record_id: 30ff8b3e-f83d-819b-8909-f916858c7c95
created_time: 2026-02-22T19:12:00.000Z
title: 02-22 Worship Service: Daniel 1 Teaching, Wise Resistance, and Community Logistics
source_url: /

[TRANSCRIPTION]
Speaker 1 00:00:36
Amen.
Speaker 1 00:01:53
I'm grateful all my life, blessings day and night. Countless reasons why I'll praise you everywhere. Every promise, every step, every tear. Each and every prayer I'll praise you.
Speaker 1 00:02:30
I'll praise you with every breath. I'll praise you with every breath.
Speaker 1 00:04:04
And Jacob's, whose love endures to generations. I know that you will keep your covenant. I'm calling on the God who rose.
Speaker 1 00:04:37
I need You now to do the same thing for me. Oh God, my God, I need You. Oh God, my God, I need You now. How I need You.
Speaker 1 00:05:12
I'm standing on your faithfulness. On your faithfulness. I'm calling on.
Speaker 1 00:05:47
Savior, rest upon the weak. Jesus, with you I'll meet the cross and all. I'm talking of the God we live in. You made us shepherds on. 
Speaker 1 00:06:18
I need you now.
Speaker 1 00:07:00
You heard our children, then You hear your children. Now, You are the same God. You are the same God You answered prayers back then.
Speaker 1 00:07:32
You are the same God. You are the same God. You were providing then. You are providing now. You are the same. 
Speaker 1 00:08:11
I need you. Oh God, I need you now. I need you now. Oh God, oh God, the angels are standing on the pavement.
Speaker 1 00:08:55
Calling on the name of Jesus, whose blood and sacrifice has freed us. The name above all names, souls.
Speaker 1 00:09:38
Nothing new. How could I express all my gratitude? I could sing a new song as I ought to do. That's why we sing every. We saw the sin. And you never lose it, so I broke my hands, praise you again and again.
Speaker 1 00:10:49
For a king, send for a heart to sing.
Speaker 1 00:11:21
I've got just one rule. With my arms.
Speaker 1 00:12:40
Soul, don't you get shy on the end of your song? 'Cause you got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord. Come on, my soul, don't you get shy on the end of.
Speaker 1 00:13:10
You got a lot of love.
Speaker 1 00:14:54
I usually see just our families here. Here we go, so I'll go to choir. So I brought my hands and praise you again, Lord. All that I have is a hallelujah.
Speaker 1 00:15:32
For him, except for our sin, Hallelujah. Let's. 
Speaker 2 00:15:56
Pray, Father. We just come before you in awe of who you are.
Speaker 2 00:16:04
Recognizing that you are worthy of all praise, God, Father, you do so much for us. Many of the blessings we see, so many of them. However, we do not see but God. We recognize that you are faithful, that you are good and Father. You deserve to be praised just because of who you are. And so Father, we just thank you here today for what you have given us. We, thank you for what you were doing Lord. And thank you for the ability we have to come together and just worship You God and I pray. Now that. Lord, That you would just be present here at this place as we learn more about you and see what it is that you want us to be, what it is that you want us to do. And. So we just give this time over to you, and we ask all this in your son's name. And all God's people said, "Amen. " You can go ahead and take a seat if you brought your Bible today. If not, I'll write down Daniel chapter one and look for the word "Daniel" chapter one. If they've already received communion here.
Speaker 2 00:17:31
Kind of the famous stories in the book of Daniel, and they're all self contained units, and they're all meant to be taken one at a time. So for the next six weeks, We are going to be taking basically a chapter a week each of the next six weeks. When we get to Daniel chapter seven, however, we enter into a new portion of this book. I'll talk a little bit more about that when we get there. But, it's filled with prophecy and some predictions about the future and that sort of thing. We'll probably slow down a little bit more when we get there. But I say that to say that we're going to take Daniel chapter one verse three. And I am going to read all the way to verse twenty one. This is going to be our text for today, and then we'll pray again and we'll dive in. The words will be on the screen. This is what it says: It says that the king now commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youth without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom and endowed with knowledge, Understanding learning competent to stand in the king's palace and teach them literature or language of Chaldeans.
Speaker 2 00:18:28
The king assigned them the daily portion of the food that the king ate and the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they would stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief eunuchs gave them names : Daniel he called B, elte, shaz zar ; Hananiah he called S, hadra ch ; Mishael he called M, esha, ch ; and Azariah. He called Abednego. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that drink Therefore, he asked chief to eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion on the side of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord, the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For, why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are at your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king. " So Daniel said to this steward, whom the chief of eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: "Test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. And let our appearance and appear to be youth who eat the king's food be observed by you."
Speaker 2 00:19:26
And deal with your servants according to what you see. So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days, It was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. The steward took away their food and the wine they were drinking and gave them vegetables. As for these youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of eunuchs brought them before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with him, and among all of them, none was found like Daniel. And then had a night and Shalom Azariah. Therefore, They stood before the king in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of him. He found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. Let's pray together, Father to come to your word, Lord God. We thank you for this rich chapter, Father and God. I just prayed that this morning.
Speaker 2 00:20:24
That you would enable me to do justice to God, to bring out the truths that are here, Father. The words that you want us to learn, to understand, take away from today. God and I pray that we would not just be hearers of the word today, Lord, but out of this message we would be doers of the word as well. So God, would you just enable us to just know and sense your presence in this place? Father and we thank you for what you're going into. We ask this in your Son's name. Amen. Well as we begin Here today, You may remember that last week, we spent most of our time as I introduced the book of Daniel, going over the major theme of the book of Daniel. And just to remind you, the theme of the book of Daniel, as I believe it is, is despite appearances to the contrary, our God is always in charge. Despite appearances to the contrary, our God is always in charge. And last week, we unpacked a little bit about what that means—what that meant for Daniel and his friends—and what that means for you and me. But, what I want to let you know today is that if that was a primary.
Speaker 2 00:21:22
Of the book of Daniel, there is also a primary question in the book of Daniel. It is intended to answer for us. And what is that? We'll put on the screen if you'd like to take notes, you can write this down if you want. But, the primary question of the book of Daniel is meant to answer for us : Is. Okay, knowing that God is in charge? How do the people of God stay the people of God in places that are opposed to the purposes of God? Knowing that God is in charge, How do the people of God stay the people of God in places that are opposed to. Purposes of God, and when you take a look at that question, You see I think why this book of Daniel is so relevant for us today. You know, as I explained last week and as we'll see again today, The book of Daniel is about how Daniel and his three friends, how they were ripped from their homeland. And forced to live in this land of Babylon, a foreign country that was very hostile to their God. Now you and me we have not had that happen to us. Most of us in this room have not been ripped from our homeland.
Speaker 2 00:22:20
To live in a foreign country, but at the same time, I would argue that we exist in a situation that's very similar to Daniel and his friends. And that is because although many of us haven't had to change countries, what has happened to our country over the last several years? It has changed, hasn't it? The America that we live in today is not the America that existed sixty, seventy, eighty years ago. It's not even. The America that existed thirty or forty years ago. A few weeks ago, The New York Times had an interesting article about and had an interview with a pastor, actually, and also a sociologist. And this pastor he studies religious trends in the United States. And in this interview, He stated what we all know. And that is that from nineteen ninety one to twenty twenty, there was a rapid secularization in the United States. In fact, this pastor said that the fastest growing demographic. 
Speaker 2 00:23:16
In America, over the last thirty years, Is the number of people who identified themselves as not being a part of any religion, as not being a part of any faith. And obviously, The increase in the number of people who are not religious has changed the world around us fairly rapidly. I was saying this past week when I was a little kid ; I used to watch the reruns of " I Love L uc y " on television. And if you know that show, you know famously Lucy and Ricky. Even though they were a married couple, They were never shown sleeping together in the same bed because that was considered indecent at that time to have on TV. Now compare that to the TV shows that we have today. I mean, If you took someone who died in the nineteen fifties and you were to bring them back today, they would be appalled, I think, at what we call entertainment. They would be appalled at what it is that we allow into our homes on a regular basis.
Speaker 2 00:24:09
But, we haven't been taken from our homeland and forced to live in a foreign country. It's clear that the country around us has changed. It is far less agreeable to, it is far less in line with what we Christians believe. And when you think about it, that almost puts us in a more dangerous position than Daniel and his friends. And that's because you and me, we are experiencing the proverbial frog in the kettle. And you know what I mean by that? If, you take a frog and you put it in the boiling pot of water, it's going to jump out immediately. But, if you take that same frog and you put it in a lukewarm pot of water, and you slowly turn up the heat, what's going to happen? Well, it's not going to realize what is going on until it's too late. And I think that's what we're beginning to see. And that has had its effect on the church as our nation around us changes. ;, you begin to see some churches begin to change as well.
Speaker 2 00:25:05
And more and more, I think we're seeing churches and we're seeing the Christians in them being swayed by the changing culture. When I talk to some young Christians today, They don't even think it makes sense not to move in with your boyfriend or girlfriend before you are married. After all, don't you want to see if you are compatible? Don't you need to see if it's something good? Can you know what you are getting into before you get into it? That's what they think. The thinking of the world has begun to influence the thinking of us Christians. And that is why, in addition to what I talked about last week.
Speaker 2 00:25:35
That's why the book of Daniel comes at such an important time for us because we are going to need to wrestle with the same question that Daniel and his friends wrestled with :, if indeed God is in charge, as we believe He is, despite maybe at times appearances to the contrary, and if we want to remain the people of God, How can we stay the people of God in a world in a nation that is increasingly opposed to the purposes of God? Well, that's what our. Series is going to help answer for us, and it begins with this great passage we're taking a look at today. I am going to pick it up again, starting in verse three of Daniel chapter one. I am going to read through verse seven. This is the opening section of this passage. We'll also have the words on the screen. It says, "this Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, To bring some of the people of I sra el :, both of the royal family and of the nobility ; youths without blemish, good appearance, and skillful in all wisdom; endowed with knowledge; understanding."
Speaker 2 00:26:32
And competent to stand in the king's palace, and teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of food that the king ate, that the wine to be drank. They would be educated for three years. At the end of that time they would stand before the king. The names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And he called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And, what we see here is we see the events that happened right after what we took a look at last week. Remember, last week Nebuchadnezzar he invaded Jerusalem and he ransacked Jerusalem. We're told, And what we're told in this passage is he orders one of his chief officers by the name of Ashpenaz, Which I've always thought is a fun name to say no offense to any Ashpenazes who are here today. But he orders Ashpenaz to find some of the elite youth of Jerusalem.
Speaker 2 00:27:25
And to force them to leave Jerusalem, to force them to go to Babylon, and to enroll them in what may best be called a Babylonian charm school. He wants them to learn the ways of the Babylonian empire. And, what we see here in this passage is we see that there are three parts to this charm school. First of all, We're told that these youths, they were to learn the language and the literature of the Babylonians. He says in the end of verse four, they were to learn the language and literature of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans were the upper class of Babylon, the nobility, the elites. And. So they were to learn that language and literature of the upper echelon of this society. Second, We're told that they were to learn to like and appreciate the food of the Babylonians. You see this in verse five : every day. We're told they would be given a diet of Babylonian food and not just any Babylonian food—the best Babylonian food—the same thing that king ate—we ' re told.
Speaker 2 00:28:19
And then finally, we're told that they're even to adopt Babylonian names. And this is what you see in verses six and seven. This is where the story focuses in on the main characters of our book, Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And we're told that their names were to be changed to Babylonian names. Daniel was now to be called Belteshazzar, and his three friends were to be called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In church I want to let you know this is a really big deal. And that's because their original Hebrew name All had meanings in Hebrew that contained a reference to the one true God, the God of the Bible. But their Babylonian names all had names that had meanings that contained a reference to one of the gods of the Babylonian empire. So, for example, Daniel in Hebrew it translates to "the Lord is my judge." Well, he was given the name Belteshazzar, which means "Bel protects the king," Bel being one of the gods of the Babylonian empire. Or as another example, Hananiah had a great name; his name means.
Speaker 2 00:29:17
The Lord is gracious. You wouldn't go to you, but we don't see more Hananias around today. That's a great name, but his name was changed to Shadrach, which means "servants of Aku," Aku being another god of the Babylonians. And so even their names were changed. And, it's very clear what is going on here and what Nebuchadnezzar is trying to do. What is this? Well, this is an indoctrination program. What Nebuchadnezzar is doing to these youths of Jerusalem is he's trying to indoctrinate them. He's trying to surround these young people by nothing but the best of the Babylonian principles, values, and ideals for three years. And the goal of this is to turn them into Babylonians. The goal of this is to get them to forget their God and be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. And ultimately, I believe this was for propaganda purposes. In other words, when Nebuchadnezzar.
Speaker 2 00:30:12
He was intending to do is one day he was going to parade these Jewish youth in front of their fellow countrymen, and he was going to have them say, "See that the Babylonians aren't all that bad. Look what they've done for us. We need to adopt their culture. Maybe even we need to adopt their gods." This was an indoctrination, and I don't want to be alarmist to you today, but you understand don't you that that is exactly, What is going on in the world today? What is the world trying to do today? It's trying to indoctrinate. It's trying to little by little get us to accept the values, the principles, the priorities of the world around us rather than God's. This is exactly what we're experiencing right now. Last week I was remembering a quote by I, probably should just say my favorite author and talker. Because I quote him a lot : C.S. Lewis.
Speaker 2 00:31:08
But several years ago, C.S. Lewis wrote a famous book called The Screwtape Letters. And in that book, He was adopting the persona of a senior demon, trying to teach a younger demon, how to tempt a man away from God. And I want to share this quote with you because in this quote, he talks about how Satan and the world goes after us. And I agree with his observation. I'll put on the screen : Lewis writes this again. ;. He's adopting the persona of a senior demon, trying to teach a younger demon, how to tempt a man away from God, and he says this: "He says but do remember." The only thing that matters is to the extent to which you separate the man from God. It does not matter how small the sins are, Provided that the cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the light and out into the nothing. Murderers no better than cards, for example, if cards can do the trick. And then he writes this: "This is by far most famous line here." He says, "Indeed, the safest way to hell is gradual." The gentle slope.
Speaker 2 00:32:04
Underfoot, without sudden turnings, without false stones, without signposts. The safest way to hell is the gradual one. And I think that's what we're seeing. Make no mistake about it. ; it is Satan who is behind what is going on these days. It is Satan, who is trying to push the world towards secularism and away from God. And, it is Satan, who would love nothing less than to see us as God's people join in with the choices that the world has made. And, that is why it is so important for us as God's people to decide now how we are going to respond to this. We need to decide now how we're going to continue to be God's people in a world that wants us to be anything. But. Well, here is where Daniel provides us a lot of help. Let's continue on verse eight. It says, " this, it says But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank."
Speaker 2 00:33:03
Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. We'll stop right there. And this is just so you know, the key moment in this story. In fact, if you like to mark your Bibles, you may want to somehow draw attention to verse eight because this is it. And, the reason why is because in this indoctrination program that Nebuchadnezzar set up for these young Jewish people, What we see here is we see Daniel, and eventually we'll see his three friends as well ;. They refuse a key part. They refused to eat the king's food and they refused to drink his wine. They refused this particular part of the charm school, And the reason why this is the key moment in the story is because this is where Daniel and his friends are doing what I believe you and I need to do in our society right now, and that is that they drew a line in the sand. They took a stand. They refused to completely bend.
Speaker 2 00:34:03
To the tides of culture that were pushing against him, and this is what we need to do also. Now, just a second, I'll talk more about that. And what that means for you and me and the urgency I believe we have in this. But before we do that, I do know that there is probably some questions that some of you have about this decision that Daniel made here and why he made it. And so I do want to talk about that right now. Specifically, I would imagine there is probably two questions that many of you have. The first question is why was the Food, such a big deal. Why would Daniel and his friends, why would they decide not to eat the king's food? And then the second question that comes out of it is, Why would they refuse to eat the food? But be okay with the name change and the education? Why didn't they refuse that as well? Well, here is the honest truth to those two questions: we really don't know. This is one of the enduring mysteries of the book of Daniel. There is a lot of enduring mysteries.
Speaker 2 00:34:58
Look at Daniel, But I did a lot of research on this this past week. And I taught this passage a couple other times. And scholars just are not able to agree on the reasons why Daniel made the choices that he made. So, what can we say about this? Well, based on my own study and my own thinking, here is what I think it comes down to. First of all, as to why Daniel and his friends would refuse the food, I think there is probably a cultural reason for that and a spiritual reason—a cultural reason—and. First, culturally, you know, if you think about it, food is such an important part of a culture's identity. I mean, To the fact that here in America, we actually literally call food by the culture, it came from, by the country it came from. We have Italian food. We have Mexican food. We have Vietnamese food. Someone I know recently was in Japan, and he got tired of Japanese food, though they probably just call it " food." But he got tired of Japanese. 
Speaker 2 00:35:55
And so he went to a restaurant that was said to serve American, And he literally emailed me for this restaurant and said it should be a crime how this restaurant is doing American food. He said they don't even have ketchup for their French fries, and that didn't happen. Food is such an important part of a culture and the identity of a culture. And so I think by refusing the food, this was a way that Daniel and his friends were resisting becoming fully Babylonian. That's the cultural order.
Speaker 2 00:36:25
I also think, though, that there is a spiritual reason. You know, they'll see it a bit get on his friends for three years. They only consume vegetables and they only drink water. And seeing what you will, I just do not think that's enough calories to survive. I just don't. And so I actually think this was a way—I didn't get this by myself. ; I saw another scholar say—but I think this was a way for them to rely on God. You see, The only way they were going to survive is if God provided them what they needed, And so it was a way for them to tangibly see that God is with them and God is providing them what they need. And so that's the reason why they refused the food. Now, As to why they could refuse the food, but not the name change and the education, I think that comes down to the fact that they really couldn't control those two things. They couldn't control what people called him. ; you can't really control what someone else calls you.
Speaker 2 00:37:17
And they likely couldn't control whether or not they participated in this education. They were forced to be a part of these classes. Likely, they would have been killed if they had refused. On top of that, I also think that learning about another culture probably didn't press up against their faith too much, and so but they likely couldn't control that either. So, they couldn't control those things, But what they could control is they could control what they put in their bodies, and that's why they refused the king's food. And I do think that is the likely explanation. For the choice that they have made, I know some of you have been taught over the years that the reason they didn't eat. The food is because they would have violated some Old Testament law in eating the food. Well, surprisingly, This is one area where most scholars are agreed on ;. There doesn't seem to be any clear Old Testament law that they would have violated in eating the food and drinking wine. So, I think really, this comes down to :. This was a way for them to lean on God and to take a stand against becoming fully Babylonian. And I love this.
Speaker 2 00:38:15
Because as I said earlier, what do we see Daniel and his friends doing? They resist, don't they? As I said, they draw lines. They decide in a very important way that they are going to take a stand to keep their identity, To remain the people of God in a world that is opposed to the purposes of God. And church, this is so instructive to you and me, because what it means is, it means that if we are to remain God's people in an increasingly changing world.
Speaker 2 00:38:45
There are going to be times when we have to draw a line in the sand. There are going to be times when we're going to have to actively and consciously choose to resist what the world is feeding us, both literally and metaphorically. And, let me say this : I think these days. It's more important than ever for us to begin to think about the stance that we are going to take, and that is because the pull of culture, I believe, is getting stronger.
Speaker 2 00:39:15
Recently, There was a very popular television show that had as a major plot point, the " quote, unquote " coming out of character, and the embracing of that decision of that character to live that lifestyle by the friends of that character. And I didn't watch this show, but I know some Christians who watched this show, and so I was curious as to their reaction to it. And so I asked them their reactions. And, some of the Christians I talked to admitted to me that they got very emotional watching this particular scene. And it was clear that they got emotional not because they believed it was wrong, but they got emotional because they believed it was new. And as I heard this, I thought to myself, "Wait, Christians are celebrating the way that characters on a TV show are endorsing a lifestyle that the Bible speaks against. That is not something to celebrate." Now this character.
Speaker 2 00:40:13
Had said to his friends, "Hey, I have these attractions, but in order to honor God, I've decided I am not going to act out on them." And the friends embraced the character of that decision. That would be something to celebrate. That would be something to get emotional about. But could you imagine Hollywood ever scripting a scene like that? And you get my point: if we're not careful, if we don't make a conscious decision now. To resist the influences of the world around us, we are in danger of becoming just like the world. And, that is why we have to decide now : the places where we are going to take a stand, the places where culture is going to tell us to go one way, but God and His Word is going to tell us to go another way. So, my question is: Where is that in your life? Where, do you feel most susceptible to adopting the world's way of doing things and not God's? What is the king's food in your life?
Speaker 2 00:41:13
Maybe for some of you, it is entertaining. I do think media is one of the primary ways that the culture uses to influence us. And, maybe it's a time that we make a decision that we are not going to allow things into our home that so go against the purposes of God. Maybe there are shows we decide now that we really shouldn't watch it. Maybe there are apps or websites that we decide we shouldn't be on anymore. But maybe that's where we need to draw a line, or maybe it's your career. I've talked about this a lot recently, But I know many Christians who entered into the workforce, determined to live for Jesus and not be persuaded by money. And that sort of thing. But then they get surrounded by all of that, and it becomes very attractive. And pretty soon they're beginning to make decisions based on money, based on conspicuous consumption, based on that sort of thing, and not based on God in His Word. And. So maybe some of you need to draw a line in the sand in regards to your career—the pull culture towards money. Maybe, you decide that you will never take a job simply based on salary, but there is.
Speaker 2 00:42:12
Another criteria that has to be met as well: work life balance, ability to have Sundays off so you go to church. Maybe that's where you need to take a stand. Or here is another one, And this is a really interesting one :. Maybe we need to take a stand when it comes to our kids' sports, when it comes to extracurricular activities for our kids. You know, you are going gonna think I am crazy, but I was thinking about this past week. I really think honestly, one of the greatest tricks of deception that Satan has unleashed on Christians in our day and age.
Speaker 2 00:42:42
Is, he has convinced many Christian families that we need to keep up with the Joneses in regards to our children's sports. And some Christian families have gotten to a place where sports take precedence above all, including faith. And, it is such a deception of faith, because here is the reality :. What's the statistic? Less than one percent of our kids are ever going to play any sort of organized sports above the high school level. In other words, for most of us in this room, Our kids' involvement with the sports is going to end at the end of high school. But let me ask you this: when does their involvement with faith end? Never. It goes on into eternity. So what is more important to emphasize: faith or sports? Basketball or Jesus? Some here are saying, "Let me think about that and get back to you." But hopefully you get my point. Remember Lewis's. 
Speaker 2 00:43:37
The safest way to help is the gradual. The surrounding culture is always going to be pushing up against us Christians, And we need to be diligent to determine the areas where we are not going to allow ourselves to give in. To it Daniel and his friends they took a stand against the king's food, and I admire them for that decision. But let me tell you this : as much as I admire them for that decision, I also admire the way they went about making that decision known because it was filled with such wisdom. And such discernment. Let's pick it up here in verse eight of this passage. I am going to read through verse fourteen. Look at how Daniel and his friends went about making this decision. It says, " B ut Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank." Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord, The king who assigned your food and drink for, why should he see that you were in worse condition than use of your own age?"
Speaker 2 00:44:35
So you would endanger my head with the king, verse eleven. Then Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah's Shalasharia: "Test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you. And deal with your servants according to what you see. " So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. And do you see what is going on here? Do you see that genius of what Daniel and his friends? I remember years ago watching a TV show, and on this TV show, the son of the TV show he decided that he wanted to play football. And when he heard this, His younger sister heard this ;, she decided that she wanted to play football as well because she always wanted to prove that girls could do the same thing. So one day she showed up at her brother's football practice, unbeknownst to her brother. And, it was a very dramatic scene because she showed up dressed head - to- toe from football gear and She stood on the field, and she stood like this and She addressed the coach directly.
Speaker 2 00:45:35
And she interrupted the practice, and she said this: "She said, 'Hey coach, do you have room on that football team for a girl?' Yeah, you heard me. A girl wants to play football." And everybody got real quiet. And the camera zoomed in on the coach's face. And he was real serious at first. But then he got this big smile on his face. And he said to the girl this: He said, "Oh, we would love to have a girl on the team. We have four girls on the team already. " And, the camera panned to four girls who were throwing the football around together.
Speaker 2 00:46:05
And I love that scene. The reason I share that with you is because sometimes I think that's how we Christians think we need to act when we draw these lines in the sand. We need to be all dramatic, when actually we don't need to. You see, Daniel and his friends went about this very wisely, rather than make a big deal out of it. What did they do? Well, first of all, what they did is they were respectful. They went to Ashpenaz, the chief officer, and they said hey We would like to refuse the king's food." And as we told, had compassion on them, but he also feared his own neck, and so he wouldn't allow them to do that. So what did Daniel and his friends do next? This is the key. What did they do next? They didn't back down, but they also didn't raise a fuss. Instead, What they did was, they went to the person who was directly in charge of their food. And they said, "Hey let's be creative for ten days. Can we try not to eat the king's food only eat vegetables?"
Speaker 2 00:47:01
And just do this for ten days, and at the end of ten days, compare how we look to how the other people. And that is genius. And I think it provides a model for how you and I can take a stand in our place. You know, I was thinking this past week :, there are going to be times in the future when I believe God is going to have us be very loud and very public with the stands that we take ;. Absolutely, there will be. But I actually think based on this passage that is not always line. And I think before we Christians get loud, what God wants us to do is He wants us to be creative. He wants us to think of creative ways that we can show our allegiance to Him. And so, for example, Let's say the line that you decide to draw in the sand after today's message is you are not going to allow your child to participate in sports that have practices on Sunday. I think that's a great Sunday morning. ;. That's a great line so they can go to church. So you find a coach who promises no practices.
Speaker 2 00:47:59
For kids sports on Sunday morning. So they're on that team, and after a few weeks, all of a sudden the coach schedules a practice for Sunday morning. What do you do in a situation like that? Well, I think there's a few options. One option is you could just give in and go to the practice. That's definitely one option. Another option that you can take is you can go nuclear, and you can send the coach, an angry email that says, "Don't you know Sunday sports is everything that's wrong with America? You're destroying the family and are not a man of your word." But what about this?
Speaker 2 00:48:29
And I am not saying to the coach, "Hey, we're not going to make this practice." Sunday church is really important for our family. But here is what I want to do. : I am going to take my son, I am going to take my daughter out to the basketball court on Sunday afternoon for two hours, and I am going to do drills with them. Make up for this practice and a Tuesday night's game. Let's see if my child plays any worse than any of the other kids on the team. That's a Daniel way of doing things. Or as another example, Let's say you get offered a promotion at your job ;. You really want it, but you know it's going to press up against the time with family and that sort of thing, so you are a little concerned about it. How are you going to respond to that? Well, again, there's three ways. You can just give in and accept the job without saying anything. You can run into your boss's office and you can say, "Corporal America is sinful and evil, and I am not going to serve both God and Mammon." Slam your fist upon the desk. You probably won't have a job after you do that, but you could do that if you want. Or you could say to your boss, "Hey, I really want this opportunity. I am a little worried about what it's going to mean for my family." Can we be creative with this? Instead of staying late at night, can I come in early in the morning? Can I just make sure that my Sundays are protected?
Speaker 2 00:49:29
Can we try this for a month and see if I don't fall behind? See if I am able to keep up. That's a damning way of going about things. In fact, in many ways, It comes back to what we looked at our Colossians series : Colossians, four, five and six, where Paul says this : " He says, walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Walking wisdom towards outsiders," Paul said. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, seasoned with truth. When you season something with salt, what do you do? You don't dump the whole bottle on the meal. No, what do you do? You sprinkle it in. You sprinkle the truth in. That's essentially what Daniel and his friends did. And look at what God did in response to this verse fifteen: It says, " At, the end of ten days. It was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food." And I love this. You know, I remember.
Speaker 2 00:50:25
But there is something out there these days called the Daniel diet. Have you heard of that? It's called the Daniel diet. You can search online for it; their websites, their YouTube videos about it. And the Daniel diet says this : people will adopt Daniel's diet here and only eat vegetables and drink water, and they will say it's a great way to lose weight. Well, listen, I have no doubt if you'll eat vegetables, you are going to lose a lot of weight. But what I want you to observe is that wasn't the point of Daniel and his friends ;. They didn't do this diet to lose weight. ;. They did this diet to gain weight, and it worked. That says here, they were fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. In other words, What we're being told here and this is often missed in the story of Daniel, something supernatural is going on here. This is the Old Testament equivalent of the fish and the loaves. God is taking these meager calories that they consumed, and He is multiplying them, and He is sustaining them.
Speaker 2 00:51:19
And he's doing more than that. If you were paying attention, I read earlier, You would have seen that God made it so that these men were the most accomplished men in Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. And there is a lesson in them: when we seek to honor God, God will lead us to where He wants us to be. God will take care of us in the way that He wants us to be taken care of. In fact, I have to point this out to you: do you remember last week? Really, the key phrase in last week's. The passage was the phrase "the Lord gave" in verse two, where it says, "the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into Nebuchadnezzar's hand." Well, I want to let you know, a variation of that phrase appears two more times in this passage in strategic places. It appears once at verse nine and again at verse seventeen. In verse nine, it says, "and God gave Daniel favor," and in verse seventeen, it says, "and God gave Daniel his friends learning and skill. " And, the point is clear : God is sovereign and He's not just sovereign over nations. ; He's also sovereign over our own individual lives. And when we honor God, we can.
Speaker 2 00:52:16
Trust that God will give us what we need and place us in the places He wants to place us. And some of you have seen that before. You honor God in your company, You begin to raise through the ranks of your company and get more and more influence. You honor God in the business that you own, And all of a sudden profits start to explode without any more work for you. You honor God in your relationships; you are single, you decide are only going to date Christians in your dating relationships, and all of a sudden God brings Mister or Misses Right away. Sometimes God does that, but you know what? Sometimes God does that. There are people who can stand for God in their job and they lost their job. There are people who've committed, it's only dating Christians and the right person never comes along. Sometimes that happens too, but the point is this: when we honor God, we know that we're where we're supposed to be. I was recently talking with someone who was involved in some drama at their work. ;, there's some politics going on and jockeying for positions, and so he.
Speaker 2 00:53:13
Reached out to me to get some advice on how to handle this, so I met with him and I said, "Listen, I can't speak to office politics; I am not very good at that." But he's a Christian, So I said this : " I said, what you need to do right now is you need to make the decisions that you believe God wants you to make. You need to do what you believe is most honoring to God. And yes, that likely means that you cannot participate in office call. And yes, that can mean that you may not get ahead in your career." But, it will make sure that whatever happens is God's doing, and not as a result of you trying to manipulate the situation. And, it will preserve your integrity, and it will make sure that you can stand before God with confidence in how you make this decision. And that's what it comes down to, you know. If we give into culture, we may get a lot of nice things, we may enjoy a lot of success, but what's the point of nice things?
Speaker 2 00:54:09
What's the point of success, if you can't stand before God confident in the decisions that you have made? Daniel and his three friends made a decision to honor God. God honored them, and I think we need to do the same thing. Going back to what I talked about at the beginning, unless things change dramatically, There is going to be an increasing difference between what we believe and stand for and what the world.
Speaker 2 00:54:40
I told you before, some of my strained relationships, some of my friends from college, or some of my beliefs. And what is always so confusing to me about that is I haven't changed. I have the same beliefs in college, and many of them have very similar beliefs as well. I haven't changed; they've changed. And, we're going to see more of that as we stay this way on the straight and narrow ; the world's going to go like this. That is why it is so important for us to show ourselves in the world around us when we believe it's real kingdom. It's so important for us to show ourselves and the world around us that we believe it is that sustains us and provides to us. And, it's so important for us right now to show ourselves and to show who the world around us that we believe in what's most important is Jesus and living for Him. Let me ask you a question : Are you living your life in such a way that people around you observe? That what is most important.
Speaker 2 00:55:38
That's what it's all about. As we close here today, we're going to take communion. And I thought communion was appropriate for this weekend in the same way that Daniel and his friends were sustained physically and spiritually by God in Babylon. Communion reminds us that we are sustained physically and spiritually by Jesus Christ, And it reminds us that we are His as we put our faith in Him. So that's why we're going to do that. But before we do that, Here is what I ask you to do : I just want you to bow your head.
Speaker 2 00:56:08
I just want to ask you a couple of questions. First question is this : Where is an area of your life where you are facing the full of culture? What is an area of your life where you are facing the full of culture? Maybe it's with your bad friends, maybe it's with your family, maybe it's with work. But, can you think of an area where you're tempted to give in to what culture wants to do rather than.
Speaker 2 00:56:36
Second question is this: In light of that, what's the one line in the sand that you can draw? What's one place where you can say, "In this, I am going to live for God and I am not going to live for the world. "? Maybe even ask God help in figuring out what that is. I'll give you a moment.
Speaker 2 00:57:04
And then finally, Would you spend just a moment asking for God's wisdom and strength and doing what it is that He has laid on your heart? And I'll be here in a moment.
Speaker 2 00:57:27
Holy God, we know there is coming a day when all the pressures of this world. The pressures of the culture around us, God, it's all going to be done away with. And here is how Jesus is going to return to this earth and He's going to set up His throne, Lord. And it's out of that moment, Father, That we will realize that all the times that we made the hard decision to live for You, instead of what others wanted us to live for God. Those times were worth it because ultimately, You are worth it, Father. And. So God I pray that we here at RCC that we would show the world that we know that we belong to Jesus and not anything else.
Speaker 2 00:58:03
I pray that we would take the appropriate lines in the sand that we need to take, Father. I pray, God, That you would show us the ways to do it in wisdom and graciousness and creativity, Father. To keep our allegiance to you, Lord, But to do it in a way that is gracious towards others, points back to your Son Jesus. And God, We want to do that because, ultimately, we realize there is only one who is worthy of all praise : God, and that is You through Your Son Jesus. Lord, we want to praise Him; we praise Him. In our lives, Lord, and we also praise Him through our words and the songs. And so, as we close with this final song, as we enter into this time of communion, Father, I just pray that our hearts would just be filled with the desire to want to praise You in everything that we do. And know that when we do that God that You are pleased with that Father. And for some reason, I don't know why it's because of Your graciousness You choose to pour out Your blessings on us. And. So Father, would you just accept this song is just an opportunity for us to praise the name?
Speaker 1 00:59:00
Of your son Jesus, Lord, and to give him the credit that he deserves. We ask all this in your son's name. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:59:36
She is full. His hands and feet are stained with blood. The mercy seat is bleeding. His body bowed and drenched in tears, He laid Him down.
Speaker 1 01:00:07
In Joseph's tomb the entrance sealed by a heavy stone. But silence still and all alone. O praise the name. 
Speaker 1 01:00:38
O Lord, our God, O great is His name forevermore. For endless days we will sing Your praise, O Lord. O Lord our God.
Speaker 2 01:01:07
As I said, communion reminds us actually of a lot of different things. But. One of the things it reminds us of the fact is that we belong to Jesus because of His death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. When we put our faith in Jesus, We are His and He actually dwells lives within us and He provides us what we need physically and spiritually in this life. So, we're going to take communion with that in mind right now. But before we do that, I just want to let you know here at RCC, maybe leave communion is only for those who have put their faith in Jesus. If you are here today and you haven't put your faith in Jesus, we're so glad that you are here. You are always welcome here.
Speaker 2 01:01:37
But we would ask that you not take communion right now. Instead, use this time maybe as an opportunity to cry out to God, To ask Him to make Himself real to you if you believe that God loves you. But for the rest of us, we can open up the portion now that contains the cracker representing the bread. On the night before Jesus's crucifixion, He had a dinner with His disciples. And towards the end of that dinner, He took a loaf of bread, He broke it and passed it around to His disciples. And He said, " T his bread is My body, which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins. Every time you eat of it." Do it in remembrance of me. RCC, If you believe that this represents the body of Christ that is broken for us with forgiveness of sins, let's eat it in remembrance of Jesus. You know what's in juice? That's not even wine. Following the bread, Jesus took a glass of wine, and he passed that around to his disciples, and he said, "This wine is my blood which is poured out for you." Every time you drink it, do it to remember.
Speaker 1 01:02:36
We believe that this represents the blood of Christ poured out for us and forgiveness of sins. Let's drink it in remembrance.
Speaker 1 01:03:14
The angels roar, "Arise and sing!" He shall return in robes of white.
Speaker 1 01:03:47
I gaze transfixed on Jesus' face. Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forever.
Speaker 1 01:04:24
Oh Lord, I love you. Oh Lord, I love you. Oh Lord,
Speaker 2 01:04:47
I love you. Oh Lord, I love you. As we close here today, As always, there'll be people down in front, who would love the opportunity to pray for you for anything. Especially if you have anything in regards to what we talked about today, we'd love to just pray God's strength and courage for you. But as we close here today, I have asked our worship team to lead us in the doxology. And so Shriya, why don't you take it away? Praise God from. 
Speaker 1 01:05:11
Whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below.
Speaker 1 01:05:23
O, praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Speaker 1 01:05:53
And.
Speaker 3 01:06:57
Weekends Are are are bad.
Speaker 3 01:07:58
I don't know. I'm not very. I don't know. What's that? Well, it's not a try.
Speaker 4 01:08:15
No, it's uh. you know,
Speaker 1 01:08:18
I mean. you know, it's uh.
Speaker 3 01:09:03
So you got a sign of the church. Yeah, I'm sure. Have you done that before? Are you handing out the booklets? Yeah.
Speaker 3 01:10:02
Everyone got so much more on who died.
Speaker 3 01:10:32
Yeah. What high school are you from? I think if I can stay. Is it a club team? I love watching them break out. Here's the catch. What's your position? Um. I don't know how that happened. Yeah. What's. 
Speaker 1 01:11:14
Up? Oh, good. Two caps.
Speaker 4 01:11:21
Still Excellent, awesome and all the things you would hope and desire. Yeah, yeah. See, I love living back there. So, you know, I love living back there where in there you know, The way everything works, you know, so you couldn't coax me back here. But, you know, my life's got, you know, my mom lives with us now. My mother-in-law lives with us now. You know so yeah it's got its challenges. You know but it has nothing to do with where we live.
Speaker 3 01:12:31
So, I was. We've got plenty of time. Um. So, I think it was just better if we hang out. I thought about that and then actually I said, hey, I'll just have my dad do this. You know, if you want to go back.
Speaker 1 01:13:22
I'm Sorry, I know it's a surprise for both of you guys.
Speaker 3 01:13:48
What's Different? You look different today. Oh, what'd I do now I don't know like get a shave. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 5 01:13:55
You see everything. Not not necessarily. My wife, it only took her two days. I'm like, man, everybody at work mentioned the first day you take two days. She's like, oh yeah, you're right. I'm like yeah.
Speaker 3 01:14:04
You know what? I try to give you as little attention as possible bro. I appreciate that but you still noticed? No, I'm saying her right? Everything's good?
Speaker 5 01:14:13
Family's good? Yeah good good. What is your doing your jacket now? Yeah, i'm gonna put on. I'm gonna put on the bush in a second, but the mass rush i didn't want. I didn't dare do it. Then Gotcha Just slow down like two minutes altogether. Thank you. Go ahead, thanks. You, got your hands full.
Speaker 6 01:14:34
You Have more? Just one more. I have to give it.
Speaker 1 01:14:59
I can't read this. What a good guy,
Speaker 5 01:15:06
Look at you. We'll take care of it here. Exactly. Oh, he's gonna get the best one.
Speaker 6 01:15:20
I was playing today. Uh- huh. And like I was getting like a couple kills, and then I would die. And this guy.
Speaker 3 01:16:27
No, I'm like in in disguise right now. Yeah, you are. You're in a kung fu outfit. Well, good to see you. Will you be there tonight?
Speaker 7 01:16:34
Um, I may not so I have a fractured rib right now. Took a lot of stitches today.
Speaker 3 01:16:40
Oh, bet I've done that.
Speaker 7 01:16:41
Um. And then also, even if I do George'sniece's birthday is today, and we're not gonna go to the party. Yeah So I will be here regardless because if I don't go to that,
Speaker 3 01:16:53
Then just yeah So I did that and got a cold.
Speaker 7 01:16:58
Oh, sneezing and coughing right now. I got the hiccups yesterday. How am I today? I wanted to, I just was like just let me go to sleep.
Speaker 3 01:17:06
So, I would, I would sneeze. Yeah. And then my assistant on the other room. Yeah. You know.
Speaker 7 01:17:15
Stop it! Yeah, All week I was just in like so much pain. And I was like what is going on? No idea. That's it's bizarre, but no idea how he did it. And then Thursday at school I was like. Yeah, this is unbearable. So I took Friday off and I was just gonna go to urgent care, and then George and I go to um the Mariners Church's young adults night on Thursday. Mhm. We got back from that. I have a pretty good thing. I'm just in tears, and it was like we're not waiting like so we went to the E R. Yeah They did a whole bunch of tests and they were like you're what? But yeah, so oh, sorry Yeah, it's okay It's okay You guys are gonna be there or no?
Speaker 3 01:17:57
Well, I'm starting to because there's no Matt Mangan, there's no Chris and Tim. And if you guys are out, I'm starting to go like. Yeah, nobody's. And I'm not it's above my pay grade. Oh no,
Speaker 7 01:18:10
I got one. Thank you.
Speaker 3 01:18:11
Um and so I'll just ask my wife see what she thinks but yeah. Yeah yeah So.
Speaker 7 01:18:21
Yeah, I feel bad George is not his birthday like his family like birthday money, Up on us. So there's been birthday. 
Speaker 3 01:18:28
Parties I get it. I get it. So but uh well, yeah, we're asking. Thank you. No problem. Well, good seeing you likewise.
Speaker 6 01:18:59
Is literally all that I said. I didn't like say anything to you. How am I gonna stay? Can I get a car? Yeah. What? I'm playing. And the next thing that's being checked is you have to stop talking. And thank you. Well, that's random, so I go or what?
Speaker 6 01:19:30
He says, just shut up. And I see him and he's like sniping at people, like standing still. And I walk up behind him and I throw a fire grenade on him. And he dies and I get the kill check for it. And like my my tally goes up and I was couldn't check okay. And I kept on playing. And, but the other teammate that I had, who was also sniping, but he was like ten and two, ten kills and two deaths, he was doing really good.
Speaker 6 01:20:00
We all apparently just like got out of the game and then immediately went back into another game. So I had the guy who was in my room on my team and then another guy in my room, and he was on the other team. And I didn't know, so I killed him and I saw his name pop up. And like right after I killed him, I went and i teabagged him. It's. 
Speaker 3 01:20:27
Asking in a little bit.
Speaker 3 01:20:31
Why? Giving finally. Have. 
Speaker 1 01:20:45
A great week. Thank you. Have. 
Speaker 3 01:20:49
A great week. You do the thing? Oh, he's saying have a great week.
Speaker 6 01:21:06
What.
Speaker 3 01:21:37
Right. So, What we want to do is you got to figure out the tension point of a conversation. So, what's going to bring tension here? What's going to bring tension and then let me sidestep that.
Speaker 3 01:22:06
Good morning. Today you want one? Thank you.
Speaker 3 01:22:27
So, In a situation like that, you know, you go right back at him and go, Statement you're making is false. That's attention. But if you can sidestep and go, well, what's considered good? Right here's what I value. Instead of now you allow him to make the decision, right? And all you're doing is is bringing a different way to look at it. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 01:23:04
Good, how you doing, Greg? Sorry about that. That way cool. S M B? What's that? Okay. What's that?
Speaker 3 01:23:32
Probably not because when mom, um, you're welcome. Mom, when mom asked when the the this would be over. Um I'm actually not. Is this and can you just sit right here? Um When, when mom went to go, ask if was going to be over, they said, we don't know. So the same. 
Speaker 3 01:24:35
You temporary you won't. Yeah, I gotta drop off what you got. I didn't hear anything. One second. Excellent done as usual.
Speaker 8 01:24:50
Thank you.
Speaker 6 01:24:51
How are we today? I'm doing well, and you? Doing good? Oh, once I get over the cracks and the bruises, I'm doing just great. Does that happen? No this. 
Speaker 3 01:25:03
So these cracks and bruises. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 8 01:25:06
Yeah, because one goes one way, one goes the other. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 01:25:18
Oh pass. You'll pass? No problem.
Speaker 3 01:25:32
Still working on it. Failing.
Speaker 5 01:25:34
It's funny, I thought of you? And did you were you in this morning or not yet? Okay, did you hear the thing about sports? Oh yeah. I'm like damn, but but it's funny'cause. My daughter really didn't want to do sports, my son really wanted to do all these different sports. But it was just funny to hear that. I'm like wow, that's that's true because a lot of a lot of kids. They have their parents living through them into all those organized sports. True. But I thought it was pretty I thought it was pretty good,
Speaker 3 01:25:56
I thought it was pretty good back, taking him down there later, We'll take him wherever, where do they go right now?
Speaker 3 01:26:02
Okay. I don't know where to take them to step in. Um, look, the first section right there, the first table says outreach. They're so cute. I think it's really nice how you're training them. I'm trying, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 01:26:38
Okay, I'm running.
Speaker 5 01:26:40
There you go. No, no triple Costco trips today. Okay? One.
Speaker 1 01:26:51
There's a box in my car.
Speaker 3 01:26:57
You want to help me? I'll take care of these. There's this place where they're getting dropped off. You see those two bags on the floor over there? Going east. Yeah, right, that one. Thank you.
Speaker 3 01:28:06
Good morning. Morning. Think we got one. Yeah, I think he's cuter than I am. Would you prefer to be here, kiddo? There's more action, so you're not sitting there or You don't have to be Good morning. Good morning Whatever you want Both of us here? We can do that, And then one of us will split off when people start coming that way. I like that. Only 'cause I like you, 'cause your hair smells nice. I heard you're a menace at camp, is that true? Oh, it's true. He's fine menace is the. You mean like a little sappy thing?
Speaker 3 01:29:11
Thank you. Yeah, good morning.
Speaker 9 01:29:42
You have to put your thing in. What thing? Right, the grinding teeth thing in. For what? For your teeth.
Speaker 3 01:29:57
Oh, um, I haven't made it the first night. I made it all night, but usually like I think last night. I woke up at like two and I'm, like how about this thing out? Why? It's just annoying.
Speaker 3 01:30:12
You got one earlier, didn't you?
Speaker 5 01:30:13
Good memory. Look at that.
Speaker 3 01:30:16
It's coming back to me slowly but surely.
Speaker 5 01:30:18
Mine's slowly going away from me. I don't have a room locked upstairs anymore. It's like all used up.
Speaker 3 01:30:23
Oh, I recapped a conversation yesterday and the ladies there were like," It was a family thing." Like Brayden, you wrapped that up so well. I'm like," Do not tell my wife because I forget everything." Exactly,
Speaker 5 01:30:35
Exactly. It's funny, like the memories just not where they used to be You know. What's funny is. Realize, so I am a big like task. 
Speaker 3 01:30:45
List. Same here, same here. And so I got into the whole like getting things done thing. Yep, yep. It's a killer; it shot my memory.
Speaker 5 01:30:51
Yeah, because you are making lists. 
Speaker 3 01:30:54
Your list task driven about the lists right? But I his so David Allen's thing is pretty much like don't remember anything right?
Speaker 5 01:31:02
Yep and so you essentially tell your brain, don't remember anything. Yeah. Deprogramming yeah.
Speaker 3 01:31:07
So now I have had to reinsert.
Speaker 5 01:31:10
Yeah, Yeah, yeah. But when I tried that, I felt lost. I felt like I couldn't get things done, so I was completely lost. So went right back to the task. Yeah, hear what you're saying.
Speaker 3 01:31:21
Honestly, Like i think you do need a list, but then you need to make sure that you're reviewing it. Like I have like a daily things to get done list. Actually We'll have to talk, ask me again next week, because in the middle of like they just dropped this new AI deal that runs on your own computer. That essentially can do anything on this computer. Oh, wow. Good morning, welcome. Yeah. But obviously it's got to be done in a secure.
Speaker 5 01:31:47
Yeah, uh- huh. Oh yeah. And just. This close down and I go. Oh, how cool is that? Have a nice day. I'll uh. Yeah, I want to hear about it definitely. Go right ahead please. Have a great day Thank you too. Thank you Now I want to hear about that sounds interesting because I mean people like like like like. Things at work, I've seen people like like going through AI for all this stuff. I'm going, am I behind the times? I don't use any AI. And like, I hear some of the stories. Like my sister works at Amazon. She goes, oh no, she's we get morning briefings done by AI. I'm like what? You can she goes? You can tell it's more computer driven than people because it's not the same format. Like are you joking me? Oh it's so useful if you do it right. Yeah yeah, but if you do it right It's just so weird. It's just weird because they've got robots there and they got AI doing their letters. And like what's next? I mean you're not gonna have people there It's just. 
Speaker 5 01:32:37
Just blows me away.
Speaker 3 01:32:39
And this new thing is basically going to destroy a lot of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Isn't that weird? And, they asked the guy because he did it as he did it as free things to do with cash.
Speaker 9 01:32:51
Ready folks, let's move those brains. Thank you very much. I like that little sunglasses though.
Speaker 3 01:33:00
There were cars and there were like people walking around. Good morning.
Speaker 9 01:33:05
Thank you. You're welcome. 
Speaker 9 01:33:11
What did she say? Daddy? What did she say? I'll hold it for you? Grandma?
Speaker 3 01:33:19
Why wasn't he like a little little girl here? We go. She wants one for me, no problem.
Speaker 3 01:33:39
Yeah, she likes to bring notes. So I'll take one. Thank you. Good morning, how are you? I'm doing well, and you? Good.
Speaker 9 01:33:48
Hello there. Like this tree. 
Speaker 6 01:33:52
Gets filled up with water every time? Good morning. Thank you so much! Have a good day! And like this tree gets filled up with water every time?
Speaker 9 01:34:02
Good morning! Thank you!
Speaker 9 01:34:09
We throw the towel paper in the water. Yeah? Yeah, into it. That's cool. What's that?
Speaker 3 01:34:18
What? In ice. Uh, morning. Yeah. You call him, Arnie he'll get upset behind you. Got it. Thank you, sir. You're welcome Morning Huh? Uh Eric, my cousin Eric from yesterday. If you if you ask him if he's in the army, he'll get upset. He's worried. Turn around. Thank you. Enjoy it sir. Thank you I'll have like five words.Just guys, good morning.Good morning.I'll take one for Neil and then you can take one for Freddie.Thank y'all.Enjoy it.
Speaker 3 01:35:22
He's Not no, he'sum, but he's in control. Good morning. He's in control of like repairs and whatnot. Uh, he's basically in charge of like fixing. He oversees the maintenance. So he used to be. He oversees the maintenance of everything. So, um, his his crew fixes tanks, guns, everything. Thank you. Uh on whatever is going to come through Good morning Thank. You He has a great advantage, so have a good one.
Speaker 3 01:36:25
Huh. Um, yeah, I think he's a sergeant. Turn around.
Speaker 5 01:36:41
And I don't believe a lot of the stuff this guy who was over at Guaco. Uh Musk was saying some, like in ten to fifteen years, people won't have jobs. And on the way to Friday, it'll be like volunteer. I don't know where we're going to get to. I don't understand that. I didn't read the whole article, but I'm like, really? That's not sure. Good morning, how are you? Carl, good to be seeing you. I had no idea of the circles because we had dinner with Bill and Oh, I'm sorry about that. No, no, no. We had dinner with Bill and the Emmons and such and then Johnny was telling us about this. And like I didn't put two and two together until he saw it in that film, like that's so awesome. That's awesome Well, I talked to Johnny go Did you know what? Carl they have a fight Oh yeah back in Egypt. 
Speaker 5 01:37:20
Good morning.
Speaker 1 01:37:48
Alright, I guess. Good morning, guys.
Speaker 3 01:39:14
I'm Talking to John. I'm sorry. I'm so long.
Speaker 5 01:39:17
I I always like the man. I mean, Everyone's under so much pressure, you can't tell them when I every can't tell him when he was doing that outreach for his friends. Oh my gosh, it was just awesome on another level than you could imagine. Have a good week. Good morning.
Speaker 5 01:40:17
I'm working on It.
Speaker 4 01:40:56
But that was one of the founders of the church. Hmm, so that was one of the founders of the church. Oh yeah, Melba.
Speaker 3 01:41:12
This interesting almost all.
Speaker 1 01:41:26
Great seeing you, my friend. We'll talk. Thank you.
Speaker 4 01:41:57
I like your socks, Matty.
Speaker 3 01:42:12
Thank you.
Speaker 4 01:42:12
Thank you. You're welcome.
Speaker 1 01:42:17
I gotta download my Netflix movies tonight. Yeah,
Speaker 3 01:42:22
Man, good morning. Good morning. Thank you. You're welcome. 
Speaker 1 01:42:30
Somebody dropped their glasses okay thank you. 
Speaker 3 01:43:33
You ran out. Ran out. No more. Morning. I think we ran out early, didn't we? You want to go to class? No, you can't. Thank you. All right. We'll head out in a couple minutes fifteen minutes before church starts, we run out Good morning. 
Speaker 3 01:44:03
Coming early. It does, you're right. I've never moved on from uh 10:45 to 11:00. Good morning. Good morning. Hey Maddie,
Speaker 6 01:44:18
How are you? How are you doing? Wow! It'll all be gone by Wednesday. Wow! It didn't for you though? Yeah. 
Speaker 3 01:44:29
We'll wait five minutes, and then we'll take off.
Speaker 6 01:44:50
Good morning.
Speaker 3 01:45:19
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
Speaker 3 01:45:42
And Everyone's like. I'll wait'cause I gotta go get dad. Good morning.
Speaker 1 01:46:02
Morning. Thank you.
Speaker 3 01:46:06
Good morning. How are you? Can't complain, how about you? What is there to complain about? Right? Nobody listens anyway, right? Dang it! Good morning.
Speaker 3 01:47:00
Good morning.
Speaker 8 01:47:06
If anybody says they found a pair of glasses in the parking lot, it belongs to my friend.
Speaker 3 01:47:10
Oh, they're uh I took them over uh to Kim. Kim at. At uh see the lady in the blueum right down here? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, no problem. Good morning.
Speaker 6 01:47:28
I like killed. I went out and I didn't really know what to expect. And I just killed this guy, and he dropped like four sets of keys. Cause everyone, everyone has a second one. And they went out. Well, I did too. But I killed them and.
Speaker 6 01:48:01
And I went online and I found out they had like custom.
Speaker 3 01:48:07
So your sister's right behind you. Do you want to uh. We'll read this when we get in the car. Okay, so she might be another 30 minutes.
Speaker 8 01:48:15
I gotta. yeah, I gotta deliver coffee to my husband.
Speaker 3 01:48:17
She's my wife, I can say it, right? Good morning.
Speaker 8 01:48:20
I gotta deliver coffee to my husband.
Speaker 3 01:48:23
Ah, priorities. Hi Rod! Let me take your.
Speaker 9 01:48:58
Mhm. And I scored two goals.
Speaker 3 01:49:00
Cool, good job. Can you do me a favor? Grab Maddie when you're done? Right now? No, when you're done with class.
Speaker 9 01:49:08
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 01:49:09
That way mom doesn't have to do it.
Speaker 9 01:49:10
I don't know if they're gonna. Or I'm just gonna be with you guys. Oh, are ya? Or with mom'cause everyone's at camp.
Speaker 3 01:49:19
Oh. Eric can go this year too It's fine Eric camp sucks this year anyway, This way I got the same seat. Morning. Good. 
Speaker 9 01:49:37
Morning. He's getting a beak. Mhm- hmm. 
Speaker 3 01:49:48
Thank you Oh, my pleasure Good morning. 
Speaker 3 01:50:03
That's the biggest reason why I stay. Afterwards, it's always like one person is giving you one thing, you know.
Speaker 9 01:50:14
The goal is to be greeted well when I play here. That was the goal.
Speaker 6 01:50:27
Hey, Yo. Dad. I found like, 32 diamonds and I was looking for iron. 32 what? We're headed out. Okay. He's got. He's wearing gear now. He's got Maddie's uh. The kids are ready. Don't make him take it off here. He's got Maddie's little. I'm just, I think he just needs to put it away right now? What? Does he just need to put it away?
Speaker 3 01:50:51
Uh, warning. Oh, warning. I don't. 
Speaker 8 01:50:54
Really understand why does he have a name tag? Oh, he has a name tag to check in! Okay, I thought you were telling me he had this! So like does he need to put it away after this one? No! Okay. 
Speaker 8 01:51:04
Okay.
Speaker 8 01:52:04
Appreciate it. So you got a game today? That's yeah, that's where we're heading now. I was just talking to about that, yeah. So see you guys later. Thanks a lot, Danielle. Um and then I'm expecting them to drop a schedule on me here later soon. Okay good, That'll be helpful, feel free to feel free to like I'm gonna send out an email this week because of Easter. Are you guys gonna be in town for Easter? Okay there's five services, so you'll have opportunities. Okay,
Speaker 3 01:52:31
Yeah feel free to, you know. Throw me down for whatever, just here I'm I'm willing.
Speaker 8 01:52:37
Okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah and and so I know you'll tell me.
Speaker 3 01:52:39
As soon as I get the schedule, I'll I'll start blocking everything out. Okay, perfect. That would be awesome. My, my fear is that you'll get the schedule and then and then put it all down. And then when it gets to soccer, scheduling have to go like.
Speaker 8 01:52:52
I know again. You know. But. So he plays soccer?
Speaker 3 01:52:56
They all three of them do.
Speaker 8 01:52:56
Okay And it's not baseball or anything? It's just all soccer?
Speaker 3 01:52:59
Just soccer Yeah That's cool We couldn't fit in a. 
Speaker 8 01:53:03
Oh yeah, no kidding. Do you want to do something with soccer like professionally or you just like it right now? Um, I'm not really interested in like professional soccer. Yeah, you just like it right now. Yeah. That's a good yeah. I've got grandkids in soccer so it's fun. It's funner when they're little and they don't know what they're doing. That's what's fun about them so much but From a,
Speaker 3 01:53:24
You know, So, he played soccer. He taught me to play soccer, and I can't watch the sport anymore.
Speaker 8 01:53:30
You can't Oh well, because you know how to play. Yeah. Cause my grandkids, when they were little, they started like when they were seven. And it was so funny, you know, just but it's fun to know what you know what you're doing. So that's cool. Yeah. Love it love it. What grade are you in? Uh I'm in eighth grade. Okay Cool what? High school of interest? Uh Olu or service Oh cool Have you guys already. 
Speaker 3 01:54:03
Like, We just got accepted to serve right, and we're waiting to hear from them.
Speaker 8 01:54:06
Yeah, both of them have kids soccer. Yeah. Okay. That's that's very cool. I like that.
Speaker 3 01:54:18
I thought you were gonna introduce yourself like that?
Speaker 8 01:54:20
No, Barry did Rod. Not always You can just caught me on a good day. 
Speaker 8 01:54:30
Alright. Well, you have a great week. You too. You too. Appreciate you and your boys, so. That's good for this. Yeah, it is. Thank you guys. Thank you. Good luck. Thank you.
Speaker 3 01:54:52
Hey. I I know that uh I hate my life walks, you know. Not you, the kid behind you. Yeah. 
Speaker 3 01:55:07
I'm sorry you hate your life. What? I'm sorry you hate your life.
Speaker 6 01:55:10
Why were we playing this morning?
Speaker 3 01:55:11
Huh? You just look like you. I was watching. You just look like. I was watching the videos. Oh, what's the deal now? Have a game right now, I can't talk to you. James said," I miss you a little bit." Said," I miss you a little bit." We'll have to have you over soon.
Speaker 3 01:55:36
But what's funny is, like, he's got a different haircut and everything. I didn't really recognize him, but it was like that James. Why do I even have to do this? Yeah. Oh, it's like where are those kids? And then it's like oh. Like Grace has got hair? Yeah. Like they're everybody's going through you know changes. They should hear him talk. You know, I walk in one day and uh. And I hear this. And I'm like," Maddie, who are you playing with?"'Cause they can hear it coming through and he's like," It's Grayson." Hey Uncle Braden. Like. Oh.
Speaker 6 01:56:26
Do that kid that I said hi to? Which one? That's the one. I haven't seen him for a couple years.
Speaker 3 01:56:33
Which one, the USC kid? The one that was wearing the USC. Oh no,
Speaker 6 01:56:37
That's that's Johnny Park. That's uh he's like twenty six.
Speaker 3 01:56:42
Oh yeah, I didn't see the kid that you said hi to. Um until he was walking away. So I guess in a way you could see I saw his you could say that I saw his backside.
Speaker 6 01:56:56
But the guy who said" I heard you were at Camp Menace," right? He's like he's twenty seven.
Speaker 3 01:57:05
Is that important to me?
Speaker 6 01:57:16
He was a leader, and then he graduated. Was the like once your kids graduate,
Speaker 3 01:57:23
You just like right right Or, you can re- up for a whole new set of kids, and everybody's like, no one time is enough.
Speaker 6 01:57:34
It's a huge commitment. It is, you know. Aiden might not be your leader anymore. What's that? Aiden might not be your leader anymore. What was that? He um he like he makes movies or so like he's making movies. He just graduated college like last year, and he his job is in Hollywood. So. Like he's gonna be moving in a week. So he's only gonna, he's gonna be coming to quarter, so like eight o'clock. So you're just gonna catch him leaving sometimes. And he might like stop coming to church because he already lives like thirty minutes away. And. 
Speaker 3 01:58:22
He's gonna be moving here. Yeah, if he's moving to Hollywood, it's gonna take at least an hour to get here.
Speaker 6 01:58:26
Well, he is not moving to Hollywood He is not.
Speaker 3 01:58:28
Or that area I should say. 
Speaker 6 01:58:31
He is not moving to Hollywood He just. Way. So, uh, he says he's gonna at least like be or here until July, but he hasn't made any decisions yet. So Canyon.
Speaker 3 01:59:05
It's all sudden. All sudden,
Speaker 4 01:59:09
Yeah. So, I didn't bring any glasses. Your dad's got some for you. I don't think they'd fit. I did bring a hat. You were at what thirty- two weeks? Well, you know what? Thirty- one, yes, thirty- two but uh. You know what's funny is.
Speaker 4 01:59:35
Thirty two's have managed to grow with me, right? So you know what I mean, the size. So if I try to put on some of my old thirty two's, no way. Maybe too tight. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 01:59:48
Well I wear thirty three's. That's why I'm Yeah.
Speaker 4 01:59:50
But you know, but but what's funny is a thirty two now is a lot bigger than a thirty two was twenty years ago. Gosh.
Speaker 3 01:59:57
Well I've got shorts that are slightly tight on me, and they might be slightly loose on you. If you want to try it, but.
Speaker 6 02:00:03
I got some shorts.
Speaker 6 02:00:05
They might be a little short.
Speaker 4 02:00:38
Okay, So I've tried to put on some of my old jeans, and it's like there's no way those two are going to come together. You know, So. 
Speaker 3 02:01:00
The. No, it's not because America is fat. It's because Americans don't want to believe that they're fat.
Speaker 3 02:01:09
Here, try these. These are like just enough for me. Okay. I wear 33 s, so. I've got a belt too. No, I wear 34 s. 34, 33 is what I do. So. Ah!

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