone 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:05.640 in New Jersey. This is stranger than anything we would expect. 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.360 Someone's covering up something, someone's lying to us, you know, 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:12.120 all these things about the government's lying to us or 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:16.320 everything you believe is now not true. It's interesting and 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.240 ironic that they're lying by saying that someone else is 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.760 lying when reality they just want attention. But on the 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.040 other platforms that were not on x, it wasn't always 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:30.160 getting flagged, so sometimes it would miss the community notes, 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.320 or maybe there's just too many of them in community notes, 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:37.560 can't keep up, And it was getting so much traction. 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:43.160 This one same video of the planet Venus through a telescope. 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:47.760 Bizarre stuff. And then you see other things that are 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.680 flagged by community notes. Whenever something big happens, we'll go 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.360 back to the drones, you know, for instance, people were 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.720 posting all these videos in the community. Notes would say, 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.679 this is not a recent video. This was taken at 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:06.120 a at a technology show, a technology air show in Orlando, Florida, 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.800 in twenty twenty two. You know, because people are like 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.439 this drone is different than anything I've seen. Yeah, that's 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:17.520 because some other person took that video three years ago. 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.200 We have to be able to discern truth. And my 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:27.800 inbox gets flooded by these things. And I always think 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:33.640 to myself that me as a Christian, as a believer, 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:41.840 it seems so obvious that the water is constantly being 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:46.000 muddied so that we will fear things, so that we 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:50.000 will be confused about things, so that we will idolize things, 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:55.160 so that we will will do anything really to worry 0:12:55.240 --> 0:13:00.400 and fret or idolize or worship or be distracted from 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.440 the reality that we are sinners in need of a savior. 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:06.960 And then we live in a following world. And yes, 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.200 there are going to be storms, and there's going to 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.520 be cancer, and they're going to be fatalities, and they're 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:15.520 gonna be awful things, and they're gonna be precious things, 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:20.120 and there's gonna beautiful things, and there's gonna be There 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.640 will be things in the news that just perplex us, 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.040 and the Bible says, yes, in this world you will 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.760 have trouble. But take heart. Jesus says, I have overcome 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.560 the world. He says, I say these things to you 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.280 so that in me you will have peace. So with 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.240 all the troubled hearts and all the news and social 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:45.800 media perpetuating it and making it bigger and bigger, bigger 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.720 and crazier, these theories and this, what's happened with the election, 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.680 what's happening with the deep state, And what's happened with Ukraine, 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.120 what's happened with Russia, what's happened with China, what's happened 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.760 with Iran, what's happening with these drones and these weather balloons, 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.880 and what's happened with weather engineering and her Ricane Helene, 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.120 and and what's happening with people had worried about their 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:09.200 gender and misunderstanding this and the racism here, and it's 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:12.880 just all this cloud of confusion and social media just 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.480 makes it louder and louder and louder, and Jesus says, 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:24.680 peace be still, And there was a great comb Jesus 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:30.520 is in the boat with his disciples and the storm 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:35.400 is raging and the disciples find him asleep on the cushion. 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.080 I've been to Israel. I've been to the Sea of 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.160 Galilee and the boats there. There's actually a fishing boat 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:45.880 from the first century that they have found. It was 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.600 in the mud, preserved, preserved by the mud, and they've 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:54.400 now brought it up. And it was this incredible process 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.359 of how they they because as soon as they hit oxygen, 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:01.360 it started it rose, and so they were able to 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:03.720 put foam around it and take it to the shore 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:07.120 and then and preserve it and then put it in 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.120 a museum, so you could see a first century fishing boat. 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.480 And my point is it's pretty small. It's about the 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:18.440 size of like a Chevy suburban really maybe maybe like 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.640 a Chevy Express Van fifteen passenger van. It's just not 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.760 that big. And so you think of the disciples in 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.120 there and Jesus in there, and they're in they're in 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.880 the middle of this deep lake and the storm, which 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:34.240 I've also seen storms rage across that little lake. It's 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.520 not little, it's it's a decent sized lake. But the 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.600 way that it sits in this bowl, in this valley, 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:42.680 and the storms roll over the mountains and they just 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:47.120 crash into the bowl and the valley in Lower Galilee, 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.800 and it just rips apart that that fresh water sea. 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.960 And I can imagine these, these disciples and Jesus out there, 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.320 these fishermen that are used to it. But this is different. 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.360 This is this is a aging storm, and Jesus have 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:06.280 all things. He's asleep, taking a nap right there on 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:11.800 a cushion in this relatively small boat. And I said, 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.000 wake up, aren't you afraid? Don't you know we're about 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:22.960 to die? Jesus gets up, he says, peace be still, 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.600 and the wind and the waves stop, the storm ceases, 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:35.400 and the Bible says there was a great calm. And 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:39.400 I believe in so many ways we are still those disciples. 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.440 And sometimes it is actually physically a storm, and then 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:53.560 sometimes it is a storm in her minds, perpetuated by 0:16:54.440 --> 0:17:00.920 the inability to discern truth. And it goes further than that, 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.200 because it's it's not just the ability to discern truth, 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:09.720 because if there if there was something really bad happening 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:13.359 and it was true, we still need to be able 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:22.119 to compartmentalize this really bad thing in relation to eternity 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:26.879 and what what Jesus says, you have in him. And 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.919 when you when Jesus says, I am the Way, the Truth, 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.040 and the Life, no one comes to the Father except 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.320 through me. Look to me. You will have peace in me. 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.760 You will have joy in me. My joy will be 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.800 in you. In this world you'll have trouble, but take 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.880 cart if overcome the world. Let your hearts not be troubled, 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.840 nor let them be afraid. You know, he says all 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.879 these promises because you'll be with me, You'll die in me, 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.879 You'll you'll be raised in me. You'll you'll listen to 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.560 the right and of the Father. In me, You'll be today, 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:02.840 You'll be with me in paradise. He's promising all these 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:06.280 things in perspective of this finite life that we live. 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.439 And so when the storm is raging in our lives, 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.439 and it does rage, and it doesn't take the fact 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:16.200 away from the actual raging of the storm, but Jesus says, 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:20.120 look to me, look to me. This is bigger. This 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.880 is this is a bigger thing. It's like when when 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.280 my kids are crying because they want ice cream, and 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:28.840 I say, look to me, I have better things planned 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.480 for you than ice cream. In fact, this ice cream 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.560 is going to hurt you right now, so you can't 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:36.479 have it. Look to me as a father, and I 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.159 will lead you on the right path. It's bigger than 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:43.399 ice cream. You say, Grange're why, man, I don't know. 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:46.400 The thing I'm going through right now is not It's 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:50.480 not a kid problem. This is this is an adult problem. 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.000 And I say, yes, you have an adult problem. Yes 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.600 I understand, but we have a great God who has 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:02.120 spoken and continues to speak through his living, breathing word. 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:06.760 Now through that, I still haven't said. If I were single, 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.240 starting over, here's what I would do. But that's the 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.600 setup for it. You know, maybe this season you forgot 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.000 to get someone a gift, or you didn't get them 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.160 something in time, or maybe they didn't like the gift 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.320 that you got them. Either way, I could solve that 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.320 problem for you if you go to cameo dot com 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.560 slash Granger Smith. I'll make you a video message. And 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.440 that video message could be anything you want me to say. 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.320 It could be a late Christmas gift, it could be 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.399 a happy birthday, a word of encouragement. Maybe sorry I 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:36.320 didn't get you the gift in time. Either way, go 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.120 to cameo dot com slash Granger Smith, and I'll make 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.320 you a customized video message however you want me to 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.680 do it, go to cameo dot com slash Granger Smith 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:47.320 and I'll make it right now. Okay, So after we've 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:52.880 kind of talked about the reasons, as we think about 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:58.880 a reflection on this year, let's talk about this. If 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:03.520 I were single and starting over, here's what I would do. 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:09.800 Number one, and this is number one, seek first the 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:15.239 Kingdom of God. In so many ways, if I were 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:20.680 single and starting over, I would anchor myself deeply in 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:27.320 Matthew six thirty three. Seek first the Kingdom and his righteousness, 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:31.200 and all these things will be added to you. That's 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:36.560 the beginning of the conversation. I would build my relationship 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:43.160 with Christ as the foundation before chasing careers or hobbies 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:49.520 or relationships or jobs or possessions, Grounding everything in that idea. 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:53.600 That's something I have not always done. That's something I 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:57.119 still struggle with today. But at least I have a 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:01.600 better understanding of that enough that I could put that 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.960 as the number one priority. And then when I start 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:08.280 kind of drifting away, I know that's where my anchor is, 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.159 and I come back there. Seek first the Kingdom of 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:14.919 God that goes with everything I've said about the you know, 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:19.560 the conspiracy theories and the troubles, and that the problems 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.200 as things come and go and fade, come in and out. 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:30.560 We worry and we get so strung out on the 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:35.959 world's problems, and then we forget that. Jesus says, in 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.640 this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I've 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:46.879 overcome the world, and we anchor ourselves in that. And 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:50.199 like I said, we think about the storm on the 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.960 Sea of Galilee. There's raging and the disciples are freaking out. 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:00.479 Jesus asleep on the cushion, and a relatively small fishing 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:05.679 boat rises and says, peace, be still. And then in 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:11.400 the waves are calm. There's a great calm. The Bible says, 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:13.960 So easy to forget that, so easy to drift away 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:19.920 from that. Seek first the Kingdom of God. In our 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:27.439 discerning of truth. Number two, be intentional about relationships, or 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:31.960 be intentional about who I spend my time with, whether 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:40.040 that's friends or mentors or dating romantic relationships. I would ask, 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:45.840 does this person draw me closer to God? Or pull 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:52.200 me away from him? Proverbs thirteen twenty reminds us whoever 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:56.440 walks with the wise becomes wise. Your circle of friends, 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:04.280 your immediate circle of friends, matters tremendously. They influence you tremendously. 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:12.840 The Bible says that bad morals corrupt good character. Do 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:18.040 not be deceived. So for you thinking it's okay, I'm 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:20.440 not affected by this, I don't get affected by people 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:23.119 like that great trip, you know, I could resist that stuff. 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:29.960 The Bible says, do not be deceived. Number three, I 0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:34.320 would steward my time and my money better with a 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:38.080 clean slate starting over. I would want to develop these 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:43.960 disciplines early, these spiritual disciplines. Right reading my Bible every 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:48.040 single morning. That is an excellent steward of time that 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:53.000 I that I have not done until the last half decade. 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:58.159 Have been very serious about that. And and you know 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:01.320 what helps me is journaling. Is I've journaled the last 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:04.840 six years digital journal. I keep two journals. One is 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:09.119 my reflection journal that I reflect on the reading that 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:11.320 I've done in the Bible, and it allows me to 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:14.359 kind of have a little commentary to myself, meditate on 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:16.160 it a little bit. And then I have my daily 0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:19.080 journal that's just this is what happened yesterday, This is 0:24:19.080 --> 0:24:21.679 what's happening that I hope happens today, and what I 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:23.199 hope I might do in the future, And this is 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:25.600 what I think about it. I do that every day, 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:29.240 and I could listen to digital and I keep it 0:24:29.280 --> 0:24:31.720 with me, and you know it's always you know, uploaded 0:24:31.720 --> 0:24:33.080 on the cloud. I could keep it with me and 0:24:33.119 --> 0:24:36.080 I always can trace. And I think to myself, what 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:39.440 if I had this thirty six years in a row 0:24:39.520 --> 0:24:43.440 instead of six, How amazing would that be to look 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:47.320 back thirty years and see what I was doing. And 0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:51.480 it helps you realize that the thing you think is 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:54.119 is a big problem, the thing that that you just 0:24:54.160 --> 0:24:56.960 are convinced this is a huge problem. And then you look, 0:24:57.080 --> 0:24:58.800 you look back on it in a journal and you 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:03.440 go that big a deal. And then the other things 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:05.240 that might seem kind of small, you look back and 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:07.760 you go bad matter that's still has ripple effects that 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:12.639 go even into today, And a journal helps us to 0:25:12.680 --> 0:25:15.960 think about that. So that's a that's a steward of 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:19.680 time that helps with our stewarding of time, and then 0:25:20.320 --> 0:25:28.520 and then budgeting wisely, saving consistently valuing these things time 0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:32.800 and money as a gift from God. We're on loan. 0:25:33.000 --> 0:25:37.760 You know, He gives us these things as borrowed. We 0:25:37.480 --> 0:25:40.720 don't We don't keep it. We certainly don't keep any 0:25:40.760 --> 0:25:44.080 of anything of this earth with us. We know that. 0:25:44.920 --> 0:25:47.720 And then the even easier thing to understand is we 0:25:47.800 --> 0:25:52.480 don't keep time. It comes, we have it, and it's gone. 0:25:54.560 --> 0:25:56.600 When you say yes to something, you're always saying no 0:25:56.720 --> 0:25:59.879 to other things. That's something I wish I would have understood. 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:04.800 I would ask myself, in dealing with money and time, 0:26:06.400 --> 0:26:10.960 what is eternal and what is temporary? Right? Great question 0:26:11.040 --> 0:26:17.440 to ask. Stewardships shape your future more than you think 0:26:17.480 --> 0:26:22.960 when you're younger. Stewardships of time and money shape your 0:26:23.000 --> 0:26:30.160 future more than you think when you're younger. Number four 0:26:31.400 --> 0:26:37.680 learning to be content in every season. It's so easy 0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:41.520 to believe. You know, I'd be happy when I would 0:26:41.560 --> 0:26:45.960 just be finally happy if this that, when I get married, 0:26:46.040 --> 0:26:47.920 when I get a job, when I hit a certain goal. 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:51.680 But you know, if I were single and starting over, 0:26:53.520 --> 0:26:56.119 I would focus on Paul's words in Philippians four eleven. 0:26:56.200 --> 0:26:58.960 I have learned to be content in whatever situation I'm in. 0:27:01.000 --> 0:27:09.919 True peace doesn't depend on circumstances. And you know this 0:27:10.000 --> 0:27:12.679 is coming from a guy I have seen the highest 0:27:12.720 --> 0:27:16.400 of highs and the lowest of lows, whether in business 0:27:16.680 --> 0:27:22.240 or in personal life. I've seen in my career the 0:27:22.280 --> 0:27:27.359 biggest of stadiums with the most people, in the smallest 0:27:27.600 --> 0:27:32.120 little bars where there's nobody but a bartender. I have seen, 0:27:32.960 --> 0:27:36.800 you know, marrying my bride the happiest day than welcoming 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:40.880 children into the world. And then I've buried a son 0:27:41.480 --> 0:27:48.600 and a father. It's a big spectrum, and it's so 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:50.720 easy in any of these spectrums to say, you know what, 0:27:50.760 --> 0:27:53.879 it's going to be better. When it's going to be 0:27:53.880 --> 0:27:56.240