December 8, 2025 • 32 mins
This week, Granger and AntMan talk honestly about why the holidays feel more stressful than peaceful for so many people today. What used to be a season of rest now feels rushed, chaotic, and noisy, and the guys explore what’s behind that shift. Their conversation leads to a surprising place: the way short-form video and endless scrolling are quietly reshaping our minds, our attention, and even our expectations of what peace should feel like.
Granger shares a moment from traveling overseas that first opened his eyes to how extreme scrolling has become, and the two walk through new research showing how short videos affect focus, anxiety, self-control, and the way our brains now crave constant stimulation. They talk about how algorithms prey on our emotions, why age doesn’t protect anyone from these effects, and how quickly “just relaxing on the couch” can turn into something that rewires the way we experience the world.
But the episode doesn’t stop at warning signs. Granger and AntMan speak openly about their own habits, the changes they’ve made, and the freedom that comes from stepping away from the swipe. They close with a reminder of where real peace comes from, especially in a season that promises it but rarely delivers. It’s a thoughtful conversation about guarding your heart, finding stillness again, and choosing something better than the endless scroll.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Okay, as we think about the holidays coming up, and
we and we recognize that the holidays are supposed to
be a time of joy and peace and rest, and
we get these ideas because it's the incarnation of the
Christ who comes to bring peace and and and rest
among the people.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, we'll do the advent right now, going through the advent.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Even through Advent, it doesn't always feel peaceful.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
At home, definitely doesn't.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
It doesn't feel this might be the most hectic time
of the entire year.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
And I think we are in a generation an era
right now, you and I and everyone listening that that
feeling is getting worse.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
The peace of the holidays is no more.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
The rest of the holidays, the the time to rejuvenate
at the end of the year and be with family,
that's gone. And it's been that way for quite some time.
But I think we're at a we're at a place
right now where it's about to get a lot worse
than it's ever.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Been could be.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And since consumerism began one hundred years ago, it's it
was always kind of spinning out of control. But I
think we're hitting something right now that's going to cause
it to spend uncontrollably, and I think we could identify
at least a big factor in that today on the podcast.
(01:47):
It's funny because you've you've been out of the country
a few times.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Yeah, the biggest one with you in Israel.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And we just talked about this Cambodia trip that I took,
you know, several years ago. Ironically came up you and
I in separate conversation for a different reason. But I
remember something I remember in Thailand, specifically in the airport,
being kind of shocked at the way people were scrolling
on their phones. Oh really, I haven't seen it as
(02:20):
much in this country. It's it's growing, but the kind
of complete chaotic scrolling. And I was gonna I was
going to show you a video because I took a
video of a guy in an airport lounge that was
laying on the couch and he was facing away from me,
so his phone was facing me.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I was at the table.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Specifically, remember I was doing a seminary, doing seminary work
and looked up and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
This guy was scrolling at a rate of like roll
roll roll roll for a long time, said nothing, kind
of looking for something to catch his eye. But I
(03:03):
couldn't help but notice that nothing was catching his eye.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Not a thing.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Wow, and that this idea of scrolling shorts is a
pretty new concept. When when did the scroll first start?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Eight years ago? I want to say that it started
with Vine. I feel like Vine started everything because Vine
was fifteen seconds I think max that you could you
could record a video. It was like fifteen seconds max.
And then that's where it started becoming. And then Vine
went away or TikTok bought it, or it morphed into
TikTok or something. TikTok had something to do with Vine
(03:38):
leaving it. May they may have bought it and just
killed it. But yeah, that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
All of this comes from originally. Do you remember where
this originally came from?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
This idea? It came from slot machines.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Really, yeah, I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
The original idea of the swipe is the pull of
the slot machine, Okay, which is ironic because it's still
today and casinos there is absolutely no need for the lever.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
No, it's the button, it's the button.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
But they still have the levers for the feeling.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
For the feeling.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, it's just the pool and they and they roll,
and you pull and they roll, and you pull and
you roll. You smoke your cigarettes and you drink your
diet coke and you sit there for hours.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I was always.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Astonished playing music in casinos. And we would finish a
show at the casino and we would get packed up.
It'd be two o'clock in the morning. We're, you know,
going back to the hotel room provided by the casino.
And we walked to the elevator with our luggage and there's,
you know, some old lady. You just hit and just
(04:44):
pull on that lever. Go back to my room, sleep
for a couple hours, be back down in the lobby
for an early morning lobby called to catch a flight.
There's that same lady at four point thirty to doom,
to goom, goom, pull on that lever. That's the concept
that the that the the tech companies used to create
(05:06):
because there's something about that pool.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Did not realize that and there it makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
So that's the swipe. That's what the swipe is, and
that's why it's swipes on phones have a little they
you pull them and they get to a place of
resistance and then they pop, you know, like when you
fresh your when you check your mail and you pull
down and it holds and then it kind of pops
(05:30):
and then it spins and a new email comes and
it kicks, you know, kicks.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
You never hit the jackpot.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, you never hit the jackpot.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So here's this study, and this is what I want
to talking about.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
And I think I think there's a lot of.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Ways we could talk about this. But it's holiday connected.
Uh a new study Amber showed me this, and this
is about about kids, but it's this art. Actual article
is going to reveal that it's actually for everyone. Short
term video is linked to damaged attention, more anxiety, and
(06:07):
it's affecting everybody. Researchers have just published the largest analysis
ever on short form video and health, seventy one studies
ninety eight thousand people, and they were trying to figure
out if this stuff is actually harming us, and the
findings were very clear. Here's the takeaways here. Number one,
(06:28):
it is damaging our ability to focus. Once again, we're
talking about short form videos. We're talking about TikTok YouTube, shorts,
videos on Facebook, videos on Instagram, whatever else. There's probably more.
I don't I'm thinking of. But the strongest finding was cognitive.
Short term short form videos were linked to poor attention
(06:50):
and worse self control, the brain's inability. The brain develops
an inability to stop the impulses and to stay on
attack of any kind. The more you scroll, the hard
it is to become to focus on anything that doesn't
deliver instant stimulization stimulation. But the mental health findings are
(07:12):
next number two. It's linked I don't have to remind anybody.
This is linked to stress and anxiety. Short firm video
is associated with higher stress, higher anxiety, more depression. The
endless scroll you never find the end of it. The
pulling of the slot machine that the algorithm is pushing.
(07:33):
So when you do the endless scroll, the algorithm is
deciding what's coming up next. Right, you know, it's not random,
it's very specific, and it's pushing typically emotional content.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
For you of some kind.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
It wants some emotional its reaction.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Right yeah, yeah, So this kind of constant stimulization stimulation
is actually relaxing, not relaxing. It's actually disguising itself as relaxing,
but it's really just entertainment. So you you need this
emotional entertainment. And I don't know if you've heard people
say this, but they're like, man, I just want to relax.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, I just want to chill out for a little bit.
I don't want to think and just scroll. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, but it's actually it's a false relaxation. It's not
relaxing at all. It's stressing you out.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I should have.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Kne when we were talking about this, I would have
put this guy's name to memory, or at least in
my notes. I want to drop another podcast name here,
but Sean Ryan. You know what, Seawan Ryan's podcast he
had a.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Friend of friend of mine from our church is possibly
producing a movie. Oh no way of Sean Ryan's story.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Of his when he because he was a Navy seal. Right, yeah,
oh wow, I want to hear about that. I was
watching his podcast with a guy who knows why stuff
part of the programming behind the scenes on that, and
I started looking for some of the things that he
brought up, and one of them was that it will
push something that is a You'll see the the emotional
(09:09):
post with the with soft music playing and the and
the dog being adopted from the from the kennel, and
that'll catch your attention because it's a it's a it's
something like that, a post, it's something like that. It's
emotional like that and kind of draws at your heart strings.
The next swipe is about ninety percent an ad and
(09:34):
it sets it up that way on purpose. Interesting that
you'll go along, young girl putting on makeup. You'll get,
you know, wife complaining about her husband, or a guy
playing a prank on his wife.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Emotional dog video ad.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Wow. It knows, it's perfect sense, it knows what it's
doing to you and what it's it's set up to do,
and is to put you an emotional.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
All this stuff we're talking about, it's they're actually preying
on you.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yes, they want you in an emotional state. And now
here's something to buy, and you're more vulnerable to click absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Wow number three on here. Age doesn't protect you. This
is not just for teens, not for kids. We've done
a podcast before about kids and screens. Researchers expected that
teens would be more vulnerable because their brains are still developing.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
They weren't.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Age actually made no difference. Adults showed the same pattern
as teens, the same attention problems, the same anxiety links.
This is not a brain issue. It's actually a young
brain issue. It's actually a human brain issue. It says
no one's immune number four. It rewrites, it rewires how
(10:52):
they re experience the world. Short form video trains the
brain to expect constant novelty, an instant reward. I thought
that was interesting. Expect constant novelty, an instant reward.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
That even sounds dangerous to have constant novelty. Yeah, that
means novelty, meaning that it's not something that is normal,
not something that is comfortable, something that is new to
you all the time. Always something I wonder about. And
I wonder if they've included this in any of their studies.
(11:30):
May not have gone on long enough from to be
able to tell this part. I wonder what kind of
damage this is doing to our short term memory. You're
never being able to write to that and hold for
any length of time because it's got it gone, got
it gone, got it gone. And now you wonder why
(11:51):
you can't remember what you walked into the other room for. Oh,
because I got it and I'm gone. Yeah, there has
to be. I got up and walked in there to
get there.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
What there's a bit of that we're gonna we're gonna
hit a bit of that coming up. But yeah, I
feel the same way that constant novelty, Uh, an instant reward,
that is something that is so unique to this generation.
Every other generation of humans did not have constant novelty. Yeah,
(12:19):
maybe make an argument of some kind of like Roman
theater or you know, the gladiator games, or bringing bringing
in the tigers and the you know, the the novelty
animals that they had never seen before to shock.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
But it was event that you probably for most people,
took a day to get to exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, So there was nothing instant about it. Yeah, Uh,
there was no instant reward, it was it was a
planned reward. So the brain gets desensitized to slower activities,
which is scary because then reading feels boring, conversation feels slow.
Daily task seem impossible. Step for kids like homework. For us,
(13:02):
reading an instruction manual, you know, to put together ikea
furniture becomes impossible. It's like what I don't I don't
get it by step? Yes, yeah, yeah, but but it
also the brain becomes sensitized to seek more stimulation. So
when you have this feeling of I'm trying to put
(13:24):
together's Ikea furniture, and this instructions don't make any sense.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I can't do it.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Let me go scroll, scroll for a little bit. Let
me get back that constant novelty again. Okay, now I'm
feeling better about putting together Ikea furniture, which is a
false feeling. But but what you want to do when
you focused for too long is try to seek the
instant gratification again by scrolling, so our inability to focus,
(13:54):
our irritability, our anxiety, all of the all of these
things that are mental health. And and we we we
are so connected in America to so many people that
have are having panic attacks and and stress through the roof,
and anxiety and social problems, loneliness, and we keep wondering, like,
(14:19):
what what is it today? Don't we have everything we
need in this generation? Well this is this is all
linked together. But but the article it says, here's the
good news. The brain can actually recover. These changes are
not permanent. So back to your short term memory comments,
it's it's in a way, I guess I've often thought
(14:41):
about this. I guess it's like the smoker's lung, you know,
when you when a smoker has a lung that's just black.
But when they stop smoking, it starts to recover, it cleans,
starts repairing itself, and so so in a lot of ways,
this is this is really good news. Yeah, I think
(15:02):
for me, I'll be honest, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't feel like I have a problem like the
guy in Cambodia did.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Who never stops scrolling. He never stops scrolling.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I'm not like that. I'm not really prone to do that.
But it is a wake up call to me not
to fall into it and to be careful with And
here's here's what I mean. If you I use this
at this illustration earlier before we started recording with you,
say you're going camping and you're looking to You're looking
(15:38):
between three different backpacks to buy. Sure, like should I
get the ari I one or the North Faced one
or the Oakley one?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I don't know, and you've searched ari I. Yes.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
So you go to YouTube and here's a guy on
a short YouTube short talking for thirty seconds or a
minute about the ri I backpack.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah cool, I'll watch it.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
So in that sense. YouTube shorts are not evil. But
what you can't do is scroll up from that and
the next one is a guy walking his dog throwing
a stick, And the next one's a funny skit, you know,
two guys imitating something, and then the next one is
the guy you know Mona's yard and telling you what
mow were to buy, and the next you.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Know, and the next one a dog being adopted.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, so because you're getting an ad for that, Aria
back down in a bit.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah, So, I think the charge really for this podcast
is this holiday season, don't swipe up. Yeah you could search,
go search for your video that you want to see,
but don't swipe up from that, because that's not you
deciding what you're going to see next. That's the algorithm
telling you, and it's actually damaging your brain.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
As somebody else is deciding that or something else is
deciding what you're seeing next.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
And that does seem like.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
You are taking a break with your brain sometimes, or
that it's at least the hope. But I told you
before we started today too, is that I felt over
Thanksgiving like I had the sense of I have a
problem not being productive, I have a problem unplugging and going, yeah,
(17:16):
I'm not really going to do anything today and just
hang out.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And I have a problem with that.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
I ended up starting to build an app for sports,
and it's like I could feel productive doing this today,
but it didn't take all my attention, you know. And
that is an issue and I think it probably stems
from the just part of it is my job is
that I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Have social media.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I don't think on my phone at all if it
wasn't part of what we have to do. But I
love that you've taken it off and put it on
an iPad. You have to you're purposeful when you go
to be interactive on social media now versus it being passive.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So how long has it been since I took social
media you off my phone?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
It's been a couple of months now, Yeah, at least two,
maybe three. At least two maybe three.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, I don't miss it.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Yeah, in the in the videos you get now are
typically once I've sent you to, going hey what if
we react to this video? Yeah? And that's what that's
what you're getting majority of it.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
And I do you know ambros in the video and
forget buddies from college will send a video and forget.
But I so I can't watch Instagram and Facebook, but
you can watch X. Yeah, you don't have to have
the app. What about TikTok you can't. I think they
(18:39):
just stopped it.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, so you have TikTok.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You have to have TikTok. But on X I could
watch the video. But that's all I get. It's just
the one. You don't get fed. I don't get fed
in it. You can't scroll or anything interesting, so I
haven't missed it. It's on my iPad, which is actually
sitting right here.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I'm watching something right now talking.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And so I if I need to post some thing,
or if I need to check something, it's right here.
Or like if you say, hey, we're going to react
to these videos on Wednesday, let's go through these, I'll
pull out my iPad and do it. I've been posting
my from my daily Bible reading. It's been seems like
many years I've been doing that. Yeah, sure, I use
(19:20):
buffer now, Yeah, and just look and Buffer sends it out.
It's logged into all my socials. It sends it out
through that. So I created on buffer that's on my phone,
not an ad. Yeah, yeah, you can use anything I
don't care about Buffer, but that's just the one I use.
It's on my phone, so it sends it out. I
was out of the country a few weeks ago, didn't
(19:42):
have my iPad, so it was like it was like
a ten day stretch.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That's cool.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I never saw anything, but I was still using Buffer.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Like.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It was Amber's birthday, so I I preloaded that on
Buffer a post just to say, hey, happy birthday to
my wife, and just scheduled it to launch.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
On her birthday.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, then you can still be interactive,
still have a presence on social media.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, but you don't have to be dune scrolling either.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Tyler has gone so far as to he does that
with email. He took email off his phone.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
That's why driving me crazy, driving you crazy? No, he
said he was driving driving him crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
So he walked in here one day. You might have
been here, but he walked in here with his laptop
under his arm.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
What do you do with your laptop? That's my email?
Because he doesn't put it on his phone.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
That's man, that's really good. That's really good that he's got.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
To he takes it in his truck.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
And wherever if he needs to go and mess with
his email or work, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
To the coffee shop whatever, he takes his laptop, Yeah,
answer emails on that. Yeah, and know that it's not
going to be dinging on your phone. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
You know, when I first started this podcast, it seemed
pretty far fetched to say up scripts and filming schedule
and logos and the music that goes in between. It
was super overwhelming, and every day seemed like I had
to introduce a new decision that needed a new answer.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
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It's easy to do.
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Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, you know, talking about all this made me think.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, that the first thing that I thought of was
Philippians four six, and I'll read just before that at four.
Always be joyful in the Lord. I say it again. Rejoice.
Let everyone see that you are considerate and all you do,
remember the Lord.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Is coming soon.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Don't worry about anything, talking about being anxious. Instead, pray
about everything, Tell God what you need and thank him
for all that he has done. And then so you
do all that, and then you will experience God's peace.
Peace is what we're all looking for, especially at this
time of year two, which exceeds anything anything that we
(23:47):
can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds
as you live in Christ. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Peace that surpasses all understandable understanding. Guarding your hearts in Christ. Jesus,
that is you know I think about with that. John
fourteen twenty seven, Jesus says peace, I leave with you
my piece. I give to you, not as the world
gives do I give to you? He says, I don't
give that peace at the world. You seek peace by
(24:16):
sitting on the couch scrolling. That's where you want to
find rest and peace. That's not how I give it.
That's how you're defining it. That's not how I give it.
And that same piece which Paul talks about in Philippians four,
is a piece that guards you. That's an interesting thought.
(24:38):
A peace that guards you, guard your heart and mind.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Stands in front of you and the enemy.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
How do you understand that piece? Well, this is a
piece that surpasses all understanding. Yeah, but it's a piece
that you know and you feel and so and can't
explain and can't explain. But it's a real peace that
exists through the suffering, through the chaos of the world.
(25:10):
So Jesus says that we will have the same tribulation,
We'll still have the same trouble. But he says, take heart,
I've overcome the world, and the world you'll have the trouble.
It's not that's that's a guarantee. So the peace has
to exist in the trouble. And that's a piece that
(25:32):
it's hard to.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Understand that's why the world isn't.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, there's there's a the old story of John Wesley,
the the British preacher that ended up starting the entire
Methodist movement.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
But he was he was a pastor before he was converted. Yeah,
of course he didn't know that. He didn't know that
at the time.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
But there's just this fascinating story of him as he
was on a boat well once again, he was a pastor.
He came from England to Savannah, Georgia, to pastor a
church there. It got really bad. The short story is
he fell in love with a girl. He was a pastor,
(26:14):
fell in love with a girl who didn't love him back.
She ended up marrying another guy in the church, and
he refused the guy communion. They kicked basically, they kicked
him out. They not a good pastor, get out of here, okay,
And so that ended that stint. He goes back to
(26:36):
England just just just angry and mad and confused and
hurt and and he had grown up just very legalistic,
very prideful. He he was. He was friends with guys
like George Whitfield that that they they had ay, they
(26:59):
were a team of rule followers, you know, so then
all this not everything's falling apart. He can't understand it.
He's like, I'm following all the rules. God, what more
do you want? Like, I'm so smart, I've all this education,
all my friends, me and all my friends. We pray
all day long, and we you know, we fast and
we tie and we do all the things, you know.
(27:22):
Very similar to the story with the Pharisee and the
tax collector, where the Pharisee says.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
I'm so good.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Look I'm not like this tax collector, you know, And
the tax collector says, have mercy on me. God a center,
and Jesus says, that's the one justified. This is John Wesley.
He's on the boat in the Atlantic Ocean and a
great storm arises on one of these crazy Atlantic storms.
(27:49):
It's just tearing the boat apart, and the English on
the boat are all freaking out.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
John Wesley included. But there's these.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Germans, the MRAs, which I don't know if you've driven
just down here, but there's the Moravian Hall, no German community,
oh yeah sure, And sometimes I see it and it's
like the signs falling apart. It's old, but it was
that was founded by the Moravians. So these are these people, right,
(28:19):
they lack of a better term, there like a denomination
German Christians and very faithful, very zealous. And they're on
the boat. And Wesley noticed that they're not freaking out.
He goes up and he says, you know, I'm paraphrasing here,
are you not afraid of the storm?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
And they were singing.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
That's what happened. They were singing. They were singing. And
you know, you imagine Wesley and the English are just
the rain and the thunder and boards cracking in the
the hole is cracking, and through all this chaos you
hear this singing of hymns. He goes up to him,
he says, are you not afraid of the storm? And
(29:04):
the Moravian pastor says, no, we're not afraid to die.
All this is written in Wesley's journal I have in here. No,
we're not afraid to die. He goes, but you're you're
women and children? How are they doing? Are women and
children are not afraid either? And Wesley is just struck
(29:26):
by this.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
How in the world could these people?
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Of course, we're all Christians here, but this is a
really bad storm, you know, right, And and the Moravian says,
do you do you know that you're a child of God?
Has the spirit himself wore witness with your spirit that
(29:50):
you're a child of God? And Wesley says, yeah, I hope.
So he says, but do you know that Jesus died
for you? And he says, I sure hope that Jesus
died for me.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
He is, do you know?
Speaker 1 (30:10):
And that's all that Wesley writes in the journal. That's
kind of the extent of it. But I think his
point was not the storm.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
It was his.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Realization that it was a personal relationship with Christ. Was
the difference between him and that Moravian pastor. Yeah, And
that was a difference between the storm and the singing
of the hymns. And that was the difference of me
phoning in the ocean and me saying, Lord take me.
It was a personal relationship with Christ. Knowing that he
died on the cross for you, not for the sins
(30:40):
of the world, for you. Do you know that he
died for you? Every one of us have to reconcile
that question. Yeah, I know he died, Wesley said, I
know he died for the sins of the world. True,
he says, but do you know he died for you.
That's what we must reckon style, and that is the piece,
(31:03):
the piece that surpasses all understanding Philippin's four and the
piece that Jesus talks about in John fourteen comes from that.
The anxiety is washed away from that. Yeah, that doesn't
you can't have that when you're scrolling death scrolling yep,
you know, when you're thinking that constant novelty and the
instant gratification. It can't exist there, It can't.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Well, the title of this was avoid this to have
a merry Christmas. Avoid that scroll, that doom scroll.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
That's I think that's what I would say. Would you
say that to tell people that this holiday season, as
you find yourself on your phone trying to avoid your
your uncle Frank, the crazy.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Uncle Frank, don't scroll Yeah endlessly.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, it can help for sure.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah, read a book, watch a movie.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
There's plenty, and we haven't. You haven't you haven't watched it? Yeah,
this Christmas?
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Yeah, okay, you guys will wrap there.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
That sounds good. Yeah, see you.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Guys, Thank you so much for hanging out with me
on this episode of the Grangersmith Podcast. I appreciate you
being here. If you're listening right now, go ahead and
rate today's podcast. It helps more folks find the show.
And if you're tuning in on the iHeartRadio app, you
could actually set this podcast as one of your presets,
which is cool that way. I'm just one tap away.
If you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to hit like
(32:28):
and subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes. And
if you got a question you want answered right here
on the show, just email me podcast at grangersmith dot com.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I'd love to hear from you. Thanks again for being here.
We'll see you next time. Yeye
Okay, as we think about the holidays coming up, and
we and we recognize that the holidays are supposed to
be a time of joy and peace and rest, and
we get these ideas because it's the incarnation of the
Christ who comes to bring peace and and and rest
among the people.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, we'll do the advent right now, going through the advent.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Even through Advent, it doesn't always feel peaceful.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
At home, definitely doesn't.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
It doesn't feel this might be the most hectic time
of the entire year.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
And I think we are in a generation an era
right now, you and I and everyone listening that that
feeling is getting worse.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
The peace of the holidays is no more.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
The rest of the holidays, the the time to rejuvenate
at the end of the year and be with family,
that's gone. And it's been that way for quite some time.
But I think we're at a we're at a place
right now where it's about to get a lot worse
than it's ever.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Been could be.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And since consumerism began one hundred years ago, it's it
was always kind of spinning out of control. But I
think we're hitting something right now that's going to cause
it to spend uncontrollably, and I think we could identify
at least a big factor in that today on the podcast.
(01:47):
It's funny because you've you've been out of the country
a few times.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Yeah, the biggest one with you in Israel.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And we just talked about this Cambodia trip that I took,
you know, several years ago. Ironically came up you and
I in separate conversation for a different reason. But I
remember something I remember in Thailand, specifically in the airport,
being kind of shocked at the way people were scrolling
on their phones. Oh really, I haven't seen it as
(02:20):
much in this country. It's it's growing, but the kind
of complete chaotic scrolling. And I was gonna I was
going to show you a video because I took a
video of a guy in an airport lounge that was
laying on the couch and he was facing away from me,
so his phone was facing me.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I was at the table.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Specifically, remember I was doing a seminary, doing seminary work
and looked up and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
This guy was scrolling at a rate of like roll
roll roll roll for a long time, said nothing, kind
of looking for something to catch his eye. But I
(03:03):
couldn't help but notice that nothing was catching his eye.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Not a thing.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Wow, and that this idea of scrolling shorts is a
pretty new concept. When when did the scroll first start?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Eight years ago? I want to say that it started
with Vine. I feel like Vine started everything because Vine
was fifteen seconds I think max that you could you
could record a video. It was like fifteen seconds max.
And then that's where it started becoming. And then Vine
went away or TikTok bought it, or it morphed into
TikTok or something. TikTok had something to do with Vine
(03:38):
leaving it. May they may have bought it and just
killed it. But yeah, that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
All of this comes from originally. Do you remember where
this originally came from?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
This idea? It came from slot machines.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Really, yeah, I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
The original idea of the swipe is the pull of
the slot machine, Okay, which is ironic because it's still
today and casinos there is absolutely no need for the lever.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
No, it's the button, it's the button.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
But they still have the levers for the feeling.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
For the feeling.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, it's just the pool and they and they roll,
and you pull and they roll, and you pull and
you roll. You smoke your cigarettes and you drink your
diet coke and you sit there for hours.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I was always.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Astonished playing music in casinos. And we would finish a
show at the casino and we would get packed up.
It'd be two o'clock in the morning. We're, you know,
going back to the hotel room provided by the casino.
And we walked to the elevator with our luggage and there's,
you know, some old lady. You just hit and just
(04:44):
pull on that lever. Go back to my room, sleep
for a couple hours, be back down in the lobby
for an early morning lobby called to catch a flight.
There's that same lady at four point thirty to doom,
to goom, goom, pull on that lever. That's the concept
that the that the the tech companies used to create
(05:06):
because there's something about that pool.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Did not realize that and there it makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
So that's the swipe. That's what the swipe is, and
that's why it's swipes on phones have a little they
you pull them and they get to a place of
resistance and then they pop, you know, like when you
fresh your when you check your mail and you pull
down and it holds and then it kind of pops
(05:30):
and then it spins and a new email comes and
it kicks, you know, kicks.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
You never hit the jackpot.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, you never hit the jackpot.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So here's this study, and this is what I want
to talking about.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
And I think I think there's a lot of.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Ways we could talk about this. But it's holiday connected.
Uh a new study Amber showed me this, and this
is about about kids, but it's this art. Actual article
is going to reveal that it's actually for everyone. Short
term video is linked to damaged attention, more anxiety, and
(06:07):
it's affecting everybody. Researchers have just published the largest analysis
ever on short form video and health, seventy one studies
ninety eight thousand people, and they were trying to figure
out if this stuff is actually harming us, and the
findings were very clear. Here's the takeaways here. Number one,
(06:28):
it is damaging our ability to focus. Once again, we're
talking about short form videos. We're talking about TikTok YouTube, shorts,
videos on Facebook, videos on Instagram, whatever else. There's probably more.
I don't I'm thinking of. But the strongest finding was cognitive.
Short term short form videos were linked to poor attention
(06:50):
and worse self control, the brain's inability. The brain develops
an inability to stop the impulses and to stay on
attack of any kind. The more you scroll, the hard
it is to become to focus on anything that doesn't
deliver instant stimulization stimulation. But the mental health findings are
(07:12):
next number two. It's linked I don't have to remind anybody.
This is linked to stress and anxiety. Short firm video
is associated with higher stress, higher anxiety, more depression. The
endless scroll you never find the end of it. The
pulling of the slot machine that the algorithm is pushing.
(07:33):
So when you do the endless scroll, the algorithm is
deciding what's coming up next. Right, you know, it's not random,
it's very specific, and it's pushing typically emotional content.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
For you of some kind.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
It wants some emotional its reaction.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Right yeah, yeah, So this kind of constant stimulization stimulation
is actually relaxing, not relaxing. It's actually disguising itself as relaxing,
but it's really just entertainment. So you you need this
emotional entertainment. And I don't know if you've heard people
say this, but they're like, man, I just want to relax.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, I just want to chill out for a little bit.
I don't want to think and just scroll. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, but it's actually it's a false relaxation. It's not
relaxing at all. It's stressing you out.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I should have.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Kne when we were talking about this, I would have
put this guy's name to memory, or at least in
my notes. I want to drop another podcast name here,
but Sean Ryan. You know what, Seawan Ryan's podcast he
had a.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Friend of friend of mine from our church is possibly
producing a movie. Oh no way of Sean Ryan's story.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Of his when he because he was a Navy seal. Right, yeah,
oh wow, I want to hear about that. I was
watching his podcast with a guy who knows why stuff
part of the programming behind the scenes on that, and
I started looking for some of the things that he
brought up, and one of them was that it will
push something that is a You'll see the the emotional
(09:09):
post with the with soft music playing and the and
the dog being adopted from the from the kennel, and
that'll catch your attention because it's a it's a it's
something like that, a post, it's something like that. It's
emotional like that and kind of draws at your heart strings.
The next swipe is about ninety percent an ad and
(09:34):
it sets it up that way on purpose. Interesting that
you'll go along, young girl putting on makeup. You'll get,
you know, wife complaining about her husband, or a guy
playing a prank on his wife.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Emotional dog video ad.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Wow. It knows, it's perfect sense, it knows what it's
doing to you and what it's it's set up to do,
and is to put you an emotional.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
All this stuff we're talking about, it's they're actually preying
on you.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yes, they want you in an emotional state. And now
here's something to buy, and you're more vulnerable to click absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Wow number three on here. Age doesn't protect you. This
is not just for teens, not for kids. We've done
a podcast before about kids and screens. Researchers expected that
teens would be more vulnerable because their brains are still developing.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
They weren't.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Age actually made no difference. Adults showed the same pattern
as teens, the same attention problems, the same anxiety links.
This is not a brain issue. It's actually a young
brain issue. It's actually a human brain issue. It says
no one's immune number four. It rewrites, it rewires how
(10:52):
they re experience the world. Short form video trains the
brain to expect constant novelty, an instant reward. I thought
that was interesting. Expect constant novelty, an instant reward.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
That even sounds dangerous to have constant novelty. Yeah, that
means novelty, meaning that it's not something that is normal,
not something that is comfortable, something that is new to
you all the time. Always something I wonder about. And
I wonder if they've included this in any of their studies.
(11:30):
May not have gone on long enough from to be
able to tell this part. I wonder what kind of
damage this is doing to our short term memory. You're
never being able to write to that and hold for
any length of time because it's got it gone, got
it gone, got it gone. And now you wonder why
(11:51):
you can't remember what you walked into the other room for. Oh,
because I got it and I'm gone. Yeah, there has
to be. I got up and walked in there to
get there.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
What there's a bit of that we're gonna we're gonna
hit a bit of that coming up. But yeah, I
feel the same way that constant novelty, Uh, an instant reward,
that is something that is so unique to this generation.
Every other generation of humans did not have constant novelty. Yeah,
(12:19):
maybe make an argument of some kind of like Roman
theater or you know, the gladiator games, or bringing bringing
in the tigers and the you know, the the novelty
animals that they had never seen before to shock.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
But it was event that you probably for most people,
took a day to get to exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, So there was nothing instant about it. Yeah, Uh,
there was no instant reward, it was it was a
planned reward. So the brain gets desensitized to slower activities,
which is scary because then reading feels boring, conversation feels slow.
Daily task seem impossible. Step for kids like homework. For us,
(13:02):
reading an instruction manual, you know, to put together ikea
furniture becomes impossible. It's like what I don't I don't
get it by step? Yes, yeah, yeah, but but it
also the brain becomes sensitized to seek more stimulation. So
when you have this feeling of I'm trying to put
(13:24):
together's Ikea furniture, and this instructions don't make any sense.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I can't do it.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Let me go scroll, scroll for a little bit. Let
me get back that constant novelty again. Okay, now I'm
feeling better about putting together Ikea furniture, which is a
false feeling. But but what you want to do when
you focused for too long is try to seek the
instant gratification again by scrolling, so our inability to focus,
(13:54):
our irritability, our anxiety, all of the all of these
things that are mental health. And and we we we
are so connected in America to so many people that
have are having panic attacks and and stress through the roof,
and anxiety and social problems, loneliness, and we keep wondering, like,
(14:19):
what what is it today? Don't we have everything we
need in this generation? Well this is this is all
linked together. But but the article it says, here's the
good news. The brain can actually recover. These changes are
not permanent. So back to your short term memory comments,
it's it's in a way, I guess I've often thought
(14:41):
about this. I guess it's like the smoker's lung, you know,
when you when a smoker has a lung that's just black.
But when they stop smoking, it starts to recover, it cleans,
starts repairing itself, and so so in a lot of ways,
this is this is really good news. Yeah, I think
(15:02):
for me, I'll be honest, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't feel like I have a problem like the
guy in Cambodia did.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Who never stops scrolling. He never stops scrolling.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I'm not like that. I'm not really prone to do that.
But it is a wake up call to me not
to fall into it and to be careful with And
here's here's what I mean. If you I use this
at this illustration earlier before we started recording with you,
say you're going camping and you're looking to You're looking
(15:38):
between three different backpacks to buy. Sure, like should I
get the ari I one or the North Faced one
or the Oakley one?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I don't know, and you've searched ari I. Yes.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
So you go to YouTube and here's a guy on
a short YouTube short talking for thirty seconds or a
minute about the ri I backpack.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah cool, I'll watch it.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
So in that sense. YouTube shorts are not evil. But
what you can't do is scroll up from that and
the next one is a guy walking his dog throwing
a stick, And the next one's a funny skit, you know,
two guys imitating something, and then the next one is
the guy you know Mona's yard and telling you what
mow were to buy, and the next you.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Know, and the next one a dog being adopted.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, so because you're getting an ad for that, Aria
back down in a bit.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah, So, I think the charge really for this podcast
is this holiday season, don't swipe up. Yeah you could search,
go search for your video that you want to see,
but don't swipe up from that, because that's not you
deciding what you're going to see next. That's the algorithm
telling you, and it's actually damaging your brain.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
As somebody else is deciding that or something else is
deciding what you're seeing next.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
And that does seem like.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
You are taking a break with your brain sometimes, or
that it's at least the hope. But I told you
before we started today too, is that I felt over
Thanksgiving like I had the sense of I have a
problem not being productive, I have a problem unplugging and going, yeah,
(17:16):
I'm not really going to do anything today and just
hang out.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And I have a problem with that.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
I ended up starting to build an app for sports,
and it's like I could feel productive doing this today,
but it didn't take all my attention, you know. And
that is an issue and I think it probably stems
from the just part of it is my job is
that I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Have social media.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I don't think on my phone at all if it
wasn't part of what we have to do. But I
love that you've taken it off and put it on
an iPad. You have to you're purposeful when you go
to be interactive on social media now versus it being passive.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So how long has it been since I took social
media you off my phone?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
It's been a couple of months now, Yeah, at least two,
maybe three. At least two maybe three.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, I don't miss it.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Yeah, in the in the videos you get now are
typically once I've sent you to, going hey what if
we react to this video? Yeah? And that's what that's
what you're getting majority of it.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
And I do you know ambros in the video and
forget buddies from college will send a video and forget.
But I so I can't watch Instagram and Facebook, but
you can watch X. Yeah, you don't have to have
the app. What about TikTok you can't. I think they
(18:39):
just stopped it.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, so you have TikTok.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You have to have TikTok. But on X I could
watch the video. But that's all I get. It's just
the one. You don't get fed. I don't get fed
in it. You can't scroll or anything interesting, so I
haven't missed it. It's on my iPad, which is actually
sitting right here.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I'm watching something right now talking.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And so I if I need to post some thing,
or if I need to check something, it's right here.
Or like if you say, hey, we're going to react
to these videos on Wednesday, let's go through these, I'll
pull out my iPad and do it. I've been posting
my from my daily Bible reading. It's been seems like
many years I've been doing that. Yeah, sure, I use
(19:20):
buffer now, Yeah, and just look and Buffer sends it out.
It's logged into all my socials. It sends it out
through that. So I created on buffer that's on my phone,
not an ad. Yeah, yeah, you can use anything I
don't care about Buffer, but that's just the one I use.
It's on my phone, so it sends it out. I
was out of the country a few weeks ago, didn't
(19:42):
have my iPad, so it was like it was like
a ten day stretch.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That's cool.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I never saw anything, but I was still using Buffer.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Like.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It was Amber's birthday, so I I preloaded that on
Buffer a post just to say, hey, happy birthday to
my wife, and just scheduled it to launch.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
On her birthday.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, then you can still be interactive,
still have a presence on social media.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, but you don't have to be dune scrolling either.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Tyler has gone so far as to he does that
with email. He took email off his phone.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
That's why driving me crazy, driving you crazy? No, he
said he was driving driving him crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
So he walked in here one day. You might have
been here, but he walked in here with his laptop
under his arm.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
What do you do with your laptop? That's my email?
Because he doesn't put it on his phone.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
That's man, that's really good. That's really good that he's got.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
To he takes it in his truck.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
And wherever if he needs to go and mess with
his email or work, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
To the coffee shop whatever, he takes his laptop, Yeah,
answer emails on that. Yeah, and know that it's not
going to be dinging on your phone. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
You know, when I first started this podcast, it seemed
pretty far fetched to say up scripts and filming schedule
and logos and the music that goes in between. It
was super overwhelming, and every day seemed like I had
to introduce a new decision that needed a new answer.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Well, when you're starting off anything new, it seems like
your to do list keeps on growing every single day
with new task and that could easily begin to overrun
your life. But you know, finding the right tool that
not only helps you out but simplifies everything could be
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(21:34):
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Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product
(21:56):
descriptions and page headlines and even enhance your product photograph.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You can get the word out like you have some.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Marketing team behind you, easily create email and social media
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Shopify is your e commerce and commerce expert with world
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(22:23):
you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into
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com slash granger. Go to shopify dot com slash granger
shopify dot com slash granger. If you're trying to get
a gift for someone that you think has everything, how
about a special video message from me.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
It's easy to do.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Go to cameo dot com slash granger smith and you
put in the prompt what you want me to say.
I get that message on my phone, I'll say happy birthday,
happy anniversary, whatever personalized message you want me to say
to whoever you want me to say it to, I
send it to you and you give it to them.
It's pretty cool. Go to cameo dot com slash Granger Smith.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, you know, talking about all this made me think.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, that the first thing that I thought of was
Philippians four six, and I'll read just before that at four.
Always be joyful in the Lord. I say it again. Rejoice.
Let everyone see that you are considerate and all you do,
remember the Lord.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Is coming soon.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Don't worry about anything, talking about being anxious. Instead, pray
about everything, Tell God what you need and thank him
for all that he has done. And then so you
do all that, and then you will experience God's peace.
Peace is what we're all looking for, especially at this
time of year two, which exceeds anything anything that we
(23:47):
can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds
as you live in Christ. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Peace that surpasses all understandable understanding. Guarding your hearts in Christ. Jesus,
that is you know I think about with that. John
fourteen twenty seven, Jesus says peace, I leave with you
my piece. I give to you, not as the world
gives do I give to you? He says, I don't
give that peace at the world. You seek peace by
(24:16):
sitting on the couch scrolling. That's where you want to
find rest and peace. That's not how I give it.
That's how you're defining it. That's not how I give it.
And that same piece which Paul talks about in Philippians four,
is a piece that guards you. That's an interesting thought.
(24:38):
A peace that guards you, guard your heart and mind.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Stands in front of you and the enemy.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
How do you understand that piece? Well, this is a
piece that surpasses all understanding. Yeah, but it's a piece
that you know and you feel and so and can't
explain and can't explain. But it's a real peace that
exists through the suffering, through the chaos of the world.
(25:10):
So Jesus says that we will have the same tribulation,
We'll still have the same trouble. But he says, take heart,
I've overcome the world, and the world you'll have the trouble.
It's not that's that's a guarantee. So the peace has
to exist in the trouble. And that's a piece that
(25:32):
it's hard to.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Understand that's why the world isn't.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, there's there's a the old story of John Wesley,
the the British preacher that ended up starting the entire
Methodist movement.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
But he was he was a pastor before he was converted. Yeah,
of course he didn't know that. He didn't know that
at the time.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
But there's just this fascinating story of him as he
was on a boat well once again, he was a pastor.
He came from England to Savannah, Georgia, to pastor a
church there. It got really bad. The short story is
he fell in love with a girl. He was a pastor,
(26:14):
fell in love with a girl who didn't love him back.
She ended up marrying another guy in the church, and
he refused the guy communion. They kicked basically, they kicked
him out. They not a good pastor, get out of here, okay,
And so that ended that stint. He goes back to
(26:36):
England just just just angry and mad and confused and
hurt and and he had grown up just very legalistic,
very prideful. He he was. He was friends with guys
like George Whitfield that that they they had ay, they
(26:59):
were a team of rule followers, you know, so then
all this not everything's falling apart. He can't understand it.
He's like, I'm following all the rules. God, what more
do you want? Like, I'm so smart, I've all this education,
all my friends, me and all my friends. We pray
all day long, and we you know, we fast and
we tie and we do all the things, you know.
(27:22):
Very similar to the story with the Pharisee and the
tax collector, where the Pharisee says.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
I'm so good.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Look I'm not like this tax collector, you know, And
the tax collector says, have mercy on me. God a center,
and Jesus says, that's the one justified. This is John Wesley.
He's on the boat in the Atlantic Ocean and a
great storm arises on one of these crazy Atlantic storms.
(27:49):
It's just tearing the boat apart, and the English on
the boat are all freaking out.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
John Wesley included. But there's these.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Germans, the MRAs, which I don't know if you've driven
just down here, but there's the Moravian Hall, no German community,
oh yeah sure, And sometimes I see it and it's
like the signs falling apart. It's old, but it was
that was founded by the Moravians. So these are these people, right,
(28:19):
they lack of a better term, there like a denomination
German Christians and very faithful, very zealous. And they're on
the boat. And Wesley noticed that they're not freaking out.
He goes up and he says, you know, I'm paraphrasing here,
are you not afraid of the storm?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
And they were singing.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
That's what happened. They were singing. They were singing. And
you know, you imagine Wesley and the English are just
the rain and the thunder and boards cracking in the
the hole is cracking, and through all this chaos you
hear this singing of hymns. He goes up to him,
he says, are you not afraid of the storm? And
(29:04):
the Moravian pastor says, no, we're not afraid to die.
All this is written in Wesley's journal I have in here. No,
we're not afraid to die. He goes, but you're you're
women and children? How are they doing? Are women and
children are not afraid either? And Wesley is just struck
(29:26):
by this.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
How in the world could these people?
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Of course, we're all Christians here, but this is a
really bad storm, you know, right, And and the Moravian says,
do you do you know that you're a child of God?
Has the spirit himself wore witness with your spirit that
(29:50):
you're a child of God? And Wesley says, yeah, I hope.
So he says, but do you know that Jesus died
for you? And he says, I sure hope that Jesus
died for me.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
He is, do you know?
Speaker 1 (30:10):
And that's all that Wesley writes in the journal. That's
kind of the extent of it. But I think his
point was not the storm.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
It was his.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Realization that it was a personal relationship with Christ. Was
the difference between him and that Moravian pastor. Yeah, And
that was a difference between the storm and the singing
of the hymns. And that was the difference of me
phoning in the ocean and me saying, Lord take me.
It was a personal relationship with Christ. Knowing that he
died on the cross for you, not for the sins
(30:40):
of the world, for you. Do you know that he
died for you? Every one of us have to reconcile
that question. Yeah, I know he died, Wesley said, I
know he died for the sins of the world. True,
he says, but do you know he died for you.
That's what we must reckon style, and that is the piece,
(31:03):
the piece that surpasses all understanding Philippin's four and the
piece that Jesus talks about in John fourteen comes from that.
The anxiety is washed away from that. Yeah, that doesn't
you can't have that when you're scrolling death scrolling yep,
you know, when you're thinking that constant novelty and the
instant gratification. It can't exist there, It can't.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Well, the title of this was avoid this to have
a merry Christmas. Avoid that scroll, that doom scroll.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
That's I think that's what I would say. Would you
say that to tell people that this holiday season, as
you find yourself on your phone trying to avoid your
your uncle Frank, the crazy.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Uncle Frank, don't scroll Yeah endlessly.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, it can help for sure.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah, read a book, watch a movie.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
There's plenty, and we haven't. You haven't you haven't watched it? Yeah,
this Christmas?
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Yeah, okay, you guys will wrap there.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
That sounds good. Yeah, see you.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Guys, Thank you so much for hanging out with me
on this episode of the Grangersmith Podcast. I appreciate you
being here. If you're listening right now, go ahead and
rate today's podcast. It helps more folks find the show.
And if you're tuning in on the iHeartRadio app, you
could actually set this podcast as one of your presets,
which is cool that way. I'm just one tap away.
If you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to hit like
(32:28):
and subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes. And
if you got a question you want answered right here
on the show, just email me podcast at grangersmith dot com.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I'd love to hear from you. Thanks again for being here.
We'll see you next time. Yeye
Host
Granger Smith
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