welcome to expanding your faith
a podcast hosted by Bishop Breier Godsey
The Old Catholic Churches International
expanding your faith
brings together a panel of well educated
clergy and laity
to discuss modern events with a biblical perspective
our podcast is about to start please stay tuned
good evening
everyone and welcome to expanding your faith
I'm Bishop Greer
and joining me tonight is Reverend Mark
greetings everybody and Bishop Ben
greetings to everybody too
so we took a little bit of a long break
haha
instead of a one month break
it ended up being a two month break
because we had to deal with Hurricane Helene
I thought it was
cause Bishop Ben was on an extended vacation
well he did go to Vegas for a while
but I mean
we would have gone on without him
even if he was in Vegas but um
no Hurricane Helene kind of came through our area
and kind of devastated the area
and so we've been working to
get back to some semblance of normality
in the area
and actually the topic for tonight's podcast
in the start of our season 10
is actually inspired by Hurricane Helene
uh River Mark and I were talking one night as we
uh sat uh
smoking cigars in
um at his house because he had power and we didn't
and this was kind of
one of those ideas that came out of that
that is are we actually suffering
or are we just inconvenienced
because we went through a period
I think Rivermark had power out for like six days
and we had power out for eight days
and then I spoke with somebody at the church today
who had no power for 11 days
and so I mean
um
were we really suffering
or were we just inconvenienced by these things
uh so that's what we're gonna talk about tonight
um
since you came up with the idea hahaha
yeah well start you off
I think a lot of times
we
we read a lot about suffering in scripture
we read a lot about suffering around the world
and then we go through situations where
like with our Hurricane you know no one expected
the level of devastation that Augusta right
and the surrounding communities experienced
that evening or that aft
that night
and you know I woke up
right when the power went out that morning
at about 4:00 and was laying in bed and just
I'll never forget the sound right
it was insane just the amount of wind and of course
it had been raining
and um
you wake up the next morning there's no power
wake up the next morning and you know
chunks of my roof are in the yard
shingles that is and you know I don't
you don't know what to do and right
it's like how do you get a hold of people
and so you know
there was a lot of stuff going on and
you know
you feel the pressure of having to adapt and to
to change and
to adjust and
you know how do I go about my normal life
because there is no normality there
because everything is disrupted
we don't have electricity
we can't get out trees are down and
you know food spoils because it's out for so many days
the electricity that is and
you know it's an aggravation
it is you have moments where you're
that that routine is disrupted right
and I became frustrated because
you don't know what's going on beyond
beyond your little neighborhood you're in
and you start asking you know
is my sister okay is my parents okay
or are my congregates okay or my friends okay
and you know
and then you stop step back and you're like oh
thank god I'm okay
and then you start hearing the reports
uh there was what
last count I read was 32 dead right
and the majority
maybe all but three or four of those people
died from trees crashing through their homes
and killing them
and things kind of start getting into perspective
and you see a lot of people jumping on Facebook and
you know
they're complaining about this or talking about that
and you know our
I think we're so blessed in America
that even when we have tragedies like this now
stuff that happened in North Carolina is
you know
definitely beyond comprehension where entire towns are
just wiped off the map because of flooding
yeah that's a little different
I'm talking about us here locally
you know we
we we're more
you realize you're more inconvenienced to things
because while yes
I didn't have gas
uh in abundance for days
no electricity you know
I was still able to function
I had food I could eat I had things I could
could uh consume
I could communicate with people right
um
you know yeah
I was wearing you know
I was having to charge my phone in the car
and run my gas out but
um you know
eventually I was able to get gas and uh
you know
fortunately I was off from work for six days
and then the church was without power
so that we couldn't hold services right
so it didn't have to be anywhere
you know but you're concerned for everybody else
and
it really puts into perspective of how blessed we are
to be able to recover so quickly
at least the majority of us
there's many people are still displaced
because their homes were either devastated or
you know a tree landed and it split into right
and um
at no point did I go hungry
but there's places all around the world
that can't say that right
there's people around the world
from natural devastations that
you know have been years trying to recover right
and you know
within less than a month we were back to a routine
for the majority of us many people again
still dealing with things but
are we are we blessed
are we inconvenienced or are we suffering
and you know
I think each of us has to ask that question
right and each of us has to answer it
I think so many people were kind of um
they kind of thought maybe
they were living the life of job for a little while
there right
they're ready to sit on the
in their yard and scrape their wounds and
and you know
cry for help you know
but uh
in reality you know
we fared a lot better than
you know many of the places around us like Asheville
North Carolina
some of the cities up there
where they may never find all the people
that were affected just simply because of the
you know complete devastation of the of the city
and you know
but so many people too
and I noticed this on social media off and on as
you know lunar and I are trying to get out to people
accurate information
about what resources were available
where curfews were um
what the curfews were
uh alternative sheltering
and things of that nature out to people
the one thing that you know
struck me over and over and over again was
uh how
you know being without power for a lot of people
uh and I'm not talking people with medical necessities
and things but just
you know people
that are in good health and everything
being without power was like
the end of the world for them and
you know God help them
the internet was down
right
you know uh
forget that
we had just gone through a Category 1 Hurricane
hitting Augusta Georgia
I mean which as far as I'm aware
has never happened in the history of Augusta Georgia
yeah um
and so forget that for a minute
the biggest problem was
I don't have electricity and I don't have internet
and so uh
you know it was very interesting to me to see that
that was considered suffering
you know that
you know I'm being
I'm being inconvenienced
to the point that it's now suffering and persecution
you know
and I'm thinking you know
we lived as a as humanity for years without electricity
we live for centuries without internet
I mean running water
running water yeah
I mean you had to go to the well
in the middle of the city to get
to get water
and here
we had semi trucks bringing in bottles of water for us
right we didn't have to go to wells right
and I even thought about it
as I jumped in the very cold shower
yeah
uh cause
I end up taking a shower before
Mark's power came back on
before ours came back on
and um
yes it was ice cold
and it certainly gave me a good little start
and it made my arthritis flare up
but I didn't have to go out
and bring a bucket full of water
to fill up a tub
yeah it was pumped right into my home
where I can freeze my butt off in the
my shower without prying eyes
buckets of water right
right so
I mean um
all things told we're very blessed
right you know
um
and I think the moment that it really hit for me
that concept is we're sitting out
Luna and I created a fire pit in the front yard
with the idea that some of the neighbors could come
and gather around if they wanted to
and that kind of thing none of them did
they preferred to sit inside their dark homes
and bitch and moan about the darkness so
um hot dark home
the hot darkness yes
and we uh
we sat out in front of the fire
and Luna decided she wanted a bag of popcorn
well all we had in the house was microwave popcorn
so what did she do she went and got a pan
and that bag of microwave popcorn
and put it in the pan and put it over the fire
there you go and sat there and pop
now half of it burned in the bag
but I mean
but it was popcorn you know
and
you know we were able to heat things up over the fire
we were able to cook things out on the grill
in the back and stuff like that
so we fared pretty well
and most people around us did too
you know nobody went without food
nobody went without um
you know at least the majority of their necessities met
um but there were people who lost their homes
lost everything they had
a dear friend of ours Sid Gates
Doctor Sid Gates
um
he lost his home
you know in the midst of all of this
um so
I mean uh
but even in that it's really an inconvenience because
you know nowadays we have insurance
we have the ability to rebuild or buy new
you know um
it's not the sorrow and
and tribulations that many people made it out to be
because you know
you you step back and you begin to look at
you know I could have went days
even probably a couple weeks and been able to eat
uh it may not have been exactly what I wanted to eat
but I had the you know
I had enough stuff in my my cupboard there to um
your pantry to uh
to get what I needed right
and um
I had bought some stuff before the Hurricane
not thinking
you know it was just a day for me to go buy some stuff
I wasn't thinking that we'd have what we had
and we've had tropical storms come through
we lose power for a few hours and then we're fine
but you know
this was a whole lot different and
you know true suffering comes when
you know you
you lose everything and there's no hope
or there's no ability for you to be able to
to rebuild or right
you know you're complete
you know there's people that are completely displaced
uh in various countries
I mean up in Asheville
North Carolina
you've got people that used to live in neighborhoods
and
and they're camped out in tents now
and that is their neighborhood
all right I can't
you know I can't fathom that I
you know um
and when I realize that you know
I'm just being inconvenienced
I step back and I go you know
I'm a blessed person you know
I live in a country that uh
for all its faults there are some things that it gets
right now I'm not
you know and we
we were able to have the National Guard come out
and be able to assist us and
in different organizations and responses
and I'm not under the delusion that
all of Augusta was in the same boat that I was in
there's many people that didn't have access to
to food and had very limited supply
you know they have their kids and family members
we have people in our church that had to go to
to emergency shelters because they had generators
and they had to take their family members
who were on oxygen right
so that that
you know but they were blessed enough to be able
to go somewhere right
and we really need to to remember that yeah
it's it's hard
it's difficult but at the end of the day
we're breathing end of the day
we can go to sleep and wake up the next day
and continue to do better right
uh we can
you know we
I didn't go hungry you know I
I cut back on how much I did eat
only I had a sandwich in the morning
and then something in the afternoon
Bishop brought pizza to me once and then uh
I think a hamburger or hot dog or something like that
uh from the y'all school they
they were giving out food
and
you know and
you know what I enjoyed the most about all
all of it was just the
the being able
I cherish the time that we were able to just sit there
and talk to each other you know
there were no distractions
we had to be careful how much we were on our phones
right because battery was precious
battery life was precious and
um you know
we had to be fortunately
we don't live too far from each other so right
um but at the same time we
you we
I realized that it could have been worse
true and it
I had I had many things to be thankful for
and I was I was inconvenienced
you know I'm not
I'm not going to put myself in the Saint Francis
category or the or the Gandhi categories or the
the other
people that have gone into the world to try to
right injustices and have lost their lives right
you know that's true suffering
you know and while their reward I believe in the
in the next life is wonderful uh
sure they suffer in this life here
so we it really
it really slowed me down to realize
life is too fast for us here
right we overlook too much and realize
and not realize how blessed we are
and we need to pause and be more thankful on a
on a continual basis indeed
Mister Ben you have any thoughts
no you actually covered it well
but you know I was going to say to people that are
that are non clergy or non understanding of things
how would a lay person discern
suffering versus merely inconvenience
you know I think that's a good question
I think that um
this is kind of the way I look at it okay
if you don't have roving gangs of people
pulling you out of your home and stealing your stuff
uh if you don't have people coming and saying
denounce your faith or you're getting shot
you're not being exiled to a foreign country
because what you say or do is
found to be offensive by your government right
then it's likely just inconvenience
you know correct
because
and I think that's a good point to make it Bishop Ben
is that
we as Americans don't really know suffering
I mean there are some people who do
there are some people who go to bed hungry every night
there are some people
who don't have a roof over their head
don't know where their next meal is coming from
are constantly being you know
thrown from one city to another or
you know that kind of thing
but most
Americans
don't really understand the concept of suffering
you know because in the reality
most everything that we deal with in our daily lives
is not suffering it's just inconvenience
um now
I mean I know people who have cancer and are dying
that's suffering
I know people who
have had Covid and died that's suffering
um there are women
like in Texas who died
because they weren't given proper medical care
after Roe v Wade was overturned
um that's suffering
but the reality is that
most of what we go through in America
is not true suffering
the internet being down for
you know five or six days
that's not suffering
the power being out for eight
or 10 or 12 days is not suffering
um
even not being able to drive around town
because trees are blocking the road
that's not suffering
you know
especially if you have food and water
and everything at the house
you really don't need to be out anyway
but
there were people who were spending their whole days
part of the gas station
just waiting for gas
for the power to come on so they could get gas
I was watching people post on
cause several areas had curfews right
edgfield being one of them
and I was flipping through some page somewhere
Facebook page somewhere where people were commenting
you're not gonna tell me to stay home
you're not gonna tell me
and the reason they were telling us to stay home was
cause there were power lines in the road
there were trees in the road
emergency vehicles and electric companies
the National Guard they were all trying to clear that
and get that out of the way
so that we could resume normality
well we lost a lot of people in Augusta
not a lot lot
but I mean several people in Augusta who got run over
because they were walking down a dark street
in dark clothes
and somebody trying to find gas or get to a store
run them over yeah
cause we had no street lights
there were no street lights
you know you could barely see
uh we had several people die
from running into trees that were blocking the road
cause they couldn't see them
you know but by God
they were gonna be out they were gonna be out
you know and bless them
I hope it was worth every minute of it
but I mean well
we're so accustomed in our country
to just doing everything we want right
and we think that the minute somebody says hey
you know best not be on the road right now
we think they're trying to infringe on rights
and stuff like that it's like folks
this is an emergency situation
right where there are literally trees in the road right
there are blockages in the road
you can't get around I mean
trees were just laying all over roads
right and
you know where do you have to be if you're not a
an essential worker you have you
you should stay home until we can get back out
and thankfully within days
we were able to yes
but people were online
acting like their rights were being just ripped away
by some Nazi
and it's like folks
we're just trying to clear paths
right and I got
I get it you know
uh the electric
the electrical companies
the people that came in from out of state to work
they were working around the clock
they had shifts working around the clock
and most of our lines had to be completely run fresh
and new telephone poles had to be taken down
because they were ripped into
and brand new ones put in
I mean it was a major undertaking
yes it was
and you got people that didn't need to be anywhere
were all ticked off
because they couldn't just go at will where they wanted
that's not suffering
yeah no
and it reminds me of you know
in the early days of Covid
you know we had the mask mandates
we had the curfews we had the
you know social distancing
even the shutdowns and stay at home orders
and people were throwing a fit
you know I'm
the government's not going to tell me I can't go out
well most of those died from Covid
so I mean
that
I guess they kind of Learned their lesson ultimately
but you know
it was the same concept you know
they felt it
being forced to stay home was somehow oppressive
and was a form of suffering
it wasn't
you had food you had water
you had electricity you had internet
you had the people that you either loved
or didn't love around you
oh dang
well if you didn't love them
that might have been a little bit of suffering but
the point is that you know
that this was just an inconvenience
it was not true suffering
and yet people made it out
as though that was the end of the world
you know and so
but what we were trying to do during the pandemic
was to try to
save as many people from getting the disease
as humanly possible
because we had no clue what it would do long term
right you know
today we look back on it four years on now
and we know that
the more times you get Covid
the more likely you are to get long Covid
which ultimately is deadly
you end up dying from it eventually
it's not a pretty sight
and if people had stayed in instead of
you know being bull headed
they wouldn't be suffering from the issues
they're suffering from now
but unfortunately
again people thought that was a bridge too far
that it was suffering
and it was causing them persecution
especially when the churches had to close down
oh you would have thought that Hitler
himself had walked through the city
and declared that all the churches must shut down
well I'm
you know my statement about
you know we're so free in America to do what we want
that's not a negative that's a
it's just we're accustomed so much to
you know we're the land of the free right
and the minute minute
we have to pull back and say okay
we need to scale back a minute
it's the same principle as
you know when you break your leg or break a foot
or something like that and
you know
you want to go running or you want to go walking
or you want to go you know
do what you normally do
but instead you have to keep the leg in a boot or
or the foot in the boot that is
keep the leg up or put it in a cast whatever
and so you have to spend time
letting that heal is the same type of principle
except this is on a mass scale
no one's trying to rip your rights away and no one's
you know now
now if they had persisted into
they were still doing curfews now right
then that's we're talking a different story right
but having curfews for a few days or a week
just so that 1 people are on the road
emergency
people are available to the folks doing emergency work
right versus people that don't need to be out
that are just derping around
riding around causing accidents right
so you know
it's just common sense to me
but so many people think that
you know this is just a power grab
a power grabs when they start passing laws and start
you know infringing and it becomes a long term thing
right I mean
sure then we can talk
but we're so used to
in our country being free to do whatever we want
that the minute someone says no
you can't it's like a second
you know it's like there's a
I don't know a
something that rises up in us and we're like
we'll show you right
Boston Tea Party moment all over again
oh yeah
yeah and
you know that true it
it
it's not a situation where we have to step back and go
you know
you know the lord's trying to
trying to test me or trying to what
we were just inconvenienced and we
it should be a wake up call for us to 1
remember how quickly life can change right
and how quickly things can happen
and that we need to be grateful for what we do have
and the blessings that we have
as you said that uh
comedian Ron White came to mind and he said
you know he got pulled over by a cop one time
he was drunk and driving correct
got pulled over by a cop
and the cop goes to put him in cuffs and he says
Mr White you have the right to remain silent
Ron White says
I might have had the right to remain silent
but I did not have the ability
I think that's
that sums up kind of the American view on things
you know
uh we may have the right
but we definitely don't have the ability sometimes well
or the ability to just apply
what's that book common sense right
that probably nobody reads anymore right
um
you know
I just
yeah
common sense isn't so common anymore sadly
that's correct you know
people have long abandoned it
um
I like using the example of job
when it comes to suffering
because Job Job was a man who understood suffering okay
if you need a real explanation of suffering
read the story of job or some people call him job
it was not written about Steve Jobs
it was written about job but anyway um
Joe don't you go to
don't you go to the book of job to
to find a find a job
find a job here you go
uh it's just like
Adam and Eve are the first ones to not read the apple
terms and conditions so anyway
uh
we uh
I mean job lost everything
he lost all of his crops
he lost all of his animals that he was
you know taking care of
he lost his children
his wife ultimately walked out on him
he lost his health
he ended up with sores and boils all over his body
his own friends were telling him to curse god and die
you know
there's a guy who understands suffering
right okay
when you have to sit on the side of the road
in front of what was left of your house
and scrape your wounds with pottery
that's suffering
but even in that suffering
what did job do he refused to curse God and die right
yeah he got angry
he got frustrated he had a long dissertation about
why is this happening to me
why are you picking on me
but he never let it destroy his faith
he never let it cause him to waver
and yet we have so many people today that
when they are slightly inconvenienced
they suddenly their faith goes out the window
yeah
you know they begin whining oh
why is this happening to me
oh God must be punishing me
no God's not punishing you
this is just a mere inconvenience
right you know um
I mean we're talking about the God of the universe
who could snap his fingers
and you just don't exist anymore
I mean if he really wanted to punish someone
he could punish someone
I don't believe that God stoops to the level of these
petty tit for tat exchanges
where oh
well you sinned
so I'm going to make your car blow up today
and not work anymore you know
I just don't think that's how God works
one of the greatest gifts that god gives us
is the gift of our life to
to function and to do things the way we want to
to make the decisions right
many people will step back
and this may be a little controversial haha
you know oh
God's in control God's in control
you know if God wants to make it happen
it'll just happen no no
god gives us
the opportunities to make the right choices
god gives us the opportunities to do the right things
to other people god gives us the opportunity to be
that Grace
that extends to people that don't deserve it
and God gives us
do I believe in supernatural intervention
I do I believe that God can step in and do things
supernaturally beyond humans ability right
but I also believe that god works through individuals
to make things happen you know
that's why the disciples were sent out into the world
instead of Jesus ascending to some world platform
right to declare the message of the Kingdom
um Jesus worked through the 12 through the
you know the other disciples that followed Jesus the
and then those that went out from Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost you know
they were all sent out sent out for god to work through
right and
we're given the opportunity to make
decisions in our lives
based on the leading of the spirit
based on what we've Learned
based on what we know to be Grace and truth
to make the choices that lead us to life and godliness
what what a Deuteronomy uh
uh
what is it G uh
Moses was uh
right the
the writing of Deuteronomy
Lord help me Jesus yeah
I've talked too much today right
it says I've placed before you life and death
blessing and cursing
uh choose life
and you know
that's what we should choose each and every time
each and every day each and every minute
I choose life over things that degrade other people
that degrade other people
that put other people down and so on
so forth that cause division
that cause people to be hurt and wounded
and that's you know
part of choosing life is choosing words correctly
uh Proverbs 8:00
eighteen's are Proverbs
Chapter 18 tells us that
life and death is in the power of the tongue
right and um
so we should be very watchful at just thinking that
whatever happens is
oh well
that's God's will you know
well how do you explain
you know random weather patterns it
it's that it's it's the earth
you know things happen
it rains on the just and the unjust you
you mean it
there wasn't some machine that made the Hurricane
come our direction Lord have mercy
this is not the 24th century and this is not Star Trek
right we don't have the weather control devices yet
yeah the weather uh
modification that as they called it in the
in Star Trek no
we don't have that but um
uh I
I wish we did that would be wonderful right
right but um
you know I
it it
we are called to go out and make change in the world
we're called to to set a watch on our mouth right
we're called to guard our hearts
we're called to uh
keep our minds state on truth and Grace and justice
uh
you're not called to make sure that I do those things
and I'm not called to make sure you do those things
we do it for ourselves
and I know that's controversial theology
and some people don't like that
because it puts the responsibility on us
and it takes it off of God right
and we're just not out here flapping in the wind
but I truly believe that we have a responsibility
to carry that message
that Jesus taught us to the earth
how else is it gonna happen
God's not buying billboards
and putting the message up on the billboards by
you know the agent Holy Spirit right right
we have to do that and we have
we have to make sure that our life reflects that of
of the kingdom right
the rabbit is
is upset that she's not getting enough attention
I think I don't know if the rabbit was saying amen or
I don't know what she's doing me right
uh as you may have been able to tell
we've relocated our studio
and so we're now near the rabbit
and so uh
is Miss Dana giving us homework
yeah this is our homework for the night
no I uh
I made some notes um
some possible future podcast and so I was uh
I had her grab them for me
so I could try to pick out what our next podcast
I don't know if she wrote notes saying
I don't know what y'all are talking about
but this is better here right right
say these things I tell you what
the retreat this morning at MCC was probably better
it was that oh no
this is good it was uh
Reverend Martin did a great job or whatever Dana says
that's good too and we're actually going to talk about
some of the things that he covered today
in the retreat on an upcoming episode
closer to Thanksgiving
in which we're going to talk about
uh where is it
uh what did I write down
well it's gonna be essentially things that truly matter
but
uh that's not what I had uh
and then I had one um
that I thought was very funny um
let's see
yeah things that truly matter
and then uh
I have one that I thought was really funny
we're gonna do one called sweet baby Jesus
sweet baby Jesus Christ childhood hahaha
where did you get that out of today
I don't know I just
God knows what I was saying
he just you
you mentioned Christmas and oh okay
and my mind started moving
I mentioned Christmas no way
never never never yeah
and so I uh
that came to mind but yeah
that was that Class
Today was loosely based on a book by Joshua Becker
it's it's not a
it's not a quote unquote religious book
but right
and it does you can tell some threads in it
um
and another idea was a religion of cats
that's gonna be interesting
the religion of cats the religion of cats okay
uh and then we'll have an episode at some point
stump the pastors
stump the pastor
you all have to bring in questions to try to stump us
oh wow
we should do that once a quarter
at my first I haven't done it at MCC
first quarter at my first pastor at
we do I called it ask the pastor
usually it would be a midweek service and
but I always said okay
you can ask me anything you want
but I have the right to say I don't know right
absolutely
absolutely why don't we do a podcast called Ask Francis
ask Francis
those that can't see
Francis is up here on the back of my chair
perch like a parrot on the back
Francis is making sure we say all the right things
right he's the one feeding me all the good lines
he'll be judging us later right right right
so I think uh
next week
we're gonna talk about living in a chaotic world
that's a good one uh
it's gonna be post election
and I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of people who are
sad or upset
one side or the other
and who think that the world is coming to an end
and so um
how do we live in that chaos that's been created by
you know
the pitting of each other against each other over yeah
elections and everything else
and how do we get through that
and to somewhere that's a little bit better of a spot
so next week that'll be our topic
living in a chaotic world
uh any final thoughts Reverend Mark
I I just think that um
and I will dive harder into that as we
as you alluded to but I think we
we should step back and realize that moments that we
you know don't have our routines or conveniences
should be wake up calls for us
to remember that we are blessed people right
and that since we are a blessed people
we should be able to reach out
to bless others to be thankful and grateful
to live with a thankful heart
and to if we have it in our ability and our power
to minister to somebody
or open up and make something happen for somebody else
we should do that we should take that opportunity
it was the small things you know
I remember that pizza y'all brought me that
that was the best pizza that I think I've ever eaten
that you know
now was it
you know like I said
it wasn't made in Italy
it wasn't made by an official Italian cook
but it was just
I was so thankful and grateful for the fellowship
and for the get together for the food cause
you know peanut butter and jelly sandwich
after a few days in a row
is just a little much and
and so you know
you step back and
it's the little things in life that we should
be eternally grateful for
and I think moments like that
in our lives should make us appreciate when we succeed
when we move forward and
you know I remember the days when I was
you know I had success as a pastor for a while
and then when I stepped out of my first pastor
I lost so much income right
stepping out of that that
you know I had to sell my truck
I had to fix up this old beater car that I had
I had to I mean
I lived my credit card stayed maxed out over time
I pay off the credit card
and then get a little bit of credit left
that's what I would buy my groceries on
and then it would max out again
and so now I I
I step back and realize how blessed I am
and remind myself on the regular
you know live
live thankful for God's Grace and God's mercy
and share that with others
absolutely
Bishop Ben your final thoughts
well you know
Reverend Mark pretty much covered it really well
you know the only thing I gotta say is
you know people that are in this world today
we are all in it together
in a world that seems like it's upside down right now
I get
my best advice would be be courteous to each other
treat each other like human beings
show love and compassion
absolutely
and my final thought is this
even in the inconvenient times
don't let it shake your faith
stand firm
uh as Paul says in Scripture
when you've done all you can to stand
stand
I think that's a very wise advice
um
because I think
it's so easy for us to be bogged down by
even the inconveniences
to let ourselves end up uh
just letting that overwhelm us
rob our joy
and so um
just keep on keeping on
through thick and thin my friends
like I said next week
we'll be talking about living in a chaotic world
I want to thank Reverend Mark
and Bishop Ben for joining me tonight
it was wonderful to be here
thanks for hosting us yes
and for Francis keeping us in line
yeah Francis keeping us in line
thank you for having us and for Miss Dana
bringing us better things to talk about right right
she needs to be off every Saturday night
um so that's right
uh so until next week
when we once again attempt to expand your faith
keep shining bright my friends
thank you for joining us for this episode of
Expanding Your Faith
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keep shining bright