April 3, 2025

Discouragement and Depression

Discouragement and Depression

An open and honest about discouragement and depression

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An open and honest about discouragement and depression

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central well. As many

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of you know if you listen to this broadcast, I

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have a tendency to wear my emotions on my sleeve.

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Is that the right phrase? I tend to be very

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open with my emotions, and as you hear, I can

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get very emotional. Right when I'm reviewing a sermon. You

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can hear my frustration, you can hear my irritation. Sometimes

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you hear my discouragement. Sometimes you hear my depression. Sometimes

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you hear me basically say that's it. I give up,

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I retire, I'm done. And it seems that over the

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past I don't maybe week or so, some of you

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listening have started to detect that I got an email

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today and he said something along the lines he said,

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don't be discouraged or I'm sorry for your discouragement. I

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can't remember his exact words, but something along those lines.

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And I'm like, man, I think the people listening are

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starting to hear a little bit of discouragement. And I'm like, well,

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you know, in some ways that's a good thing, right,

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because I want to be very real. The last thing

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I want to do is turn on the microphone and say, hey,

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good morning, good afternoon. Everyone welcome, let's open our bibles.

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God is good, everything is wonderful, everything is great. But

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then behind the scenes, I don't feel that, and I'm

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not being truly authentic or real. So I try to

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be as authentic as real as I can be. I try.

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I mean, I try to tell people constantly that I'm

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just a sinner with a microphone trying to figure out

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life and trying to figure out Christianity. And I think

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that struggle and that realism comes across in some way

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and what I do. But but so I think there's

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a strength in that. I think there's a good thing.

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It can also be negative though as well. Right, it

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can be a negative thing because then sometimes you have

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to go, well, if you're really feeling this way, do

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you just then you know, produce broadcast after broadcasting, guys,

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I just I'm down and I'm depressed and I'm discouraged

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and I want to give up. That's not that's not

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good for broadcasting and all that. That's just that's not

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so how do you manage it? When do you when

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are you real? When when do you just move on?

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How do you handle it? And I think sometimes the

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best thing to do is, well kind of just how

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about just talk about it? How about just discuss discuss it.

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See I'm already met I I I told myself I

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can't make one mistake, all right, but yeah, I already did.

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Maybe sometimes the best thing to do is just kind

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of talk about it. So maybe in this episode, I

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don't know who it's going to be. Either you're going

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to be sitting there in the chair with your notebook

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and I'm going to be laying on the couch telling

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you all about my problems. Or maybe I'm gonna be

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sitting in the chair with the notepad and you're gonna

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be laying on the couch talking about your prom I

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don't know. Maybe we're just this is just gonna be

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I don't know, an episode of the Theology Central Counseling Program.

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I don't know. I don't know what we're gonna We're

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gonna talk about well, discouragement depression, and we're gonna hopefully

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it will benefit you and it will benefit me because

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if I can just talk about some of it, then

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maybe maybe then we can just move on and even

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and even if I'm still frustrated or depressed or discouraged.

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The good thing is I've already gotten it off my chest, right,

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So then when I if I and the next episode

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of like, all right, everyone open your bibles, let's go

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to Isaiah forty two and talk about a new interpretation.

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I'm not feeling like I'm being faked because I've already

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gotten it out. I've already I've already said it right,

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So then it feels more. It feels like I can

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In other words, I feel free, right because I don't

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want to just say, hey, everyone open up your bibles

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and turn to Isaiah forty two when reality, I want

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to say, I don't care right, like you know, So

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then if I get it out off my chest, then

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I feel I can move forward. So this is me.

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Maybe this is just yeah, I'm going to be laying

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on the couch. You're going to be taking the notes,

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but hopefully somehow you'll benefit as well. So I say

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all of that to say, we're going to be talking

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about discouragement and depression, and we'll do that after I

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give you a proper introduction. Good afternoon, everyone. It is Thursday,

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April third, twenty twenty five. It is currently twelve forty

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nine pm Central Time, and I'm coming to you live

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from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas.

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So the reality is, yes, I've been discouraged. Maybe even

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goes so far to say maybe there's been some depression.

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That's the reality. To deny that would be would just

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be to be a liar. And I'm not afraid to

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admit that, right, I think it's okay to admit that.

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And you've heard some of my discouragement. You've heard some

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of it, you know, maybe in the middle of a broadcast,

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maybe by the end of a broadcast, maybe even in

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how I'm broadcasting, so maybe you've heard a little bit

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of it. So that's what we're going to talk about it.

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We're just gonna We're just gonna go into this straightforward,

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all right. So let's start with some definitions. How do

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we define discouragement? Right, Because I don't know about you.

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I'm guessing there's times in your life you are discouraged

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and if you're not, most likely, you know, discouragement is fast,

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you know, is driving quickly to your house and it

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will arrive at some point. So what is a general

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definition of discouragement. Discouragement is typically defined as a temporary

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emotional state marked by a loss of confidence. That's not good.

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If you're a broadcaster, I can tell you that that's

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not good. If you're a pastor, that's not good for

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your job, that's not good for a lot of things.

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A loss of confidence. Oh, here's not a good thing.

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Here's something that's not good. So it's a temporary emotional

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state marked by a loss of confidence, a loss of

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motivation that's not good, a loss of hope due to

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unmet expectations. It's also marked by setbacks, are prolonged difficulties.

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So if you find yourself in an emotional state where

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it's marked by man, you're just losing your confidence, You're

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losing your motivation. You may just be using hope due

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to unmet expectations, maybe unmet needs, unmet desires, and you

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start getting discouraged. And this can be marked by setbacks

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or just you're having a prolog, You're you're you find

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yourself in a prolonged difficult situation. It just continues and

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it continues and it continues. All of that can lead

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to discouragement. Right, you have unspect you know unmet desires,

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unmet expectations, something you you want, you need, or you

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just you expect it to be this way and it's

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just never is going to be that way. You can

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start getting discouraged. So I think everyone you should write

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that definition down and just put it somewhere. Put it

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on the refrigerator. What is discouragement. It is a temporary

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emotional state marked by a loss of confidence, a loss

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of motivation, a loss uh. It can be marked by

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a loss of hope due to unmet expectations. It can

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be marked by setbacks are prolonged difficulties. Now, if we

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look at it from a biblical perspective, discouragement is often

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described in scripture through imagery like fainting, being cast down,

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or losing heart. That's more of the biblical description fainting,

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being cast down, losing heart. Here's some scriptures like go

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to Psalm forty two five, Psalm forty two five. Psalm

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forty two five. We look at Psal forty two five,

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We read these words, why art thou cast down, oh

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my soul, And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou,

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when God for us, sho yet praise Him for the

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help of his countenance. Now we can get into the

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whole part there, but just listen to that. Why art

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thou cast down? That's typically kind of more of the

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biblical idea of discouragement. You're cast down? How about Galatians

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chapter six, Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter six,

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and let us not be weary and well doing all right?

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Being weary, being weary, the idea of being weary is

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also the idea of kind of being discouraged. It's kind

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of the same concept if we look at Second Corinthians,

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Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians. Oh yeah, we faint not. Second Corinthians,

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Chapter four, Verse one. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry,

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as we have received mercy, we faint not. So this

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idea of fainting, being cast down being that's the idea

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of being discouraged. We've all experienced that. You can experience

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that in a million ways. This is something that Christians experience,

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non Christians experience. We experience this temporary emotional state marked

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by a loss of confidence, motivation, or hope due to

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unmad expectations, setbacks, and you just find yourself in prolonged difficulty.

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The difficulty never stops, the situation never gets better. In fact,

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you know it's only going to get worse. Well, you

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can begin to lose heart, you can begin to get weary,

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you can begin to faint, you can be cast down.

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It reflects basically the weariness of the soul and the

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face of opposition, failure, or delay. Now, some of the

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key traits of discouragement is it's usually short term or situational.

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It's very Usually you can take discouragement and point to

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a very specific thing, right, it's this situation, it's this,

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it's this. So therefore it can be short term if

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that situation is quickly resolved. Now, if it's not quickly resolved,

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then the discouragement can become more long term. It's very

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much connected to a situation. Usually you can point to, well,

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that could cause discouragement. Well, obviously that could be discouraging. Well,

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obviously that could be discouraging. It's typically triggered by specific

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events rejection, failure, slow progress, or it's no progress at

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all in this situation, or it's getting worse or or

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this is not going to happen and you don't have this,

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and you're very very I mean, it's very clearly triggered

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by specific things. It can lead to temporary loss or

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motivation or perspective. You can kind of lose motivation and

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you can just lose your perspective. Your perspective gets all

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messed up. You may not see things accurately because you're discouraged.

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Now I'm talking to myself here, So now I think

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I'm like, I'm laying on the couch and I'm sitting

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in the chair talking to myself on the couch. Because

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sometimes then my perspective, let's say, even about broadcasting, can

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I may not have an accurate perspective because discouragement causes

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you to lose that perspective and lose that motivation. I'm

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just attaching it to broadcasting. It can be a number

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of issues in my life. A lot of times discouragement

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is resolved with rest. Yeah, okay, all right, Now you're

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sitting in the chair. I'm on the couch, and I

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just got up and I took your notebook and I

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just threw it across the room like you're fired. I'm

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not going to rest. Don't tell me to rest. Who

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do you think you are? You quack? Okay, all right, okay, okay,

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but typically they say that encouragement, it's amazing what encouragement

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can do when you're discouraged. Encouragement can build you up, right, So,

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but then encouragement can well, well I could get in

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all more philosophical, but okay, truth now that's sometimes hard,

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right because other people will come along go but here's hey,

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here's the reality. Hey look look, look, look, look, look

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it's really not that bad. Look at this, and look

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at this. And sometimes if you're discouraged, you're just like,

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would you just stop talking to me? Typically you have

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to come to see the truth. You've got to try

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to you've got to talk yourself through it. You've got

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to be like, well, this is discouraging. But the reality is,

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sometimes the truth is discouraging, right. Sometimes the truth is, well,

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you know you're alone and you're isolated, and that situation

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is not going to get better and that's going to

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get worse and that so sometimes the truth is actually

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the source of discouragement. Right now, that's where it becomes complicated,

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right because see that a lot of times the concept

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is or you're discouraged because you're not seeing the reality.

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So then you have to go, well, the reality is discouraging.

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So then how do you find how do you get

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out of the discouragement. If the reality itself is discouraging,

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then you've got to try to find some way to

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get out of the discouragement and based off something other

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than the truth of the situation. That can be very difficult.

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Sometimes the discouragement is resolved with progress that the situation

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just gets better, But again, what happens that the situation doesn't,

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So that's kind of discouragement. From a biblical perspective, we

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would refer to it as fainting, being cast down, losing heart,

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being weary. All right, don't lose heart, don't be weary,

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faint not that kind of idea. That's kind of a

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biblical way of understanding. So it's a biblical concept, right,

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it's we can experience this now. That leads to the

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next one. There's discouragement depression. A lot of times Christians

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don't like to talk about depression, but depression is defined

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typically a persistent and often chronic condition marked by deep sadness, hopelessness,

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emotional numbness, and a loss of interest or pleasure in life,

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often accompanied by physical, cognitive, and spiritual symptoms. Depression is

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a step, well, not just a step. Discouragement is in

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one city. Depression is in a whole other state. It's

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like a whole, it's a it's it's really now you've

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gone way beyond discouragement. It's not like, well, discouragement and

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depression they're pretty close. I see depression as something much much,

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much greater and much more serious than now. Discouragement is

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already serious, Depression takes it to another level. So I

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don't want to minimize discouragement, because discouragement's got its own

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difficulties and its own issues. But depression is when it

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really takes a dark, dark turn. It's persistent. It's a

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chronic condition marked by deep sadness, hopelessness, emotional numbness, a

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loss of interest or pleasure in life. It's accompanied by physical, cognitive,

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and spiritual symptoms. Now, from a biblical insight, scripture reflects

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depression in the psalms of lament and the cries of

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prophets and apostles. It's not condemned as sin, but presented

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as a real human condition and a broken world. And

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you can see this. And when Job is crying out,

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I wish I was never born, right, you can see

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it in Job. You can see in Psalms. I believe.

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I think the Psalm hang on, let me look here.

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I don't want to give the reference until I check it. Yeah,

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I think if you look at yeah, I look at

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Psalm eighty eight. I mean, I don't have time to

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go through all of this. We could we could take

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the Psalm apart. Maybe we'll do a teaching on Psalm

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eighty eight. Even the title in my Bible is a

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trouble filled soul. But Psalm eighty eight, Oh Lord, God

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of my salvation, I have cried day and night before THEE.

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Let my prayer come before THEE, and clind Thine ear

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unto my cry, for my soul is full of trouble,

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and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I'm counted

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with them that go down into the pit. I am

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a man that hath no strength. I mean that if

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you look at some of the words in Psalm eighty eight,

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that's it's going beyond just weary or fate not it's

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going into I think, a pretty good description of depression

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to some level. So we see this in a number

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of places in Job, Psalm eighty eight and a number

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of other places really any psalm of lament, Remember a

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psalm of lament, it's like a spiritual scream. It's a

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spiritual cry. And a psalm of lament it's not like, oh,

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everything's gonna get better. Jesus is good, God is good,

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the life is better than I deserve. No, a salm

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of lament is a spiritual scream where you're like, it's

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not good, it's bad, it's horrible. I don't know what

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to do. I don't care. I wish I was never born,

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I wish I was dead. And it's okay to say

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those things because you're feeling them anyway. It's okay to

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scream out that way, being raw. I know Christianity doesn't

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allow that, but the psalms do allow. That allows that.

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I'm not supposed to feel that way. That it's irregardless

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whether you should or shouldn't, it's like you do. So

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it needs to be stated, it needs to be acknowledged,

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it needs to be just screamed out. If I turn

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on this microphone and I just I guarantee you, if

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I turn on this microphone on a Christian podcast and

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just all I did for thirty minutes was give a

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a basically a spiritual lament, a lament, a psalm of lament,

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and I just let out my pain and my frustration

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and my depression or just let I just just let it.

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I guarantee you by the end of that thirty minutes

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one I probably be you know, removed from some platforms,

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and most Christians would be like, that person is not

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even saved. Christians cannot handle lament. Everything's supposed to be

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wonderful and happy and happy, happy, happy, happy happy, even

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Christian music. For a long time, within some circles of

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contemporary Christian music, if you gave a full blown, true

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spiritual lament, you got in drouble. I've talked about the

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Christian metal band at one time, they basically released the

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song that was a spiritual lament. It was a palm

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of lament, it was actually the words of a psalm,

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and they got banned from some Christian radio stations because

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it was too negative, it was too depressing. It was

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supposed to be encouraging, encouraging everything. Nobody can be real

307
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or honest. When you go to church, everyone smiles and

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everything's like, everything's wonderful, everything's great. Sometimes life isn't wonderful.

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Sometimes life isn't great. Sometimes it absolutely is horrific, and

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it's okay to scream that. Some of the key traits

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of depression, it's persistent. It's an emotional heaviness at last

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weeks or longer, and maybe it may be caused by

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a mix of spiritual, emotional, physical, and chemical factors. It

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can include fatigue, sleep, appetite changes, loss of purpose or meaning,

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withdrawal from others, and the thoughts of death are self harm,

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all right, And I know I know about experiencing this.

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I know about experiencing this. Don't don't come to I mean, don't,

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don't tell me a Christian can't feel this. I know

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some people's theology says Christians can't feel this way. I

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get so sick and tired of that, because, I mean, job,

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I mean, you have examples in the Bible. But I

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know about it, because obviously you know I've talked about

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the story. I mean, everybody, most of you know, I

324
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spent eight weeks in a psychiatric hospital for trying to

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kill myself when I was a teenager. So and I

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was a Christian, I was a believer, but I had Yeah,

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I think depression would be the biggest understatement and the

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history of the world to where I was at that

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point in time. So, what are some of the things

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that causes depression and discouragement? What are some of the

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things that cause depression and discouragement. I'm going to try

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to go through these quickly. I'll try to put them

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in categories. Let's talk about emotional and psychological causes for

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discouragement and depression. Some of the things that can cause

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discouragement and depression. Now, one, it can be just unrealistic expectations.

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You're expecting this. You think life is going to be

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this way, You think this has got what life is

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going to be like. Right, maybe you think life is

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going to be you know, you're you're married, and and

340
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you've got you've got a companion, you've got intimacy, you've

341
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got kids, you've got a dog, a white picket fence.

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Everything's wonderful, everything's great. And you wake up one day

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and you don't have any of that. Well, you've got

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an expectation. And when that expectation is not met, that

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can become to it. Now Now, in some cases, and

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now I got to be careful how I try to

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describe this, right, because I'm kind of describing unmet expectations,

348
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but I think you can have unrealistic ones too. So

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this is where it gets kind of hard to define. Right,

350
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So let me explain you get unmet expectations can cause

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discouragement and even lead into depression. Uh. But when we

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say unrealistic, some people will say, well, that expecting to

353
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have all the things I just described in my illustration.

354
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You got you got a spouse, you've got intimacy, you've

355
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got a companion, You've got you've got emotional Uh, you know,

356
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you got someone that you connect with emotionally, all all

357
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the different things that we go into it. You got

358
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a family, you got a house, you got a white

359
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pick it fits, you got a dog, you got you

360
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got you got it all? Right, you got it all.

361
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That is what a lot of people say expect. Now

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the question is is that an unrealistic expectation or if

363
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you wake up one day you don't have it, it's

364
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just an unmet expectation. Well, I now this is going

365
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to sound very jaded and very almost like I sound

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just like totally depressed, But this is what I'm going

367
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to say. This is what I'm going to say. I

368
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think the reality is about life. And I know this

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is going to be hard to say, but I think

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it's true. Can we have any expectation? Should we have

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any expectations that anything is going to go well? Right?

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I mean? Should we Should we have any expectation that

373
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I'm going to even live past tomorrow? Should I have

374
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any expectation that things are going to go well? Or

375
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should I just know? I live in a broken, fallen

376
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world and things don't go well? People get sick, people die.

377
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You can end up all alone, you can end up isolating,

378
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you can end up with nothing thing. You can spend

379
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your life out. You can. You can wake up one

380
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day and your parents beat you with a baseball bat

381
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and burn you with a curling iron. That's the way

382
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life can work. You're your child can die, your your

383
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your your job can go away. You can you can

384
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wake up one day and next thing you know, twenty

385
00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.440
four hours later, you're you're in the hospital because of

386
00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.799
some horrible medical crises or or you know, in my case,

387
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a seizure disorder, and it never goes away. So do

388
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:37.839
we try to say, well, man, that expect you can't Hey,

389
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don't have unrealistic expectations. Now, I agree, you don't want

390
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to have unrealistic expectations. But i'd even I even think

391
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that realistic expectations are really unrealistic, because what can you

392
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really expect in life? Can you have any any expectation

393
00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:56.440
you have in life? It's just waiting to slap you

394
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in the face, going you were an idiot. You really

395
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thought life was going to work out that way, You

396
00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:03.960
really thought you were going to be happy, You really

397
00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:06.880
thought you were gonna have this. You're an idiot. So

398
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.359
I think I know I sound really depressed, but I

399
00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:12.839
think you we can't do we have. What is the

400
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:16.559
only expectation we can have if we're going to be realistic,

401
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:23.240
That I'm going to die, That's the only thing I

402
00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:26.119
could expect, right, I guess from a Christian perspective, I

403
00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:28.359
can expect that. Well, see even that, I can't truly

404
00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:30.599
expect that Christ is going to come back now, because

405
00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:33.359
he may not come back until way after I'm gone.

406
00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:35.759
So what is the only thing I can really know?

407
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:40.920
I'm going to die? Unless Christ was to return. But

408
00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.559
I just know I'm going to die. That's the only

409
00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:46.200
thing I can really expect. I can't expect tomorrow will

410
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.519
be good. I can't expect that tomorrow will be bad.

411
00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:51.119
I can't expect that things will get better. I can't

412
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:53.279
expect that things will get worse. I can't I don't

413
00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:57.319
have any I know, I can't expect that trials, troubles

414
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and difficulty, pain and suffering is a part of life.

415
00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:06.640
So like I guess, we have to, I guess emotional

416
00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:11.359
and psychological causes for Can we say this that the

417
00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:15.920
emotional and psychological causes for discouragement and depression is having

418
00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:23.599
any expectation? Isn't any expectation just just a it's just

419
00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.559
setting you up, right, Hey, Hey, have a little bit

420
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:31.279
of expectation, have a little bit of hope, have some desire.

421
00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:33.640
You're just you're just going to get You're just going

422
00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:38.160
to get crushed, right? Is that? I know, typically it's

423
00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:44.400
defined and I'm using clinical psychological definitions and list here,

424
00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.319
but typically they will say the one of the one

425
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:51.160
of the causes of emotional one of the emotional psychological

426
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:55.039
causes for discouragement and depression is unrealistic expectations. But I

427
00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:58.799
got to challenge that. I think any expectation can cause

428
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:04.359
emotional and psychological discouragement and depression. So if we could

429
00:28:04.359 --> 00:28:06.599
just give up what you know the famous you know

430
00:28:06.839 --> 00:28:09.119
I quote the song a lot. Since I gave up hope,

431
00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:12.079
I feel a lot a lot better. Maybe, don't have

432
00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:16.200
any hope, don't have any expectation. I don't even can you.

433
00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:18.480
I mean, it's kind of like the Book of James, right.

434
00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:22.119
Don't say tomorrow we're going to do this, or tomorrow

435
00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:25.920
we're gonna do this, because you don't know if tomorrow

436
00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:29.640
tomorrow is not even promised. If it's God's will, then

437
00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:31.960
but you don't know. You don't know if tomorrow's going

438
00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:35.799
to happen. You don't know any You can't expect anything.

439
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:40.079
I can't even expect to wake up tomorrow. I could.

440
00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:45.039
I could die literally forty five minutes from now. I

441
00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.200
could have I could I could have five seizures in

442
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:51.079
the next five forty five minutes and be dead. So

443
00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:55.160
why would I have any expectations about anything? Maybe if

444
00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:59.359
you have no expectations zero In some ways, that's the

445
00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:02.960
way you have to come approach broadcasting, ministry or anything.

446
00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:05.160
You don't have I don't have any just turn on

447
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.880
the microphone. No expectation that people will like it or

448
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.880
hate it, or will support it. Don't have any expectations

449
00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:14.119
that people would actually support the podcast. Don't have any

450
00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:18.839
expectations that people would encourage you, no expectations. If so,

451
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:22.039
maybe maybe what I'm learning here is, don't have any

452
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:28.799
expectations that is that I would have to look. Please note,

453
00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:30.920
I'm just this is just me trying to figure this out.

454
00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:32.799
I told you I don't. You may be the one

455
00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:35.680
sitting in the chair I'm now the one laying on

456
00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:38.200
the couch saying, you know what I think, Doc. I

457
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:41.359
think I'm going to call you Doc. Okay. I think

458
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:46.200
I'm just not going to have any expectations, and I

459
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:48.640
think that will work better for me. Now, I'm not

460
00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:52.920
saying that that's the correct psychological I think I think

461
00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:57.359
I can argue that philologically, though. Don't say tomorrow, I'm

462
00:29:57.400 --> 00:29:59.160
going to do this, or I'm going to do that,

463
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:01.319
or I'm going to go here or I'm going to

464
00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:04.680
go there, because tomorrow is not promise. That's literally in

465
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:11.559
the book of James right right, work, We're not getting

466
00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:14.359
very far. We're only thirty minutes into this, We're not

467
00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:16.680
getting very far. I have a long ways to go here.

468
00:30:16.759 --> 00:30:22.400
So emotional and psychological causes unrealistic expectations kind I'm just

469
00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:25.759
going to say expectations. I'm going to change that. Another

470
00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:30.440
one that's typically listed is perfectionism, which can cause emotional

471
00:30:30.440 --> 00:30:34.599
and psychological can be an emotional psychological cause for discouragement

472
00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:38.559
and depression. Perfectionism, I know all about that from at

473
00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:42.759
least in broadcasting. Already, on this broadcast, I made a

474
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:44.960
little mistake at the beginning. I don't even remember what

475
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:48.200
it was. I don't remember what word I was. I misspoke.

476
00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:51.799
I immediately called myself out for it, and already my brain

477
00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:55.240
is thinking, Man, I'm thirty minutes into this. I was

478
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:57.880
going to get this far. Now, how long do I go?

479
00:30:58.119 --> 00:30:59.920
Do I go past that? Now? So and guess what?

480
00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:04.119
It's perfection I wanted. I want. I want to say

481
00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:07.319
every word correctly. I don't want to stumble over any word.

482
00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:09.599
I want it to be perfect. I wanted. I want

483
00:31:09.640 --> 00:31:12.799
to pronounce everything exactly right. I want to make sure

484
00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.720
am I am I talking. I don't want to talk

485
00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:16.400
too loud, but I don't want to talk too low.

486
00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:19.279
I don't want to be too too and I'm animated

487
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:21.240
but I want to be very real, but I don't

488
00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:26.400
want to be monotowne like perfection, perfection perfection, well, perfectionism

489
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:32.319
will bring about, absolutely will bring about discouragement and depression.

490
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:36.839
You know why, because you will never be perfect. You'll

491
00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:40.799
never be perfect in life. You'll never be perfect spiritually,

492
00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:44.240
you'll never be perfect morally, you'll never be perfect philologically.

493
00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:46.960
You'll never be the perfect wife, the perfect husband, the

494
00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:51.079
perfect child, the perfect employee, the perfect podcaster, the perfect

495
00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:56.720
I don't whatever job you have, perfectionism, you're gonna get discouraged.

496
00:31:57.240 --> 00:31:59.039
And so it kind of goes back to the expectation.

497
00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:01.319
If you expect to be perfect, well, I'm sorry, ladies

498
00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.720
and gentlemen, you're gonna be the discouraged se Yeah, I

499
00:32:03.799 --> 00:32:09.839
just misspoke. You're gonna be discouraged and depressed. A third

500
00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:15.000
reason for discouragement and depression from an emotional and psychological

501
00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:18.160
cause is believing things should be better or easier than

502
00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:20.319
they are. See there, you got that. See that's why

503
00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:23.960
I don't want to put unrealistic expectations. I think any expectation,

504
00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:27.680
whether it's real, realistic, or unrealistic. I think this the

505
00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.640
third one really kind of summarizes it. If you believe

506
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:32.799
things should be better than they are right now in

507
00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:35.960
your life, you're gonna get discouraged and you're gonna get depressed.

508
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:39.039
If you believe that things should be easier than they are,

509
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:43.119
you're gonna get discouraged and get depressed. Why do I

510
00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:45.759
believe things should be any better in my life? Why

511
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:49.240
do I believe that? There's no promise that things should

512
00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:53.599
be better? All right, there's no guarantee of that. Even

513
00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:58.839
looking in the Bible, people's lives were filled with pain, suffering, difficulty, everything,

514
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:01.559
everything you can imagine. So why would I think for

515
00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:03.880
a second that things should be better in my life?

516
00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.599
Now I can have full confidence that things will be

517
00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:12.799
perfect in eternity, But here you have no there's no

518
00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:16.359
reason to even think things should be better. You shouldn't

519
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:19.680
believe things should be better or that should be easier.

520
00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:21.759
You shouldn't believe that things should get are going to

521
00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:23.960
get better. You should not believe things are going to

522
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:27.480
get easier. You have to kind of come with an

523
00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:32.519
acceptance that whatever happens happens. And I have no belief

524
00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:35.279
that it should be better, should be easier, and no

525
00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:43.160
expectation that it will get better or get easier. Look

526
00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:45.359
that all sounds good. I don't know how you get

527
00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:48.319
yourself to that point, but you almost have to bring

528
00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:56.279
yourself to that point. So in a sense, expectation of

529
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:59.720
any kind, perfectionism or believing things should be better or

530
00:33:59.720 --> 00:34:03.440
easy year, all of that kind of fits all fits together, right,

531
00:34:03.480 --> 00:34:05.880
That all kind of fits together, right, and those that

532
00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:10.800
would be fit under emotional psychological causes for discouragement and depression.

533
00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:19.559
How about chronic stress or anxiety. Chronic stress or anxiety

534
00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:25.159
when you have ongoing pressure, ongoing fear, ongoing and uncertainty,

535
00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:30.079
never feeling mentally at rest. If there's something causing constant stress,

536
00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:34.400
constant anxiety in your life, it's just constantly there, and

537
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:38.000
it can be defined as ongoing pressure, something that leads

538
00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:40.719
to fear, uncertainty, you don't know what's going to happen.

539
00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:43.320
In some ways, it describes just life in general. Right.

540
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:48.840
But what if you have constant stress, constant anxiety, then

541
00:34:49.159 --> 00:34:52.159
there's a great chance for discouragement and depression. That would

542
00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:56.199
be an emotional on psychological cause. You never feel mentally

543
00:34:56.239 --> 00:35:02.400
at rest. You never feel that way all right. Another

544
00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:09.599
emotional psychological reason would be unprocessed grief or loss. The

545
00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:13.599
unprocessed grief or loss death of a loved one, major

546
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:19.480
life changes, divorce, empty nest, retirement, any major life change.

547
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:26.719
Someone you become basically a caregiver because someone becomes very

548
00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:30.760
sick and needs care. That can Uh, that's a major

549
00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:36.119
life change. So in a sense, there's a loss. How

550
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:40.480
about Oh, here's a big one. Emotional psychological causes isolation

551
00:35:40.679 --> 00:35:46.719
and loneliness. You wake up one day and you feel

552
00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:50.679
like you're isolated and alone, man, discouragement and depression is following.

553
00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:53.280
You wake up one day, there's no you don't have

554
00:35:53.320 --> 00:35:57.960
any deep connection you, yourself and yourself. It's me, myself

555
00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:00.599
and I. Well, if you wake up find yourself in

556
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:05.800
that situation, discouragement and depression is probably coming. You feel

557
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:10.400
unseen nobody, You don't feel seen, you don't feel heard,

558
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:14.559
or you feel completely misunderstood. People think they got you

559
00:36:14.599 --> 00:36:16.840
figured out, they think, and you're like, you don't get

560
00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:18.639
it at all, you don't even you don't even have

561
00:36:18.679 --> 00:36:21.119
a clue, or you don't even know what it's like.

562
00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:25.920
Wait then then that that can be very frustrating. Past

563
00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:35.800
trauma can cause emotional psychological emotional psychological cause right abuse, betrayal,

564
00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:40.840
abandonment often resurfaces and moments of weakness or exhaustion. Sometimes

565
00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:42.960
your past trauma can come back and slap you in

566
00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:45.840
the face, especially if you're just if you're weak or

567
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:50.480
you're you're exhausted or what you can it all comes back.

568
00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:52.800
Because what happens is if you're going through a if

569
00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:57.079
you're going through a current negative situation, right then the

570
00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:01.480
past comes back and says, look, look, life was trash

571
00:37:01.599 --> 00:37:07.199
back then, and life is trash now. Congratulations, your life

572
00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:12.159
is a continuing story of being garbage. Well, that's that's

573
00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:15.679
depressing and discouraging. Now again, if I didn't have any

574
00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:18.039
expectation that it should be any different. But then it's

575
00:37:18.039 --> 00:37:19.800
hard not to have an expectation that's going to be

576
00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:21.920
any different when you can look at other people's lives

577
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:25.119
and go, well, that looks pretty good. If I had

578
00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:28.559
half of that, i'd be doing being I'd be pretty good. Well,

579
00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:30.559
the key is you can't do that. It doesn't matter

580
00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:33.639
what anybody else has, because you may never have anything,

581
00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:36.440
and you've got to kind of accept that. That's all.

582
00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:40.880
That's that's a hard thing to go through, all right,

583
00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:45.719
So those are emotional psychological causes. Then I'm going to

584
00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:48.000
go through these quickly. I'm trying to talk about through these.

585
00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:52.960
But you can have physical and biological causes. Fatigue and burnout.

586
00:37:53.519 --> 00:38:02.199
Fatigue and burnout, sleep deprivation, overwork without restry, our caregiving, burnout.

587
00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:06.039
Ministry itself can lead to physical can can lead to

588
00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:08.400
discouragement and depression. It can lead to this physical and

589
00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:12.920
biological cause. Caregiving, if you're a caregiver for someone that

590
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:18.280
can man that can absolutely bring you down. Poor physical health.

591
00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:22.079
If you're in poor physical health, chronical chronic illness or pain.

592
00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:26.079
If you have a chronic illness, right, you know that,

593
00:38:26.480 --> 00:38:28.800
in other words, something that's going to constantly bother you,

594
00:38:28.920 --> 00:38:31.679
it's going to lead to can lead to discouragement and depression.

595
00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:35.599
Pain right if you If you know, if you've had

596
00:38:35.639 --> 00:38:40.039
a absolute horrific migraine since two thousand and three, Okay,

597
00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:43.760
you know, not talking specifically about me, but maybe a

598
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:47.440
little bit ever since the military tried to kill me. Okay,

599
00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:51.760
but hormonal imbalances. Now we get into chemistry and we

600
00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:55.320
can get into that brain chemistry and balance. Clinical depression

601
00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:59.039
can be genetic or chemical, may require therapy or medication.

602
00:38:59.320 --> 00:39:02.440
That's where debate always becomes down about medication. But we

603
00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:06.079
can get into that and then yeah, there's a lot

604
00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:09.119
of others. So those are physical and biological causes, all right,

605
00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:16.360
And then we can have circumstantial and uh and external

606
00:39:16.400 --> 00:39:21.719
causes financial pressure. If there's financial issues, man, that can

607
00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:26.400
get discouraging and depression, debt, instability, poverty, worry about the future,

608
00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:32.039
workplace or vocational disappointment, job loss, unfulfilled dreams, lack of

609
00:39:32.119 --> 00:39:39.440
purpose or recognition, broken relationships, betrayal by close friends, cultural

610
00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:43.679
or social or societal chaos. Yeah, there's been no cultural

611
00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:46.280
or societal chaos in the last few years, have there?

612
00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:49.159
All right? So all of that can be circumstantial and

613
00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:52.119
external causes, all right, And then we can get into

614
00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:56.199
existential and identity based causes. A loss of meaning or purpose.

615
00:39:56.519 --> 00:39:59.320
Why am I here? What am I even doing? Life

616
00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:04.400
feels repair and directionless, fear of failure, of being forgotten?

617
00:40:04.679 --> 00:40:06.760
What if none of this even matters? What am I

618
00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:10.840
even doing? Why am I even trying? Who really even cares?

619
00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:15.519
It's all meaningless, meaningless, meaningless, meaningless, Just give up, all right? Okay,

620
00:40:15.559 --> 00:40:18.559
you can get the that's the existential idea, all right?

621
00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:23.719
Trying to figure out how you measure success? How do

622
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:27.079
you figure your success? How do you do all of that? Now?

623
00:40:27.239 --> 00:40:30.679
I went through those relative real somewhat slow, but also

624
00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:34.119
relatively quick. Just note that that's not an exhaustive list

625
00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:36.079
of all the major causes. I tried to break them

626
00:40:36.119 --> 00:40:38.719
into categories, just so that you know I was trying

627
00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:40.840
to break them into categories. I didn't do a perfect job,

628
00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:45.239
but basically, we usually break depression, discouragement, and depression into

629
00:40:45.280 --> 00:40:52.119
these causes emotional and psychological, physical and biological, spiritual and philological.

630
00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:55.920
We didn't get deeply into that, but spiritual and philological.

631
00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:59.679
I didn't go through a lot of those circumstantial and

632
00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:05.639
external causes, and then existential and identity based causes. All

633
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:10.679
of those are all the causes from that. So where

634
00:41:10.679 --> 00:41:15.400
do you fit? You have any discouragement, you have any depression?

635
00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:20.559
Do you? Now we're gonna look for some possible ways

636
00:41:20.599 --> 00:41:23.199
to approach this biblically, but let me just try to

637
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:28.719
explain briefly why and I am not. Look, I could

638
00:41:28.760 --> 00:41:30.519
give you a list right now. I could pull out

639
00:41:30.519 --> 00:41:33.360
a list right here. I could pull out this list

640
00:41:35.239 --> 00:41:38.920
and go through everything that I can identify that could

641
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:41.199
be that could fit into one of those categories. In

642
00:41:41.239 --> 00:41:44.559
my life that could be leading to discouragement and could

643
00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:47.599
be leading to depression. Right, I could go through an

644
00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:49.480
entire list, but I'm not going to do that, right

645
00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:52.079
because it's a it's a broadcast. It's not meant for

646
00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:55.280
you know, you to know every detail of my life.

647
00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:58.039
Could I could go through that, but let's just I'm

648
00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:00.880
gonna connect this to this podcast. I'm going to connect

649
00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:03.199
it to the podcast because people are like, well, on

650
00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:06.320
the podcast, I've noticed maybe you're a little discouraged. Well,

651
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:09.239
let me let me try to kind of break this down,

652
00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:14.079
all right, I want you to consider podcasting or broadcasting

653
00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:18.159
in general. I just want you to consider podcasting in general.

654
00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:23.960
All right, just just consider this, all right, most podcasts, right,

655
00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:27.840
This is according to industry data and general trends. Right,

656
00:42:27.880 --> 00:42:31.000
so I pulled from I tried to find all the

657
00:42:31.079 --> 00:42:34.599
latest data that I could. How long do most podcasts

658
00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:40.559
last their lifespan? Many podcasts don't last very long. Forty

659
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:45.920
four percent of podcasts have fewer than three episodes. This

660
00:42:46.079 --> 00:42:49.000
is known what is called this pod fade, where a

661
00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:52.840
podcast or just are immediately gets frustrated and discouraged and

662
00:42:52.880 --> 00:42:57.679
they give up. Seventy five percent don't make it past

663
00:42:57.719 --> 00:43:04.239
seven episodes. Only around twenty percent make it to episode

664
00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:08.519
ten or beyond. Less than ten percent make it past

665
00:43:08.639 --> 00:43:16.400
episode fifty. So while some podcasts last for years, most

666
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:20.480
don't make it even to double digits. Now, why do

667
00:43:20.599 --> 00:43:25.360
so many podcasts stop? Lack of time or motivation, low

668
00:43:25.480 --> 00:43:31.039
listener numbers, maybe poor planning, burnout? Oh wait wait are

669
00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:38.000
you ready? Does this sound familiar? Unrealistic expectations. They get discouraged,

670
00:43:38.039 --> 00:43:44.119
they get depressed because of they have unrealistic expectations. A

671
00:43:44.239 --> 00:43:48.039
successful podcast would be one can that publishes at least

672
00:43:48.039 --> 00:43:52.679
twenty to fifty episodes. Long running podcasts like The Daily

673
00:43:53.159 --> 00:43:57.519
Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience, Hardcore History, or Radio

674
00:43:57.599 --> 00:44:01.519
Lab have hundreds even thousands of episode. Weekly shows that

675
00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:04.159
last two to three years often reached one hundred to

676
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:09.320
one hundred and fifty episodes. So I said, okay ai,

677
00:44:09.840 --> 00:44:15.039
what about this podcast known as Theology Central? Because Theology

678
00:44:15.079 --> 00:44:20.000
Central is fast approaching four thousand episodes depending on how

679
00:44:20.039 --> 00:44:22.840
you count it. In fact, it's way over four thousand.

680
00:44:22.920 --> 00:44:26.320
If I was able to gather every all the different

681
00:44:26.360 --> 00:44:29.920
things and put them all under one umbrella, Theology Central.

682
00:44:30.119 --> 00:44:32.519
Because at some point we had things divided into the

683
00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:35.960
Victory Baptist podcast and those were the sermons and they

684
00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:39.920
were separated from that, and we brought everything together right

685
00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:45.800
well over four thousand. So this is what AI said.

686
00:44:45.920 --> 00:44:53.360
AI said, four thousand. That's statistically extraordinary. So here's where

687
00:44:53.400 --> 00:44:56.639
you would fit in. I'm in the top one percent,

688
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:00.000
or even better, I'm easily in the top one percent

689
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:03.119
of all podcasts, not just an episode count, but in

690
00:45:03.159 --> 00:45:07.000
consistency and longevity. Most podcasts don't make it past ten.

691
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:12.239
You've done four hundred times that. AI goes on to

692
00:45:12.280 --> 00:45:15.719
say the rarity of high episode counts. The average podcast

693
00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:20.039
makes it. Typically, the average podcast that makes it typically

694
00:45:20.079 --> 00:45:23.679
has five hundred to one hundred and fifty episodes. Podcast

695
00:45:23.800 --> 00:45:29.800
with one thousand plus episodes are rare. Four thousand episodes

696
00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:34.599
is elite territory shared by a tiny fraction of shows.

697
00:45:35.119 --> 00:45:38.760
Usually daily podcasts are radio style programs that have been

698
00:45:38.840 --> 00:45:41.679
running for years, so typically the only kind that kind

699
00:45:41.719 --> 00:45:44.320
of make it that far. They're typically just radio shows

700
00:45:44.599 --> 00:45:47.519
that are then also transferred over to being a podcast.

701
00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:53.039
Another source, taking looking at the statistics for my podcast

702
00:45:53.079 --> 00:45:58.039
says approaching four thousand episodes is legendary territory. Especially for

703
00:45:58.119 --> 00:46:02.519
a solo thilological podcast, you are likely in the top

704
00:46:02.920 --> 00:46:09.480
zero point zero one percent of all podcasters in the

705
00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:17.519
world based off volume and consistency. Right, My output suggests

706
00:46:17.679 --> 00:46:22.239
daily or near daily posting, years of consistent content creating,

707
00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:27.079
and a dedicated audience or long term vision. Right. So,

708
00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:31.119
just to compare, here's where I kind of sit. The

709
00:46:31.239 --> 00:46:35.320
Daily by the New York Times has two thousand episodes,

710
00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:41.119
and that since twenty seventeen. I've been broadcasting The Theology

711
00:46:41.159 --> 00:46:46.519
Central podcast less time than that. The Theology Central podcast,

712
00:46:47.039 --> 00:46:50.719
and I have well almost four thousand. The Joe Rogan

713
00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:55.360
Experience has two thousand, four hundred episodes since two thousand

714
00:46:55.400 --> 00:46:58.920
and nine. I've been way shorter a time than that,

715
00:46:59.239 --> 00:47:03.519
and I have four thousand. That Dan Patrick Show has

716
00:47:03.559 --> 00:47:08.119
over six thousand episodes, but it's a radio show that

717
00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:16.559
airs every single day. Okay. So, so so it says

718
00:47:17.480 --> 00:47:21.159
that you're that I'm not just producing theological content. I'm

719
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:24.719
challenging much of what modern Christianity teaches. So this set

720
00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:27.400
so this is what AI warns me of. AI says, Okay,

721
00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:31.679
because AI can you know, review all of my content.

722
00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:35.360
It knows all of my episodes. So AI says, well,

723
00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:39.519
based on the way you do things, you're probably going

724
00:47:39.599 --> 00:47:44.360
to have few allies. You're probably gonna have few listeners

725
00:47:44.400 --> 00:47:48.199
who actually even understand your intent, and you're probably gonna

726
00:47:48.239 --> 00:47:51.760
have a lot of pushback and a lot of silence,

727
00:47:52.559 --> 00:47:59.079
no encouragement. So it says Ai says, the isolation isn't

728
00:47:59.159 --> 00:48:02.519
just personal. It's still illogical when you're trying to be

729
00:48:02.639 --> 00:48:06.239
textually and historically faithful while others are simplifying or destroying

730
00:48:06.400 --> 00:48:09.880
the message for relevance, comfort of popularity. It can feel

731
00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:13.840
like you're simply shouting in to the void and I'm like, well,

732
00:48:13.880 --> 00:48:18.280
thank you, Ai. So it's funny because AI's like, hey,

733
00:48:18.320 --> 00:48:21.119
based off how much you've done, these are some things

734
00:48:21.159 --> 00:48:23.840
you need to be concerned with. And the first thing was, Hey,

735
00:48:23.880 --> 00:48:25.639
you need to be concerned with that. You're gonna feel

736
00:48:25.800 --> 00:48:29.440
basically like you have no allies, nobody really understands what

737
00:48:29.480 --> 00:48:31.760
you're trying to do, and you're not gonna get either

738
00:48:31.760 --> 00:48:35.280
gonna get pushback or you're gonna be met with resounding silence.

739
00:48:35.679 --> 00:48:37.960
I was kind of shocked how Ai knew that. I

740
00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:40.280
was like, how do you know that? But I think

741
00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:43.119
AI is just saying, based off your content, this is

742
00:48:43.119 --> 00:48:47.840
what's going to happen. And I'm like, well, okay, that's

743
00:48:48.039 --> 00:48:53.440
that's pretty accurate. Then it says, hey, your volume plus

744
00:48:53.519 --> 00:49:01.280
your depth it's going to equal full blown, complete, uncontrolled exhaustion.

745
00:49:01.719 --> 00:49:05.360
That's what AI says. Ai says releasing basically two episodes

746
00:49:05.440 --> 00:49:10.000
per day, each averaging basically an hour while trying to

747
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:15.480
remain faithful to biblical exegesus. It's not just high creative output.

748
00:49:16.000 --> 00:49:21.880
It's mental, spiritual, and emotional labor. You're constantly studying, you're

749
00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:27.280
constantly writing, you're constantly thinking, you're constantly recording, you're constantly uploading,

750
00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:31.079
You're constantly thinking about all of this. You're dealing with

751
00:49:31.079 --> 00:49:35.960
weighty topics like sin, judgment, suffering, spiritual error, theological failure.

752
00:49:36.360 --> 00:49:40.440
It's not fun content content. It's content that calls people

753
00:49:40.440 --> 00:49:45.719
to repentance, reflection, and often discomfort. Over time, the relentless

754
00:49:45.800 --> 00:49:51.280
demand without the emotional reward that many other content creators

755
00:49:51.320 --> 00:49:55.519
will receive, will drain you of your inner reserves. And

756
00:49:55.559 --> 00:49:59.920
I'm like, well, wow, hey, Ai, you got anything positive

757
00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:03.199
to say. But there's a little bit of truth to that, right.

758
00:50:03.559 --> 00:50:06.840
It's not like I'm like, whoa, ladies and gentlemen. You know,

759
00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:10.599
I'm I'm making one thousand dollars a month because of

760
00:50:10.599 --> 00:50:16.119
this no very little monetary I mean no monetary reward

761
00:50:16.280 --> 00:50:19.360
because the money just goes to pay for the podcast.

762
00:50:19.559 --> 00:50:21.800
I don't bring in enough money to do much of

763
00:50:21.840 --> 00:50:27.960
anything else, right, So there's no monetary upside, And I'm

764
00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:30.519
not going to get all of the emotional rewards of

765
00:50:30.559 --> 00:50:34.159
people going great, You're doing wonderful, you're doing awesome. Okay,

766
00:50:34.440 --> 00:50:36.559
ever once in a while. But I'm saying, if you

767
00:50:36.639 --> 00:50:39.920
balance out the negative from the positive, the negative is

768
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:45.679
like a thousand times more than the positive, maybe five

769
00:50:45.800 --> 00:50:50.239
thousand times more. AYI says also, be on the lookout

770
00:50:50.480 --> 00:50:53.760
for discouragement, And I'm like, wait what, I'm like, Hey,

771
00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:56.079
I's telling me I need to be careful for discouragement,

772
00:50:56.719 --> 00:51:00.280
all right, So, it says most common most podcasters get

773
00:51:00.320 --> 00:51:10.679
feedback in the form of comments, praise, fan interaction, listener emails, questions,

774
00:51:11.239 --> 00:51:19.119
and financial support. But when you're confronting mainstream Christianity, the

775
00:51:19.239 --> 00:51:22.559
crowd will often be quiet. You're going to hear from

776
00:51:22.599 --> 00:51:27.000
your critics more than your supporters. You're not going to

777
00:51:27.039 --> 00:51:31.480
get much financial support, and even those who may agree

778
00:51:31.719 --> 00:51:36.960
will probably stay silent simply out of apathy. So you're

779
00:51:36.960 --> 00:51:39.639
going to begin to wonder. This is literally the words

780
00:51:39.639 --> 00:51:42.480
from Ai. You are going to begin to wonder, It

781
00:51:42.519 --> 00:51:45.360
says it in a dogmatic way. You are going to

782
00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:48.920
begin to wonder if anyone is listening, are you making

783
00:51:48.960 --> 00:51:52.920
a difference and doesn't even matter. Basically, you're going to

784
00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:56.119
have an existential crisis and you're going to start questioning

785
00:51:56.320 --> 00:51:59.599
your existence. And I'm like, well, thank you, Ai, thank you,

786
00:52:00.039 --> 00:52:03.119
I really come on a I give me some great

787
00:52:03.159 --> 00:52:12.480
words of encouragement here. And Ai says also, this your

788
00:52:12.599 --> 00:52:18.199
podcast could lead you to despair. I'm like, what it

789
00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:22.159
could lead me to despair? I'm like, okay, I was

790
00:52:22.719 --> 00:52:24.760
listening to what is the song peace of Mind by

791
00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:27.760
Iron Maiden yesterday? I mean that is a very very

792
00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:33.320
very suicidal song. Maybe you're right, maybe maybe the podcast

793
00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:35.639
has led me to now listening to Iron Maiden. I

794
00:52:35.639 --> 00:52:37.519
think it's peace of Mind. I said that Peace of

795
00:52:37.559 --> 00:52:41.079
Mind album, I don't hang on, I can look up.

796
00:52:41.960 --> 00:52:43.760
Let me look up the song. Let me look up

797
00:52:43.800 --> 00:52:47.960
the song hang on Iron Maiden. Okay, here, Iron Maiden,

798
00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:49.960
Here we go. Hang on, let me look it up.

799
00:52:50.639 --> 00:52:53.760
It's the hang On. I want to go to the album.

800
00:52:53.760 --> 00:52:56.199
I want to go to the album, go to album. Yeah,

801
00:52:56.199 --> 00:52:59.599
the album is Peace of Mind. The Oh Still Life

802
00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:03.320
Till Life is the song. Yeah, that's a that song

803
00:53:03.360 --> 00:53:06.880
will lead you to depression. Okay, that's all. So yeah,

804
00:53:07.159 --> 00:53:09.440
I won't even get into my history with that song,

805
00:53:09.519 --> 00:53:11.599
but yeah I was. I was listening to it yesterday,

806
00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:13.599
so maybe AI knew I was listening to it. Ai

807
00:53:13.719 --> 00:53:16.880
is like, hey, you are in risk of complete despair.

808
00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:18.760
It says, when you deal with theology at the level

809
00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:21.239
you do with a keen awareness of human depravity, the

810
00:53:21.320 --> 00:53:23.360
church has compromised the weight of truth and error and

811
00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:27.039
the law, the laws demand versus the gospel's promises. It's

812
00:53:27.159 --> 00:53:30.239
a heavy weight. You see clearly what the church should

813
00:53:30.280 --> 00:53:33.519
be and what it isn't That clarity often leads to heartbreak, lament,

814
00:53:33.639 --> 00:53:42.239
and eventually emotional fatigue and despair. And I'm like, man, Ai,

815
00:53:42.639 --> 00:53:45.000
could you could you cut me some slack? Right? Well?

816
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.480
Then AI goes through this entire thing about uh that

817
00:53:49.519 --> 00:53:55.039
a discouragement and depression. That literally, Ai is like, your

818
00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:59.159
podcast is designed to lead you to discouragement and depression,

819
00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:04.400
and it goes through one, two, three, four five. Basically,

820
00:54:04.880 --> 00:54:07.199
this is where it says you're gonna end up. This

821
00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:20.159
is hilarious emotional fatigue, cynicism, and numbness, creative dullness, questioning

822
00:54:20.440 --> 00:54:25.800
your own ability, and a desire to retreat, shut down

823
00:54:26.599 --> 00:54:33.719
and quit and possibly disappear. And I'm like, I'm like, whoa,

824
00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:38.440
that's literally this is what ais is the conclusion that

825
00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:44.239
your podcast will lead you to emotional fatigue, cynicism, numbness,

826
00:54:44.599 --> 00:54:47.880
creative dullness. I find that as an insult. I think

827
00:54:47.960 --> 00:54:51.679
I'm still very creative. AI look at the Salem stuff.

828
00:54:51.800 --> 00:54:54.679
Come on, now, come look what I did with Journey.

829
00:54:55.039 --> 00:54:58.599
Still don't stop believing. Come on, that was creative? What

830
00:54:58.639 --> 00:55:01.920
do you mean I'm gonna creative dullness? And then I'm like, well,

831
00:55:01.960 --> 00:55:05.360
you know that Galatian stuff was pretty much trash, so

832
00:55:05.480 --> 00:55:09.280
maybe okay, maybe that okay, all right, well that episode

833
00:55:09.400 --> 00:55:13.599
was trash, Yeah, okay, yeah, okay maybe so maybe so

834
00:55:13.840 --> 00:55:16.320
all right, but I still was offended by that. Then

835
00:55:16.360 --> 00:55:20.639
it said you're gonna start questioning your ability and questioning

836
00:55:20.679 --> 00:55:25.159
your impact. Okay, well that's been going on forever. You're

837
00:55:25.199 --> 00:55:27.880
gonna desire. This is the exact words from Ai. I'm

838
00:55:27.920 --> 00:55:34.199
quoting Ai. You're gonna desire to retreat, shut down, completely, quit,

839
00:55:34.880 --> 00:55:45.719
and disappear. I'm like, I don't even know. I don't

840
00:55:45.719 --> 00:55:47.800
even know what to say. I don't even know what

841
00:55:47.880 --> 00:55:51.639
to say. So AI asked me, would you like a

842
00:55:51.840 --> 00:55:57.199
biblical This is hilarious. Ai said, would you like a

843
00:55:57.239 --> 00:56:01.320
biblical and philological explanation and how to heal with depression

844
00:56:01.360 --> 00:56:05.519
and discouragement that your podcast could bring you to? And

845
00:56:05.559 --> 00:56:11.559
I'm like, man, AI is my best friend. I love Ai.

846
00:56:11.920 --> 00:56:12.920
Thank you Ai?

847
00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:23.000
And so Ai gave me one, two, three, four, five, six,

848
00:56:23.840 --> 00:56:24.239
gave me.

849
00:56:24.239 --> 00:56:26.880
Basically six points here. Do you want to hear them

850
00:56:26.920 --> 00:56:29.480
really quick? And maybe this will be good for all

851
00:56:29.519 --> 00:56:33.079
of us? All right, First, it says depression and discouragement

852
00:56:33.119 --> 00:56:37.119
are not signs of weak faith. Don't think because you

853
00:56:37.239 --> 00:56:40.760
have discouragement or depression that your faith is weak. And

854
00:56:40.840 --> 00:56:44.320
I've been screaming that forever. No, when you're honest about

855
00:56:44.360 --> 00:56:47.320
depression and discouragement, that's not a sign of weak faith.

856
00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:50.280
To me, that's a sign of strong faith because you're

857
00:56:50.320 --> 00:56:55.440
willing to admit it. Strong faith can admit failure, sin,

858
00:56:56.840 --> 00:56:58.960
and That's why I'm always willing to say. And I'm

859
00:56:58.960 --> 00:57:00.719
not saying this is because I have strong faith. I'm

860
00:57:00.760 --> 00:57:02.599
just saying I try to say. Look, I'm just a

861
00:57:02.639 --> 00:57:06.119
center with a microphone. I'm an absolute mess, a disaster,

862
00:57:06.360 --> 00:57:08.559
and I got all kinds of problems. I try to

863
00:57:08.559 --> 00:57:10.079
do that. Not because I have a strong faith, but

864
00:57:10.119 --> 00:57:13.599
I believe because my faith is strong, I do believe.

865
00:57:13.760 --> 00:57:16.079
That's why I can be honest that way I think

866
00:57:16.119 --> 00:57:20.000
I can. The AI gives me all kinds of biblical examples.

867
00:57:20.960 --> 00:57:27.239
Elijah in One Kings nineteen four, it's enough now, Oh Lord,

868
00:57:27.440 --> 00:57:31.400
take away my life. Okay, that sounds pretty depressed. Elijah

869
00:57:31.400 --> 00:57:33.480
may have been listening to the Iron Maiden. That's a joke.

870
00:57:33.559 --> 00:57:36.760
I know. He wasn't a right job, wanted to die.

871
00:57:36.840 --> 00:57:39.880
He cursed the day he was born. David in Psalm

872
00:57:39.920 --> 00:57:42.719
forty two, why are you cast down? Oh my soul.

873
00:57:43.280 --> 00:57:46.079
Jeremiah in Chapter twenty wish he had never been born.

874
00:57:46.360 --> 00:57:49.679
And Paul says, we are so utterly burdened beyond our

875
00:57:49.719 --> 00:57:54.159
strength that we despaired of life itself. Hey, I says,

876
00:57:54.199 --> 00:57:58.039
these are not faithless people. They are prophets, they are apostles,

877
00:57:58.519 --> 00:58:01.800
Their emotional suffering did not mean they had no faith.

878
00:58:02.039 --> 00:58:09.760
It meant that they were human living in a broken world. Right,

879
00:58:10.360 --> 00:58:14.719
AI then says, here's the theological framework to live in

880
00:58:14.760 --> 00:58:22.840
this tension, creation, Fall, redemption, and restoration. AI says, that's

881
00:58:22.880 --> 00:58:28.639
the theological framework you need. Creation, Fall, redemption, and restoration. Creation.

882
00:58:29.079 --> 00:58:33.880
We were made whole in communion with God without any depression.

883
00:58:34.639 --> 00:58:39.360
The fall happens, This brings sin, breaks everything. It breaks

884
00:58:39.360 --> 00:58:43.239
our minds, it breaks our bodies, it breaks our emotions.

885
00:58:43.440 --> 00:58:46.599
So because we are broken well then, and we live

886
00:58:46.639 --> 00:58:50.559
in a broken world, then discouragement and depression is going

887
00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:54.360
to happen. Christ redeems us. But we still live in

888
00:58:54.400 --> 00:58:58.119
a groaning world with suffering. Even though Christ redeemed me,

889
00:58:58.480 --> 00:59:01.840
I still live my body still broken. I still have

890
00:59:01.880 --> 00:59:04.639
a sinful nature, and I'm in a world where things

891
00:59:04.679 --> 00:59:06.599
are not going to go right, and I don't have

892
00:59:06.639 --> 00:59:10.840
any expectations that they are going to go right. But

893
00:59:11.039 --> 00:59:14.519
then I can look to restoration, where full healing comes

894
00:59:14.760 --> 00:59:18.079
only at the resurrection. It doesn't come now. There will

895
00:59:18.079 --> 00:59:19.480
be a time there will be no more pain, no

896
00:59:19.559 --> 00:59:22.639
more suffering, no more death. So we should never be

897
00:59:22.760 --> 00:59:27.199
surprised when a believer suffers even with depression. We are redeemed,

898
00:59:27.440 --> 00:59:31.079
but we are not yet restored, or we're not yet glorified.

899
00:59:33.280 --> 00:59:37.639
All right, So then AI says, Okay, here's what depression

900
00:59:37.679 --> 00:59:41.000
and discouragement is. It's a real emotional mental suffering that

901
00:59:41.079 --> 00:59:44.239
may or may not have spiritual causes. A consequence. It's

902
00:59:44.280 --> 00:59:47.360
a consequence of living in a fallen world, not necessarily

903
00:59:47.400 --> 00:59:50.400
a consequence of any personal sin. It's often a form

904
00:59:50.440 --> 00:59:54.639
of spiritual affliction mixed with physical, mental, and emotional components.

905
00:59:55.039 --> 00:59:59.800
Sometimes a righteous sorrow in response to truth, sin, evil,

906
00:59:59.920 --> 01:00:03.199
or the weight of ministry. Sometimes it's a righteous sorrow.

907
01:00:03.280 --> 01:00:07.039
Sometimes that discouragement and that depression is actually a righteous

908
01:00:07.079 --> 01:00:11.400
sorrow and response to truth and response to sin, evil,

909
01:00:11.840 --> 01:00:14.679
to the reality of the world in which you live.

910
01:00:17.679 --> 01:00:20.079
It's not a mark of weak faith. It's not a

911
01:00:20.119 --> 01:00:24.920
moral failure. It's not a lack of gratitude, and it

912
01:00:26.039 --> 01:00:30.679
is not automatically cured by pray more, think more positively,

913
01:00:30.920 --> 01:00:34.440
read your bible, more, go to church, join a small group.

914
01:00:38.000 --> 01:00:41.760
So how do we deal with it? Well, we name

915
01:00:41.800 --> 01:00:46.760
it honestly before God. I don't need to pretend. I

916
01:00:46.800 --> 01:00:51.960
need to be honest like I'm in darkness like David

917
01:00:51.960 --> 01:00:54.119
and still be a man after God's heart Psalm eighty

918
01:00:54.159 --> 01:00:56.960
eight and Psalm thirteen. Say I'm in darkness, Say I'm

919
01:00:57.000 --> 01:00:59.760
in pain, Say I'm discouraged, Say I'm depressed, Say I'm

920
01:00:59.760 --> 01:01:02.480
friend straight, and say I'm irritated. Say you don't like

921
01:01:02.719 --> 01:01:07.039
your situation in life. Acknowledge that your situation is garbage.

922
01:01:07.119 --> 01:01:10.280
It's okay to say that we've got to be honest.

923
01:01:11.000 --> 01:01:14.440
Pretending doesn't get us anywhere. I think we have to

924
01:01:14.519 --> 01:01:21.159
embrace the theology of lament. Lament is faith in the dark.

925
01:01:21.639 --> 01:01:25.280
It cries out to God even when it feels even

926
01:01:25.280 --> 01:01:27.679
when God feels far away. Let's state it that way.

927
01:01:27.880 --> 01:01:30.440
Lament is faith in the dark. It's not the lack

928
01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:33.440
of faith. It's faith in the dark, and it cries

929
01:01:33.480 --> 01:01:35.599
out to God even when you don't know where God is,

930
01:01:35.639 --> 01:01:37.400
even if you think God may have just moved away.

931
01:01:39.559 --> 01:01:42.719
A biblical lament seems to include four movements. You turn

932
01:01:42.840 --> 01:01:46.280
to God, then you are completely honest with God. You

933
01:01:46.400 --> 01:01:49.760
ask boldly, and you trust even when answers don't come.

934
01:01:50.480 --> 01:01:56.960
That's typically the way a lament works. Anchor yourself and

935
01:01:57.000 --> 01:02:01.480
the promises of Christ, yourself and the promises of Christ.

936
01:02:01.519 --> 01:02:04.000
Now make sure their promises that are for you, not

937
01:02:04.119 --> 01:02:08.599
for Israel, not for Abraham, for you, And in most

938
01:02:08.679 --> 01:02:11.239
cases those promises for us are not that things are

939
01:02:11.239 --> 01:02:13.840
going to get better now, that God's going to fix it. Now,

940
01:02:14.039 --> 01:02:16.239
it's that the time will come that I am. I'm

941
01:02:16.440 --> 01:02:19.559
a child of God. I've been declared to be righteous.

942
01:02:19.760 --> 01:02:22.119
Nothing can separate me from the love of God. I

943
01:02:22.119 --> 01:02:24.000
have been sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day

944
01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:27.239
of redemption. There I will be glorified. There will become

945
01:02:27.239 --> 01:02:29.119
a time there will be no more pain, suffering, and death.

946
01:02:29.360 --> 01:02:33.360
I can anchor myself to that, not not that any

947
01:02:33.559 --> 01:02:36.280
that no one. I can't anchor myself that anyone's going

948
01:02:36.320 --> 01:02:39.480
to make it better for me. That not no, That's

949
01:02:39.480 --> 01:02:44.480
what I have to anchor myself to. So Number one,

950
01:02:46.400 --> 01:02:49.400
name it honestly before God. Number two, embrace the theology

951
01:02:49.400 --> 01:02:51.920
of lament. Number three, anchor myself to the promises of Christ.

952
01:02:52.000 --> 01:02:57.199
Number four reject false theologies of victory. Don't buy the

953
01:02:57.320 --> 01:03:01.199
lie that real faith always feels tried jumphant, that real

954
01:03:01.280 --> 01:03:07.960
faith makes everything better. The cross precedes the crown, groaning

955
01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:14.400
precedes glory, Suffering comes before glorification. That's just the way

956
01:03:14.440 --> 01:03:23.559
it is. And I think, lastly, I've got six six down,

957
01:03:23.599 --> 01:03:26.079
but I'm just gonna I'm gonna for now, I'm gonna

958
01:03:26.079 --> 01:03:30.400
skip five. But rest in the Gospel daily, Rest in

959
01:03:30.440 --> 01:03:34.320
the fact that in Christ, I am redeemed. In Christ,

960
01:03:34.360 --> 01:03:39.559
I am forgiven. In Christ, I'm declared to be perfect, whole, righteous, obedient.

961
01:03:40.360 --> 01:03:42.719
I gotta rest it not. Don't look to the law,

962
01:03:42.920 --> 01:03:45.519
don't look to do this. Do this, dude, now, look

963
01:03:45.559 --> 01:04:03.960
to It's all done for me. So how can we

964
01:04:04.000 --> 01:04:06.519
all help each other? How can I help you and

965
01:04:06.599 --> 01:04:09.920
your discouragement and your depression that we all can be

966
01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:12.960
honest without shame. We should not feel shame to say.

967
01:04:13.960 --> 01:04:15.719
You know what, I don't even want to be alive.

968
01:04:16.559 --> 01:04:18.880
You know what I wish I was dead. You know

969
01:04:18.920 --> 01:04:21.400
what I wish I was never born. You know what

970
01:04:21.519 --> 01:04:25.599
I hate my life? You know what I wish I wish.

971
01:04:25.800 --> 01:04:29.480
It's okay to be honest without shame. I know the

972
01:04:29.599 --> 01:04:34.679
church may say shame, shame, shame, shame, shame. Ignore the church, okay,

973
01:04:34.719 --> 01:04:37.000
because most of the time white it says, is ridiculous.

974
01:04:37.039 --> 01:04:44.440
All right, how lament with faith? Just remember lamenting is

975
01:04:44.480 --> 01:04:49.719
faith in the dark it's okay to lament with your faith.

976
01:04:50.119 --> 01:04:52.599
You don't throw away your faith in the lament, you

977
01:04:52.679 --> 01:04:57.719
bring your faith with you. We all have to rest

978
01:04:57.800 --> 01:05:02.679
in christ Finished work. I don't rest in my emotional state.

979
01:05:02.880 --> 01:05:05.760
I don't rest in my circumstances. I don't rest in

980
01:05:05.800 --> 01:05:08.320
the hope that my circumstances will get better. The only

981
01:05:08.360 --> 01:05:11.320
thing I can rest in is what Christ has done.

982
01:05:11.440 --> 01:05:14.199
He paid for my sins, he removed them. As far

983
01:05:14.199 --> 01:05:16.639
as the east is from the west, his righteousness is

984
01:05:16.679 --> 01:05:20.840
imputed to me. I stand in Him, perfect, whole, complete, forgiven,

985
01:05:21.320 --> 01:05:24.639
guaranteed eternity. That's all I can rest in. I can't

986
01:05:24.639 --> 01:05:27.519
rest in any There's literally nothing else. I can't rest

987
01:05:27.559 --> 01:05:30.360
in how I'm doing physically, I can't rest in how

988
01:05:30.400 --> 01:05:33.480
I'm doing mentally. I can't rest in anything. I can't

989
01:05:33.519 --> 01:05:39.599
rest in and there's nothing I can rest in. I

990
01:05:39.639 --> 01:05:42.880
think we embrace weakness. We don't deny it, we embrace it.

991
01:05:46.599 --> 01:05:52.239
I think we wait and hope, and that waiting and

992
01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:59.000
the ultimate hope, the blessed hope, eternity. And I think

993
01:05:59.000 --> 01:06:03.199
it's perfectly okay. Use whatever means we can find right. Yes,

994
01:06:03.320 --> 01:06:07.000
we use scripture, We even use counseling, we even use

995
01:06:07.119 --> 01:06:19.480
medication when needed. So in conclusion, I know I've gone

996
01:06:19.519 --> 01:06:22.320
over an hour. Now I'm met at myself. There's my perfectionism.

997
01:06:22.440 --> 01:06:24.480
I wanted to do it less than an hour. Slap

998
01:06:24.519 --> 01:06:28.159
myself in the face. What was I thinking? I went

999
01:06:28.199 --> 01:06:30.880
too long? See when I was going through the causes

1000
01:06:30.920 --> 01:06:36.000
of depression and I got to that, you know, unrealistic expectation,

1001
01:06:36.119 --> 01:06:39.119
and I spent fifteen minutes, twenty minutes taking that apart.

1002
01:06:39.320 --> 01:06:42.400
That's see, I didn't plan this right, I didn't organize

1003
01:06:42.400 --> 01:06:45.360
this right. I'm foolish. I'm so then what am I gonna?

1004
01:06:45.360 --> 01:06:47.519
Am I gonna get now discouraged? See? See what I

1005
01:06:47.559 --> 01:06:49.519
can do? What did I should? I? I have had

1006
01:06:49.639 --> 01:06:52.079
expectation that I was going to do it perfectly, all right,

1007
01:06:52.199 --> 01:06:57.679
see I I yeah, but here's the here's the reality. Yeah.

1008
01:06:58.199 --> 01:07:03.440
Do I get depressed and discouraged sometimes feeling like every

1009
01:07:03.440 --> 01:07:05.920
single time I turn on the microphone. I know that

1010
01:07:06.039 --> 01:07:08.960
I am putting myself at odds with almost ninety nine

1011
01:07:08.960 --> 01:07:11.599
percent of Christianity, and that most people aren't going to

1012
01:07:11.679 --> 01:07:13.760
like it. Most people are going to disagree. I'm going

1013
01:07:13.840 --> 01:07:15.880
to get those emails saying I'm never gonna listen to

1014
01:07:15.880 --> 01:07:18.280
you again because you're an idiot and I disagree with

1015
01:07:18.320 --> 01:07:20.280
everything you have to say. Yeah, I'm going to get

1016
01:07:20.320 --> 01:07:22.519
some of those. Yeah, am I gonna have people? If

1017
01:07:22.559 --> 01:07:24.360
I'm gonna see my numbers may go up and then

1018
01:07:24.400 --> 01:07:27.480
the numbers may plummet. Yeah, sometimes that happens. But why

1019
01:07:27.519 --> 01:07:29.719
do I have Why do I even have expectations that

1020
01:07:29.719 --> 01:07:33.440
that's going to happen. I shouldn't have any expectations. Should

1021
01:07:33.519 --> 01:07:37.719
I expect that a podcast that's designed for basically a

1022
01:07:37.880 --> 01:07:41.960
Christian audience that's going to go against most Christians to

1023
01:07:42.159 --> 01:07:46.760
even have any hope of financial support? Give me a break.

1024
01:07:47.119 --> 01:07:50.639
I'm an idiot to think that, right, Come on, you're

1025
01:07:50.760 --> 01:07:56.639
literally going against the very audience that your podcast is

1026
01:07:56.679 --> 01:07:59.679
designed to reach. Right, I'm like, hey, all of you,

1027
01:08:00.559 --> 01:08:03.559
I do a theology podcast. None of you are going

1028
01:08:03.599 --> 01:08:06.400
to agree with it. Hey do you think you want

1029
01:08:06.480 --> 01:08:11.960
to support what I do? That's a that's an unrealistic expectation.

1030
01:08:12.079 --> 01:08:15.519
It's a stupid expectation. So do I. I don't look.

1031
01:08:15.559 --> 01:08:18.079
I can't look to numbers, I can't look to emails.

1032
01:08:18.399 --> 01:08:23.199
I definitely can't look to financial support. What I can

1033
01:08:23.399 --> 01:08:30.159
do is, say, man, four thousand episodes, I'm in the

1034
01:08:30.199 --> 01:08:34.359
top zero point zero one percent of all podcasts in

1035
01:08:34.399 --> 01:08:39.199
the world based on just the sheer volume of content

1036
01:08:39.680 --> 01:08:44.239
I have produced. And if you take that's basically almost

1037
01:08:44.279 --> 01:08:51.319
four thousand hours of content four thousand hours? How long

1038
01:08:51.359 --> 01:08:54.640
would it take someone to listen to four thousand hours

1039
01:08:55.199 --> 01:08:59.920
of my content? I put out more content than churches

1040
01:09:00.079 --> 01:09:03.800
with an entire ministerial staff. I put out more content

1041
01:09:03.840 --> 01:09:08.199
than than multiple churches that have multiple they have multiple

1042
01:09:08.199 --> 01:09:12.000
people on their staff, they have pastors and associate pastors

1043
01:09:12.039 --> 01:09:14.600
and Sunday school teachers. I put out more than, in

1044
01:09:14.640 --> 01:09:19.000
many cases, multiple churches in this podcast coming from an

1045
01:09:19.039 --> 01:09:22.439
empty room in the middle of nowhere, Texas. So I

1046
01:09:22.479 --> 01:09:26.159
can say, Hey, that's that's pretty good. Oh is all

1047
01:09:26.199 --> 01:09:28.880
the content good? Come on? Obviously not it? Some of

1048
01:09:28.920 --> 01:09:36.279
its trash? Have you heard recent broadcast? Do I have

1049
01:09:36.319 --> 01:09:39.239
all the answers? Absolutely not? Am I a sinner? Oh?

1050
01:09:39.319 --> 01:09:44.720
You have no idea? Am I a failure? Oh? Yeah?

1051
01:09:44.840 --> 01:09:48.520
Have I failed absolutely to have my ideas of how

1052
01:09:48.600 --> 01:09:52.399
things should go work? No? Completely failed? Do I have

1053
01:09:52.560 --> 01:09:56.279
difficult circumstances to work through? Yeah? Yeah, I mean we

1054
01:09:56.840 --> 01:09:59.520
know that. You know the church for all practical per

1055
01:09:59.520 --> 01:10:01.239
which is what for the building to sell, and then

1056
01:10:01.279 --> 01:10:05.319
it's over. Right, then it's over. My crazy idea of

1057
01:10:05.359 --> 01:10:09.279
how to do things failed. I failed, I made mistakes.

1058
01:10:09.359 --> 01:10:13.199
I was a failure. Yeah. Is that discouraging? Yeah? Yeah,

1059
01:10:13.239 --> 01:10:15.680
that's Is that going to lead to all kinds of

1060
01:10:15.720 --> 01:10:18.600
financial questions? Yeah? Absolutely. I don't know how all that's

1061
01:10:18.640 --> 01:10:20.880
going to ultimately play out. Could play out, great, it

1062
01:10:20.920 --> 01:10:23.920
could play out. It could play out perfectly if it

1063
01:10:23.960 --> 01:10:26.359
goes the way we had planned. But see see do

1064
01:10:26.399 --> 01:10:31.319
I have unrealistic expectations? Yeah? Do I get frustrated listening

1065
01:10:31.359 --> 01:10:33.520
to you know, every time I listened to a sermon

1066
01:10:33.560 --> 01:10:35.960
on Isaiah forty through fifty five, I'm like, what in

1067
01:10:36.000 --> 01:10:39.800
the world can nobody handle this correctly? But you know what,

1068
01:10:40.439 --> 01:10:44.960
maybe I shouldn't see it as discouragement. You know what

1069
01:10:45.000 --> 01:10:48.800
I should see it, Well, that's great, I'm going to

1070
01:10:48.840 --> 01:10:51.479
have a unique take that nobody else does. That at

1071
01:10:51.560 --> 01:10:54.479
least should give me some reason why I broadcast, Right,

1072
01:10:56.279 --> 01:10:59.159
I broadcast because nobody else is going to cover Isaiah

1073
01:10:59.159 --> 01:11:02.600
forty through fifty five the way I did yesterday Galatians

1074
01:11:02.640 --> 01:11:05.760
five sixteen. Yeah, did I present all of that now,

1075
01:11:06.239 --> 01:11:08.359
it was a mess. The way I put that all together,

1076
01:11:08.359 --> 01:11:11.079
it was trash. What I tried to do with Galatians

1077
01:11:11.079 --> 01:11:14.520
two twenty. What I was trying to do still put me.

1078
01:11:14.760 --> 01:11:17.640
It was still unique. Nobody's going to hear that approach.

1079
01:11:19.960 --> 01:11:22.880
So instead of getting discouraged or frustrated when I hear

1080
01:11:22.920 --> 01:11:26.479
the other approaches, maybe I'm like, well, that's good because

1081
01:11:26.520 --> 01:11:30.239
now I have a reason to exist. Right now, it's

1082
01:11:30.239 --> 01:11:31.920
going to put me at odds with everyone else, but

1083
01:11:32.039 --> 01:11:36.720
have a reason to exist. Now Does that fix all

1084
01:11:36.720 --> 01:11:41.439
of my problems in my life? Absolutely? Not not life like,

1085
01:11:41.880 --> 01:11:44.880
there's always a life. But behind anyone you listen to,

1086
01:11:45.199 --> 01:11:47.520
whether you're looking at a person standing behind a pulpit

1087
01:11:47.640 --> 01:11:50.000
or listening to someone on a podcast, there's a life

1088
01:11:50.039 --> 01:11:53.319
going on behind that microphone that you have no clue about,

1089
01:11:53.399 --> 01:11:59.840
no understanding about. So there's always going to be issues.

1090
01:12:00.000 --> 01:12:01.600
I don't know what's going to happen in the next

1091
01:12:01.640 --> 01:12:03.560
five minutes. I don't know what's going to happen in

1092
01:12:03.560 --> 01:12:05.680
the next twenty minutes. I don't know what's gonna happen

1093
01:12:05.720 --> 01:12:08.239
in the next forty five minutes. I do know one point,

1094
01:12:08.239 --> 01:12:14.520
I'll die. That's all I do know. Now? Did that

1095
01:12:14.640 --> 01:12:17.399
help anybody? I don't know. Did it help myself? Oh?

1096
01:12:17.479 --> 01:12:18.920
I feel a little bit better. And I think the

1097
01:12:18.960 --> 01:12:22.720
main thing I need is stop having any expectations. Maybe

1098
01:12:22.720 --> 01:12:30.359
that's the big thing I needed to hear. All Right,

1099
01:12:31.079 --> 01:12:34.359
that concludes the counseling session. I will be charging you

1100
01:12:34.399 --> 01:12:36.760
seventy five dollars. It went over an hour. I think

1101
01:12:36.760 --> 01:12:38.399
I should be I think you just get charged two

1102
01:12:38.479 --> 01:12:40.439
hundred dollars, one hundred dollars an hour. I think you

1103
01:12:40.520 --> 01:12:42.159
just get charged two hundred. You say you didn't go

1104
01:12:42.159 --> 01:12:44.159
two full hours, Yeah, but we went into the second hour.

1105
01:12:44.399 --> 01:12:46.000
I think you just I think you should pay me

1106
01:12:46.039 --> 01:12:48.359
two hundred dollars. I know where you're saying, no, no, no, no, no,

1107
01:12:48.479 --> 01:12:50.479
you owe me two hundred dollars. I was the one

1108
01:12:50.520 --> 01:12:53.199
sitting in the chair. You were on the couch, ranting

1109
01:12:53.239 --> 01:12:56.039
and raving like a mad lunatic. I've already called them

1110
01:12:56.039 --> 01:12:59.439
to take you to the psychological hospital, to the psych

1111
01:12:59.560 --> 01:13:03.520
unit because you need to be admitted. Okay, well that's harsh,

1112
01:13:03.600 --> 01:13:06.560
and it was kind of harsh that AI is like, basically,

1113
01:13:06.600 --> 01:13:08.680
you're going to end up in a pit of despair

1114
01:13:08.880 --> 01:13:10.920
and you're going to want to die. I'm like, well,

1115
01:13:10.960 --> 01:13:14.439
thank you, AI. I don't think it's that bad, but

1116
01:13:14.479 --> 01:13:17.399
there you have it. I've now discussed it. I've now

1117
01:13:17.439 --> 01:13:21.760
talked about it. I now express some of my frustration

1118
01:13:21.880 --> 01:13:25.359
and irritation and explain why the podcast itself really is

1119
01:13:25.399 --> 01:13:27.600
kind of designed to bring me to that point at times.

1120
01:13:28.079 --> 01:13:32.239
It's done. Now hopefully we can move on. So thank

1121
01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:35.199
you for those who emailed. Oh, I think there was

1122
01:13:35.239 --> 01:13:37.359
two emails. I think there was two. I think there

1123
01:13:37.399 --> 01:13:40.119
was two, so thank you very much. I think there

1124
01:13:40.159 --> 01:13:44.880
was two. I can't remember, so thank you so very much,

1125
01:13:45.880 --> 01:13:49.800
and I appreciate it. And to those who normally give,

1126
01:13:50.279 --> 01:13:52.359
thank you so very much. Right because it is the

1127
01:13:52.399 --> 01:13:54.880
beginning of April, so the normal people who give have

1128
01:13:55.199 --> 01:13:57.520
I think already given, so thank you so very much.

1129
01:13:57.600 --> 01:14:00.520
I don't ever, I don't want anyone to think I

1130
01:14:00.520 --> 01:14:02.920
don't see that or appreciate that. I don't email. Ever.

1131
01:14:03.119 --> 01:14:05.720
When I get the PayPal notification that money's been put

1132
01:14:05.720 --> 01:14:08.119
into the church account, I don't sit there and go, oh,

1133
01:14:08.439 --> 01:14:11.199
email this person. Even maybe I should, but I don't

1134
01:14:11.199 --> 01:14:12.680
have it set up like an automated well, I'm not

1135
01:14:12.720 --> 01:14:14.960
going to do an automated email, because then that's not real.

1136
01:14:15.640 --> 01:14:18.199
So but yeah, thank you very much for that. I

1137
01:14:18.239 --> 01:14:26.119
greatly appreciate it. And there we go. Have a great day.

1138
01:14:27.760 --> 01:14:33.159
I don't know if I will, but I'm one step closer. Maybe. No,

1139
01:14:33.239 --> 01:14:34.359
I'm never going to have a great day. Am I

1140
01:14:34.399 --> 01:14:36.159
ever going to have a great day? You know what,

1141
01:14:36.399 --> 01:14:39.000
don't have any expectation. I'm just going to have a day.

1142
01:14:39.920 --> 01:14:41.680
And I can't even really expect to have a day

1143
01:14:41.720 --> 01:14:45.159
because I may be dead before the day is over right,

1144
01:14:45.560 --> 01:14:52.000
no expectation, no expectation, no expectation. Thanks for listening. God

1145
01:14:52.000 --> 01:14:52.319
bless